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What’s old is new again, and it appears that George Springer has regained his lead-off spot.
The Jays were forced to mix it up last week due to an illness Springer dealt with, but he led off on Wednesday against Baltimore and is doing so again tonight. Undoubtedly, he’s been the biggest disappointment of the season for the Blue Jays, as there seems to be nothing going right in his game. While he’s taking walks at an above-average rate, that’s about all that’s going well for him this season.
Most notably, Springer’s power has vanished this season, with his slugging percentage at just .295, down from the .472 and .405 he put up in his first and second seasons with the team and well down from his career average. His OPS+ has followed, down to 67 from 132 and 102.
It goes without saying that the Jays need Springer at his best, and I’m no longer convinced he can provide at the top of the order. Schneider has been the Jays’ best bat this season, and his on-base percentage is second on the team only to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose season has rebounded well recently.
Nonetheless, Springer and the Jays will look to get going Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, who will start Tyler Alexander as they kick off a three-game series. Chris Bassitt takes the mound for Toronto.
First pitch:
7:07 p.m. EST. TV: AppleTV. Radio: Sportsnet 590.
Starting pitchers:
| Name | Team | GS
|
W
|
L
|
IP
|
ERA
|
xERA
|
ERA-
|
FIP
|
WHIP
|
K/9
|
BB/9
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Bassitt | TOR | 8 | 3 | 5 | 42.2 | 5.06 | 4.95 | 134 | 4.62 | 1.55 | 8.44 | 4.22 |
| Tyler Alexander | TBR | 5 | 1 | 2 | 39.2 | 5.45 | 4.79 | 148 | 5.38 | 1.36 | 7.49 | 2.72 |
Lineups:
BLUE JAYS:
G Springer (R) RF
B Bichette (R) SS
V Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
J Turner (R) DH
D Jansen (R) C
D Schneider (R) LF
D Varsho (L) CF
I Kiner-Falefa (R) 2B
E Clement (R) 3B
Y Díaz (R) 1B
J Lowe (L) RF
R Arozarena (R) LF
J Aranda (L) DH
I Paredes (R) 3B
R Palacios (L) 2B
A Rosario (R) SS
B Rortvedt (L) C
J DeLuca (R) CF
Need to bide the time until first pitch?
Tune into the latest edition of Blue Jays Nation Radio as the crew talks about all the happenings in Toronto and beyond.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
