The mystery of George Springer’s health ends with another trip to the IL

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This article was published 05/05/2021 (1652 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A week after making his Blue Jays debut, George Springer is back on the injured list.

News of Springer’s official return to the sidelines landed less than an hour before first pitch against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night. Outfielder Jonathan Davis was recalled to the active roster from the taxi squad for the game.

Imaging from an MRI on Wednesday morning revealed a re-aggravation of a right quad strain, according to the team. Springer first suffered a quad strain on April 6, when he was preparing to come off the injured list from an oblique strain he had been dealing with since spring training. The quad issue kept him out of the lineup another three weeks.

The team was still waiting on results of the MRI when manager Charlie Montoyo met with the media pre-game. At the time, Montoyo said “everything was on the table,” — including a short-term solution like managing with a two-man bench if Springer only needed a couple more days or putting him on the injured list if the issue demanded a more extended rehabilitation.

“The main reason we did (the MRI) was because we just didn’t see him improving fast enough so we decided to get some imaging done to determine the next steps on him,” Montoyo said.

Springer’s return to the IL wraps up days of a will-he-or-won’t-he narrative clouding the outfielder’s status. The outfielder made his Jays debut on April 28. He played four games between last Wednesday and Sunday, breaking out with two home runs and three RBIs in a win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.

But the euphoria of Springer’s first big game for the Jays lasted less than a day. On Sunday, he was removed from a tight contest with Atlanta in the sixth inning with a leg issue the Jays chalked up to fatigue. He sat out for what the club called a pre-planned day off on Monday against Oakland, but didn’t return to the lineup on Tuesday or Wednesday, either, igniting questions about whether he would be able to avoid anyone IL stint.

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The move is retroactive until May 3. While there is currently no timeline on Springer’s return, he will certainly miss playing against his former team, the Houston Astros, when the Jays travel to Minute Maid Park for three games starting on Friday.

Laura Armstrong is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @lauraarmy