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Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Yohendrick Pinango strokes a two-run double against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
Yohendrick Pinango watched the World Series from his home in Venezuela last fall. A Blue Jays minor leaguer at the time, he dreamed of the moment that he would reach the major leagues.
That finally happened for the 24-year-old outfielder last month when he was called up from Triple-A Buffalo after Nathan Lukes got hurt.
“I’m excited to be in the big leagues,” Pinango said Friday, a few hours before Toronto defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2, at Rogers Centre. “It is unbelievably special for me to be here.”
The Blue Jays are glad to have him.
Pinango delivered a two-run double in the third inning to give Toronto a 3-1 lead that it never relinquished. It was their third straight victory as their record improved to 24-27.
Kevin Gausman (4-3) earned the win. He pitched 6 2/3rds innings and allowed one run and six hits. He also struck out eight and issued just one walk.
Louis Varland came on in relief with none out and two runners on in the eighth and retired the next six batters to recorded his seventh save.
Pinango played in the Chicago Cubs system for nearly six years before he was dealt to the Blue Jays in July of 2024 along with infielder Josh Rivera for pitcher Nate Pearson.
He has patiently climbed the ladder through multiple stints at Double-A New Hampshire and Buffalo. At the end of 2025 and early this year he batted .363 for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League.
He hoped to make Toronto’s opening-day roster but didn’t.
“I knew I would start in Buffalo but my goal was to get to the big leagues in 2026,” he said with interpreting help from teammate Jesus Sanchez. “When I got sent down at the beginning of the season I understood that it is normal in baseball.”
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Pinango was hitting .288 for Buffalo when Lukes suffered a hamstring injury. Lukes has begun a rehabilitation assignment in the minors and could be back in the fold as early as next week.
There is little chance that Pinango will be returned to the minors again. He entered Friday hitting .298 with 17 hits in his first 20 major-league games, and has now gone 7-for-16 with nine runs driven in with runners in scoring position.
Manager John Schneider said that nothing he has done so far is a surprise.
“One thing that stands out overall is how he is commanding the strike zone,” Schneider said as he addressed journalists in his office before Friday’s contest. “We knew he was going to take some aggressive swings. He isn’t scared in any situation.”
Pinango has made the most of this opportunity thus far.
“I saw teammates in the minors make their major-league debuts and that really pushed me to try harder,” he said. ”They told me that eventually my big moment would come.”
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Pinango sports Toronto’s signature home run jacket after swatting his first deep shot in the majors at Detroit on May 16.Duane Burleson/Getty Images
Toronto came into the weekend with a 23-27 record, still good enough for third in the American League East. It just returned from a road trip against Detroit and the New York Yankees during which it went 4-3.
“We have been inconsistent but I think we are trending in the right direction,” Schneider said. “Have we played up to our expectations? No. You hope things even out over the rest of the season.”
In his second game against the Tigers, Pinango swatted his first big-league homer, a line drive to right field off reliever Kyle Finnegan.
“That was my first ‘I am really here’ experience when it comes to being in the major leagues,” Pinango said, now with help from team translator Hector Lebron. “As I ran around the bases I was happy because I’d get to wear the home run jacket for the first time.”
As he stepped on home plate, Brandon Valenzuela, Toronto’s rookie catcher, had the jacket waiting for him.
Toronto won close games in the Bronx on Wednesday and Thursday. The visit to the House that Ruth Built was another wow moment.
“I felt a little more nervous there than in my first game in Toronto,” he said.
After Friday’s triumph he felt grateful.
“I thank the Lord for everything that has happened to me,” he said, again through Lebron. “You have to believe in yourself when you get here. You have to be confident that you are a big leaguer.”
