Report: George Springer Will Not Play for Puerto Rico in WBC

Blue Jays star George Springer was among the MLB players included on Team Puerto Rico's 35-man preliminary roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. However, Antolín Maldonado Ríos of Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día reports that Springer will not play in the tournament after all.

According to the report, "Springer atribuyó su decisión a una lesión." ("Springer attributed his decision to an injury.")

Presumably (read: hopefully), this is not a new injury issue, and Springer simply wants as much time as possible to fully recover from the various ailments that he played through this past year.

Springer is eligible to play for Puerto Rico, the United States, and Panama in the World Baseball Classic, but he has never participated in the tournament.

Featured image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images.