The Toronto Blue Jays have officially acquired right-handed pitcher Chris McElvain in exchange for infielder Santiago Espinal. McElvain is a Cincinnati Reds Minor League pitcher who is 23 years old. In 2023, he played minor league baseball with the Reds his entire career. He has a 3.04 ERA in 2023 in A with the Reds. McElvain, who graduated from Vanderbilt University as well, had a 1.313 WHIP the previous campaign.
With the Blue Jays for four seasons, Espinal played in 347 games, made 1057 plate appearances, collected 262 hits, 11 home runs, 99 RBIs, 80 walks, 150 strikeouts, and had an.273/.331.367 slugging percentage,.698 OPS, 97 wRC+, 4.7 fWAR, and was selected as an American League All-Star in 2022. Sadly, Espinal was not a reliable player at third base when Matt Chapman was hurt, which lost the Blue Jays a game in 2023. Espinal was not a regular player with the Blue Jays the previous season. However, with six RBIs in Spring Training this season, Espinal was showing off solid offensive performance for the Blue Jays.