Blue Jays have effectively bee...

The Toronto Blue Jays, who have been operating with a bare minimum of players, enter their Monday offday as MLB's sixth-best offense by wRC+ and eighth-best position-player group by fWAR.

It's difficult to predict exactly what level of output a club should anticipate from their 13th position player, but it would be higher than what Toronto has received. The fact that this team is blatantly underutilizing the final player on its bench, rather than criticizing the skill of rookie Nathan Lukes, who is a complete unknown at the MLB level, is being emphasized.

The team's bench is made up of whichever catcher is taking a break, Cavan Biggio, Santiago Espinal, and Lukes since Whit Merrifield's recent excellent play has cemented him into an everyday position. The first three players and the last player both participate in games, unlike Lukes who does not.

The Blue Jays' 13th man's use and output in 2023 will look somewhat like this:

1. March 30 to April 6 - Nathan Lukes (3 GP, 0 GS, 0 PA)

2. April 7 to April 17 - Jordan Luplow (4 GP, 2 GS, 7 PA with a .000/.143/.000 line)

3. April 18 to May 8 - Nathan Lukes, again (6 GP, 1 GS, 6 PA with a .000/.167/.000 line)

This translates to a full roster slot for the Blue Jays, or 3.8% of the team, contributing two walks and no hits while only appearing in less than 10% of the team's contests.

The Blue Jays are gliding beneath that bar, despite the fact that there shouldn't be much expected of an end-of-the-bench guy. They experienced a similar problem last year when Zack Collins served as the team's third catcher for weeks at a time, although in that situation he was at least helping to deploy Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen in the same lineup. It would be difficult to point to a current Lukes action that aids the Blue Jays in winning. It doesn't follow that he can't contribute, but if he never participates, it's hard to tell.

It is reasonable that the Blue Jays are expressing their position on that issue by not employing him. They are the ones who know the most about the rookie, and it's not like his minor-league history suggests that he will become an MLB superstar. It would be silly to vehemently advocate for additional at-bats for a guy whose projected ZiPS line is.246/.304/.354 according to FanGraphs. On a competitive club, it makes little sense to have a vacant roster place gathering dust.

Even while it can be challenging to develop bench players internally, the fact that the Blue Jays have not been able to identify anyone who can play any type of position is quite perplexing.

When a player shows promise, it's typically preferable to give them regular at-bats in the minors rather than wasting their time in the majors by playing sparsely with them. Nevertheless, the waiver wire is always moving, and during the course of the season, a sizable market of seasoned players will be made available for little to nothing via trade.

Do you think you'll discover a star in the trash? Without a doubt. Could you identify a player for whom you may occasionally like to bat? You'd assume so.

For instance, when facing powerful southpaws late in games, the Blue Jays don't have many good choices to pinch bat for Brandon Belt or Kevin Kiermaier. A skilled dart thrower might be able to assist with that.

A Terrance Gore-like expert in severe pinch running would be worth a go if you want to be inventive. To achieve just that, Billy Hamilton just signed with the Chicago White Sox.

An MLB team's whole roster is a strength. Even if it's not a job that defines the franchise, it still applies to the final player on the bench. Without even a little contribution from their 13th man, the Blue Jays may manage just fine, but it is wasteful to have Lukes take up space but never participate.

Even if it didn't work out, bringing in Luplow in the middle of April to see if he might contribute was a smart decision. It would be smart for the Blue Jays to try again.