‘Have to be able to adjust’: Springer joins lengthy list of injured Blue Jays

TORONTO – The relentless injury bug continues to hit the Toronto Blue Jays hard. The latest blow saw George Springer suffer a fractured left big toe in Saturday’s 7-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

The injury occurred after the Blue Jays’ designated hitter fouled a ball off his big toe in the third inning, according to Blue Jays manager John Schneider. Springer was removed from the game in the sixth and replaced by pinch-hitter Myles Straw.

Initial X-rays showed “a possible, probable, small fracture” in his left big toe, Schneider said after the game. Springer was scheduled to receive further imaging on Saturday, after which the Blue Jays expect to learn more about the injury and its recovery timeline.

“We’ll know more in the next couple days,” the Blue Jays manager said.

Springer’s fracture is the latest in a rash of injuries that have impacted the Blue Jays in the first two weeks of the season, both on the pitching and position player side.

The Blue Jays have nine players on the injured list, including two of the best bats in their lineup, Alejandro Kirk (left thumb fracture) and Addison Barger (left ankle sprain), who both went down in the last nine days. Now Springer could hit the IL, too.

The pitching staff hasn’t fared much better.

Three starting pitchers, José Berrios, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber, opened the season on the IL. In his first start on March 30, Cody Ponce suffered an anterior cruciate ligament sprain in his right knee that will sideline him for six months, effectively ending his regular season. Max Scherzer exited his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 6 after two innings with right forearm tendinitis, but the 41-year-old is scheduled to make his start on Sunday in the series finale against the Twins.

Navigating injuries is a part of getting through the 162-game regular season, but dealing with so many injuries to key players in quick succession has been an early test for the reigning American League champions, who are 6-8 this season.

“There’s going to be ups and downs, there’s going to be injuries, and I think the minute we start saying, ‘woe is me, or woe is us, or why us?’ I think that’s when things can really unravel,” Schneider said.

Instead, Schneider has been preaching to his players to embrace the next-man-up mentality.

“I want the guys to just continue to say, ‘OK, what can we do now?’ This is players, coaches, myself. That’s how I’m handling it,” Schneider said. “It’s next man up, and, OK, what are we going to do now? And if it has to look a little bit different, so be it, and you have to be able to adjust.”

Blue Jays starter Eric Lauer said losing Springer’s bat from the lineup will be significant.

“Everybody’s aware of where we’re at, what’s going on, and everybody’s putting their best foot forward and just trying to grind right now. I think that’s all we really can do, is just see what we’re made of and grind as hard as we can,” said the left-hander, who allowed seven earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Twins on Saturday.

Still, Lauer said the relentless nature of the injuries has been difficult.

“It feels like we just keep getting punched in the mouth,” Lauer said. “It’s one of those things where we want it to just stop at some point, but you just got to keep going through it, and try to hope the next guy steps up.”

As the Blue Jays await further word on the extent of Springer’s injury, Schneider said they’ll get creative with the leadoff spot in the lineup.

“We had multiple leadoff hitters in the World Series last year, and guys did their part. We’ll figure it out day by day,” the manager said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2026.