Fastball

Toronto Blue Jays Rookie Putting Together Year For the History Books

The Toronto Blue Jays are destined to finish last in the American League East this year, but rookie Spencer Horwitz has made an early impression.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement (28) scores on a double by designated hitter Spencer Horwitz (not pictured) during the seventh inning against the New York Mets at Rogers Centre on Sept 10.
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement (28) scores on a double by designated hitter Spencer Horwitz (not pictured) during the seventh inning against the New York Mets at Rogers Centre on Sept 10. / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Mets 6-2 on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre. With the win, the Blue Jays are now 69-77 on the season. The Mets fell to 79-66 and into a tie for the third and final wild card spot in the National League.

In the win, rookie Spencer Horwitz went 2-for-3 for Toronto. He walked and registered a double. One of the Jays higher-ranked prospects heading into the year, he's now hitting .278, showing real development in a down-year for the team.

He's also making some team history in his rookie season, according to @StatsCentre:

Highest career OPS by a #BlueJays rookie (with a minimum of 250 such plate appearances made):
.887- Josh Phelps
.874- Fred McGriff
.845- Eric Hinske
.823- Spencer Horwitz (Via a BB, single and RBI double in tonight's 6-2 win against the Mets)
.793- John Olerud
.793- Cavan Biggio

Horwitz has a .364 on-base percentage to go with 12 homers and 35 RBI. He's certainly setting himself up for an opportunity to be part of the solution for Toronto in 2025.

The Jays and Mets will play again Wednesday afternoon at 3:07 p.m. ET. Left-hander Sean Manaea will take the ball for New York while right-hander Bowden Francis pitches for Toronto.

Manaea has had an excellent season with New York, going 11-5 with a 3.43 ERA. He's pitched for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants - in addition to New York.

Francis has gone 8-4 with a 3.72 ERA while filling in for the injured Alek Manoah.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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