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Blue Jays – A lack of options led to George Springer leading off last season and it may continue into 2025
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski - USA Today
Trevor Fitzpatrick
Jan 17, 2025, 06:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 16, 2025, 20:30 EST
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If you were to list the greatest leadoff hitters of the past decade, it would be hard not to at least give some consideration to Blue Jays outfielder George Springer.
Through his eleven-year MLB career, he’s made four all-star appearances and held a 124 OPS+ – most of which, came from the leadoff spot. He’s second in all-time leadoff home runs with 60, behind only the late Rickey Henderson who blasted 81.
Unfortunately, those stats did not hold up last season. Whether you chalk that up to age, his swing being worse, or a mix of both, one thing was for certain: the Blue Jays did not get the production they wanted out of Springer during their last campaign.

Springer and the lead-off conundrum

His great batting history took a blow as he recorded a career-worst year at the plate; his batting average was a paltry .220. That number drops even lower if you only look at his leadoff stats, down to .214 through 407 plate appearances. No matter which stat you look at for those 2024 leadoff spot plate appearances, the narrative doesn’t spin either. His OBP was .291 and his OPS was only .640.
So why then did he get so many hacks in that spot? The answer can be found through the process of elimination.
Simply put, the Jays had no other options to hit there. The player with the next most leadoff at-bats in 2024 was Davis Schneider who ranked even worse than Springer when it comes to offensive metrics. Following Schneider down the list of most leadoff at-bats is a two-way tie between Bo Bichette and Spencer Horwitz. They each played nine games there.
Horwitz, while solid in his rookie season for the Jays, lacked some of the prototypical leadoff batter qualities – namely, his seventh-percentile sprint speed. The team also seemed to favour using him to bat near Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to set him up or make pitchers less inclined to walk him. Not that those facts will matter for 2025, as Horwitz was dealt earlier this offseason and will play for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bo Bichette on the other hand is an interesting case. His numbers were down by a lot last season, but that was mainly due to injury. The star shortstop posted a .225/.277/.322 slash line with four home runs and a .598 OPS through 81 games, a far cry from the 2021 and 2022 campaigns where he led the AL in hits and sat above the .800 mark in both seasons. 
If he returns to form in 2025, he could be a viable leadoff choice, but his leg injuries may impact his sprint speed in the long term while a fair argument could be made that his bat is worthwhile higher in the lineup and closer to Guerrero. Although Bichette owns some strong numbers when he leads off a game – .289/.337/.493 with a .830 OPS and a .339 BABip, so history is on his side to some degree.
Looking at the roster options and with Bichette injured for a good chunk of the year, it makes sense why Springer was seemingly locked into the leadoff spot last year, there wasn’t a solid way to move the lineup around.

Other options for the Blue Jays

Barring a breakout season for a slap-hitting/fast-running prospect such as Jonatan Clase or an offseason acquisition, it appears Springer will get more hacks at the top of the order. The Jays could also turn to a contact-type hitter like Will Wagner at the top of the lineup, although it would come with the downside of decreased speed on the basepaths to start the game. 
All things considered, the 2025 FanGraphs projections for Springer are optimistic toward a slight bounce-back season, estimating a .244/.319/.412 slash line. That would make him at least serviceable while the Jays play through the upcoming season and strides ahead of what he put forward last year. 
Those numbers may look like they’ve been pulled out of a magic hat, but Springer has been adjusting his swing throughout all of 2024. Ahead of his best-hitting month of last season (July), he lowered his hands in his batting stance to a more natural position, allowing him to get his bat to the ball quicker. This offseason would be the first that he can work on the new stance uninterrupted by the constant flow of the regular season.
Expect to know early on during this year’s Spring Training if the changes have properly taken root and whether Springer will continue seeing reps as the Jays’ leadoff hitter. The club has a few options they can turn to outside of the Connecticut product but as of right now, it seems like it is his spot to lose. 

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