HOUSTON — On Canada Day, 2015, when 25-year-old George Springer was still establishing himself as a promising, toolsy outfielder in his second MLB season, he was standing in for a fifth-inning plate appearance against Edinson Volquez when this happened:
That’s a 95-mph heater running right up in Springer’s kitchen, leaving him with nowhere to go as it caught him flush on the inside of his right forearm at the wrist. Look familiar? Here’s what happened when Springer, now 32 and having fulfilled all that potential as one of the game’s most productive outfielders over the last half-decade, stood in for a sixth-inning plate appearance against Phillips Valdez on Wednesday:
A 94-mph heater running right up in Springer’s kitchen, leaving him with nowhere to go as it caught him flush on the inside of his right forearm at the wrist. On hands and knees in the batter’s box, you can imagine where Springer’s mind went.
Volquez’s 2015 pitch broke Springer’s wrist, sending him to the injured list for more than two months. It robbed him of a critical stretch in his young career, as a leadoff hitter trying to contribute to a team with post-season aspirations.
Now, seven years later, had it happened again? Was Springer headed for another eight-week IL stint, at another critical stretch in his now-veteran career, as a leadoff hitter trying to contribute to a team with post-season aspirations?
“At first, it was kind of like, I just hope it’s not broken,” Springer said Friday, back in Houston where his Toronto Blue Jays are playing a three-game set against the Astros this weekend. “Luckily, it’s not. And it’s just one of those things I’ve got to get through.”
How long it’ll take Springer to get through it is anyone’s guess. Could be a day. Could be more. Could be the sort of thing he battles through for weeks, months, the rest of the year. With him, you never can be too sure.
But as he filled out a lineup card Friday to face Justin Verlander — the future hall-of-famer’s only no-hit the Blue Jays twice — without his leadoff hitter, Springer, his cleanup hitter, Teoscar Hernandez, and his primary catcher, Danny Jansen, Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo could only hope it’s sometime soon. Because Toronto’s offensive is significantly thinned out absent those three, and is going to need some big moments from unexpected sources if it’s going to overcome upper-tier American League competition, like the club its encountering this weekend in Texas.
Friday, those contributions arrived in the form of back-to-back fifth-inning home runs off the bats of Santiago Espinal and Bradley Zimmer — Toronto’s No. 8 and 9 hitters — which helped the Blue Jays back into a game Verlander had been dominating. Four innings later, Matt Chapman came through with his biggest hit yet in Blue Jays colours, ripping a two-out, two-strike heater from Astros reliever Hector Neris to the wall in left-centre, plating Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — who led off the ninth with a single off Neris — as the game-winning run. Chapman’s double swung Toronto’s win probability by 40 per cent.
Gutsy performances came on the mound, as well. Ross Stripling survived a shaky, four-hit, one-walk, three-run third inning to turn Houston’s lineup over twice through four frames — which is all his club asked. And Toronto’s bullpen was dominant behind him, as Trent Thornton, Adam Cimber, and Tim Mayza combined for four hitless, scoreless innings, striking out five.
Jordan Romano took the mound in the ninth, making his eighth appearance in Toronto’s first 14 games, and allowed a single to left at the end of a seven-pitch battle with Yuli Gurriel. He overwhelmed Kyle Tucker with three upper-90’s fastballs for an out, but then allowed another single flared into right — exit velocity: 69-mph — off Aledmys Diaz’s bat, pushing the tying run to third.
But as he stared that run down out of the stretch, Romano struck out Jason Castro with three fastballs and a slider, before sitting down J.J. Matijevic with nothing but fastballs, tip-toeing an awfully fine line to strike out the side, complete his MLB-leading eighth save, and help the Blue Jays win, 4-3.
That’s how thin the margins will likely be until Toronto’s offence gets back to full strength. Jansen isn’t particularly close, but Hernandez is inching towards a return, having begun a hitting progression in Toronto on Friday as he recovers from an oblique strain. And Springer might just be back on Saturday. Or he might be back next week. It’ll depend. With him, you never can be too sure.
Of course, considering what happened in 2015, no one knows the bullet that’s been dodged better than Springer, whose exhalation you probably heard wherever you were on Wednesday when X-rays of his wrist returned negative. He’s merely dealing with a contusion to the area, which isn’t much fun, either. It hurt like hell. But it’s better than a fracture.
Of course, this is George Springer we’re talking about. Same guy who played multiple games with a grade 2 oblique strain last spring before he alerted the Blue Jays to the discomfort he was experiencing. Same one who tried to gut his way through a quad strain later that month, and again a month after that, before finally accepting he needed substantial time off to let it heal. Same guy who finished the season spending most of his time as a designated hitter while playing through ankle and knee injuries.
