The Toronto Blue Jays are heading into Game 3 against the Oakland Athletics with a chip on their shoulder. At the same time, other Blue Jays news has emerged regarding George Springer.
Today’s game starts at 3:05 PM Eastern Time.
Toronto Blue Jays Announce Big George Springer News
UPDATE: When the Blue Jays announced the lineup for their final game against the Athletics, a curious name was left off it: Springer.
For the second consecutive game, Springer was not in the lineup. This time, Alejandro Kirk moved into the DH position, making room for Brandon Valenzuela at catcher.
After the disappointment of Game 1, the Blue Jays decided to switch up the lineup for Game 2.
One of the biggest changes involved Springer.
“Blue Jays 9/8
B. Bateman CF
N. Lukes RF
V. Guerrero Jr. 1B
A. Kirk C
J. Smith LF
K. Okamoto 3B
A. Giménez SS
J. Sánchez DH
E. Clement 2B
J. Soriano SP,” Underdog MLB reported.
B. Bateman CF N. Lukes RF V. Guerrero Jr. 1B A. Kirk C J. Smith LF K. Okamoto 3B A. Giménez SS J. Sánchez DH E. Clement 2B
J. Soriano SP
Springer has primarily been the Blue Jays designated hitter for the 2026 season.
John Schneider Offers Thoughts on Josh Smith
Recently, Josh Smith came into the lineup during their Kansas City Royals series.
At the time, John Schneider heralded Smith as an underrated asset.
“When we acquired him, it was under the radar,” Schneider said via MLB.com. “We still think he’s a good player who was having a down year. There are some things, mechanically, for him to get back to.”
“He was aware of that, too. … He made some pretty quick adjustments.”
Smith getting a shot in the starting lineup is a nice gesture toward to trade acquistion.
Reaction to Toronto Blue Jays Lineup Against Oakland Athletics
By and large, the response to Tuesday night’s roster is mostly fans expressing excitement in one way or another.
One user wrote, “a must bounce back i’d say. smith out in left is pretty interesting, hopefully gives us some juice out there. bateman leading off and soriano on the bump, flush last night and take care of business.”
Another user wrote, “This lineup is amazing man wow.”
Finally, another user wrote, “If we lose a series to the Athletics, cancel the rest of the games we don’t deserve to make the playoffs.”
The Athletics are 58-87, putting them 15.5 games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West.
The Blue Jays are in a must-win scenario for Tuesday night’s game. A loss would mean they lose the series, a disastrous result for the playoff-hopeful team.
Toronto Blue Jays Announce Big George Springer News During Athletics Series