Springer's dominance eases loss of Guerrero Jr. as Blue Jays top Pirates

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — George Springer doesn’t appreciate being referred to as a designated hitter. That’s too limiting. He prefers “offensive player.” It’s not like he just hits.

He runs the bases, too. Sometimes stealing them, other times advancing on them opportunistically, often making aggressive, savvy decisions of when to challenge a defence or not while facing 50-50 scenarios.

This season, when a single’s been hit while Springer’s occupying first, he’s either reached third or scored 11 times, the most on the Blue Jays. He also leads the team in scoring from first on doubles. And he trails only Ernie Clement in scoring from second on singles. 

Meanwhile, he’s taken 12 bases this season, which includes advances on fly balls, passed balls, wild pitches, balks, and defensive indifference. That ranks within MLB’s 85th percentile. He’s tied in that category with young, heady baserunners such as Jackson Merrill, Steven Kwan, and Alek Thomas.

Where he’s better than those three is stealing bases. Springer’s 13-for-13 in this, his age-35 season. Most ballplayers run less as they age. Not Springer, who’s attempting steals more often and more successfully in his 30s than he did in his 20s:

George Springer stealing bases
Age 24-29 seasons (744 GP) — 47 SB, 29 CS, 61.8 per cent
Age 30-35 seasons (666 GP) — 68 SB, 11 CS, 86.1 per cent

Oh, and he can still bang. Tuesday, amidst a 2-for-4 night during a 7-3 Blue Jays win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Springer hit his 20th home run of the season, a 423-foot no-doubter to dead centre. That’s one more long ball than he hit in 2024 and gives him nine 20-homer campaigns. He’s on pace for 26, which would be the most he’s hit in a year since 2019.

“It's not something that I think about. It's just one of those things where, in the moment, I'm glad to help the team,” Springer said of his home run total. “Once the year is over, you'll probably sit back and look at your own numbers. But not right now.”

Go revisit what people were saying about Springer at the end of spring training. Washed, cooked, a problem. That was less than five months ago. But what Springer told anyone who would listen during Blue Jays camp turned out to be true — he was working on a suite of adjustments and using Grapefruit League play to gain a feel for them. He felt great coming out of camp. He thought he was well-positioned to have a productive season.

After Tuesday’s game, that production looks like a slash line of .292/.383/.514 with a 150 wRC+. Only six qualified hitters have a higher OPS. His Baseball Savant page is overheating. An 89th percentile mark or better in chase, sweet-spot, and barrel rates. A 92nd percentile rank or greater in expected batting average, on-base average, and slugging percentage.

He has been, without hyperbole, one of the best offensive players in the game this season. If he keeps this up, he’s getting down-ballot MVP votes. And on nights like Tuesday, when the Blue Jays' bedrock Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was out of the lineup with a left hamstring issue, his presence atop the order, working consistently competitive plate appearances and propelling an offence, was imperative. 

“He just really understands who he is, what he does at the plate. He has a great IQ,” said Max Scherzer, who threw six innings of one-run ball, giving him a 2.32 ERA over a string of five consecutive quality starts. “For him to be having the year he has, it's just great for this team. He's a vocal leader for the hitters. And for him to be doing what he's doing, he's one of the reasons why we go so well.”

So, about Guerrero. He’s said to be feeling better after aggravating the hamstring issue he’d been quietly carrying for some time while making a first-base stretch in the splits Monday night, but wasn’t available off Toronto’s bench Tuesday.

Considering Wednesday’s game starts at 12:35 p.m. ET, it’s possible he doesn’t play in that one, either. Add in Thursday’s off day and the Blue Jays have an opportunity to steal Guerrero 72+ hours of rest in the thick of summer’s dog days. It’s like he gets a second mini all-star break. Except he never gets a true all-star break because he’s an annual participant.

