George Springer grabbed his right side after fouling off the first pitch of his seventh-inning at-bat against Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski, then gestured to the Toronto Blue Jays’ first base dugout and promptly came out of the game.
The crowd at Dodger Stadium cheered as Springer, a longtime Dodger nemesis, exited and Ty France prepared for his first at-bat since Sept. 21. Seven more pitches later, France struck out.
While it’s unclear what Springer’s dealing with, his early exit from the game suggests it’s no minor issue. The 36-year-old has already been playing through a knee contusion sustained in Seattle during the ALCS but he has not missed a game to this point.
“You just have to understand and kind of accept that nobody on the field is playing a hundred percent,” Springer said recently. “It’s not just you. And at the end of the day, I don’t really think anybody cares. If you’re out there, you’re expected to play and you’re expected to perform to the best of who you are that day. So for me, it just kind of is what it is. I have a job to do, so I expect to go do it. It doesn’t really matter how I feel.”
If Springer’s injury sidelines him for Game 4, the Blue Jays could use Bo Bichette as their DH while starting someone like Isiah Kiner-Falefa at second base against Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani. While Bichette’s bat is making a difference in the World Series, he has limited mobility as he recovers from a left knee injury, so he didn’t start Game 2.
As for France, an oblique injury sidelined him late in the regular season and the Blue Jays left him off their ALDS and ALCS rosters. But he progressed behind the scenes and the Blue Jays selected him to their World Series roster as a 14th position player.
“Ty’s been working tirelessly since his injury,” GM Ross Atkins said before the World Series began. “He’s gotten back to an incredible position physically, has looked really good in all of his live at-bats and is a good matchup against this team, and that contributed to the decision to keep the extra pitcher off.”
