The Blue Jays traded for Andrés Giménez in December of 2024 and he spent his first full season with Toronto in 2025. Finishing with a stat line of .210/.285/.313 and a 18% K rate and 7% walk rate, it was the worst offensive season of Giménez’s career. While this is due in part to injury (right quad strain and left ankle sprain), Giménez also made some changes to his approach and mechanics that may have impacted his results. Did his more patient approach hurt his offense and can he rebound?
What did Giménez Change in 2025?
There were two major changes made by Giménez in 2025:
- Approach Change (More Patient)
- Mechanical Change (Batting Stance)
Approach Change
In terms of approach, Giménez spent the years prior to joining Toronto using an average to slightly more aggressive approach. He swung first pitch at an MLB average rate and swung overall at a slightly more aggressive than average rate. In 2025, his swing rate against first pitch dropped 9% from 2024 and his overall swing rate dropped 4%.
| Swing Rates | MLB Average | 2024 | 2025 | Difference |
| First Pitch Swing Rate (%) | 30% | 33% | 24% | -9% |
| Overall Swing Rate (%) | 47% | 56% | 52% | -4% |
Data from Baseball Savant
Mechanical Change
Regarding his batting stance, Giménez used a more open stance in 2025. He also moved deeper in the box, farther off the plate, and incorporated a leg kick (per MLB.com).
How did these two changes impact Giménez’s results?
Repercussions of the Patient Approach
In response to his more patient approach first pitch, pitchers started throwing Giménez more fastballs. He saw a career high 67% fastballs first pitch.
Giménez historically excels at making quality contact against any pitch type first pitch, but especially fastballs. The table below shows his xSLG vs first pitch fastballs for the past three seasons.
And yet, this more patient first pitch approach led him to swing at fewer of them.
He was also seeing strikes at a career high rate in general (regardless of count) and was swinging less overall.
When hitters try more patient approaches the very least improvement that can come from it is in their walk rate. While his walk rate did improve 3% from 2024 (when he had a career low 4% walk rate), it remained worse than MLB average.
Additionally, laying off the first pitch led to Giménez missing out on fastballs that he typically does very well against, leading to less damage overall.
Repercussions of the Batting Stance Change
In response to his batting stance change, pitchers started attacking the outer third of the zone more frequently.
Standing further away from the plate may have discouraged Giménez from going after the pitches in the outer third locations first pitch. His swing rate against first pitch fastballs dropped from 35% in 2024 to 24% in 2025.
This approach also led to Giménez getting deeper into counts. And because he was seeing so many strikes first pitch he often fell behind in the count. Even though Giménez is capable of fighting in these counts due to his above average contact skills, pitchers still have the advantage.
2026 Outlook and Suggestion
My recommendation for Giménez is that he should go back to swinging first pitch more frequently, especially against fastballs.
The approach aligns with Giménez’s strengths and how pitchers are already attacking him.
Giménez already hits the first pitch (especially fastballs) extremely well and pitchers are already throwing in-zone fastballs to him first pitch. By taking a more passive approach in 2025, he missed opportunities to do damage without a meaningful improvement to his walk rate and overall production. Leaning into how he is being pitched and making this adjustment can be the key to his offensive rebound in 2026.