How John Tavares handled passing Maple Leafs’ captaincy to Auston Matthews
The new captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs smiled and waved from the stage at the former captain’s young sons seated in the front row.
After a sensational start in his first two MLB games, Toronto Blue Jays infielder Will Wagner will be coming off the bench for Wednesday’s series finale against the Los Angeles Angels.
With the Angels starting left-hander Tyler Anderson, Blue Jays manager John Schneider says Wagner, who bats left, will start on the bench as Toronto looks for the series sweep against the Angels.
“He’s not, not tonight, nope,” Schneider said on Sportsnet’s Blair & Barker when asked if Wagner would be in the starting lineup. “I know, I’ll probably catch a lot of crap for it, but that was kind of the plan.
“We’re still kind of building him up. He’s had some on-and-off knee stuff, too, that he’s had with Houston. Want to just give him a chance to catch his breath against a tough lefty. … It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for him.”
Schneider did also add that Wagner would be available to pinch hit if the right circumstance arrived.
Over 77 games in triple-A this season, Wagner hit .260 against lefties, compared to the .336 mark he registered against righties.
Wagner, who was acquired from the Astros as part of the Yusei Kikuchi trade, has been a welcome addition to the Blue Jays roster since being called up on Monday.
With three hits in his MLB debut Monday, and two more on Tuesday, Wagner tied a Blue Jays record with five hits in his first two MLB games.
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The others who have done it are Danny Ainge (1979), Lloyd Moseby (1980), Eric Hinske (2002) and Davis Schneider (2023).
Overall, the second baseman is five for eight at the plate with three doubles, three RBIs and a run scored.
He’s also proved to be a reliable glove at second base, the spot Schenider says he will primarily play moving forward.
“So far, we like what we see at second,” Schneider said on Blair & Barker. “I think he’s played one or two games for us in (triple-A) Buffalo at third, and he’ll probably get a handful of games over there while he’s here.
“But we want to be pretty consistent with him at second, and then that kind of pushed Spencer (Horwitz) back over to first and DH. But I think you’ll primarily see Will at second.”
Schneider also said that Joey Loperfido, who was acquired along with Wagner and pitcher Jake Bloss in the Kikuchi deal, will also be out of the starting lineup versus the Angels.
Loperfido has struggled at the plate since joining the Blue Jays. He has a .128 batting average over 10 games with Toronto, but did knock in his first RBI as a Blue Jay in his final at-bat of the night in Tuesday’s win over the Angels.
“All the talent is there,” Schneider said of Loperfido. “It’s just kind of coming down with that initial move, staying back a little bit and hopefully control the zone a little bit better.”
You can watch the Blue Jays go for the series sweep against the Angels live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT.
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