Injury Updates! Jordan Romano is expected back soon, Teoscar Hernandez is COVID symptom free, and more!

The weekend in Kansas City was ugly but we got some positive injury updates in regards to some key players. Let’s go through them all…

Teoscar Hernandez tested positive for COVID-19 and has been away from the team since the series last weekend against the Los Angeles Angels. Thankfully, Hernandez has recovered and is now “symptom-free,” which is a great sign. Of course, per MLB’s COVID protocol, Hernandez has to be quarantined from the team for a 10-day period and he has to test negative before he can join the Blue Jays. That would mean that, if he can test negative, he’ll be eligible to join the team on April 23, which is the beginning of this weekend’s series in Tampa against the Rays.

Speaking of that series against Tampa, we might also see George Springer finally make his debut this weekend. According to Ross Atkins, Springer isn’t quite at 100% but “all signs are exceptionally positive,” and Charlie Montoyo noted that Springer has resumed all baseball activities.

This, of course, would be a game-changer for the Blue Jays lineup. The team pretty much only has two players, Bo and Vlad, who are hitting right now, and adding Springer to the top of the lineup would inject a massive boost. He could be the catalyst the team needs to wake up offensively.

Switching gears to the glut of pitching injuries, Pete Walker provided a positive update about Jordan Romano, who was put on the IL with a somewhat worrying elbow issue. According to Walker, Romano feels good and nothing is severe, and the expectation is that Romano will be ready to join the team as soon as his 10 days on the IL are up, which would be April 25. Tyler Chatwood is also expected to be back this week right around when his 10 days are also up.

Finally, there’s some not-so-good news regarding Julian Merryweather, who’s dealing with an oblique injury. Walker said there’s some “concern” here and, based on that, we shouldn’t expect Merryweather back any time soon. I mean, thankfully he isn’t dealing with an arm issue, but oblique injuries take some time to heal.

We also don’t yet have a timeline for Ross Stripling or Tom Hatch, and nothing has changed in regards to Nate Pearson, who is being built up from scratch for a starter’s load.