His pain tolerance is exceptional. And as long as he can get a uniform up over his head, lace up his cleats, and pull on a pair of batting gloves, he’ll always push to play. Which is why you saw him coming off the bench midway through Thursday’s matinee less than 24 hours after Valdez drilled him. Why you saw him playing some right field, working a couple full counts, and striking out twice on the kind of all-or-nothing, collapse-to-a-knee swings you’ll see him take from time-to-time when watching him regularly.
But that didn’t look great, did it? Or is that just how hard he swings? Was that a sign of an injured player who really ought not to have been in there? Or was Springer just swinging as hard as he could, getting fooled by a couple secondary pitches, and collapsing underneath his own momentum?
With him, you never can be too sure. Springer plays the game at such a singular, all-out speed, and he’s shown such a willingness to play through pain throughout his career, that it’s difficult to discern when he’s legitimately compromised or just flying around being himself. And it could be both. Which was the case Thursday.
“Yeah, that was a mixture of everything,” Springer said when asked what made his swings look so awkward. “It didn’t feel fantastic. But that’s all right. I mean, I didn’t expect it to, you know? So, hopefully, I’ll be back in there tomorrow and I’ll be able to go.
Tomorrow, as in Saturday. Because Springer wasn’t in there Friday, forced to take the night off by Montoyo and the club’s training staff, none of whom were particularly encouraged with the way Springer plate appearances looked a day prior.
“It was a cold day. And it’s not easy for everyday players to pinch-hit. But that’s one of the reasons he’s not playing today. He didn’t look as comfortable as we thought he was going to look,” Montoyo said. “It’s one of those things where you push somebody and then it lingers and lingers. So, let’s just give him some time.”
Of course, if you’re Springer, you’re looking to the heavens asking why that time had to be now. Friday was meant to be a homecoming, as Springer was preparing to play a game at Minute Maid Park for the first time since he left the Astros for the Blue Jays following the 2020 season. He was going to play against guys he grew up in the game with, won division titles and a World Series with. Before family and friends. In front of fans that still love him and lined the Blue Jays dugout pre-game, extending No. 4 jerseys and homemade signs for him to autograph.
Of course, Springer already made his return last year — sort of. He was with the Blue Jays when they went to Houston in early May for a three-game set, but he’d strained his right quad five days earlier, reaggravating an injury he originally suffered during spring training. So, he had the on-field reunions, the handshakes, the hugs. The press conference, the television cameras, the pre-game video tribute. The standing ovation, the doffed cap, the waves to the crowd. But he didn’t get to play.
As was the case for extended stretches of his 2021, as you no doubt remember. You’ll recall the oblique, the quad, the ankle, the knee. The constant and joyful dugout presence throughout three injured list stints that belied the mental anguish Springer was under while watching his new teammates play without him. The 78 games he did get into and the tantalizing, .907-OPS production he flashed over a half-season’s plate appearances. It can be misleading playing this game, but if you adjust Springer’s 2021 output to a full, 162-game season, he finishes with 39 doubles and 45 homers — the same figures Marcus Semien rode to a third-place MVP finish.
Of course, Springer’s only logged a full season twice in his career: 2016, when he played all 162, and pandemic-shortened 2020, when he got into 51. He’s spent time on the injured list in every other campaign. The back-to-back, 140-game seasons he put up in 2017 and ’18 are probably a more reasonable expectation going forward. Maybe even a best-case scenario. Considering how talented he is, the Blue Jays would take it. Springer produced a collective 8 fWAR and 127 OPS+ over those two seasons. That’s all he needs to make a significant impact atop a team’s lineup.
And as we sit here in April, with Springer already missing time due to his forearm contusion, reaching 140 looks like a pretty good outcome. Certainly much better than the one that befell him in 2015, when Volquez fractured his wrist with an incredibly similar pitch. So, will Springer be back atop Montoyo’s lineup Saturday, running around the same outfield he made his career patrolling? Will he have to wait until Sunday? Could we not see him until next week? It’s George Springer. With him, you never can be too sure.
“It’s getting there. I try to play as much as I can. Unfortunately, I got hit by a 95 mile per hour fastball in the wrist,” he said. “I’m going to have to manage it. And we’ve got to be smart. We’re only in Game 14. But I want to play. So, I’m getting in [Montoyo’s] ear about it, you know? Hopefully I’ll be in there [Saturday.] But we’re also trying to make sure that we do the right thing.”
