Springer’s renaissance continues: 'He's back to being an aircraft carrier'

TORONTO -- Even if it feels a bit like a superhero showing up a moment too late to save the city, George Springer is back.

Springer homered twice in the Blue Jays’ 5-4 win over the Tigers on Sunday at Rogers Centre, narrowly avoiding the sweep, but it’s what happened in his third trip to the plate that mattered most.

Down 4-3 after Justyn-Henry Malloy’s grand slam put the Tigers out in front, Springer strolled up to the plate in the bottom half of that fifth inning and pulled a line drive into the left-field corner. He shot out of the box, pedal to the floor from the moment he made contact, and slid into second base an inch ahead of the throw, twisting and rolling through his slide as he reached back to keep his fingertips on the bag.

The Blue Jays came into Friday with 0.8% playoff odds. Springer just doesn’t seem to care.

“He’s back to being an aircraft carrier,” manager John Schneider said. “He’s able to say, ‘Get on, I’m going to lead the way.’ The home runs, the double, the slide, the catches, he was all over the place. I’m just really, really happy for him.”

It’s become so overused in baseball to say that a team or player “doesn’t quit,” but quitting, by that definition, doesn’t mean walking off the field and waving goodbye. It means giving 95% effort, taking the odd play off or allowing a play like that to settle in as a comfortable single. Instead, it looked like Springer was playing in a tied game in October.

“It defines who he is as a player. He has one speed and that rubs off on everyone,” Schneider said.

There is still no silver lining to reach for, no moral victories to celebrate and no awards handed out for a player giving a damn on July 21, but Springer’s performance Sunday sure beats the alternative. Springer, who is playing on the largest contract in Blue Jays history -- his six-year, $150 million deal running through 2026 -- was one of the worst hitters in baseball earlier this season. Since his OPS bottomed out at .559 on June 24, it has climbed to .711 with a brilliant month of baseball from the veteran outfielder, who turns 35 in September.

It’s all about 2025 now. You’ll soon get sick of hearing that if you haven’t already, because there’s still a lot of ‘24 left, but the Blue Jays have whiffed on this season. This organization lives in a new reality of its own making, and if it's going to salvage something in ‘25, that can’t start next February when the players roll into Spring Training. It has to start now.

“I want us to go out and compete, to leave it all out there every day,” Springer said, “to not look at standings or look too far ahead, but just go out there and fight. There are times where guys might get down, but over the next two months, the guys here can lay their groundwork for what we expect next year and in the future. It’s all about fight. I don’t want anybody to lay down.”

A month ago, there was worry that Springer could hold the Blue Jays back in 2025. Even as Schneider stood firmly behind Springer, insisting that his veteran outfielder would soon turn things around, you weren’t wrong if you didn’t buy that at first. Springer is 34 and baseball isn’t kind to hitters as they age.

Schneider was right, though. He bet on Springer, just as Springer bet on himself, and they both won.

Now they need this version of Springer to carry over into 2025, both on and off the field. Toronto needs its young players to look to Springer, sliding into second base for that double, and follow him.

“I’ll be an open book. I will do anything I can to help them,” Springer said. “Obviously, there’s going to come a point in time when I’m not here. There will be guys who aren’t around. It’s going to be my job to help anybody I can make a smoother transition to their career. Hopefully, I can leave them in a good place, where they can just go out and play.”

Even at 45-54, these games need to have a purpose. The Blue Jays wish the purpose was a postseason race, but it just isn’t right now. If that purpose is, instead, a launching pad for one last big swing in 2025, Springer is finally leading the way again.