{"id":690507,"date":"2026-05-05T00:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T00:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/690507\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T00:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T00:12:19","slug":"concern-grows-for-george-springer-after-second-straight-absence-from-blue-jays-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/690507\/","title":{"rendered":"Concern Grows for George Springer After Second Straight Absence From Blue Jays Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> right-handed slugger George Springer<\/a>\u2019s season has not gone according to plan. Now in the final year of his six year, $150 million contract signed in 2021, Springer remains an important piece of Toronto\u2019s lineup every day. He had a resurgent year in 2025, finishing seventh in American League MVP voting and earning a Silver Slugger Award.<\/p>\n

He helped Toronto reach the World Series for the first time in more than three decades, and although the club fell short, expectations remained high for 2026.<\/p>\n

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However, Springer has not only struggled at the plate, batting just .212 with a .307 on-base percentage and .670 OPS in 18 games, but he also has been unavailable. As a result, the Blue Jays enter Monday two games under .500 and seven games behind the New York Yankees<\/a> for first place in the AL East.<\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/p>\n

Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer (4) \u00a9 Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Springer missed 15 games in April after being hit by a pitch on his left big toe, which caused a fracture. He was activated off the 10-day injured list this past Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, he played only four games before reinjuring the same toe. On Saturday, he was drilled in the exact spot by Minnesota Twins<\/a> pitcher Connor Prielipp and immediately left the game.<\/p>\n

X-rays revealed no new structural damage. However, Springer did not play Sunday in the series finale against Minnesota, but manager John Schneider said it was a planned off day regardless of Saturday\u2019s incident. That created hope Springer would return for Monday\u2019s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, that was not the case. Toronto announced its lineup, and Springer was absent, with Daulton Varsho<\/a> stepping in as the designated hitter<\/a>. Blue Jays fans expressed concern in the comments under the team\u2019s post on X.<\/p>\n

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“No Springer \ud83d\ude2c,” wrote one fan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“So Springer going back on the IL again?” a fan asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another added<\/a>, “Still no springer? Thought it wasn\u2019t anything big.”<\/p>\n

“Springer \u2639\ufe0f,” said one more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One fan wrote<\/a>, “Hopefully George is making a speedy recovery!”<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays have dealt with numerous injuries early in the year to their position player group beyond Springer. Alejandro Kirk<\/a> and Addison Barger<\/a> have not played since early April. Toronto may simply be exercising caution with one of its best players, but with the team already in a hole, they cannot afford to lose Springer again.<\/p>\n

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Related: Blue Jays Receive Alejandro Kirk Injury Update Before Rays Game<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on May 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toronto Blue Jays right-handed slugger George Springer\u2019s season has not gone according to plan. Now in the final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":690508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2378],"tags":[6081,3426,5,377,2554,854,311,60,4,62,15680,68,282,70,2553],"class_list":["post-690507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto-blue-jays","tag-addison-barger","tag-alejandro-kirk","tag-baseball","tag-blue-jays","tag-bluejays","tag-daulton-varsho","tag-george-springer","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-silver-slugger-award","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-torontobluejays"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116519079467009440","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690507","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=690507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}