Diamondbacks claim OF Jesús Sánchez off waivers from Blue Jays

The Arizona Diamondbacks have claimed outfielder Jesús Sánchez off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins.

Sánchez was designated for assignment by Toronto on Friday after playing playing in 99 games with a .260 batting average, eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 2026. He turns 29 next month and has played in parts of seven MLB seasons with the Miami Marlins, Houston Astros and Blue Jays.

A left-handed hitter, going after Sánchez is yet another attempt by the D-backs to find an answer against right-handed pitching. This season, he’s slashing .276/.333/.448 against righties.

Sánchez splits his time defensively between the corner outfield spots, but the combination of his poor defensive metrics and Arizona’s outfield depth likely slots him in as a designated hitter moving forward.

“It’s clear that we have some struggles against right-handed starting pitching, right-handed pitchers in general,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He can impact the baseball. We’ve all watched him from afar … and being able to handle quality right-handed pitching was a big piece of this puzzle. When he gets here, he’s going to be probably inserted as a designated hitter.”

Prior to this move, Arizona had an open 40-man roster spot after DFA’ing outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on Sunday.

After a series loss against the Texas Rangers, the D-backs find themselves 2.5 games back of the San Diego Padres for the final NL Wild Card spot with 12 games to go. The Diamondbacks begin a three-game series with the Marlins Monday at 6:40 p.m. You can listen to it on 98.7.

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