Center fielder George Springer will make his long-awaited Blue Jays debut Wednesday against the Nationals, the team announced. Springer will serve as Toronto’s designated hitter and bat in the leadoff spot. In other moves, the Blue Jays placed left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu on the 10-day injured list with a right glute strain, optioned first baseman/DH Rowdy Tellez to its alternate site and recalled lefty Travis Bergen.
The Blue Jays signed Springer to the offseason’s richest free-agent guarantee, a six-year, $150MM pact, but have not gotten a single at-bat from the ex-Astros standout this year. Springer suffered an oblique strain during the spring, and just when it appeared he would return, he went down with a quad strain. The three-time All-Star didn’t recover from the latter injury as quickly as expected, so the club has spent the month relying on Randal Grichuk and Jonathan Davis in center.
Grichuk has hit a more-than-respectable .289/.345/.500 with four home runs in 84 plate appearances, thus helping the Springer-less Jays stay afloat in the early going with an even 11-11 record. Springer has enjoyed a much better career than Grichuk, though, having slashed .270/.361/.491 hitter with 174 homers over 3,587 PA. The 31-year-old is also above average in the outfield, where he has posted 26 Defensive Runs Saved and a 10.4 Ultimate Zone Rating since entering the league in 2014.
Springer’s activation spells bad news for Tellez, who has gotten off to a poor start this year with a .183/.222/.267 line and one homer in 63 trips to the plate. Those numbers are a far cry from Tellez’s output in 2020, when it appeared the 26-year-old broke out with a .283/.346/.540 showing and slugged eight HRs over 127 PA.
The Springer addition is a welcome one for Toronto’s offense, but the Ryu loss is a tough blow for its pitching staff. Ryu’s IL placement is retroactive to April 26, but he’ll still miss at least one start. The Jays’ ace exited his latest start this past Sunday after throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Rays, and has recorded a 2.60 ERA on the season over 27 2/3 frames. Ryu, Ross Stripling, T.J. Zeuch and Nate Pearson represent starting options on the IL for the club, which will somehow have to battle through those absences and cobble together a rotation.
Yeeesh. No Springer, Hernandez, Pearson Merryweather and Jays are at .500 going like 4-2 vs Rays/Yankees
Not to mention they’re like in last place with RISP. Batting has been really disappointing but somehow they’re 3-1 vs Glasnow, Cole x2, and Scherzer.
If everything clicks and becomes healthy, they’re going to win the AL East. No joke
lol
funniest post of the day
They will be better. But they also can’t expect the bullpen to continue to perform at the current level, which has directly contributed to their weathering or the storm
they wont even finish 2nd…..
That’s just as irrational as the post you’re replying to
This is a good team. As the season goes on and teams getter a clearer picture in their respective crystal balls, I think some pitching will become available and the Jays should be positioned to strike. Won’t take a lot to make them dangerous in the post season. Better health provided.
Yea as a jays fan the pitching staff needs to really continue to iver preform to make the post season. If Matz and Ray keep this up they have a chance, the bullpen is better then they get credit for but they aren’t top 3 like there ERA says
We skipped last year’s but it’s Ryu’s annual trip to the IL!!!
This time it seems to be genuine as opposed to the Dodgers who used the 10-day IL to keep their starters rested.
When Hernandez comes back, Davis or Milone will be the odd one out.
It’ll probably be Davis since he has options.
Guessing that rowdy is the odd man out as they plan to DH an OF and let himself sort out in the Alt site.
Hopefully Ryu misses the minimum.
I wonder how much booing Springer will get now that he left Houston.
He’ll fare better than Altuve and Correa… unlike them, he publicly apologized and repented for his actions. The aforementioned duo both have, to this point, skirted around the issue.
I feel like Altuve has apologized. Correa has just ate it up, and made the most of being the bad guy. It seems like it’s more about hating the team and not the individual players involved.
Also, once Correa becomes a free agent many fans will be ready to forgive if he’s on their team. It’s just a ton of hypocrisy in my opinion
Why is Springer not playing in the outfield? If he is not ready to play why activate him and take chances?
With Ryu going on the DL just shows how reliable Roger’s media is…I just today read a story from a Rogers employee that stated Ryu will not need a DL stint and will be ready for his next start…..some things never change.
Ease him into game action. Its pretty common. Don’t understand why it upsets you.
He thinks Springer should be ready to play the outfielder. Not much to understand although you know little, Yankee fan. Since you’re all about soft, coddling MLB players Stevie the logical “ease into game action” is a pinch hitting opportunity. Don’t forget your helmet on your walk tonight.
Well he is not ready then …why are you saying it upsets me…was just stating the fact if he can’t play why activate him and NO it is not common practice EXCEPT in Toronto. Lots of teams bring players back and put them in their respective position especially in the National league where there is no DH to make that excuse.
To add to it Darthyen, you “ease” a guy in by batting him leadoff? Yeah, sure. More like a situation where they hope he doesn’t hurt himself for a 3rd time the last 6 weeks or so.
Springer needs that trashcan