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Riley Tirotta: The forgotten breakout within the Blue Jays farm system

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation | Last updated May 7, 2025 6:03 PM ET

Every year, a Major League roster goes through constant churning. Whether it’s because of injuries, poor performance, trades, or even suspensions, teams will always find themselves dipping into their minor league depth quite a bit throughout a season.

Such was certainly the case for the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays, a team that underachieved all year, sold at the trade deadline, and finished with a dismal 74-88 record. That team was unrecognizable by September for the casual fan who tuned in earlier in the year to watch the team. Consider this: Joey Loperfido, Will Wagner, and Jonatan Clase are guys who debuted for the Blue Jays last year who weren’t even in the organization before the trade deadline. Add on top of that all the guys that they brought up throughout the year: Spencer Horwitz, Addison Barger, Leo Jimenez, Orelvis Martinez, Steward Berroa, Luis De Los Santos, and Nathan Lukes, that’s 10 position players that were either called up or traded for in a single season. That’s a lot of churning!

And yet there’s one guy who climbed three levels last year, hit well above league average at all his stops, and never got the call to the show. So far this year, he’s off to another hot start, so let’s dig in a bit on the forgotten man in the Jays’ minor league system: Riley Tirotta.

Via The Nation Network

Riley Tirotta is a former 12th-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2021 out of Dayton. A thoroughbred athlete, Tirotta ran a 6.29 60-yard dash at his Pro Day in college. A true utility type player, Tirotta can play all around the diamond – he’s gotten starts at 1B/3B/LF/RF – with his most sound position likely being at the hot corner. A power bat with contact and whiff issues, Tirotta hits the ball very hard and in the air, as evidenced by his gaudy 57.1 hard-hit% and 64th percentile LA sweetspot%. The problem for Tirotta is the swing and miss; he’s run a strikeout rate of 28.5% throughout his time in the minor leagues, and it’s spiked to 35% thus far this season.

The good news is he supplements that with a well above average walk rate and power. Tirotta had his breakout year last season, across three levels (A-AAA), he slashed .247/.385/.433 to go along with 15 home runs, 14 stolen bases, and a 126 wRC+. He’s off to a better start in 2025, currently slashing .267/.380/.483 with an wOBA of .390 and a 137 wRC+, placing himself on the doorstep of making his MLB debut. He’s garnered enough attention that even the Jays beat journalists are asking the front office about his timeline.

So, what does the potential landscape look like for a potential Tirotta call-up?

Third base would be the spot most up for grabs right now. Ernie Clement is running a 52 wRC+ across 92 plate appearances, Addison Barger has been even worse (22 wRC+) despite slashing his strikeout rate nearly 9% from last year, chasing less out of the zone, and hitting the ball extremely hard, and then there’s Will Wagner who was optioned to triple-A last week after slashing .186/.284/.220 in 20 games.

Asked about Riley Tirotta (.909 OPS at AAA), Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said he's big-league ready if needed but Jays have others ahead of him on the MLB depth chart at 1B & 3B right now. Jonatan Clase also considered MLB ready if needed (and, unlike Tirotta, is on the 40-man).

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 2, 2025

There’s a gaping hole that the Blue Jays are begging for someone to fill over at the hot corner right now. Orelvis Martinez, the ideal candidate to fill that spot, has gotten off to an extremely slow start with Buffalo, although he has started to heat up in the last week. Tirotta is the better defender between the two, but what’s working against him here is the fact that he’s not currently on the 40-man roster. Whether or not the Blue Jays decide to make a corresponding move to free up a spot for Tirotta remains to be seen, but one thing is certain that the Blue Jays are running out of options to help supplement an anemic offence.

Maybe Riley Tirotta is that guy. Maybe he isn’t. It can’t possibly hurt any more than it already does to find out.

This article first appeared on Bluejaysnation and was syndicated with permission.

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