<p>The best way to describe the<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/"> Toronto Blue Jays&#8217;</a> identity this season is a ball club that&#8217;s received significant improvement from internal candidates. The nucleus of this team is largely the same as it was last year, and they&#8217;re the biggest contributors of the group.</p>
<p>Their two big-ticket additions for the batting order, Andrés Giménez and Anthony Santander, have either relatively underperformed or been hurt for a good portion of the season (or an injury has impacted their play on the field).</p>
<p>On the flip side, Addison Barger has been a massive shot in the arm for this lineup, and Alejandro Kirk looks like the first half of 2022 version of himself. But there hasn&#8217;t been a more impactful and improbable bounce-back for this Blue Jays lineup than George Springer.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">George Springer (12)</p>
<p>Opponent: New York Yankees<br />Pitcher: Max Fried<br />Date: 7/1/25 <a href="https://t.co/7sGFnu6bOB">pic.twitter.com/7sGFnu6bOB</a></p>
<p>&mdash; TOR Home Runs (@TOR__HR) <a href="https://twitter.com/TOR__HR/status/1940215957303312651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<div class="nwVKo">
<div class="loJjTe">The now 35-year-old is enjoying a renaissance season, leading the team (amongst qualified hitters) in home runs, OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ heading into tonight&#8217;s game against the Yankees. Springer has been an absolute revelation this season; all of his batted ball metrics have skyrocketed, his walk rate has jumped, and his strikeout rate (while higher than last year) is still comfortably below league average.</div>
<div></div>
<div class="loJjTe">The Connecticut native is barreling baseballs at a 92nd percentile rate, his expected slugging% has jumped .137 points from last year and sits in the 91st percentile, and he&#8217;s done all of this while maintaining an elite chase rate of just 20.2% (92nd percentile). This is the profile of an elite hitter, and it&#8217;s no surprise that Springer&#8217;s wRC+ on the season currently holds at a pristine 141.</div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div class="loJjTe"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-87907" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-03-112934.png" alt="" width="626" height="414" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-03-112934.png 626w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-03-112934-300x198.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 626px) 100vw, 626px" /></div>
</div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div>Springer&#8217;s ideology at the plate has shifted from trying to get on base to trying to hit the ball hard and do damage, using his &#8216;A-swing&#8217;.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Dan Shulman was on the <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/590/the-jd-bunkis-podcast/">JD Bunkis Podcast</a> on Tuesday and shared that he had had a conversation with Springer in spring training last year before to the season and asked George what his goals were for the season. Springer had said, &#8220;Get on base for Vladdy&#8221;. This year, Shulman once again asked the veteran outfielder what he wanted to accomplish for the season, and Springer&#8217;s answer was radically different: &#8220;hit the ball out of the ballpark&#8221;.</div>
<div></div>
<div>So far this season, he&#8217;s done exactly that, and one of the main reasons for his success has been his success against breaking balls, something that gave the right-handed bat a lot of problems in 2024. Once again, the name of the game for <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-toronto-blue-jays-thump-yankees-12-5-move-game-behind-division-leaders">Springer</a> has been slug, he is simply slugging the crap out of the ball this season and that&#8217;s *his* game. This is not a contact-oriented bat who&#8217;s looking to spray the ball around the diamond and rack up a bunch of hits; this is a damage bat who&#8217;s looking for the ball in a certain quadrant of the strike zone and doing significant damage when he gets it.</div>
<div></div>
<div><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-87908" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-03-115346.png" alt="" width="627" height="241" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-03-115346.png 627w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-03-115346-300x115.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 627px) 100vw, 627px" /></div>
<div></div>
<div>There may not have been a better demonstration of this than what Springer did on Canada Day against Yankees ace Max Fried.</div>
<div></div>
<div>The Yankees&#8217; southpaw was locked in a six-pitch battle with the Blue Jays&#8217; DH. The pitch sequencing had gone as follows: 92 MPH sinker, 80 MPH sweeper, 86 MPH changeup, 96 MPH fastball, 96 MPH fastball. Springer had whiffed on the sweeper and the changeup, taken the first fastball and fouled off the second. At this point, it was a 2-2 count, and Fried decided to go to his curveball for the first time in the at bat, a pitch that had produced a .206 average and .312 slugging against thus far this season. Springer kept his front hip in check from flaring out, waited back on the 77 MPH offering on the outside corner and hooked it into the left centerfield bleachers with basically a one-handed swing. An unbelievably impressive ending to an even more impressive plate appearance against one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.</div>
<p>Springer is just one of many Blue Jays enjoying a major bounceback/breakout campaign. They&#8217;ve shown an uncanny resilience to them that hasn&#8217;t been the case for a very long time.</p>
<p>The ability to <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-detailing-recent-struggles-george-springer">get punched</a> in the mouth and immediately punch back has been a part of their DNA all season. It&#8217;s an incredibly fun brand of baseball to watch day in and day out, especially on the offensive side of things. That is a testament to the work David Popkins, Lou Iannotti, and Hunter Mense have done with the position players who have walked into that clubhouse this season.</p>
<p>Coaching matters. Philosophy matters. Players buying into what you&#8217;re trying to sell matters. No single individual player best embodies this mindset better than this season&#8217;s version of George Springer.</p>
<hr />
<p><a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-85322" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/VLADDY_BJN-Merch_727x404_01.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/VLADDY_BJN-Merch_727x404_01.png 727w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/VLADDY_BJN-Merch_727x404_01-300x167.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" /></a></p>
<p>Celebrate <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">Vladdy’s big news</a> in style with the <em>exclusive</em> new <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">BlueJaysNation Vladdy merch</a> — available only at <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">NationGear.ca</a>! Rep a future Hall of Famer and wear your team&#8217;s pride loud. Limited drop. Don’t miss out.</p>


The best way to describe the<a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/"> Toronto Blue Jays'</a> identity this season is a ball club that's received significant improvement from internal candidates. The nucleus of this team is largely the same as it was last year, and they're the biggest contributors of the group.

