TORONTO -- Baseball moves quickly. Less than 24 hours after Daulton Varsho went down with a left hamstring injury against the A’s, the Blue Jays are trying to fit their crowded, complicated outfield puzzle together again.
The good news, relatively speaking, is that Varsho has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, which is on the lower end of severity. He was placed on the 10-day IL prior to Sunday’s finale against the A’s at Rogers Centre, with Davis Schneider coming back the other way from Triple-A Buffalo. For now, John Schneider says the club will take this injury a week at a time.
“You’re not excited to get the news, but I think a Grade 1 [strain] was the best possible outcome,” John Schneider said.
Life without Varsho won’t be easy, especially given that Anthony Santander is on the IL with him. The Blue Jays’ outfield depth is coming in handy more than they’d like, but there are options for Schneider and his staff to play with. It’s just about playing the right notes at the right times.
In the early days, you can expect to see plenty of Nathan Lukes and Myles Straw in center, operating in a soft platoon similar to what we saw in the first month of the season as Varsho finished rehabbing from 2024 right shoulder surgery. The impact of Varsho’s hamstring injury will stretch well beyond that, though.
Schneider gets another shot
On Opening Day, the idea was for Davis Schneider to be a lefty masher who could slide between left field and the odd day at second base. That didn’t work in April, but after a strong stretch in Triple-A, he’s back for more and started at second on Sunday, likely the last day that position will be open before Andrés Giménez returns from the IL Tuesday.
“He’s just getting back to himself. With [Davis] Schneid[er], it’s all about getting a good pitch and not missing it,” John Schneider said. “When he’s been good here, that’s been the case. And when he’s been good in Buffalo, that’s the case, too. He was kind of slow to get going when he went down, but he’s swung it a lot better lately. It’s nothing crazy with him. Get a good pitch and hit it hard.”
Door cracks open for Roden
Also up from Triple-A is Alan Roden who, like Schneider, cracked the Opening Day roster but was optioned back to Buffalo after a slow start. After being recalled to fill Santander's roster spot on Friday, the 25-year-old has another opportunity to stick, even beyond Varsho or Santander’s returns.
“It seems like we have a lot of outfielders. Ideally, he’s facing right-handers, but we happened to run into three of four lefties [against the A’s]," Schneider said on Roden. "We’d like to get him in on Tuesday against the Phillies, so a combination of him, Lukes and Clase, you’ve got to pick your spots a little bit. I really, really like what he’s doing offensively and want to get him in there.”
What about Barger?
Addison Barger needs to be in Toronto's lineup. He’s earned it, entering Sunday with an .802 OPS and 11 doubles across 37 games. There will be some overlap, though, when Giménez returns and Ernie Clement can no longer play second. This could mean we see Barger back in the outfield a bit more with Clement at third, particularly against lefties, who Clement is crushing.
“We’ve talked about that with the way Addy is swinging it,” Schneider said. “He’s playing so good at third, too, so it’s easy to have some sort of platoon with him and Ernie there. You can mix George in as a DH, have Giménez at second, Ernie at third and Addy in the outfield, too, so his work will probably be shifted a little bit.”
George Springer, 'Offensive Player'
That Barger idea brings us to George Springer, who could then move to the DH spot more often. This would allow John Schneider to max out the offensive potential of his lineup and keep the 35-year-old fresh.
“He enjoys DHing. He calls it ‘offensive player’ because you have to run the bases, too,” Schneider said. “George is going to have to play quite a bit and we’ll monitor his time in the field. I’m looking for the other guys -- for Lukes, Clase, Roden -- to step up a little bit with Varsho and Santander out. If George splits 50-50 outfield and DH, so be it.”