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Instead, he’s become one of a host of players who have helped the Jays to their current standing atop the American League East.

“Just doing the job,” Straw said in an interview that can be heard on a recent episode of “Deep Left Field,” the Star’s baseball podcast. “Whether it’s getting a bunt down, a hit-and-run, making a catch late in the game or playing defence.”

That’s exactly what he has done after spending a year in minor-league limbo after the Cleveland Guardians put him on outright waivers at the end of spring training in 2024.

With Straw coming off a season in which he was baseball’s third-worst hitter, batting .238 with one home run and 97 strikeouts, the Guardians hoped someone would take him, and the more than $20 million (U.S.) remaining on his contract, off their hands. With no takers, Straw spent the season in Triple-A, where he hit just .240 with three home runs and 95 strikeouts, returning as a September call-up to serve mostly as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement.

The Guardians finally found someone to take the contract in January when the Jays came calling, looking for international bonus pool money they could wave at Sasaki. They agreed to take Straw and the almost $12 million owed to him in order to get the bonus money, which Sasaki didn’t take. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers just hours after the Jays completed the deal.

The Dodgers, it should be noted, waited until after they had a commitment from Sasaki to make a pair of trades for extra international bonus pool money.

Straw hasn’t worked out as well as the last guy whose salary was foisted upon the Jays in order to make a trade to get something else they wanted — that would be Edwin Encarnación (and whatever happened to Zach Stewart and Josh Roenicke anyway?) — but Straw has come as advertised: tremendous glove, great speed and not much of a bat.

Does Straw get big hits at big times? That depends on how you read the stats. He has a dismal .520 OPS with runners in scoring position, which drops to .400 when there are two out in that situation.

However, Straw is 3-for-6 (.500) with a runner on third and less than two out, 8-for-26 (.303) in what’s defined as a late and close situation and 12-for-35 (.343) in high-leverage spots. But all those hits have been singles, save for a pair of doubles.

He’s not here to swing, he’s here to run and catch, and lest you believe that comparing him to the much-maligned former Jays outfielder Bradley Zimmer is unfair, well, Straw has an OPS+ of 69 so far this season, meaning he’s been 31 per cent worse than the average major-league hitter. Zimmer’s career OPS+ was 71.

In the absence of Daulton Varsho, due to return soon from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since the end of May, Straw has served as a near-perfect replacement.

“It’s been a pleasure watching him run around in centre field,” said infielder Ernie Clement, who saw Straw do that back when they were teammates in Cleveland. “He just makes all the plays look so easy. A lot of them can fly under the radar because of how smooth he is and how easy he makes it look.”

Straw knows who he is as a player.

“I try to go out there and help the pitchers out and try to be a pest at bat,” said the Californian, who also played with George Springer, Andrés Giménez and Nick Sandlin before coming to the Jays.

He needed a fresh start, and he loves that it has come in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.

“I don’t think there’s anything else like it in baseball,” Straw said of playing for a country’s lone team. “The stadium’s sick. I fell in love with this place years ago, before I even played here. To be able to call it a home field now is surreal. When this place gets rocking, it’s insane.”

And when Varsho comes back to patrol centre, Straw will be on the bench, ready to help out when the Jays have a lead in the late innings.

“Hit a fly ball,” pitcher Chris Bassitt said, daring the opposition. “You’re going to be in trouble if you hit a fly ball. The outfield becomes really small with those two out there, for sure.”