Their two big-ticket additions for the batting order, Andrés Giménez and Anthony Santander, have either relatively underperformed or been hurt for a good portion of the season (or an injury has impacted their play on the field).

On the flip side, Addison Barger has been a massive shot in the arm for this lineup, and Alejandro Kirk looks like the first half of 2022 version of himself. But there hasn't been a more impactful and improbable bounce-back for this Blue Jays lineup than George Springer.

https://twitter.com/TOR__HR/status/1940215957303312651
<div class="nwVKo">
<div class="loJjTe">The now 35-year-old is enjoying a renaissance season, leading the team (amongst qualified hitters) in home runs, OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ heading into tonight's game against the Yankees. Springer has been an absolute revelation this season; all of his batted ball metrics have skyrocketed, his walk rate has jumped, and his strikeout rate (while higher than last year) is still comfortably below league average.</div>
<div></div>
<div class="loJjTe">The Connecticut native is barreling baseballs at a 92nd percentile rate, his expected slugging% has jumped .137 points from last year and sits in the 91st percentile, and he's done all of this while maintaining an elite chase rate of just 20.2% (92nd percentile). This is the profile of an elite hitter, and it's no surprise that Springer's wRC+ on the season currently holds at a pristine 141.</div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div class="loJjTe"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-87907" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-03-112934.png" alt="" width="626" height="414" /></div>
</div>
<div></div>
<div></div>
<div>Springer's ideology at the plate has shifted from trying to get on base to trying to hit the ball hard and do damage, using his 'A-swing'.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Dan Shulman was on the <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/590/the-jd-bunkis-podcast/">JD Bunkis Podcast</a> on Tuesday and shared that he had had a conversation with Springer in spring training last year before to the season and asked George what his goals were for the season. Springer had said, "Get on base for Vladdy". This year, Shulman once again asked the veteran outfielder what he wanted to accomplish for the season, and Springer's answer was radically different: "hit the ball out of the ballpark".</div>
<div></div>
<div>So far this season, he's done exactly that, and one of the main reasons for his success has been his success against breaking balls, something that gave the right-handed bat a lot of problems in 2024. Once again, the name of the game for <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/instant-reaction-toronto-blue-jays-thump-yankees-12-5-move-game-behind-division-leaders">Springer</a> has been slug, he is simply slugging the crap out of the ball this season and that's *his* game. This is not a contact-oriented bat who's looking to spray the ball around the diamond and rack up a bunch of hits; this is a damage bat who's looking for the ball in a certain quadrant of the strike zone and doing significant damage when he gets it.</div>
<div></div>
<div><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-87908" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-03-115346.png" alt="" width="627" height="241" /></div>
<div></div>
<div>There may not have been a better demonstration of this than what Springer did on Canada Day against Yankees ace Max Fried.</div>
<div></div>
<div>The Yankees' southpaw was locked in a six-pitch battle with the Blue Jays' DH. The pitch sequencing had gone as follows: 92 MPH sinker, 80 MPH sweeper, 86 MPH changeup, 96 MPH fastball, 96 MPH fastball. Springer had whiffed on the sweeper and the changeup, taken the first fastball and fouled off the second. At this point, it was a 2-2 count, and Fried decided to go to his curveball for the first time in the at bat, a pitch that had produced a .206 average and .312 slugging against thus far this season. Springer kept his front hip in check from flaring out, waited back on the 77 MPH offering on the outside corner and hooked it into the left centerfield bleachers with basically a one-handed swing. An unbelievably impressive ending to an even more impressive plate appearance against one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.</div>
Springer is just one of many Blue Jays enjoying a major bounceback/breakout campaign. They've shown an uncanny resilience to them that hasn't been the case for a very long time.

The ability to <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/toronto-blue-jays-detailing-recent-struggles-george-springer">get punched</a> in the mouth and immediately punch back has been a part of their DNA all season. It's an incredibly fun brand of baseball to watch day in and day out, especially on the offensive side of things. That is a testament to the work David Popkins, Lou Iannotti, and Hunter Mense have done with the position players who have walked into that clubhouse this season.

Coaching matters. Philosophy matters. Players buying into what you're trying to sell matters. No single individual player best embodies this mindset better than this season's version of George Springer.

<hr />

<a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-85322" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2099/08/VLADDY_BJN-Merch_727x404_01.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" /></a>

Celebrate <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">Vladdy’s big news</a> in style with the <em>exclusive</em> new <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">BlueJaysNation Vladdy merch</a> — available only at <a href="https://nationgear.ca/collections/bluejaysnation">NationGear.ca</a>! Rep a future Hall of Famer and wear your team's pride loud. Limited drop. Don’t miss out.

Recent articles from Damon

Breaking News