George Springer has been placed on the injured list by the Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have been dealt a big blow, especially given the uncertainty of a schedule for Springer’s comeback. The 31-year-old slugger signed a six-year, $150 million contract with the Jays over the offseason, but has spent much of the season on the disabled list due to a prior quadriceps ailment.

George Springer has been placed on the injured list by the Blue Jays

When he’s been healthy enough to play, he’s looked every bit the high-end slugger the Jays wanted to land; in 49 games and 211 plate appearances, Springer has a.269/.362/.610 hitting line with 16 home runs, 12 doubles, a triple, and a pair of steals. Because of Springer’s injury, the Jays will most likely use a combination of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk, Teoscar Hernandez, Corey Dickerson, and Lopez in the outfield and at designated hitter. While Springer recovered from his quad injury, the trio of Gurriel, Grichuk, and Hernandez was highly effective early in the 2021 season, but Grichuk’s bat has wilted somewhat in recent months.

Still, he’s the only genuine center field option on the roster for now, but the Jays might call up Mallex Smith, who was recently acquired, to the MLB roster as a backup. Lopez, 22, is FanGraphs’ No. 23 prospect for the Blue Jays after a good season split between Double-A and Triple-A. He’s slashed in 359 plate appearances, the majority of which came at Double-A. With three home runs, 25 doubles, three triples, and a dozen stolen bases, he hit 324/.398/.451. (in 15 tries). Springer’s latest setback comes at a time when the Jays are nine games above.500 in the American League East, but still eight games behind the division-leading Rays. They’re four games out of the second AL Wild Card spot, which is a more reasonable distance. Springer’s absence, even if only for a short time, is a severe setback to their efforts to close the gap. Although 11 of Toronto’s next 15 games are against teams with winning records below.500, Springer’s absence will undoubtedly be felt.