Springer's 4 Hits Pace Blue Jays Win

A voice called from infield dirt, “C’mon Georgie!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” George Springer responded to the awaiting Vlad Guerrero Jr. as he descended into the Blue Jays dugout to collect his bat.

Springer soon popped back up the steps to join his first basemen, and the best one-two punch in baseball stood beside the cage to watch the first group of Blue Jay batting practice.

Springer took his turn behind the plate taking pre-game BP, spraying hits across the turf, into the outfield seats, and off the plexiglass suites. Three hours later, he brought the same show against Major League pitching.

Each of Marcus Semien, Cavan Biggio, and Springer has spent time in the lineup’s top spot, but the 150-million-dollar man was always destined for the one-hole. For a team with the best offense in baseball, the Blue Jays have toyed with the batting order all season, but on nights like Wednesday Charlie Montoyo’s new leadoff man seems like a permanent fixture.

“Springer is one of the best leadoff guys in baseball,” Montoyo said. “He's comfortable being the leadoff guy.”

In Toronto’s first two hitters, they have two of the three best batsmen in the American League. Guerrero Jr. leads the League with a 1.068 OPS and Springer ranks third (minimum 150 PA) behind only Shohei Ohtani.

*Future voice* Sensational 😎

Springer's night (so far): 3 H, 3 RBI pic.twitter.com/1ei7YxjJT5
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 5, 2021

The Blue Jay centerfielder has played 619 career games in the leadoff spot, and Wednesday he ruined two Cleveland pitchers' outings as soon as they started. He greeted reliever Justin Garza’s first-pitch cutter with an RBI double in the third inning and started the scoring before some fans even took their seat.

On his back foot in the first, Springer refused to take a strike. He saw J.C. Mejia’s first pitch — a center-cut fastball — and unleashed an off-balance slash. The ball clearing the outfield wall was merely a formality in securing Springer’s 42nd career leadoff homer — his third since arriving in Toronto. Springer followed up winning AL Player of the Week with eight hits, five runs, and two homers in his last three games.

"I was groomed to hit first my whole career, I understand how to navigate it a little bit," Springer said. "I may get myself out at times or not have an at-bat that I want to have, but I just understand it’s just like any other at-bat.”

By the end of the first inning, the Blue Jays led 4-0, and two more Springer RBI helped work toward an eventual 8-0 margin. The early (and growing) lead allowed Steven Matz to lean on his sinker and curveball, pound the zone, and efficiently maneuver through six frames. Even six late runs couldn't earn Cleveland a comeback after Toronto's leadoff man snatched the lead for good minutes into the ballgame.

Springer can play, at most, 94 regular-season games this season. Toronto’s attack thrived in his absence, but with their leadoff man back, healthy, and where he belongs, the Blue Jay lineup looks complete.

“He’s doing what we thought he was going to do,” Montoyo said. “That's why we gave him that much money, because he's one of the best players in baseball.”