George Springer left the Blue Jays’ crushing Game 3 loss with what appeared to be a right side injury. Toronto’s leadoff man was leading off the seventh inning and fouled off the first pitch from Justin Wrobleski, then winced and grabbed for his lower right side. After unsuccessfully trying to walk it off, he called for the trainer and was immediately lifted from the game. Manager John Schneider provided details to reporters (including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet) following the 18-inning epic about Springer’s status, revealing he was suffering from “right side discomfort” and had already been sent for an MRI, which the club was awaiting results on.
The possibility of a side injury raises fears about an oblique strain that would certainly put an end to Springer’s series. Even minor oblique strains are an almost automatic injured list stint — usually requiring upwards of a month on the shelf. Springer was able to play through knee discomfort after being hit with a pitch in Game 5 of the ALCS. An oblique injury would be essentially impossible to overcome, as they inhibit a hitter’s ability to rotate through their swing.
Losing Springer would be a massive blow to Toronto’s chances of coming back to pull off an upset in the series. He has four homers and six doubles across 14 postseason contests. None was bigger than the go-ahead, three-run shot off Eduard Bazardo to knock off the Mariners in Game 7 of the Championship Series. Springer is hitting .246/.323/.561 in October. That follows up a resurgent regular season in which he hit .309/.399/.560 with 32 home runs, his best year since 2019.
Ty France came off the bench to work as the designated hitter for last night’s game. It’s unlikely that’d be the plan for the remainder of the Series if Springer is sidelined. Bo Bichette would presumably move to the DH spot for the final few games, which would draw Isiah Kiner-Falefa back in at second base for defensive purposes. Bichette has been limited in his first game action since spraining his knee in early September. He did not start Game 2 and was lifted for Kiner-Falefa as a pinch-runner/defensive substitute in the seventh inning. Bichette has picked up where he’d left off at the plate, though, going 3-7 with a walk and a strikeout in the series.
If Springer cannot return, the Jays would petition MLB to replace him on the roster. Joey Loperfido, who replaced the injured Anthony Santander on the ALCS roster, was dropped from the World Series roster with Bichette and France activated from injury. He’d be the obvious choice to return to the roster in Springer’s place.
I wonder if they’d replace him instead with a fresh arm…
rx – That’s a very good possibility, especially after an 18-inning game last night with games tonight and tomorrow.
They can’t do that. An injured position player has to be replaced with a position player. They can’t replace Springer with a pitcher.
fu – Good catch, thanks! I was so focused on the pitching staff space that I forgot about the same position player requirement.
Being down Springer, Bichette & Santander is tough to manage. Going into the season those were their top 3 players after Vlad.
Any chance it could be a ribcage injury? Either way, he’s likely done for the year.
[tries to think of a trash can joke]
[fails to think of a trash can joke]
[reluctantly settles for Wishing Him The Health He Deserves]
Imagine knowing nothing about baseball like high fly lol
imagine wishing pain on other people who are playing a game
Did you catch that game last night Rocker? One of the most exciting World Series games I can remember. All of us are pretty lucky to live in time with such entertaining World Series games.
Lucky isn’t the word that comes to mind
Would be great if the Dodgers weren’t in it. How much deferred money do they owe?
Discomfort lol