The Blue Jays’ 6-2 loss to the Mariners in Game 5 of the ALCS puts the Jays down 3-2 in the series, and in must-win mode heading into Game 6 in Toronto on Sunday. With such a critical game coming up, the Jays are also facing an injury question to one of their best hitters, as George Springer was removed from Game 5 of the ALCS after being hit in the right knee by a Bryan Woo fastball.
Facing Woo in the seventh inning, Springer was drilled directly on the right kneecap by the pitch, leaving the designated hitter down for several minutes in obvious pain. Springer eventually got up and gingerly walked to first base while trying to lightly jog to test his knee, but it was clear that Springer could barely walk properly (let alone run) and Joey Loperfido took over as a pinch-runner.
Talking to the Canadian Press and other media post-game, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Springer was dealing with a right knee contusion and that x-rays were negative. Springer is day-to-day for now, and a return for Game 6 wasn’t ruled out. As Schneider put it, “he’ll have to really, really be hurting to not be in the lineup on Sunday.”
The off-day before Game 6 will help Springer’s chances of being ready, yet it is hard to imagine that he would be 100 percent given the clear discomfort all over Springer’s face in the aftermath of the hit-by-pitch. Operating as a DH means that Springer can limit his involvement solely to hitting, yet his ability to run is now a clear question mark going into the biggest game of the Jays’ season.
Since the injury appears to be just day-to-day, it can be assumed the Blue Jays aren’t considering removing Springer from the ALCS roster. Such a move would eliminate Springer from inclusion for the Jays’ potential World Series roster, and while just getting past the Mariners is Toronto’s more immediate concern, the club isn’t going to end Springer’s season unless he is entirely compromised physically.
Springer’s comeback year has been arguably the key element to the Jays’ success in 2025. It seemed like Springer was on the decline after underwhelming performances in both 2023-24, but he roared back to hit .309/.399/.560 with 32 home runs over 586 plate appearances. Springer’s 166 wRC+ was both the highest of his 12-year big league career, and the third-highest mark in all of baseball this season (behind just Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani). The output has continued in the postseason, as Springer has hit .256/.318/.615 with three homers in 44 PA during the Blue Jays’ playoff run.
If only he knew what pitch was coming..
Tough road for the Jays at this point. Having to go into an elimination game possibly missing their two best hitters in Bichette and Springer.
Also, pretty classless by the Mariners fans who booed him after he got up. Not all M’s fan that were at the game were doing it, I’m sure, but the ones who did are garbage.
@Canuckleball
My understanding is that Jays fans there were booing the pitcher for hitting George. Probably a mix of both. Honestly, It’s just booing. If you’re going to take the emotions out of the game then let’s just run computer models for these games and fans can watch and boo at home.
I’m not talking about booing in general. I had no problem with the Seattle fans booing Springer every at bat. I get it.
It’s generally understood there are always only 2 acceptable responses to an injured player when he gets up. You either cheer politely, or you shut up.
I also don’t buy for a second that Jays fans were booing the pitcher at that moment. They would have been too busy cheering Springer for getting up. The boo’s started up almost the instant he started getting to his feet.
I agree as a die hard Mariners Fan it was classless. I was texting my son about not feeling bad about him getting hurt. It is wrong to boo but also wrong to cheer a player getting hurt. The boos started up and I said it is classless. The Mariners fans can boo him when ho goes to the plate. They can boo him when he gets on base and many other times. You can’t boo any player when he gets hurt. Doing so is beyond classless. I believe a few people started it and the rest joined in not really understanding why they were booing. Come on Seattle keep it classy.
@Canuckleball
So, you’re talking about unwritten rules. While I don’t boo injured players, I also understand that sports is about emotions for many fans and that’s how people function at a sports event in the playoffs. If you grew up in the 70s to 90s, you’d know about the emotional environment in the playoffs not only from fans but from the players as well. I think we’ve become sterile to the idea that we have to remove emotion from the game as the game became more corporate.
Wooooooo!
This is not unwritten rules those are different and BB has the most of any sport. It is a being a good human. Teams in the ALW and those they beat in the playoffs have a right to be mad. What the Astros did was beyond the game. Those were unwritten rules.
I laugh when a pitcher gets mad when a baserunner is reading his grip in the glove. Then the pitcher gets mad. That is as old as BB. Using cameras and electronics to see and report is not. In fact the 3 games we fell apart in NY Judge and others were stealing Munoz grip in his glove. Munoz had to adjust. He didn’t get mad just made a changes. All fans that booed should be ashamed hate the player but never boo an injured player.
One of my friends was at the game by himself, in a whole section of mariner fans. I asked him this morning what happened in that moment and he said he was shocked at the way fans were acting and some of the horrible insults they were hurling out at a clearly injured player.
I’m not saying that jays fans don’t act like idiots as well. (See game 5 2015 ALDS garbage thrown on field and WC game 2016 where dude threw beer can at Kim in LF). But there truly is no reason to cheer someone getting hurt, it’s really ugly.
Imo their best hitter is VG Jr. The booing was off putting, but I was wondering if some of it was aimed at Woo from the Toronto fans.
I was meaning over the season. Bichette has been their best pure contact guy, and Springer was the best overall. Vladdy has actually showed up in the playoffs which has helped make up for missing Bo, but it’s still a depleted offense at this point if Springer is no longer close to 100%.
