Springer isn't sweating his spring performance

SARASOTA, Fla. -- George Springer knows that he’s not exactly lighting the Grapefruit League on fire.

He knows how this game works by now, too. He knows that he’s coming off a 2024 season with some career lows sprinkled across his stat line, but Springer isn’t trying to launch the comeback tour in February or mid-March. That’s for March 27.

“I feel great, actually,” Springer said. “For me, it’s about the process. It’s not about the results. I want to make sure that I’m swinging at the right pitches and getting my swing off. Yeah, obviously everyone would like to see the ball hit the grass, but for me specifically, I’m working on the mechanical side of it.”

The way Springer explains this, it sounds similar to a veteran pitcher who spends all spring throwing a specific pitch or trying to hit a certain spot in the zone, results be damned. Those results start mattering awfully soon, though.

Springer is entering the fifth year of his six-year, $150 million deal that still stands as the biggest in franchise history. The plan was that, by now, there would be a few deep postseason runs to look back on. The Blue Jays are still chasing their first postseason win since 2016, though.

When Springer joined this organization, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette were just 22 and 23, miles from the baseball and business realities they’re now staring in the face. To Springer’s left and right were Teoscar Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Times have changed. Players have come, gone and developed into completely different roles, so it’s natural to wonder if Springer’s place in all of this has changed, too.

“No,” manager John Schneider said, and he didn’t say it softly. “George is a big part of our team. There’s a certain trust that you have in a guy who has been really, really good for a long time. Do we need him to hit .300 with 40 homers? Absolutely not. We just need George to be a productive player and I have all the confidence in the world that he will be.”

Last year, Springer hit .220 with 19 homers and a .674 OPS. However the Blue Jays define “productive”, the line clearly needs to be higher than those numbers. Going 3-for-28 (.107) in 12 spring games doesn’t ignite optimism either, but again, Springer believes these long, hot days in March will lead to something.

Age is an unavoidable reality in baseball. Last season, Springer’s defensive and base running metrics stayed relatively stable, but the peak of his value has always leaned on his bat.

Springer’s average exit velocity dropped from 88.3 mph to 87.5. That’s no free fall, but it does represent a career low and puts him in the 20th percentile of MLB hitters. He also, more noticeably, saw his peak exit velocity drop from 115.9 mph to 110.6. He hit more ground balls and fewer line drives. Pair that with a small regression in his average bat speed and there are clearly some warning signs there.

Schneider has always stood firmly behind Springer, though, and he isn’t budging.

“For George, it’s pretty simple. I want him to take one ‘A’ swing every single at-bat and swing at good pitches,” Schneider said. “His last handful of games, he’s done that. Yeah, he’s hit the ball at people a little bit, but I’m not worried about results at all with him.”

In just over a week, those results will matter. They’ll matter immediately, too, with the Blue Jays facing a grueling opening schedule. If this is the final year for both Vladdy and Bichette in Toronto, which it very well could be, the urgency meter needs to be cranked to 100. Especially with No. 5 prospect Alan Roden having a brilliant camp and pushing for playing time, the Blue Jays need to see all of this March process translate into April results from Springer.

“I don’t like to concern myself with the results in Spring Training,” Springer said, “I concern myself with the process. Is the process right? Did I swing at the pitch I wanted to swing at? Did I get myself in a good count? I like to work on all the stuff that doesn’t show up in a box score. Unfortunately, that may lead to more outs in Spring Training, but that’s OK.”

If numbers like these showed up in April, uncomfortable conversations would quickly follow. Springer’s plan, though, is to get those, along with plenty of other things, out of the way before everything counts.