Santiago Espinal

Santiago Espinal

28-Year-Old Second Baseman2B
Toronto Blue Jays
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Espinal was projected to be a utility player for Toronto, but the club had to pull the plug on the Cavan Biggio project and Espinal rewarded the club's investment into him with strong defense and timely hitting around its more well-known thumpers. Espinal did not do any one thing well from a fantasy perspective, but the batting average did not hurt, the six steals helped, and 50+ runs and RBI's for a player that could play three spots in season and was an end-game selection in AL-only formats was nice to have. He only has multi-eligbility in leagues where 10 games is enough to qualify, but is likely to once again have in-season flexibility even if he is hitting 9th in this talented lineup with little offensive upside. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
#540
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $2.1 million contract with the Blue Jays in January of 2023.
Swipes two bags Sunday
2BToronto Blue Jays
March 6, 2023
Espinal went 2-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI and two stolen bases in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Phillies.
ANALYSIS
Getting the start at second base and batting sixth, Espinal continued a strong start to his spring that's seen him go 7-for-14 at the plate with a homer and three steals. The 28-year-old is expected to begin the season in a bench role with Whit Merrifield shifting to second base, but if Merrifield's quad injury lingers over the next few weeks, Espinal could find himself in the Opening Day lineup.
Read More News
Batting Stats
Loading Batting Stats...
2022
2021
2020
2022 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Loading Batting Game Log...
2021 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Loading Batting Game Log...
2020 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Loading Batting Game Log...
Minor League Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Loading Minor League Batting Game Log...
Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
6
4
1
4
9
13
42
12
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
2
2
5
5
11
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+19%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+28%
OPS vs LHP
2021
 
 
+3%
OPS vs LHP
2020
 
 
+41%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020vs Left .802 262 30 3 24 3 .322 .375 .427
Since 2020vs Right .673 541 63 6 50 10 .260 .319 .354
2022vs Left .826 128 16 3 15 1 .301 .375 .451
2022vs Right .646 363 35 4 36 5 .256 .304 .342
2021vs Left .796 99 11 0 7 2 .348 .394 .402
2021vs Right .771 147 21 2 10 4 .285 .363 .408
2020vs Left .735 35 3 0 2 0 .324 .324 .412
2020vs Right .521 31 7 0 4 1 .192 .290 .231
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2020
 
 
+19%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+13%
OPS at Home
2021
 
 
+10%
OPS at Home
2020
 
 
+111%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2020Home .776 395 45 5 40 5 .309 .355 .421
Since 2020Away .654 408 48 4 34 8 .252 .320 .334
2022Home .737 232 20 3 26 2 .298 .338 .399
2022Away .651 259 31 4 25 4 .238 .309 .342
2021Home .812 137 20 2 9 3 .312 .372 .440
2021Away .740 109 12 0 8 3 .309 .380 .361
2020Home .945 26 5 0 5 0 .391 .423 .522
2020Away .447 40 5 0 1 1 .189 .231 .216
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Santiago Espinal compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.53
 
BB Rate
7.3%
 
K Rate
13.8%
 
BABIP
.300
 
ISO
.102
 
AVG
.267
 
OBP
.322
 
SLG
.370
 
OPS
.692
 
wOBA
.307
 
Exit Velocity
86.1 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
25.1%
 
Barrels/PA
2.6%
 
Expected BA
.263
 
Expected SLG
.348
 
Sprint Speed
23.0 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
42.9%
 
Line Drive %
23.0%
 
Fly Ball %
34.0%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
Loading Advanced Batting Stats...
Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
Loading Games Played by Position...
Loading MLB Defensive Stats...
Batted Ball Stats
Loading Batted Ball Stats...
Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
Want more matchup stats?
Loading Matchup Stats...
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Subscribe Now
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Santiago Espinal See More
Spring Training Job Battles: American League
18 days ago
Erik Halterman breaks down the competition for AL jobs, including in Minnesota where Nick Gordon likely will spend time at several spots around the diamond this season.
MLB: Postseason Cheat Sheet and Strategy
166 days ago
Todd Zola tackles the MLB Postseason Cheat Sheet for RotoWire and discusses his approach to postseason leagues this year.
NFBC Main Event: Fever Dream, Chapter 4
190 days ago
Ryan Rufe goes over the moves he made and the lessons he learned while managing his NFBC Main Event team over the last two months.
FanDuel MLB: Monday Targets
190 days ago
Framber Valdez hasn't allowed more than three runs in a start since April 19 and pitching against the Tigers who are last in MLB in runs scored and 29th in team OPS.
AL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
191 days ago
Erik Siegrist takes a look at the AL free-agent pool as Kerry Carpenter heats up for the Tigers.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
The 27-year-old hit a surprising .311 with two homers and six steals over 222 at-bats last year, and Espinal heads into Opening Day as the Blue Jays' top infield utility player. Cavan Biggio is hardly a lock to keep the starting second base job, however, and if his 2021 struggles continue, Espinal could once again get more playing time than expected.
The expanded roster and a pre-season injury to Brandon Drury gave Espinal an opening to make his major-league debut in 2020. Bo Bichette's knee injury further allowed Espinal to make 21 appearances at shortstop, as well as a few games at third base. That versatility is Espinal's calling card, as he's appeared at every position besides right field, first base and catcher during his career. He'll need that defensive versatility to stick in the big leagues, as he offers a contact-heavy profile with very little else at the plate. As the Blue Jays' roster currently stands, Espinal would have the chance to start at either second or third base, though it's been rumored that the team is in the market for infield help. Espinal would be the first to lose his job in that scenario, and even if he enters the season as a starter along the infield, he's unlikely to meaningfully contribute in any offensive category.
More Fantasy News
Avoids arbitration with Toronto
2BToronto Blue Jays
January 13, 2023
Espinal and the Blue Jays agreed on a one-year, $2.1 million contract Friday to avoid arbitration, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Returns from IL for postseason
2BToronto Blue Jays
October 7, 2022
Espinal (oblique) was activated from the 10-day injured list and included on the Blue Jays' wild-card roster, Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Prepping for potential playoff return
2BToronto Blue Jays
Oblique
October 5, 2022
Espinal (oblique) took live batting practice and was involved in infield drills during a workout Wednesday in Toronto, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Progressing toward activation
2BToronto Blue Jays
Oblique
October 2, 2022
Espinal (oblique) hit off a pitching machine Sunday and is scheduled to face live pitching Tuesday, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Increasing activity
2BToronto Blue Jays
Oblique
September 30, 2022
Espinal (oblique) has begun running the bases Friday and is ramping up baseball activity, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.