Without the services of George Springer (left big toe fracture), the Toronto Blue Jays must become creative with their lineup construction moving forward, starting at the top with the 36-year-old slugger’s vacated leadoff position.

It appears that Springer might not miss too much time and could return once his minimum 10-day injured list stint concludes next week, which is the good news. In the meantime, though, this offence will be without its tone-setter and will need someone — or multiple players — to help fill that void at the top of the order.

Considering the Blue Jays’ offence has endured a rather tough start to this 6-9 season, there isn’t a long list of potential replacement candidates for the leadoff job, especially since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — whom this lineup runs through as he leads the team in OBP (.446), wOBA (.396) and wRC+ (155) across 15 games thus far — has historically preferred to hit third instead of second or even first.

Another ideal leadoff candidate who’d normally receive consideration but likely won’t this time due to his early-season offensive woes is Nathan Lukes, who’s begun this season just 2-for-26 with only one walk entering Tuesday’s series opener in Milwaukee.

That’s two names already crossed off the list of potential replacements for Springer. There are, however, four other players who could end up splitting time in the leadoff spot during Toronto’s current three-city road trip against the Brewers, Diamondbacks and Angels.

More often than not, matchups will likely decide how at-bats are divided amongst this quartet. But the Blue Jays may also decide to ride the hottest bat, which would certainly favour the first two candidates listed below.

The hits haven’t started falling just yet for Schneider, who’s hitting .238 with two extra-base hits over his first 10 games this season — despite producing stunning hard-hit (61.5 per cent) and barrel rates (23.1 per cent).

And yet, because he’s earned almost as many walks (six) as strikeouts (eight) early on, only Guerrero’s team-leading wOBA currently sits higher than Schneider’s .385 clip, making him a perfect candidate to rotate through the leadoff position in the short term.

Schneider, who also ranks second among Blue Jays hitters in wRC+ (147), has been most successful against left-handed pitching thus far — positioning himself for a potential leadoff start versus Brewers lefty Kyle Harrison in Thursday’s series finale. Given how well he’s fared lately, you may also see him earn a start or two against a righty, though probably not against the hard-throwing Jacob Misiorowski on Tuesday.

Based on Schneider’s hitter profile, any opportunities he receives as Toronto’s leadoff hitter should probably occur when there isn’t a flamethrower starting for the other team.

Varsho, on the other hand, might be the perfect man for the job to lead off against a flamethrower like Misiorowski.

Not only have the Blue Jays lost their tone-setter in Springer, but they’re now also without one of their best hitters versus 95-m.p.h.-plus fastballs — as his .429 xwOBA led the team against those offerings last season. While Varsho, who’s 7-for-his-last-17 (.412) coming off Sunday’s three-hit performance, only produced a 71-game sample size in 2025, his .367 xwOBA versus high-velocity fastballs from right-handed pitchers quietly finished tied for second on the team alongside Alejandro Kirk.

The Blue Jays only had Varsho hit leadoff once last season (May 28), and they’ve largely preferred to keep him in the No. 2 hole in front of Guerrero versus righties this year. But they need someone to set the tone at the top, particularly when they’re facing overpowering stuff like Misiorowski’s — and Varsho’s recent surge may do the trick.

Clement, who’s mostly hit in the bottom-third of Toronto’s lineup this season, received first crack at Springer’s vacated leadoff job in Sunday’s finale against the Minnesota Twins — and took full advantage of the opportunity, delivering his first three-hit performance of 2026.

The 30-year-old infielder doesn’t profile as a traditional leadoff hitter. These days, most teams want their best hitters slotted into those top three spots, and based on Clement’s low walk totals — he’s only walked once in 62 plate appearances early on (but has struck out just twice) — this isn’t a perfect match. Still, based on how much contact he’s generating right now, hitting .311 with a team-high 88.9 per cent contact rate, he’ll likely occupy most of the leadoff at-bats.

The Blue Jays need people on base in front of Guerrero, and Clement’s contact ability should help with that in Springer’s absence. Since he hunts fastballs better than almost any hitter on this team, it’s also why he’ll likely be positioned ahead of No. 27 against Misiorowski on Tuesday — either hitting leadoff or from the two hole.

Amidst yet another red-hot start to the season, Giménez — who hasn’t hit higher than eighth in ’26 — may occasionally find himself batting leadoff during this current road trip. He’s been crushing four-seamers from right-handers to begin the year, sitting 4-for-11 with a triple and a home run while whiffing less than five per cent of the time and only striking out twice.

If the Blue Jays feel they need a boost of contact at the top, perhaps against a heavy-fastball-throwing righty such as Zac Gallen or Ryne Nelson in Arizona, they could turn to Giménez to help set the table for the middle of the order.

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