TORONTO — You could highlight several players and their contributions to the Toronto Blue Jays’ 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
George Springer produced a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning and then scored the eventual winning run on Nathan Lukes’ double down the left-field line.
Davis Schneider connected for a two-run homer, his second long ball in as many days after a dreadful extended drought at the plate.
Blue Jays’ starter Yariel Rodriguez was solid in his 4.1 innings of work, while the bullpen largely locked things down from there.
However, let’s go a little off the grid here.
The play that Leo Jimenez made in the sixth inning won’t show up in the boxscore and was largely inconsequential to the game’s outcome. But it surely won’t be forgotten by Blue Jays’ decisionmakers when they make their evaluations this off-season.
Everybody knows Jimenez is a skilled defender but plays like this only serve to bolster his reputation. The kid is polished and is growing more confident by the day.
The Cardinals had a runner on first in the sixth inning when designated hitter Luken Baker slashed a chopper that went off the mound and toward second base. Jimenez laid out with his glove arm fully extended to field the ball, but that was only half the beauty.
With his left hip on the dirt and his back facing the second base bag, Jimenez shovelled a pass to Ernie Clement, who completed inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
“The plays that he’s making are just mouth-to-the-ground,” Lukes said.
“That was unbelievable,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “That was a big-league double play. Those are the ones you don’t see very often.”
Jimenez, who’s spent his brief time in the majors amassing impressive highlights, says he watched video of the play following the game and was proud that he was able to pull it off.
“I tried to position myself in a good spot, especially knowing that [Baker] is a pull hitter,” Jimenez said. “So, I was more toward the bag but I was ready for anything to my left side. And then I got that groundball. It kind of skipped on the mound and was a tough one. Usually, they kind of take off after [hitting the mound]. I just remember grabbing it and making sure that we got one out. I knew [Baker] is not a fast runner, so I was like, ‘This is going to be a double play.’ Then, when it was, I was like, ‘Wow.’”
With Bo Bichette injured, Jimenez has received plenty of playing time and where he fits on the 2025 Blue Jays will be an interesting question. There’s a logjam of infielders on the roster and, in addition to the return of Bichette, there could be changes that take place through trades or free agency.
Jimenez, though, is doing his part. While playing excellent defence at second base and shortstop, the 23-year-old is also providing a serviceable bat. He entered Sunday with a 105 OPS-plus over 52 games and added to that with a single in three at-bats.
He says he’s not thinking too much about what next year holds for him and is instead focusing on how he can come to the ballpark and get better each day. Central to that has been his defence. Jimenez says improving it has been a goal all season.
“It has gotten better throughout the year,” he said. “This year has been huge for me trying to work on my defence. That’s my biggest strength right now and seeing that it’s actually paying off in the game makes me very proud of myself and how hard I actually have been working throughout the year. It makes me want to work harder so I can make more plays like that and help my team win at the end of the day.”
His execution of the shovel pass on the double play illustrated to Schneider the type of confidence that Jimenez is playing with right now.
“He’s at the point where he’s been here long enough,” said the manager. “I think he can kind of play his game. When you first get here, you’re a little bit gun shy to do things like that. And it’s nice to see him just relax and play his game.”
The win for the Blue Jays secured a three-game sweep of the Cardinals and the club will now travel to Texas for a three-game set with the Rangers beginning Tuesday, followed by a weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Toronto currently sits at the bottom of the American-League East but trails the fourth-place Rays by one game. Schneider was asked if passing Tampa Bay in the standings held significance.
“Yeah, I think so,” he replied. “I hate looking at the standings and seeing where we are the bottom of our division. The goal really doesn’t change — it’s try to win as many games as you can, and where you end up, you end up. But I think that would be nice.
“It is nice to have some goals internally and the guys have been up for it,” added Schneider. “We talked about it this morning where, I don’t want to say it’s easy to kind of go through the motions, but I think there’s teams that we’ve played where I think we’ve kind of out-energied them, if that’s the right word. I’m really proud of that and the guys have taken a lot of pride in that.”