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<\/p>\nThere\u2019s something missing in the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 dugout. It\u2019s the lack of a bouncing pre-game dancer, his arms waving about. There\u2019s no jovial yell from the corner of the clubhouse. It\u2019s the absence of the youthful joy radiating off a revitalised 35-year-old outfielder.<\/p>\n
For the last 12 games, the Jays have been without George Springer while the veteran recovers from a concussion. In 2024, a week without Springer could\u2019ve gone unnoticed. He was a below-average performer for the first time, setting career lows in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and WAR.<\/p>\n
A year later, he\u2019s the team\u2019s essential engine.<\/p>\n
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the face of the franchise. Bo Bichette is an undeniable co-star. But Springer is the key veteran cog in the Blue Jays\u2019 2025 offence. After the worst campaign of his career and what seemed to be the start of his inevitable decline, Springer has been arguably the team\u2019s best offensive player this year. Somehow, 12 seasons into his career, Springer\u2019s back in his prime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s truly insane,\u201d Myles Straw said. \u201cHe\u2019s 35. You can tell he feels his body sometimes, as you should at that age, playing on turf. But the way he runs the bases, hitting for power, doing it all. It\u2019s pretty impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Jays hired David Popkins last October, the new hitting coach was most excited to work with Springer. Popkins regularly watched the Houston Astros featuring the prime years of Carlos Correa, whom he coached with the Minnesota Twins, and Springer. When most people examined Springer\u2019s 2024 season, they saw a player slowing down due to age. Popkins saw someone in need of a new approach.<\/p>\n
The veteran outfielder\u2019s bat speed dropped nearly a full mile per hour in 2024. His max swing speed remained the same. His big power stroke remained, but was overshadowed by a defensive approach. Springer was slowing his swing to make contact, prioritizing simple bat-to-ball when fooled on pitches or with runners in scoring position. That tactic can work in specific situations or for depth players without 39-homer power, but not for Springer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a type of hitter,\u201d Popkins said, \u201cwho actually does better, like swing decision and accuracy-wise, when they\u2019re actually looking with intent. There\u2019s another type of hitter that, when they\u2019re doing that, the swing gets long and their decisions get worse. George is the opposite. He does better in a more aggressive mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In 2024, George Springer was just trying to make contact at the plate \u2014 an approach that did not work for him. (Kevin Sousa \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Jays unlocked Springer\u2019s aggression. Swing hard, swing for power. If he misses, there\u2019s always another pitch to hit hard. They wanted Springer back to his past form. Instead, he\u2019s arguably been better.<\/p>\n
With Springer\u2019s reformed approach, Popkins said, an early-season surge was expected. He could ambush pitches and hammer mistakes. In the first month of the 2025 season, Springer had 10 extra-base hits in 28 games and hit .300. Eventually, Popkins expected, fatigue would hit, and the league would adjust.<\/p>\n
Opponents stopped giving Springer as many first-pitch fastballs in May. In July, lefties went heavy on changeups and right-handers fed him sinkers. But the falloff never came. Springer is hitting over .290, and his July average and OPS were the highest of his season. He\u2019s on pace for the second-best OPS+ of his career (144), leading all qualified Blue Jays.<\/p>\n
During the first six years of Springer\u2019s big-league career, he never hit fewer than 15 homers or posted an OPS+ below 114. He made three All-Star teams and won World Series MVP in 2017. The 2025 iteration of Springer, Popkins said, is an evolved version of that player. Springer\u2019s never hit balls this hard<\/a>, on average, walked this much or reached the ideal launch angle this consistently.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is maybe the best version of him ever in his career,\u201d Popkins said. \u201cAnd he\u2019s doing it at his age, which is pretty phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n When Straw first cracked the big leagues in 2018, he joined an Astros team filled with current and future leaders \u2014 Correa, Alex Bregman, Mart\u00edn Maldonado, Justin Verlander, Jose Altuve and more. Springer, at the time, was a sort of outfield captain. Seven years later, Springer is essentially the same guy, Straw said, connecting the clubhouse and setting a tone. But, somehow, he has even more energy. He leads like a 21-year-old trapped in a 35-year-old\u2019s body. This year, Straw said, he\u2019s playing like it, too.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of guys are shutting down at 35,\u201d Straw said. \u201cNot George.\u201d<\/p>\n As Daulton Varsho spent two lengthy IL stints away from the team, Springer Facetimed him every day. The talks bounced across topics \u2014 baseball, life and family. Springer always updated Varsho on the dynamics of the clubhouse, breaking down how the group was coming together, how new guys fit in and why the Jays were climbing the standings.<\/p>\n With Varsho back with the Jays and Springer on the injured list, the calls continue, even from minor-league cities, as the veteran awaits a rehab stint. But Varsho doesn\u2019t need those video calls to see his friend\u2019s face each day. During afternoon team meetings, the Jays huddle around monitors to review successful base running plays and decisions to replicate. Springer is featured more than any other player.<\/p>\n Springer often has a wide grin on his face while sprinting around the bases. As he snags an extra base or rounds from first to home, the veteran yells and huffs. It sets the standard for the rest of Toronto\u2019s roster; this year, this is a better baserunning team<\/a>. But it also captures Springer\u2019s \u201cjoy of enjoying baseball,\u201d Varsho said. It\u2019s Springer at his best, once again.<\/p>\n \u201cYou see a lot of Houston George back in himself,\u201d Varsho said. \u201cMaybe better.\u201d<\/p>\n (Top photo: Cole Burston \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s something missing in the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 dugout. It\u2019s the lack of a bouncing pre-game dancer, his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99,364],"class_list":{"0":"post-75433","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-toronto-blue-jays"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}