The Toronto Blue Jays need George Springer to start hitting again, and they need it now. The 36-year-old has managed just two home runs in 107 trips to the plate since returning from a fractured toe, a sharp drop for a player Toronto is counting on almost every day as its designated hitter.

That warning comes as the Blue Jays have won only three of their last 10 games and sit 9.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. In that stretch, Springer has posted a.552 OPS after landing on the injured list with a.661 OPS, according to Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, who wrote that Toronto desperately needs him to heat up at the plate.

Springer’s season had looked far different before the injury. In 2025, the four-time All-Star and World Series champion put up a.959 OPS and hit 32 home runs for Toronto, production that made him one of the club’s most important bats. The Blue Jays signed him to a $150 million deal and have continued to lean on his bat even as he moves deeper into his mid-30s.

But the return has been messy. Springer missed a few weeks with the fractured toe, then was hit by a pitch on the same still-healing foot a few games after coming back. Miller said that makes it clear he is not operating at full strength, and Toronto’s numbers back up the concern: Springer has a -0.1 bWAR in 25 games, a rough mark for a player being asked to carry a DH spot while Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger are on the shelf.

That is the tension for Toronto right now. The team’s slump is not just about one player, but Springer’s form matters because the Blue Jays do not have many easy places to find offense at the moment. He is almost exclusively a designated hitter now, which leaves fewer ways for the club to hide a cold bat. If Toronto is going to climb back into the AL East race, it needs the version of Springer that once made the lineup dangerous again, not the one still trying to find his footing on a damaged toe.