{"id":565860,"date":"2026-02-11T08:51:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T08:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/565860\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T08:51:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T08:51:37","slug":"blue-jays-john-schneider-shares-george-springer-update-ahead-of-mlb-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/565860\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays&#8217; John Schneider Shares George Springer Update Ahead of MLB Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/toronto-blue-jays\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Toronto Blue Jays;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> had one of <a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:MLB;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">MLB<\/a>\u2019s best offenses in 2025, and much of that core is returning for the upcoming season. That includes <a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/10-greatest-designated-hitters-major-league-baseball-history\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:designated hitter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">designated hitter<\/a> George Springer, who completely revitalized his career last year.<\/p>\n<p>The 36-year-old posted a .309 batting average, .399 on base percentage, .959 OPS, 32 home runs and 84 RBIs across 140 games.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>His transition from full-time outfielder to primary designated hitter proved to be a perfect fit, allowing him to deliver one of the best offensive seasons of his 12-year career.<\/p>\n<p>Springer carried that production into October, delivering one of the most memorable home runs in franchise history during the American League Championship Series to help send Toronto to the World Series.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer (4) \u00a9 Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/c6d3e05818076a46348cc936ccdf857c.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer (4) \u00a9 Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p> (\u00a9 Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n<p>Throughout that postseason run, Springer played through multiple injuries and remained in the lineup despite being banged up. It was the first deep playoff push the Blue Jays had made since he signed his six-year, $150 million contract in 2021, and he was determined to give the organization everything he had.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Those nagging injuries lingered into the winter and ultimately forced him to withdraw from the World Baseball Classic. Springer was initially included on Puerto Rico\u2019s preliminary roster but stepped away from the tournament to focus on his health and report to spring training.<\/p>\n<p>With his status still uncertain, Blue Jays manager John Schneider provided an update on Tuesday regarding the injuries Springer dealt with last year and how he is feeling now. The news was encouraging, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.<\/p>\n<p>Schneider said Springer battled knee and oblique soreness along with right wrist discomfort as the 2025 season progressed. The issues affected his throwing, but the offseason allowed him to recover, and he now says he is prepared to play the outfield whenever needed.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Springer\u2019s readiness to handle more outfield work is especially important following Anthony Santander\u2019s injury, which is expected to keep Santander sidelined for at least five months.<\/p>\n<p>For Springer, the 2026 season could represent his final opportunity to bring a World Series title to Toronto, as his contract expires at the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>He has already built an impressive legacy as a four-time All Star, three-time Silver Slugger and the 2017 World Series MVP. The Blue Jays are counting on him to help lead another championship push.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/blue-jays-announce-anthony-santander-222552444.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Related: Blue Jays Announce Anthony Santander, Shane Bieber News Ahead of MLB Season;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Related: Blue Jays Announce Anthony Santander, Shane Bieber News Ahead of MLB Season<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This story was originally published by <a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\/toronto-blue-jays\/blue-jays-john-schneider-shares-george-springer-update-ahead-of-mlb-season-injury\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Athlon Sports;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Athlon Sports<\/a> on Feb 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the <a href=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/mlb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:MLB;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=athlonsports.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Preferred Source by clicking here.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays had one of MLB\u2019s best offenses in 2025, and much of that core is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2428,383,5,53228,5021,311,4,70,4820],"class_list":{"0":"post-565860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-american-league-championship-series","9":"tag-anthony-santander","10":"tag-baseball","11":"tag-blue-jays-manager","12":"tag-designated-hitter","13":"tag-george-springer","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","16":"tag-world-baseball-classic"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116051148244255993","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}