It has been a truly surreal season for Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer.

The 35-year-old entered the 2025 season with a lot of uncertainty following two straight years of precipitous offensive decline. His stats fell off a cliff, and many were wondering if the Blue Jays might cut Springer’s playing time or potentially pay some of his remaining salary to make a trade happen.

When Springer struggled during spring training, the doubts only intensified among Blue Jays fans. Very few people were expecting a particularly productive season from Springer.

My, how things have changed over the last few months. Springer is enjoying arguably the best offensive campaign of his career and is deserving of some American League MVP votes. He’s been that good.

Interestingly enough, most of Springer’s 2025 production came away from his customary spot hitting atop the lineup. Springer’s become one of the greatest leadoff hitters of all time, trailing only the late, great Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson for most career home runs to start a game.

However, the Blue Jays decided to bat him lower in the lineup to start the season after his struggles in 2023 and 2024. It wasn’t an unwarranted decision at the time. The Blue Jays experimented with several hitters out of the leadoff spot, including Bo Bichette, Ernie Clement, and Nathan Lukes, among others.

Springer, meanwhile, started the season batting as low as sixth in the lineup, before eventually settling in as the Blue Jays’ No. 2 hitter. He basically hit wherever he was slotted, posting a 1.097 OPS in the two hole over 89 at-bats.

It wasn’t until Springer returned from a concussion in the middle of August that Blue Jays manager John Schneider finally decided to return him to his perch as the club’s leadoff hitter.

Springer immediately responded to the move, continuing his incredible 2025 season. He’s slashing an eye-popping .388/.481/.821 with nine home runs and 15 RBIs over 17 games since returning to the leadoff spot. The Blue Jays’ lineup feels different with Springer starting each game as a legitimate threat to hit a ball over the fence.

Springer has the highest batting average, on-base percentage, and second-highest OPS of his illustrious career in 2025. His swing decisions have been on point throughout the season, as he’s made contact with the sweet spot of the bat over 40% of the time, which ranks in the 93rd percentile among all MLB hitters, according to Baseball Savant.

“There’s been times since he’s been here where it feels like he can kind of put the team on his back a little bit, and he kind of has a track record to do it at this time of year and into the postseason,” Schneider said of Springer, following a two-homer game in Cincinnati, according to MLB.com’s Mike Petraglia.

Whenever Springer has been healthy and producing during his nearly five-year stint as a Blue Jay, the team has felt more dangerous. It should come as no surprise that Springer’s previous best offensive season in Toronto, a .907 OPS in 2021, came during a year where the Blue Jays had arguably the game’s most dynamic and dangerous lineup.

Springer, at his best, is a unique offensive talent. Right now, he’s never been better, and that could be a very good thing for the Blue Jays down the stretch in September and ideally on a deep run into October.

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