Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? We give an overview of team strengths, weaknesses, and other things to know, using Defensive Runs Saved and other stats as the basis for our evaluation. To see the full series, click here.
2025 Team Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 4th
Team Strengths:
There are a bunch.
Daulton Varsho is a terrific center fielder, so long as he can stay on the field. Varsho ranks first in Defensive Runs Saved for center fielders over the last three seasons even though he ranks 25th in innings played.
Most Defensive Runs Saved – Center Fielders – Last 3 Seasons
| Player | Runs Saved |
| Daulton Varsho | 43 |
| Ceddanne Rafaela | 32 |
| Brenton Doyle | 29 |
It looks like the Blue Jays are committed to Andrés Giménez replacing Bo Bichette at shortstop. You could make a case he should have been there sooner as he was a dominant defender at second base. In 98 career games at shortstop he has 6 Runs Saved. No worries about how he’ll handle the position here.
Ernie Clement won our Fielding Bible Award for multi-position play. It looks like he’s pegged for second base, a position at which he had 10 Runs Saved in a small sample size (60 games) last season. He could also play third base or shortstop and be solid there, as he’s shown in the past.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. turned a weakness in his game into a strength last season and showed that in last year’s postseason. His 8 Runs Saved at first base last season tied for fourth at the position.
Alejandro Kirk has had very good Defensive Runs Saved in each of the last three seasons at catcher. He’s a very good pitch framer and an excellent pitch blocker.
Most Defensive Runs Saved – Catchers- Last 3 Seasons
| Player | Runs Saved |
| Patrick Bailey | 52 |
| Alejandro Kirk | 39 |
| Freddy Fermin | 37 |
| Gabriel Moreno | 31 |
New acquisition Jesús Sánchez has good defensive numbers in both corner outfield spots. He had 7 Runs Saved as a right fielder and 3 as a left fielder last season. He’ll likely be in left.
And Nathan Lukes likewise rates very well playing the outfield, particularly the corners. He had 7 Runs Saved in right field and 4 Runs Saved in left field last season.
We also track Good Fielding Plays* and Defensive Misplays & Errors. Lukes had 26 Good Plays and 5 Misplays & Errors last season, a phenomenal ratio. The 26 Good Plays tied for fifth-most amount outfielders.
* Good Fielding Plays are not just highlight-reel plays. They’re also things like cutting a ball off in the gap to prevent a runner from taking an extra base.
Team Weaknesses
Kazuma Okamoto actually won our NPB Fielding Bible Award at first base in 2024. Yes, we track Defensive Runs Saved there too. At third base he had -3 Runs Saved in the equivalent of about 60 games innings-wise last season. In seasons where he’s played the position a lot, he’s totaled -9 Runs Saved. We’ll see how that converts to playing in MLB (we do use MLB standards for our NPB out probabilities).
Other Things To Know
Addison Barger gets listed as both a strength and a weakness. Barger had 5 Outfield Arm Runs Saved in right field because he had 6 assists without a relay man. That tied for the most Runs Saved for arm at the position. It also covered up a deficiency – he had -11 Runs Saved from range, tied for worst in MLB, despite playing only 57 games.
Are the Blue Jays A Good Defensive Team?
Absolutely. They might be the best in the sport right now. It’s clear they’ve made defense a priority in putting their team together as there is plenty of talent to go around.
