TORONTO — The latest injury twist for the Toronto Blue Jays in this star-crossed opening to the 2026 season came Saturday afternoon when George Springer exited a 7-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins after fracturing his left big toe.
There were no further immediate details on the injury, although he fouled a pitch off his foot in the third inning, when he ended up grounding out to third. Myles Straw ended up hitting for Springer in the sixth, and the Blue Jays have another major personnel loss to manage.
The club’s offensive catalyst, Springer, joins fellow position players Alejandro Kirk (fractured thumb) and Addison Barger (left ankle sprain) on the sidelines, further depleting a lineup that reverted back to its slow start against Joe Ryan after a season-best outburst in Friday’s 10-4 win.
As he so often does, Springer got the Blue Jays going in the first, working a leadoff walk before Daulton Varsho followed by ripping a Ryan four-seamer up and in over the wall in left to open a 2-0 lead.
That advantage was short-lived as Eric Lauer, feeling better after starting in Chicago last week while drained by a flu that ran through the clubhouse, had a third inning that opened with a Brooks Lee solo shot unravel into a decisive seven-run outburst.
A Ryan Jeffers walk with the bases loaded tied the game, Josh Bell followed with a bloop single that dunked just in front of a charging Varsho, and Trevor Larnach capped the rally with a three-run homer with two outs.
The Blue Jays managed only two hits and a walk from there until the ninth, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. opened the inning with a single and Jesus Sanchez followed with a two-run homer that only narrowed the margin.
Covering a Springer absence is no simple task, as the Blue Jays don’t have an obvious candidate to take over the leadoff spot, nor come up to replace the Silver Slugger. Given that DH is now open, Eloy Jimenez, the lumbering slugger who impressed during spring training and is now at triple-A Buffalo with a .775 OPS, is one possibility, while outfielder Yohendrick Pinango, who leads the Bisons with two homers and a .794 OPS, is another.
Regardless of who gets brought up, they’re unlikely to find one player to backfill the gap, and the Blue Jays could also use the DH spot creatively to open up different positions around the diamond, spreading the improvisation in the rotation to the lineup, too.
All of it made president and CEO Mark Shapiro’s words before the season eerily prophetic.
“There’s only one thing that’s certain heading into every Major League Baseball season, and that’s that something unexpected’s going to happen along the way,” he said March 25. “How we adapt and adjust to that will define this group. … Toughest division in baseball. 162 games. Crap’s going to happen that we’re not ready for. Let’s go. Let’s get started. That’s the approach I think our guys will take and we need to take.”
