Springer hits 1st Blue Jays HRs ... one 470 feet!

George Springer has officially arrived, launching his first two home runs in a Blue Jays uniform, including a 470-foot moonshot, in Saturday’s 6-5 walk-off win over Atlanta.

Randal Grichuk was the hero in the bottom of the 10th as he laced a bases-loaded single back up the middle to end it, but it was Springer’s breakout game at the plate that set it all up.

It was a rollercoaster ride to get there, though. In Springer’s first trip to the plate, he grounded out to shortstop and appeared to pull up as he crossed first base, reaching down towards the right quad muscle that kept him out through most of April. Thankfully, Springer says he just caught a cleat leaving the box and, once he realized he’d be thrown out, he didn’t want to push it by lunging for the bag.

He strolled back to the dish in the third, though, and that’s when the fun began.

Springer’s first home run of the night came on an outside pitch that he shot to the opposite field, clearing the fence at 354 feet. It was a modest home run for his first in a Blue Jays uniform, and would have snuck out in 16 of 30 MLB ballparks, but there isn’t a stadium in the league that could have held his encore.

On a 3-0 pitch at the letters, Springer launched a towering, no-doubt shot over the left-field wall and out of TD Ballpark in the seventh. At 470 feet, it was the longest home run by a Blue Jays hitter since Grichuk hit one 471 feet back on June 25, 2018, and the fourth-longest measured by Statcast (since 2015). By the time it landed -- if it even has yet -- the game was tied.

“This is awesome. It’s exciting,” Springer said. “It feels good to help out. Obviously, that’s a big spot and it’s just exciting to help the team for the first time in a long time, it feels like. Now it’s on to tomorrow.”

Springer said that several times, “it’s on to tomorrow,” but his performance is worth dwelling on a while longer. Each home run came on a 3-0 count, and while it’s easy to give a player of Springer’s caliber the green light, that second home run was rare. Springer has hit some no-doubters in his career, but since 2015, he’s only hit three deeper than Saturday’s blast.

“I know it’s a 3-0 count and I know -- or I assume -- that he wants to get back in the strike zone,” Springer said. “It’s not about overthinking it; it’s about getting a pitch I can hit well and hopefully not miss. I was able not to.”

This is what the Blue Jays’ lineup was supposed to look like. They’ve put up 19 runs on 23 hits over the first two games of this series, and while the starring role will shift from Springer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to someone else on a nightly basis, that depth is this offense’s greatest strength.

“It just allows everybody to go up there and have a quality at-bat, and know that if you’re not on, you don’t have to carry the team,” Grichuk said after his walk-off. “There’s five, six, seven, eight other guys that can do it on any night.”

As long as Springer’s game-changing bat is in this lineup, performances like Saturday's are always one swing away. Springer brings the potential to hit 40-plus home runs, but he can also contribute in between these power outbursts with his on-base tool, athleticism and defense. When we’ll see him in the outfield, then, is the next question, after he’s opened with three games as the DH.

“I think I’ve proved to myself over the last couple of days. Some things that I thought I couldn’t do, I can do,” Springer said. “I felt great about it. There’s no substitute for game speed, and the only way I’m going to truly know is by continuing to play but also being smart at the same time.”

Kirk leaves with injury
Catcher Alejandro Kirk, who earned a start for the second consecutive night after hitting two home runs in Friday’s win, was removed from the game late with left hip flexor discomfort.

In the third inning, Kirk worked a walk in his plate appearance before scoring on Springer’s home run, but he hit a foul ball down the right-field line that forced him to sprint out of the box a couple of pitches prior. Following the eventual walk, Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo and the Blue Jays’ trainer came to meet Kirk at first base, but he stayed in the game at the time.

The Blue Jays will reevaluate Kirk in the morning, ahead of their afternoon finale against Atlanta. Danny Jansen will start, but if the club needs a catcher, Riley Adams would be the next man up on the 40-man roster while Reese McGuire is an option, but does not currently have a 40-man spot.