Springer's 2-homer day vs. old team keys win

TORONTO -- Welcome to the George Springer experience. The Astros no longer enjoy it like they once did.

Springer was the Blue Jays’ entire offense in Saturday’s 2-1 win over his old club at Rogers Centre, showing the incredible heights of his talent with two home runs and a stolen base. One month in, it’s difficult not to dream of what Springer’s first full, healthy season with the Blue Jays could look like.

In 2021, you saw only flashes of this. Injuries limited Springer to 78 games, and even when the three-time All-Star was in the lineup, he spent many games battling through to give the Blue Jays whatever he had in the tank that night. Springer’s .907 OPS and 22 home runs in less than half a season were impressive, but over a full six months, those counting stats will only climb.

“I love it,” Springer said after the win. “As a team, we’re in a great spot. We’ve played some close games, but it’s all good. This is a team that has to go through it and understand what it’s like to do it. We’re starting to see that we can. It’s a good start to April, now it’s on to May.”

These performances are why the answer to replacing Marcus Semien’s production was always going to be a boring one. Yes, the addition of Matt Chapman, emergence of Santiago Espinal and the lineup’s overall growth will be part of that solution, but it was never going to be a one-for-one replacement that fixed everything in an instant. Besides, 45 home runs from a second baseman and a third-place MVP finish isn’t a hole you simply patch over.

The jump from 78 games of Springer to 150-plus is the easiest path to an already great Blue Jays lineup improving in 2022, and this time, it’s Springer dragging that group forward.

With Springer down in 2021, Semien slid into the leadoff spot for 88 games and ran with it, leading a lineup that had fellow All-Stars in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernández. With the way Guerrero is playing, it seems like we may never see a down year from the first baseman, but Bichette has struggled of late while Hernández works his way back from an IL stint with an oblique strain, so Springer has returned the favor with some superstar performances early.

“It’s big, what he’s doing,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “It’s tough to manage against something like that, because you’re always thinking about the third time around [the order] and all of that stuff. The third time around, they’re getting George Springer again. That makes us a lot better.”

Starting the game with a quick jab to go up 1-0 doesn’t hurt, either. Springer’s home run in the bottom of the first was 46th of his career, tying him for sixth in AL/NL history with Jimmy Rollins. Springer is just one back of Curtis Granderson and two back of Ian Kinsler, too, so his climb has some momentum.

“Any time you can get the first guy even on base in an inning, it allows guys to hit the way they want to hit,” Springer said. “It’s a good spot. You always like to be up, 1-0, but any time you can get to first base to start an inning is huge.”

Springer’s leadership on this team isn’t going unnoticed, either. Late in the fifth inning, after going back and forth several times with the home-plate umpire, Montoyo was tossed. Montoyo wasn’t necessarily upset about that specific pitch, but when he saw Guerrero take a called third strike and slam his bat to the ground, he bolted from the dugout to distract the attention from his MVP.

Besides, if one man is going to watch the latter innings from a couch in the clubhouse, it’s better Montoyo than Guerrero.

Springer’s message to Guerrero? Stay in the game. His experience runs deep, especially on a championship-caliber team from his days in Houston, so Springer is able to step back and see the bigger picture better than the young 23-year-old might.

This all came on a night Springer was resting his legs as the DH, too. When center fielder Bradley Zimmer laid out to make a diving catch for the first out of the game, Montoyo joked to Springer that he might just be a DH now. Springer got a laugh out of that, but whether he’s needed in center, right field or as the DH bat the odd day to keep him fresh, he has one focus.

“I’m here for us,” Springer said.