George Springer

George Chelston Springer III (born September 19, 1989) is an American professional baseball player who serves as an outfielder and designated hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays. He spent the first seven years of his MLB career with the Houston Astros, from 2014 through 2020. Though he has mostly played right field, he has also logged considerable time in center.

Springer played college ball at the University of Connecticut, where he was named Big East Conference Player of the Year and a First Team All-American. The Astros picked him 11th overall in the first round of the 2011 draft. He debuted in the majors in 2014. In 2017, Springer earned his first All-Star selection, won a Silver Slugger Award, and became a World Series champion. He was also named World Series MVP that year, tying a record with five home runs as Houston beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. He made the All-Star team again in 2018, 2019, and 2022. Before the 2021 season, he signed with Toronto as a free agent.

Springer spent his freshman year at New Britain High School in Connecticut, making the varsity baseball team despite standing just 5 feet tall and weighing 100 pounds. He then transferred to Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut, for his sophomore through senior years, repeating his junior year after his grades slipped. The Minnesota Twins selected him in the 48th round of the 2008 draft, but he opted not to sign, feeling he wasn’t ready for pro ball.

At the University of Connecticut, Springer played for the Huskies and was named to the Baseball America Freshman All-America First Team in 2009, also earning Big East Rookie of the Year honors. He spent the summers of 2009 and 2010 playing for the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod Baseball League. In 2011, he was named Big East Player of the Year and a first-team All-American by Perfect Game USA, Louisville Slugger, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, while Baseball America named him a Second Team All-American.

Houston selected Springer with the 11th overall pick in the 2011 draft, making him the highest-drafted player in UConn history. He signed for a $2.52 million bonus and played eight games for the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League. Before 2012, MLB.com ranked him the 84th-best prospect in baseball.

In 2012, Springer split time between the Lancaster JetHawks (Class A-Advanced California League) and the Corpus Christi Hooks (Class AA Texas League), hitting 22 home runs and stealing 28 bases with Lancaster. The following year, splitting time between Corpus Christi and the Oklahoma City RedHawks (Class AAA Pacific Coast League), he joined the 30–30 club with more than 30 home runs and stolen bases. He was named MVP of the Texas League All-Star Game and played in the All-Star Futures Game at Citi Field. Despite playing only 73 games for Corpus Christi, he was named Texas League Player of the Year and was a finalist for USA Today’s Minor League Player of the Year Award.

Baseball America ranked Springer the 18th-best prospect in baseball before 2014. During spring training that year, he and his agent turned down a reported seven-year, $23 million contract offer, even though he had not yet reached the majors. He started the 2014 season in Oklahoma City, batting .353 with a .647 slugging percentage, before being called up to the big-league club on April 16.

Springer made his MLB debut on April 16, 2014, at Minute Maid Park against the Kansas City Royals. Batting second and playing right field, he got his first career hit—an infield single off Jeremy Guthrie. He hit his first home run on May 8 at Comerica Park, off Detroit’s Drew Smyly. By June 26, he had 15 home runs, becoming the first Astros rookie to reach that mark before the All-Star break. On July 23, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left quad strain, and on September 16, the Astros announced he would miss the rest of the season. He played 78 games in 2014, batting .231 with 20 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 114 strikeouts.

On April 12, 2015, against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, Springer made a leaping catch at the wall in the 10th inning to rob Leonys Martín of a potential game-winning grand slam; the Astros won 6–4 in 14 innings. On June 10 against the Chicago White Sox, he recorded his first five-hit game—the first for an Astro since Brandon Barnes’s cycle on July 19, 2013. Along with Jose Altuve, rookie Carlos Correa, and Dallas Keuchel, Springer was a key part of Houston’s playoff run that year, the team’s first in a decade. They beat the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game but lost to the eventual World Series champion Royals in the AL Division Series, 3 games to 2, with the lead changing hands in every game.

By steadily reducing his strikeout rate from his rookie season, Springer improved the quality of his at-bats.