Yeah, definitely weakens Toronto’s offense w/out those two.
More or less classless that cheating to win a World Series?
i would boo him and every other player on that 2017 Astros team. All should have banned
You don’t know what you’re talking about. At all.
They weren’t booing, they were saying boo-urns.
They’re booing him because he’s a cheater. You can call that classless but there’s nothing more classless than cheating to win a World Series.
@rct
What’s wrong with cheating to win? MLB didn’t punish the players so no harm. Sounds like you’re angry because your team is bad at playing the game.
@Old York,
To quote Sheila Broflovski, “WHAT. WHAT. WHAAAT?!”
@Bart Harley Jarvis
Calm down… You’re still sore about losing to the lowly Dodgers.
Good point.
I think you just write this stuff to be contradictory. When the Yankees were reading the grip of Munoz out of his glove that is part of the game. When you use cameras and relay the pitch through electronics or beating trash cans that is cheating. Not part of the game.
As for MLB doing nothing that was just weak. They didn’t want to pull the title because how far back do you go? You can’t just hand it to the team they beat in the WS. Because how many games did they win in regular season because of the cheating? What about the team they beat to get to the WS? They took the easy way out. Don’t interview anyone unless they give you amnesty. How many people believe they cheated? Only real BB fans I know that think they didn’t are Astros fans. I guess they can ignore just about anything for the championship.
By the way how is that Billion dollar team that is such a better defensive team doing? The poor old Mariners that can’t defense a barn did you say is still playing. They are also playing some stellar D. Keep buying players we will keep growing our own. Won’t have the payroll but will have players that are grateful to be here not to cash a check.
@compassrose
That’s the thing, though. Over how many decades were players cheating and doing whatever they could to get an advantage. If MLB wants to be pure, then they should gut their history and remove all those who cheated in history.
Old York
I don’t consider sign stealing cheating. It has been part of the game forever. I do think that using cameras and binoculars then sending them to players electronically or by banging garbage cans cheating.
Just saw a video where Cal was on 2nd would drop his right arm for fastball and left arm for not a fastball. Remember part of the Ms downfall in NY where Judge and others were doing the same. Munoz was holding his glove open where when they showed it you could almost see his grip on TV. That was not cheating. IMHO it is part of the game.
See the 2018 Red Sox
Right player for the joke. Wrong team.
Don’t like Springer or any 2017 Astros, but that was bush league for Mariners fans to cheer a potential injury.
Bush league is needing to cheat to win.
New to baseball? Finding an angle to skirt the rules is a time honored tradition
The Ms were cheated against by the Astros and Springer as much as any team since it was still a weighted schedule then. Seattle doesnt claim to have some moral high ground. We hate cheaters, especially since none of the players were ever punished and none have ever taken responsibility. We booed Correa on the Twins and Bregman on the Astros too. He wasn’t hit in the head, blood wasn’t pouring out, and it wasn’t intentional. After that, karma is a biotch.
I’m sure Seattle fans booed Teoscar too every time he came up in a Mariners jersey, right? You Pearl clutchers who still hold what was a widespread issue across the league against these guys almost a decade later are so unserious.
Nope. Wrong. I went to the Dodgers-Mariners final series of the season a few weeks ago and Mariners fans cheered Teoscar every time that he came to the plate. He is a good guy!
So is George
Since we’re playing this game. Teo played 1 game in 2017. One, then was traded to the Blue Jays.
Make sure you boo Polanco when he’s up too then if you hate them so much. I wouldn’t act so “mightier than thou” for an issue that was known to be widespread. If you believe in karma, you wouldn’t have such a horrible take.
Agree….and he is having a great series.
2018 Red Sox cheated also but nobody seems to get salty about that team.
Damn
John Schneider is going to have a hard time not playing Springer. Pretty sure Springer will do everything he can to be in a Game 6 elimination game. Hopefully the day off helps, that must have hurt like an mfer…
Sounds like the x-rays were positive, actually.
Good for the Jays. George is the engine of that team.
Mariner fans were hoping for a cracked knee cap. Sorry you classless punks.
No, the classless punk is the trash can man with owie on his knee.
Is Mookie Betts a classless punk too ?
Using video and buzzers. That’s cheating. Stealing signs, that’s baseball. Don’t pretend like it’s otherwise!
Exactly. And a much more direct approach than PEDs or Anabolic Steroids.
Like Josh Naylor’s imitation of a NSO on a air craft carrier
My goodness that looked painful. He’s very fortunate his kneecap didn’t break.
Dirty play, league should step in.
Are you kidding? Did you watch the game? Bryan Woo was not trying to hit George Springer. He did not want runners on base and that is not who he is. He has not pitched for over a month!!!!! Perhaps he did not have a great feel for every pitch. I am a Mariners fan and I hope that George is OK and can play on Sunday. He is having a great series. Woo was not in any way trying to hit him.
George. Get out, and I cannot stress this enough, of the f***ing way
I’m pretty sure there were more Jays fans booing Woo at the stadium than Mariners fans cheering Springer getting hit.
Springer will kill someone before he’s taken out of the lineup.
Unlike his teammate, particular shortstop who will not be named
George is the man
Most of those guys are ballers who would do just about anything to stay in the game, and then there’s the soon to be free age t, Bo Bitchette. Crazy to think that at one point I was hoping they’d sign him instead of vladdy.