FORT MYERS, FL: Yohendrick Pinango of the Toronto Blue Jays bats against the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on Feb. 22, 2026. (Photo by Natalie Reid/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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Toronto Blue Jays prospect Yohendrick Pinango is about to become the first player in Major League Baseball history with either that unusual first name or last.
It’s because the defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays need help. They are unexpectedly scuffling on offense. Their injured list is getting crowded. Their record is 10-15.
Therefore, a 5-10, 170-pound Venezuelan, ranked as the Blue Jays’ No. 10 prospect by MLB.com and No. 11 by Baseball America, got the call today at Triple-A Buffalo to drive 98 miles to Toronto and suit up.
Pinango has been hitting well – .288 with 3 homers and 13 RBI in 22 games for the Buffalo Bisons. By Blue Jays standards this season, that’s good enough.
Toronto is in the bottom half of most offensive categories this season. A year ago, thye Blue Jays led the AL in hits, average and on-base percentage, were second in runs and RBI and third in doubles, walks and slugging percentage.
Pinango is coming off a spectacular performance for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League. In 24 games, he hit .363 with 8 homers, 8 doubles and 31 RBI. That followed a decent 2025 season split between Buffalo and Double-A New Hampshire. Overall, he hit .258 with 15 homers, 70 RBI and 6 steals without being caught in 131 games.
READING, PA: Yohendrick Pinango of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats dances during warmups before a game against the Reading Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium on May 14, 2025. (Photo by Bailey O’Neill/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
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The steals are notable because Pinango is not considered a burner and has played only 12 pro games in center field. Yet he has been successful on 83 of 103 attempts as a pro. He has played 497 games in left field, 93 in right, and is considered an ordinary fielder. He semi-awkwardly made a highlight reel catch of a line drive during spring training. He showed his power in Florida this spring, too.
Pinango signed with the Chicago Cubs at age 16 as an international free agent in 2018 for $400,000. The Blue Jays got him and minor-league infielder Josh Rivera in a trade for pitcher Nate Pearson on July 24, 2024.
Most importantly, the 23-year-old outfielder is not injured.
A Parade Of Problems
The Blue Jays have 12 players on the Injured List. Outfielder Nathan Lukes made it an even dozen this morning. He strained his left hamstring Friday night in an 8-6 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
TORONTO: George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a three-run home run against the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at the Rogers Centre on Oct. 20, 2025. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
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- Lukes, hitting .250 without a homer, joins outfielders George Springer, Addison Bargar, catcher Alejandro Kirk and several Jays pitchers on the IL. The injury comes with Lukes in an 11-for-21 hot streak after opening the year 2-for-24.
- Springer, hitting only .185 after a big 2025 season (32 homers, .309) has been out since April 12 with a broken toe on his left foot.
- Bargar batted just .053 (1-for-19) before spraining his left ankle April 7. A year ago he had 21 homers and 74 RBI, then hit .367 with 3 more homers in the post-season.
- Kirk broke his left thumb on April after opening the year 3-for-20 (.150). He hit five post-season homers last fall as the Toronto came within one sensational game-saving catch by the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of winning the World Series.
- DH/outfielder Anthony Santander missed the post-season and may miss all of 2026 after left shoulder surgery.
- Pitchers Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce, Jose Berrios, Yimi Garcia, Ricky Tiedemann and Lazaro Estrada are all on the IL with various ailments.
Pinango Power
Pinango has hit safely in his last five games, including a two-run double against the Columbus Clippers on Thursday night and a slashing RBI double off crafty Clippers lefty Will Dion on Friday night.
On Wednesday night, he crushed a ball into the right-center gap off MLB veteran Colin Holderman. Only a sensational diving catch turned it into a sacrifice fly instead of another extra-base hit.
The lefty produces 100-mph+ exit velocities on line drives and is starting to learn how to get a little more launch angle into his swing. He’s doing it without increasing his strikeout rate and showing a decent walk rate. He generally does not flail at pitches outside the strike zone, though that surely will be tested by MLB pitchers with supreme sliders and sinkers.
Toronto Blue Jays’ Future
The Blue Jays are hoping that a hot hitter might put a spark to their dormant offense. Toronto is next-to-last in the AL in homers with 21. Slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., has only two, though he is batting .323.
LOS ANGELES: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays crushes a two-run home run off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani in Game 4 of the 2025 World Series at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Pinango projects for now as a stop-gap filler. Such projections have a way of working well. In 2023, Davis Schneider was called up from Buffalo in August and hit .276 with 12 doubles, 8 homers and 20 RBI in 35 games. The Blue Jays went 21-14 during that stretch.
Something similar from Pinango could help put the Toronto Blue Jays back in business in the rugged AL East.