For as much as playing without Guerrero lowers the Blue Jays' ceiling this week, allowing him to more thoroughly recover from the hamstring issue and whatever other ailments he’s carrying could raise it over the rest of the season. This is the kind of luxury a five-game division lead and nine-game cushion from the post-season cut-off allows. It isn’t urgent for Guerrero to play through pain against a 20-games-below-.500 team. The Blue Jays still have favourable odds to win without him.

Particularly when Springer’s doing what he’s doing. He reached on a hit by pitch, stole second, and scored in the first inning; he hit that towering, two-run homer off a two-strike slider in the second; he worked a 3-1 count and laced a 104-mph single to left in the fourth. 

“His at-bats today were awesome,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He sets the tone. Whether it's hitting home runs, grinding out of bats, advancing on a dirt ball, scoring from first, stealing a base. He's the epitome of what we're doing. I can't speak highly enough of him, the way he's going about it, and how guys respond to what he's doing.”

Want an example of what Schneider’s talking about? Prior to the at-bat when Springer homered in the second, Myles Straw drew a leadoff walk. And when Straw took off from first two pitches later, Springer let a hittable strike go by so the Blue Jays could gain a runner in scoring position with none out. 

Then, after whiffing at the next pitch, Springer’s lone goal was getting Straw to third, even if it meant making an out. He wasn’t trying to hit a home run.

“Honestly. At that point in the game, I've got a guy like Myles on base, my only thought process was I gotta get him to third base,” Springer said. “I need to make sure that I get him to third base. So, I think that allowed me to stay through the baseball more and stay on a good pitch.”

Springer wasn’t trying to hit a ball 423-feet over the wall. He was trying to hit a ball deep to the outfield so Straw could tag up. He just happened to get his barrel on it and was rewarded with a homer.

You make your own luck, don’t you? Springer’s been tailoring his approach to game situations all year. And the rest of Toronto’s offence followed his lead against Pirates starter Mitch Keller on Tuesday, creating opportunity after opportunity as it worked him for five runs on seven hits and three walks over his 3.1 innings. 

Truly, it ought to have been more, as Alejandro Kirk got caught running with his head down in the first, making a needless out on the basepaths. And Clement popped up a bunt attempt with runners on first and second and none out in the third, which Pirates catcher Joey Bart wisely let fall in front of him before beginning a 2-5-6 double play.

Fortunately, opportunities were not scarce in a game the Blue Jays led from pole to pole, and Kirk atoned for his miscue with a loud, two-run homer that he watched over the right-centre field wall in the seventh. 

Max Scherzer, meanwhile, turned in his fifth consecutive quality start and established a season-high in pitches with 104 (he said he even had 10 more in him). He sat 94 with his heater, forced a bevy of mistimed swings with a slider that’s been improving every time out, and threw his hardest pitch of the night in his sixth and final inning.

If not for an inefficient first three innings, which led to him beginning his fourth at 58 pitches, Scherzer could’ve pitched deeper. But the Blue Jays didn’t need all-time great Scherzer on Tuesday. They just needed a good enough Scherzer. And he provided.

“I don't think I was quite as sharp as I've been,” Scherzer said. “But I also made pitches when I needed to. I didn't allow a big inning to happen. When things did get sideways, I kept it to one. And got out of other innings as well and kept the rhythm of the game and the offence in the game.”

Scherzer’s been picking Springer’s brain of late, going over occasions they’ve faced each other and the approaches they brought to those encounters. He says learning about how Springer operates, and how the designated hitter learns himself, has helped him with his own game.

Whoops, made a mistake — called him a designated hitter. It’s offensive player, to you. And a night like Tuesday’s might as well be the offensive player hat trick: home run, stolen base, hit by pitch.

“I don't know, you probably have to ask Schneids that one,” Springer said with a laugh when proposed the hat trick idea. “But I understand that if I'm on first or second or third base, I have to run. And offence is not just about hitting. It's about baserunning and taking an extra base here and there. So, to get an extra 90 feet, to get closer to home plate, that's my job.”