3 Blue Jays who need to step up with George Springer on the IL

This past Saturday, the injury woes for the Toronto Blue Jays and their 2026 MLB season continued when George Springer suffered a fractured toe after fouling a pitch off his left foot during the game against the Minnesota Twins. He managed to stay in the game until the sixth inning when he was eventually removed and replaced by outfielder Myles Straw. After further scans, Springer has now been officially placed on the 10-day IL, adding another member to the Blue Jays’ long list of casualties.

Now with one of their veteran power hitters out, the Blue Jays will be looking to fill the offensive void. There's at least three Blue Jays players who will need to drastically step up their game with Springer on the injured list to make that happen

With George Springer on the IL his teammates will need to step up

Whoever leads off for the Blue Jays

Springer had been a mainstay for the Blue Jays at the top of the lineup. He has helped set the tone for Toronto to give them all the chance to win this year. As a result, whoever fills in for Springer during his absence, that player will need to produce in that very spot. That responsibility fell on the shoulders of Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement on Sunday as he was given the first crack at that spot by Blue Jays’ manager John Schneider.

In response to the given honour, Clement made a great first impression, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored in a losing cause against the Twins on Sunday. Prior to that, the 30-year-old infielder has posted just a .239 average, .560 OPS, along with five runs scored, four RBIs and two stolen bases in 47 total plate appearances in his career batting leadoff. Whether Clement ends up staying in that spot in the lineup or not, the Blue Jays will need more of what he did on Sunday to help keep the lineup rolling with Springer on the sidelines.

Kazuma Okamoto

As one of the biggest bats that the Blue Jays acquired this past offseason to help provide an offensive boost to the lineup, Kazuma Okamoto has struggled in recent games after a strong start to his MLB career. He registered two home runs in his first four games of the season with Toronto, but Okamoto has now gone just 4-for-26 with zero runs scored, zero home runs and zero RBIs along with six strikeouts in his last seven games.

Perhaps major league pitchers have started to figure out the 29-year-old Japanese star, or perhaps his still needs an adjustment period in coming over to North America after spending more than 11 seasons in Japan. Nevertheless, Okamoto has accumulated just a .204/.283/.333 slash line with four runs scored, two home runs and three RBIs in 14 games played with Toronto.

More importantly, with the Blue Jays lineup now depleted of power-producing hitters with Springer, Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger all out, Okamoto will need to find a way to turn his game around and start contributing offensively once again as soon as possible.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

But of all of the players that the Blue Jays need to step up their production, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the one that they really need to help carry the team at this moment. With Springer now missing from the top of the lineup, Guerrero will have to lead the way in both generating and driving in runs for the top half of the batting order for the Blue Jays in order for them to have any winning success going forward.

Not that his current .321 batting average and .880 OPS is anything to be ashamed about. But the fact that Guerrero has only recorded one home run and five RBIs through 15 games this season is a bit of a cause for concern. With that, the 27-year-old star first baseman is on pace for just 11 home runs and 54 RBIs for the 2026 year.

Obviously, Guerrero won’t be producing at such a low rate for the entire season, as he is too good to stay unproductive for too long. But with the Blue Jays now desperate for offense more than ever, he will need to pick up his play significantly in the coming days before Toronto’s season starts to spiral out of control. Given what we had saw from Guerrero in his performance during the 2025 postseason and this past Spring Training and at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, we certainly should believe that he has the ability to do just that.