Blue Jays' depth being pushed to limit with Springer placed on IL |
TORONTO – John Schneider’s messages of resolve and leaning into the challenges of an injury-filled start to the 2026 season became all the more necessary Sunday when the Toronto Blue Jays placed George Springer on the injured list.
Though the manager suggested it was possible his team’s leadoff hitter and offensive catalyst might need only a minimum stay of 10 days, a fractured left big toe still made him the club’s 10th player sidelined.
The fallout of the injury suffered in Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins meant that Eloy Jimenez’s contract was selected from triple-A Buffalo and the slugger was inserted into the lineup at DH, batting seventh, with Ernie Clement up in Springer’s leadoff spot.
With Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger also injured in the last week and Anthony Santander lost before spring training started, the Blue Jays’ depth on the position-player side is now being tested the way its pitching staff already has been.
Backfilling the leadoff spot “is going to be, probably a whole lot of different stuff based on the starting pitcher,” said Schneider. “We're going to need some guys to do some things and we're going........