The Jays have interest in a second baseman.
Is the keystone the most pressing need compared to third base, outfield, or a designated hitter? Absolutely not. However, according to Bob Elliot of Canadian Baseball Network, the Blue Jays have interest in Cincinnati’s second baseman, Jonathan India.
India’s career started off with a bang in 2021, when he slashed .269/.376/.459 with 21 homers in 631 plate appearances for a 122 wRC+ and a 3.1 fWAR. Moreover, he had an 11.3 BB% and a 22.3 K%, both were the highest marks in his career. He was awarded the National League Rookie of the Year award, receiving 29 of 30 first-place votes.
Then the injuries and poor play started in 2022. He missed parts of April 2022, and then the entirety of May 2022 with injury. In mid-August 2022, he was hit in the calf which doctors thought was compartment syndrome, which essentially means he could have lost function in his calf due to blood not reaching the muscle. He was in immense pain and was later pulled from the game and airlifted to a hospital. Thankfully, it turned out to be a bruise. Read more about that in this MLB.com article.
Overall, India slashed .249/.327/.378 with 10 homers in 431 plate appearances in his sophomore season, totalling a 96 wRC+. His 2023 wasn’t much better, as he slashed .244/.338/.407 with 17 homers in 529 plate appearances for a 99 wRC+. He finished with a 9.8 BB% and a 20.6 K%, the latter being the lowest mark in his career.
Like in 2022, he missed a chunk of the season due to injury last season, landed on the 10-day IL due to left foot plantar fasciitis, another not-so-fun injury to have.
All of this begs the question, is India a better option than whom the Jays already have on the roster? Second baseman Davis Schneider burst onto the scene in the second half of 2023 and slashed .276/.4040/.603 with eight homers in 141 plate appearances for a 176 wRC+ and 2 fWAR.
Not just that, but Cavan Biggio had a much better second half to his season as well, slashing .272/.404/.361 with two homers in 183 plate appearances from July 14th to the end of the season. Santiago Espinal had a rough season where he slashed .248/.310/.335 with two homers in 254 plate appearances, but he’s one of the best defensive infielders the Jays have.
This isn’t to mention prospects such Otto López, Addison Barger, and Orelvis Martinez, all of whom have played second base (or is a natural second basemen in López’s case).
Who knows, maybe trading for India would allow them to move one of those second basemen for a centre fielder or third baseman.
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