Punches Keep Coming as Another Blue Jays Player Sidelined with Injury
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It is starting to become hard to fathom the amount of injuries that are piling up for the Toronto Blue Jays, and it isn't just the number of players that are missing sometimes on the field, but who they are.
The pitching staff is hanging on by a thread right now, at best. The ballclub went into their last series with the Chicago White Sox simply hoping that their guys would go home to face the reigning world champs in one piece.
That was not the case.
The first major blow to the team, both offensively and defensively, is their man behind the plate, Alejandro Kirk. Kirk fractured his left thumb, and the timeline is still uncertain right now, but he is one of many now on the injured list. Now it's Addison Barger, per Mitch Bannon at The Athletic on X (formerly Twitter).
Barger left today's game with 'bilateral ankle discomfort' #BlueJays say.
— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) April 5, 2026
The 3B/OF stumbled on first base earlier in the game, was checked out by Toronto's coaching staff, but stayed in for a few more innings
But the Jays weren't lucky enough to get out of the series unscathed after Kirk. Barger had to leave the final game against the White Sox on Sunday with an injury to his ankle.
Barger remained out in the field after originally hurting it, but he was unable to finish the game, and the Jays went on to lose another one as they were shut out for the first time of the year.
As of now there isn't a timetable on Barger but the Blue Jays organization, and its fans, are begging for him to stay off of the injured list.
Other Key Injuries
As Toronto tries to navigate this brutal stretch in the season, they have to capitalize when its starting pitchers give the team a chance to win the game. Now, twice, the Jays have squandered excellent starts by both Dylan Cease and Kevin Gausman.
That cannot happen with the injuries that this starting rotation is facing, and now with Kirk and possibly Barger out of the lineup, every single at-bat counts.
- Jose Berrios: Stress Fracture
- Trey Yesavage: Should Impingement
- Shane Bieber: Elbow Inflammation/ Forearm Fatigue
- Cody Ponce: ACL Spain (seeking another opinion)
It is much too early to worry about the 2.5-game lead the New York Yankees now have over the Blue Jays. But that doesn't necessarily make the weight on everyone's shoulders any lighter.
At the end of the day, it is always better to deal with the loss of players now than late in September, but this is already hard to comprehend. Toronto has now lost four straight and looks awfully thin as they try to bounce back against the world champs.
Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.