Surprising Bat During Spring Training Could Help Blue Jays Biggest Weakness
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This offseason for the Toronto Blue Jays was a roller coaster ride. Management was extremely aggressive with their pitching staff additions, but their focus on retaining their homegrown hero, Bo Bichette, as well as 2x Silver Slugger Kyle Tucker, was not rewarded.
The loss of Bichette was a much bigger hit than the loss of Tucker, because if Toronto has one strength, it is in their outfield with sluggers. But the infield is missing depth, and if Andrés Giménez continues to struggle (batted .210 in 2025), then they have a real problem.
Bichette led the team in hits and runs batted in, while also hitting 18 homers, even though he missed the final month of the season. His production will now benefit the New York Mets. So, it is clear that the Jays require another bat before the postseason comes around.
At this point in the offseason, the free agents still available are not going to fit their needs as their redemption tour starts up in a measly month. While any World Series contenders would prefer an established hitter, the answer could be sitting in their farm system: shortstop Josh Kasevich.
The 25-year-old has been climbing the ranks of the minors since he was drafted in 2022. A pair of injuries slowed his progress in Triple-A Buffalo last season, but he is currently showing that he is healthy, and his debut is closer than anyone thought.
Turning Heads at Spring Training
Kasevich's call-up to the majors is as close as it has ever been. But nobody could have expected him to step up in the way that he has this spring, which has been captivating, especially with the 415-foot bomb right at the beginning.
In the five games that Kasevich has played in spring training, he has made nine plate appearances where he has hit .441 to complement an OPS over 1.000. The times he has swung a bat, he has come through with a pair of runners brought in to go with that home run, on four hits.
Josh Kasevich just went deep for the #BlueJays down in Fort Myers, 416 feet.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) February 22, 2026
Injuries killed some of his momentum, but he's still a top-15 prospect in this system and just turned 25. He could be a real option for a reserve infielder by mid-season if he hits again. Org loves him. pic.twitter.com/Ie2XRSltvb
It wasn't until after he spent three years playing with the Oregon Ducks that Kasevich put his name in the June Amateur Draft, where the Blue Jays took him in the second round. He has primarily played shortstop in his career, but has also spent time at second and third.
The Blue Jays have a trio of utility men in their infield between Kazuma Okamoto, Ernie Clement, and Gimenez, which makes Kasvich's path a little simpler. It doesn't seem like Kasevich will be utilized in the early months of the year, but if he starts Triple-A as strongly as spring training has gone, he will no doubt be playing in the majors mid-season.
Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.