Prior to today’s 8-4 win over the Athletics, the Blue Jays placed center fielder Daulton Varsho on the 10-day injured list and activated right-hander Erik Swanson from the 60-day IL to make his season debut. Left-hander Easton Lucas was optioned to Triple-A and second baseman/outfielder Davis Schneider was called up in the corresponding moves.
Varsho is dealing with a left hamstring strain suffered in Saturday’s game, as he came up limping while rounding second base in an attempt to stretch a double into a triple. Varsho was immediately removed from the game and an IL placement seemed inevitable, though manager John Schneider told MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other reporters today that Varsho sustained a relatively less-serious Grade 1 strain.
This still means Varsho will miss at least a couple of weeks of action, and it puts him back on the IL for the second time this season. Varsho had surgery last September on his right rotator cuff, and spent the first month of the 2025 campaign finishing off his injury rehab and getting his throwing arm back in game-ready shape. Since making his season debut on April 29, Varsho is hitting .207/.240/.543 with eight home runs over an even 100 plate appearances, displaying his usual recipe of power but not much in the way of average, OBP, or steady contact (Varsho has struck out in 31 of those 100 PA).
Beyond the numbers at the plate, Varsho has also displayed his customary stellar glovework in center field. The Jays have another quality defender in Myles Straw who can fill in while Varsho is out, and as Matheson notes, the club will probably re-deploy the Straw/Nathan Lukes platoon used in center field during Varsho’s first IL stint. George Springer, Alan Roden, or Jonatan Clase could also rotate into center field in a pinch, though Schneider said Springer had a minor ankle tweak in today’s game.
While it doesn’t appear as though Springer’s ankle issue is too serious, Toronto can hardly afford another outfield injury with Varsho and Anthony Santander already sidelined. Given the thin outfield, Davis Schneider is likely to primarily be used in left field during his latest stint in the majors. Second baseman Andres Gimenez is also expected back from his own IL stint in a few days’ time, and the resulting shuffle in the infield could see the hot-hitting Addison Barger moved into corner outfield duty.
Turning to the mound, Swanson ended up as the winning pitcher today, despite looking a little shaky (1 ER on a wild pitch, and a hit batter) in his lone inning of work. A median nerve entrapment sidelined Swanson during Spring Training, and he ended up being moved to the 60-day IL in early May when some forearm soreness delayed the start of a planned minor league rehab assignment.
Overall, Swanson has been quite solid in his two-plus seasons in Toronto, as he was outstanding in 2023 and then recaptured that form in the second half of the 2024 campaign. However, the first half of 2024 was marred by injuries, as well as some off-the-field trauma when Swanson’s four-year-old son was hospitalized after being hit by a car in February of that year. (Fortunately, young Toby was released from hospital within two weeks.)
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