“You should be ashamed of yourself”; “Fake injury gimmick” - Fans divided as Blue Jays leave George Springer off Game 4 lineup after injury scare

The Toronto Blue Jays are without one of their most influential players this postseason for Game 4 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers after veteran slugger George Springer sustained an injury on Monday.

Springer is dealing with side discomfort after injuring himself on a foul pitch swing in the seventh inning of Game 3. The veteran designated hitter left the game after the incident.

As Springer was omitted from the lineup for Tuesday's game, fans were divided on social media.

"If anyone was cheering that he was injured, you should be ashamed of yourself." "Fake injury gimmick needs to stop." "Hate seeing that. You want the best players on the field when it matters most. Hope all is okay." "His cheating eventually caught up with the Baseball gods." "Last nights game clearly showed that he was missed in the lineup. Blue Jays need to step it up for George." "Karma keeps catching up."

The Dodgers fans at Dodger Stadium cheered as Springer left the game with injury because of his involvement in the Houston Astros' cheating scandal from the 2017 season when they defeated the Dodgers for the World Series title.

The four-time All-Star slashed 309/.399/.560 with 32 home runs during the regular season. Springer continued his hitting form in the postseason with four home runs and a .932 OPS.

Blue Jays move Bo Bichette to designated hitter in George Springer's absence

Although George Springer didn't make the Game 4 lineup, Blue Jays manager John Schneider revealed the veteran All-Star is trying his best to make a quick return to action.

"Getting himself moving and swinging,” Schneider said. “I think swinging will be the key to determine if he’s in there or not. But he was the 1st one here, a lot of treatment … George is going to do everything he can.”

In Springer's absence, Toronto moved Bo Bichette to the designated hitter spot with Nathan Lukes starting in left field and batting leadoff.

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash