Anthony Santander, scratched from Game 2 with lower back tightness and removed from Game 3 after scoring from the second in the fifth inning, was substituted off the Toronto Blue Jays’ ALCS roster Thursday and replaced by Joey Loperfido.
Major League Baseball approved the injury switch about an hour before Game 4, a move that required the confirmation of medical director Dr. Gary Green and makes the switch-hitting outfielder ineligible for the World Series, should his team get there.
The Blue Jays submitted the request after deciding that they couldn’t wait for the lumbar spine inflammation to relent.
Speaking before the substitution was confirmed, manager John Schneider said Santander playing in Wednesday’s 13-4 win left him “pretty stiff, sore after.”
“Checked in with him this morning and still felt it, so wanted to hold off as long as we could,” Schneider continued. “But just in talking to him and after getting some treatment, it still felt like it wasn’t the right thing to do to put him out there.”
Asked if the Blue Jays were considering replacing him on the roster, Schneider said, “We’ll see. I think getting checked out by staff, getting checked out by doctors, trying to put a timeline on it, really, is he good today? Can you buy a day? Things like that, all things that we have to consider. So I think we’ll know more in a couple hours, really.”
Loperfido gives the Blue Jays another left-handed bat against a righty-heavy Mariners pitching staff. He’s worked out with the team throughout the playoffs to remain ready in case such an opportunity arose.
Bo Bichette would have been another option, but he hasn’t tried to run the bases again since his truncated attempt Saturday. On Thursday, he continued to run the outfield and took batting practice on the field, but the Blue Jays “are taking it day-by-day with the running part of it and trying to build up every single day.”
