Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Yohendrick Pinango hit his first career home run as the Blue Jays defeated the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
Pinango clubbed a game-tying home run 348 feet to right field in the top of the 7th inning to tie the game up 1-1. The Blue Jays would go on to win the game 2-1 in extras when Daulton Varsho drove in ghost runner Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the top of the 10th.
But it was Pinango who was the star of the show as he got to wear the famous Blue Jays home run jacket for the first time in his MLB career.
Yohendrick Pinango is Here to Stay
Just 24 years old, Pinango made his big-league debut earlier this year as the Blue Jays dealt with a spate of injuries. The Venezuela native had a great start to his time in Toronto, and fans were excited about his potential. However, when Addison Barger returned from the IL, the Blue Jays made the controversial move to send Pinango back down to the minors, a move that upset fans as he was one of the team’s better hitters at the time he was optioned down to Triple-A Buffalo.
Unfortunately for Barger, he was quickly put back on the IL with an elbow injury after making a huge throw from the outfield and gunning down a runner at home. With Barger back on the IL, the Blue Jays called Pinango back up, and he’s looked incredible since returning to Toronto for a second time.
After hitting his first career home run on Saturday, it feels like Pinango is here to stay this time around, as the Blue Jays would be crazy to send him back down again based on how well he is performing in the majors.
Blue Jays Got a Steal in Trade for Pinango
The Blue Jays stole Pinango from the Chicago Cubs when they picked him up, along with minor leaguer Josh Rivera, in a July 2024 trade deadline deal for Nate Pearson. While Pearson was a former first-round pick for the Blue Jays, he never panned out for them, and he is no longer on the Cubs. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays have Pinango hitting second in their lineup, ahead of Guerrero, showing how highly the club thinks of him.
It’s another masterstroke for Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins, who has made several of these under-the-radar type trades for young players with potential in the past that have paid off big time.
In July 2027, the Blue Jays traded reliever Francisco Liriano to the Houston Astros for Nori Aoki and a young outfielder with potential named Teoscar Hernandez. It was in Toronto that Hernandez would blossom into one of the best slugging outfielders in the game, winning a pair of Silver Slugger awards with the Blue Jays. The Jays eventually traded Hernandez to the Seattle Mariners, before he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, helping them win back-to-back World Series. But it was Atkins picking him up in an under-the-radar move at the time that allowed Hernandez to unlock his potential in Toronto and show the baseball world how dangerous a hitter he was.
The Blue Jays are certainly hoping they can get something similar with Pinango, and so far, things are looking good for both the player and the team.
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