Outfielder Joey Loperfido gave everyone quite the scare during Tuesday’s Grapefruit League contest against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The 25-year-old departed due to injury in the top of the first inning after crashing awkwardly into the centre-field wall while attempting to chase down a 394-foot blast from leadoff hitter Victor Scott II, who earned a triple on the play. He appeared to smack his head/neck off the padded wall following the collision.
Loperfido stayed down for several moments before team trainers joined him in deep centre, accompanied by manager John Schneider. After being assessed, he exited the field under his own power and didn’t return due to neck discomfort, per a team release.
Steward Berroa entered the game as his replacement, going 2-for-4 in the contest off the bench.
UPDATE: OF Joey Loperfido was removed from today’s game with neck discomfort.
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) February 25, 2025
Schneider said post-game that Loperfido underwent testing and hasn’t experienced any concussion symptoms thus far, as MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson relayed. The team expects him to be “fine” and shouldn’t miss much time outside of a day or two to recover.
This news has to be a huge sigh of relief for the Blue Jays, especially considering how scary the incident looked initially. Plus, given that Daulton Varsho will likely begin this season on the IL as he finishes his recovery from shoulder surgery, having another outfield miss Opening Day would’ve been a considerable blow for this franchise.
Loperfido is competing alongside Nathan Lukes for reps in centre field this spring, and it’s possible both could break camp with Toronto once the regular season begins. Upon Varsho’s return, whoever remains with the big-league club from that duo will likely move to left.
The Blue Jays acquired the left-handed-hitting outfielder as part of the return from last season’s Yusei Kikuchi trade with the Houston Astros, which also included infielder Will Wagner and right-hander Jake Bloss.
In 81 games split between Toronto and Houston, Loperfido hit four home runs and drove in 25 while slashing .214/.264/.350 with a 74 wRC+ (100 league average), worth 0.1 fWAR. He played all three outfield positions, logging 601.2 innings and registering plus-six defensive runs saved and a plus-two fielding run value.
Loperfido’s injury departure dampened the excitement amidst Max Scherzer’s Blue Jays (spring) debut. But the future Hall-of-Famer lifted everyone’s spirits by punching out four over two innings of one-run ball as part of a 3-2 victory.