How Much Longer Can the Blue Jays Rely on George Springer?
George Springer's 2026 season has been a far cry from his 2025 production, and it's costing the Blue Jays.
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If this article were written two weeks, it would be in a much different tone. But a recent hot stretch is starting to change the narrative surrounding George Springer‘s 2026 campaign.
Springer was a hole in the Blue Jay’s lineup through the first two months of the season, a far cry from the stellar year he put up in 2025.
But now, almost halfway through the season, Springer is finally showing his worth offensively.
The Past
It’s been a pretty interesting last three years for Springer. In 2024, it seemed his contract was among the worst in baseball. In 2025, it seemed like one of the best. This year has been a little bit too much like 2024, but there are some bright spots shining through.
To start, let’s flash back to 2024. Springer posted an ugly line of .220/.303/.371, posting career-low marks in each of those three categories. While his 2023 wasn’t amazing (an OPS+ of 102), his 2024 was a significant step back, with an OPS+ of 91.
So the offense wasn’t where it needed to be, but how was the defense?
Well, he played almost every day in the field (only 20 starts at DH) and was slightly worse than league average as a defender (-1 OAA, -4 DRS). His arm strength was in the 65th percentile, which was pretty solid, but his arm value was -3, putting him in the bottom third percentile.
I think we all know how 2025 went. Springer hit .309/.399/.560, was almost exclusively as a DH, and launched one of the biggest home runs in Toronto Blue Jays history. He did appear in 54 games defensively, but his numbers declined significantly from 2024 (-6 OOA, -8 DRS), suggesting that, going forward, he probably shouldn’t be seeing the field.
If Springer continued hitting the way he did in 2025 this season, that wouldn’t be an issue. But if you’re dedicating a spot in the lineup to a player who can’t field and isn’t hitting, you’re negatively impacting your team.
Unfortunately, through his first 200 plate appearances, that was the case with Springer.
The Present
From March 27 until June 8 (which was technically 201 plate appearances), Springer hit .202/.283/.343. His struggles weren’t aided by John Schneider’s insistence on keeping him at the leadoff position, even though he was getting on base far less than last season. He also had as many home runs as the number of times he hit into a double play (5).
Having offensive struggles is one thing, but it’s another when you’re taking up the DH spot. Because of this, Toronto has been forced to trot out Jesús Sánchez and Yohendrick Piñango in the outfield, who have been worth -4 and -2 OOA, respectively.
This isn’t me trying to say Springer should regularly be in the field (he might actually be worse than Sanchez), but if he isn’t going to be productive, then he shouldn’t be getting regular DH at-bats.
Having a rotation of players occupying that position would help the team in the long run and allow players like Sánchez and Piñango to provide more value. Almost as importantly, it would give Brandon Valenzuela more opportunities at the plate, which would be a huge offensive boost.
Credit where it’s due, over the past week and a half he’s started to turn things around. Since June 10, he’s hitting .333/.452/.636, adding three home runs (including his 300th career Springer Dinger) and seven RBI over that span.
Power hitting has been lacking for the Blue Jays as a whole this season (cough, cough, Vladdy), so having some added thump at the top of the order balances out the rest of the lineup.
He’s also stolen four bases and walked more times (7) than struck out (4). If this is the Springer Toronto gets for the remainder of the season, they’re going to be more than happy. Springer has definitely earned the opportunity to play his way into the lineup (after 2025, he really could do no wrong), but if things regress, he can also play his way out of it.
The Future
There’s one important aspect to Springer that differs from years past: his looming contract expiration.
He’ll be 37 at the end of the year, and with Toronto likely retaining their multitude of offence-first outfielders, there really isn’t much of a spot for him.
If they can’t reach that ever-elusive .500, who’s to say if he even finishes the season with the Blue Jays? You can already see that someone like Piñango would shine in a LF/DH role, and with Daulton Varsho also a free agent at season’s end, it could allow the team to develop the future in the outfield.
That’s not even mentioning Addison Barger‘s looming return, and now all of a sudden there’s a huge logjam.
Despite all his struggles, I don’t think very many Jays fans would be happy to see him gone. No matter how the rest of the season goes, and where his future may take him, he’ll forever be one of the most iconic players in team history. So, take that into consideration the next time he hits a hard ground ball right at the shortstop.
Stats were taken prior to play on June 22.
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Written by
Ethan has been writing for Just Baseball since 2026, and is one of those people who never stops talking about sports. A graduate from the College…