The Jays’ George Springer has no intention of slowing down but realizes he just might have to once in a while

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This article was published 05/04/2022 (1642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DUNEDIN, Fla.—If you are a Blue Jays fan who watches through your fingers every time George Springer dives in the outfield or slides into second base, don’t expect a reprieve any time soon.

The 32-year-old outfielder has been playing hard for as long as he can remember, no matter the sport. He was never the biggest kid growing up in Connecticut, so he felt he had to bring the intensity.

“It’s who I am, it’s how I was raised to play,” Springer said. “You want to enjoy the game, but you want to play as hard as you can because you never know if you’re going to get another chance to play it, so might as well play as hard as you can.”

The commitment with which Springer approaches the game, that all-out mentality that may cause Toronto fans to hold their breath as they wait to see him pick himself up, is also what makes him the kind of player the Jays deemed worthy of a franchise-record $150-million (U.S.) contract before last season. His belief that baseball should be fun but also played hard and fast could propel the Jays to a World Series. As important as acquisitions like starter Kevin Gausman and third baseman Matt Chapman were to Toronto this off-season, a full year with a healthy Springer atop the Jays lineup could make the difference between missing the post-season and being the last team standing at the end. Toronto posted a .615 win percentage in 78 games with Springer in the lineup last season, compared to a .516 win percentage in 84 games without him.

The issue, of course, is that Springer only played 78 games in his first year with Toronto, when he hit .264 with a .907 OPS, 22 home runs and 50 RBIs. An oblique injury, a quadriceps strain and a left knee sprain kept Springer out for various stints last year. While the injuries weren’t all the result of Springer’s instinct to push himself to the limit, the season taught him that there are times when playing at 85 or 90 per cent is a sacrifice worth making.

Just don’t expect him to do it when the ball is hit in his direction, or when he has to try to score.

“The goal is to be out there for as many games as I possibly can,” said Springer, who will be backed up by Raimel Tapia in centre field this season but who still believes he is built to play on defence.

“I don’t like to put numbers on it, I just want to play as much as I can. If the times where I need to play 85 per cent … is going to help me, I’d rather do it.”

Little details like that, individual sacrifices for the betterment of the team, are what Springer believes will push the Jays forward this year and into the post-season,. He still feels the pain of the last day of the 2021 regular season like it happened an hour ago — the roller coaster of emotions as the Jays battled to get a win, then watched in the clubhouse as the Yankees and Red Sox also won, leaving Toronto a game out or the playoffs.

It was tough, Springer said.

“To know that we finished one game short, it puts into perspective that us as players, us as staff, us as a team, we could have done one thing better, whatever that is, whatever that moment was,” Springer said. “Whether that’s prepared better, got a guy in from third base, made a better pitch, whatever the case may be. But we didn’t.”

Springer would have much preferred finishing 15 games back of the playoffs, rather than one game short.

“I think it left a really, really bad taste in everybody’s mouth, but it also showed you that you don’t ever want to feel that way again,” he said. “It’s definitely going to help us. This spring, our attention to detail has been 100 per cent better.”

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Those little details, the improvements the Jays hope will catapult them into baseball’s elite echelon, won’t be things that show up on the box score, Springer said. It’s going to be throwing behind a guy, or preventing somebody from going first to third, or beating out a double play just in time for the next man at the plate to hit a home run.

“We understand who we are as a team and the individual talent but a lot has to go right over 162 to get where we ultimately want to go,” he said.

Some of those moments will require maximum effort, which Springer is as good at giving as anyone in baseball. And he will recognize the moments that don’t, in order to be involved every minute he can.

Springer already has one World Series ring from his time with the Astros. Being in the lineup consistently could lead to another with the Jays.

Laura Armstrong is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @lauraarmy