George Springer sits for first half finale Sunday

The Blue Jays have been careful to mix in off days for Springer in an effort to keep him healthy for the remainder of the season. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will serve as the club’s designated hitter in his absence while Sean Keys draws a start at first base and will bat sixth against White Sox’ right-hander Sean Burke on Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

Springer hit into a fielder’s choice in the third inning to drive in the Blue Jays’ first run of the game. In the fifth inning, he would homer off of White Sox reliever Trevor Richards for his 10th big fly of the season. It’s still hard to imagine that this is where we are a year after Springer slugged 32 homers and drove in 88 runs, but he remains a shell of the player we saw last season.

The Blue Jays continue to struggle offensively and they’re without Springer in the lineup for a sixth consecutive contest. The 36-year-old veteran was activated prior to Monday’s series opener, but remains stapled to Toronto’s bench. It’s a bit unclear why he’s not in the lineup at this juncture. Hopefully there is some clarity on his status at some point relatively soon. It’ll be rookie Sean Keys at DH on Tuesday night at Oracle Park.

Springer is out of the lineup for Monday’s series opener against the Giants in San Francisco, but he’s rejoined the club after taking a couple extra days to be with his family on paternity leave. The 36-year-old veteran hasn’t been able to come close to replicating last year’s remarkable 32-homer, 18-steal effort, slashing .221/.308/.373 with eight homers and six steals through 279 plate appearances over 63 games this season.

It’s merely a procedural move since Springer has exhausted the number of days he can spend on the paternity list. Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters the 36-year-old veteran will spend a few additional days away from the club on paternity leave before returning to Toronto but could return for Monday’s series opener against the Giants.

Keys broke this game open with a two out, three-run home run in the third inning. It was the first home run of his career and came in front of a raucous crowd at Rogers Centre in Toronto celebrating Canada Day. If he could find regular playing time, he’d be an intriguing corner infield option with a strong underlying profile in the upper minors. This was his third start in five games since being called up and his first at designated hitter after getting the call at first twice while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. battled a tight back. He drew this start because George Springer had a day off, so it’s still a wait and see situation as to Keys getting regular playing time.

Congrats to George and his growing family. Springer had a hot stretch earlier in the month, but is hitting .239/.340/.398 in 23 games in June with three home runs, three steals and 13 RBI. He is not a player you have to move on from in shallower formats, but you might be able to find more production on the waiver wire in 10 and 12-team leagues.

It sounds like a precautionary move and fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now. It’ll be rookie Sean Keys moving over to cover first base with Ernie Clement at the hot corner and Luis Urías entering the lineup at second. Guerrero has been through a tough season at the plate with just four home runs across 81 games. There should be an update on his status following Tuesday’s contest in Toronto.

Juan Soto totally botched the sinking liner to left, but it was center fielder A.J. Ewing who committed the error on the play, booting the ball as he ran to the wall to try to pick it up. What should have been a leadoff single instead turned into a very important run in the Jays’ 2-1 win. It went as Springer’s first triple in 62 games this year. He struck out in his remaining three at-bats.

Keys is at first base and hitting sixth against the Rangers in his major-league debut with Vladimir Guerrero getting a break from the field at DH and George Springer taking a seat. The unheralded 23-year-old power-hitting prospect has put together a true breakout campaign after making some mechanical tweaks to his swing, slashing .284/.409/.619 with 21 homers and seven steals in 286 plate appearances in the upper levels of Toronto’s system. He’ll need to produce at the dish to keep his roster spot with the Blue Jays, but he’s an interesting bat-first prospect that fantasy managers should have on their radar screens, especially in deeper mixed leagues.