MLB
George Springer is recovering from knee pain he suffered after being hit by a baseball on Friday. Steph Chambers / Getty Images
TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays’ season teeters on the brink. For the first time this year, they face elimination.
Down in the American League Championship Series 3 games to 2, the Jays must beat the Seattle Mariners in Game 6 Sunday and Game 7 Monday.
The odds aren’t in Toronto’s favor. Teams that lose Game 5 to fall behind 3-2 in a best-of-7 series — like the Blue Jays did on Friday — have gone on to win the series only 31.3 percent of the time (21 of 67).
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Ahead of Toronto’s attempt to defy the odds, here are off-day notes on George Springer’s injury status, Game 5 bullpen decisions and a rare opportunity for Trey Yesavage and the Jays:
Springer limped off the field in Game 5 after taking a fastball to the kneecap, but mid-game X-rays revealed no fracture. The designated hitter, and Toronto’s leadoff man throughout the postseason, was feeling a lot better Saturday.
“He’s getting treatment,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. ‘He’s going to be doing some stuff here in a little bit, probably moving around. But feeling a lot better than he did yesterday.”
Springer doesn’t have any boxes to check or pre-game tests to pass on Sunday. If the veteran slugger tells Schneider he’s good to go, the manager said he’ll be in the lineup.
Bo Bichette, recovering from a sprained knee, still has not run the bases since his uncomfortable attempt before the ALCS. If the Jays do win the ALCS to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, Bichette has six more days to return.
“Not on the bases yet,” Schneider said. “May do that today, but he’s definitely making progress. Definitely making progress with his swing as well, too.”
A cross-continent flight and 21 hours later, Schneider stepped in front of reporters. His late-game bullpen decisions in Toronto’s Game 5 loss in Seattle were questioned again. That’s part of the job of a big league manager, especially one under the microscope of October.
Schneider makes thousands of decisions each season. They range from making minor defensive replacements to setting trivial meeting times and selecting significant bullpen moves. Every decision that doesn’t work out he regrets, Schneider said.
“There’s what-ifs, always, in this game,” he said.
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When asked if pitching Brendon Little in the eighth inning Friday was a mistake, Schneider paused. He said he’d be “crushed on social media” if he said it wasn’t a mistake, but he continued.
“I trust my players,” Schneider said. “In hindsight, I had a couple other options. That’s what I decided to do. So, again, I have all the information that I need, and I don’t think I made a mistake. Players have to go perform. There is always risk when you put a player in a situation that he won’t get the job done. That’s part of the game.”
Going with Little over other leverage relievers might be dissected for years. But if the Jays can get to the World Series for the first time since 1993, Friday’s Game 5 will be a forgotten blip. Winning erases every what-if.
Rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, in the middle of the ALCS, asked 34-year-old Kevin Gausman a question. What’s the deepest Gausman has ever pushed in the postseason?
“This is the furthest I’ve done,” the veteran said.
This year’s postseason run is all Yesavage knows at the big league level. After he takes the ball in Game 6, facing off against Seattle’s Logan Gilbert, half of his MLB starts will be in the postseason.
But big games in October aren’t guaranteed. Many pitchers never get the opportunity Yesavage will have. Gausman is in his 13th season. His two outings against the Mariners were his first ALCS starts ever. Chris Bassitt, in his 11th year, has never started an ALCS game.
There is a rarity in this Blue Jays run. A win Sunday pushes them closer to a World Series title than any point in the last 30 years. Yes, a loss would end Toronto’s dream season. But, as Yesavage noted, it’s a dream run for a reason.
“This opportunity,” Yesavage said, “does not come up very often.”
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Mitch Bannon is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Toronto Blue Jays. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Blue Jays for SI.com and wrote for MLB.com in a freelance capacity. He is a graduate of McGill University and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Follow Mitch on Twitter @MitchBannon
Blue Jays ALCS off-day notes: George Springer’s injury, Trey Yesavage’s big chance – The New York Times
