The Springer news is relatively good
PLUS: Kevin Smith is coming to join the Jays as Rafael Dolis is designated for assignment
Here on Wednesday afternoon the Blue Jays have provided us with an update on Springer’s status, and the news is — remarkably, considering the dark cloud hanging over these Blue Jays of late — actually pretty good. So let’s talk about it!
⚾ But first let me take a second to try to earn a living. Because if you’d like to receive an immediate email every single time I post something on the site, or would like to upgrade to a paid membership in order to support what I do and help keep these posts free for everybody, you can do all that with just a couple of clicks and I would be eternally grateful to you if you did! ⚾
According to the Blue Jays, George Springer suffered a Grade 1 knee sprain in his collision with the fence in Seattle that has kept him out since Sunday and landed him on the injured list.
Ah, but the news is even better than that, actually. Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reports that the Blue Jays’ “staff in D.C. feel the injury to Springer is ‘week to week,’” and that it is “considered less severe than the one which sidelined Bichette four weeks last year.”
That would line up with just about the most optimistic timeline that I was discussing in yesterday’s post. Here’s what I wrote at the time about the Jays’ upcoming schedule:
If the injury ends up not being too bad and he only needs the minimum, Springer will be eligible to return on Wednesday, August 25th, which is the third game of a four-game set against the White Sox. If that's the case he'll have missed a win against the Mariners, a pair of off days, two against the Nationals, three against the Tigers, and two against the White Sox. And if his injury goes beyond that, after the four against Chicago it's three in Detroit, then three against Baltimore, then an off day before the schedule finally takes a serious turn with three against the A's in Toronto and four against the Yankees in the Bronx.
I don’t know if today’s news puts that run of crucial games (and yes, they’re still crucial, relax) against the A’s and Yankees into play, but I don’t think we can yet rule them out either. It will just depend on the healing process — and on that front everyone is obviously different. That said, based on what we saw earlier in the season, I’m sure Springer is going to do absolutely everything in his power to ensure that he gets back on the field as quickly as possible. (Though, uh, that didn’t exactly work out well the last time.)
So, “not necessarily catastrophic” is how I’d describe this. Which, again, based on the way things have been going lately kind of feels like a win.
Meanwhile, after Wednesday night’s game, Sportsnet’s Jamie Campbell reported that infielder Kevin Smith is being summoned from the minors to join the Blue Jays and help replace some of the offensive firepower they’ve lost with Springer out.
Smith, you may recall, had a breakout 2018 that landed him at number 91 on Baseball America's top 100 prospects lists heading into the 2019 season. Between Lansing and Dunedin in '18 he slashed .302/.358/.528 while smashing 25 home runs and playing very steady (if unspectacular) defence at shortstop.
“Smith raised his stock in 2018, albeit as a college player dominating Class A competition,” BA wrote at the time. “Double-A New Hampshire will give Smith a chance to prove himself against upper-level pitchers.”
Prove himself he did not. Smith was awful at New Hampshire in 2019, slashing just .209/.263/.402 and then going to the Arizona Fall League and managing just six hits and three walks in 67 plate appearances. He looked like a busted prospect — and the industry seemed to agree, since the Jays left him unprotected in last year’s Rule 5 draft and nobody bit.
But there’s something else notable in Smith’s earlier scouting reports: his work ethic. Before calling him a “student of the game” in that pre-2019 write-up, BA noted that following his debut season, “Smith called the Blue Jays to ask when was the earliest possible date he could report to their complex in Dunedin.”
Not only will that sort of thing endear a player to the contemporary version of the Toronto Blue Jays organization, it can evidently also help a lot. Smith has had a second breakout this season with Buffalo/Trenton in Triple-A, and there’s a chance that the results are going to be more durable this time.
As I noted in a piece earlier this month, in a recent chat with readers, the Athletic’s Keith Law was asked about Smith’s newfound success. “Now that is a swing change guy,” he wrote. “Different player than he was pre-COVID (or at Maryland, for that matter). He’s gone from a 3 (nothing) to a 5 (everyday player).”
Smith's season this year in Triple-A has been even more impressive than his 2018. He's put up a slash line of .286/.371/.576 with 19 home runs in 82 games. That’s not as impressive in terms of on-base as Cavan Biggio — curiously still rehabbing, and struggling, in Buffalo himself — was during his brief stint in Triple-A before his 2019 call-up, but it’s still an impressive line with more power than Biggio’s was then.
Smith has also cut his strikeout rate from 32.3% at Double-A in 2019 to 23.6% this year, while his walk rate has risen from 6.2% to 11.4% this year.
We'll have to see how his first taste of big league action goes, of course, and he's certainly not going to replace the production that Springer would bring. But this is an interesting guy. And a guy who GM Ross Atkins specifically pumped the tires of heading into the trade deadline — something I suggested was potentially gamesmanship at the time, as I figured Smith was a prime trade candidate for the Jays.
“We're excited about some the pieces that could help from within as well, with Nate Pearson getting healthy again, (and) with the emergence of Kevin Smith in the minor leagues,” he told Sportsnet’s Tim and Friends back in July.
Instead, to pretty much everyone’s surprise, Austin Martin was the shortstop the organization traded away. Part of the reason for that was because that was simply the price they had to pay to acquire José Berríos, but don’t discount the fact that part of it was also because of their belief in Smith.
Meanwhile, in order to find a spot on the roster for Smith, the Jays have had to remove someone from their 40-man. And that person is Rafael Dolis.
Rejoice, Jays fans.
Now, I say that with my tongue at least halfway in cheek. I’ve defended Dolis around here, and I probably would have chosen to DFA Trent Thornton if I had my choice. But there were no wrong answers here. And, honestly, mine is probably the wrong call. Thornton is still relatively young, can have use as a starter, and maybe still be built into something useful. Dolis was incredibly important to the Jays last year, stepped up and pitched (badly) through an injury when the bullpen was a wreck earlier this season, and has had some decent runs in 2021 as well — including a no-run nine game stretch quite recently — but was simply too inconsistent to be reliable. (Also: ass-awful to watch.)
That’s all very accurate, Charlie. Which sure as shit makes you wonder why on earth the Jays brought a guy who was one bad outing from getting DFA’d into a two run game with the momentum just having swung in their favour last night! *COUGH*
At the time of this writing the Jays’ moves are not “official,” but the picture is coming into focus:
And yet, today’s game (if it’s not rained out) will apparently feature Breyvic Valera — another guy who has somewhat inexplicably endeared himself to these Jays — starting at third base and batting sixth. 🤷♂️
At least maybe win this one, eh ya jerks?
Everything is meaningless if they don't fix their bullpen next year.