The MLB playoffs are here and with that comes anticipation and expectation. The Toronto Blue Jays are having feelings of both as they are back in the playoffs after missing the postseason last year. The Blue Jays are laser focused and come into the playoffs winning seven out of their last ten games. But the most noteworthy difference in the team this year versus the previous postseason trip is the addition of MLBbro George Springer.
This is his second year with the ball club, but he brings postseason experience that few others in the Toronto’s lineup can provide. MLBbros George Springer and Jackie Bradley Jr. are both former World Series Champions. The team is full of young stellar players, such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio, but in the playoffs veteran experience is key. This is exactly what the team envisioned when they signed Springer to a six-year $150 million contract before the 2021 season.
This bodes well for the team and Springer as he is in a position with which he is all too comfortable. Having been the leadoff hitter for a championship team already, he is poised to set the tone for a young team that is looking to take the next step. Springer brings more than just experience; he has excelled at the highest level. In the now infamous 2017 World Series title, MLBbro Springer batted .379 with five home runs, three doubles, and seven RBI in the seven-game series over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
While both Springer and MLBbro Jackie Bradley Jr. will help the young team be prepared for the Wild Card round, the team will lean heavily on Springer to lead the charge. If he can set a pace that ignites the team, the young stars will feel more comfortable and undoubtedly follow his lead. Springer is not the most talented player on this roster, but he is the veteran leader that is needed to succeed in October. If he can deliver and the team experiences success in the first round it will go a long way in establishing how far this gifted Toronto squad can go.
With power, speed and average as their main assets at the plate, Aaron Judge and George Springer are two leaders of the new school leadoff hitters making an impact from the first pitch of the game.
Aaron Judge
The American League home run record is impressive, but one of the unsung things outfielder Aaron Judge has done this season is move into the leadoff spot to spark the New York Yankees offense into being one of the best in baseball.
Aaron Judge has shown the world that fans need to be in their seats early with a beer and popcorn in hand because he is ready to get the party started.
“We were at a point where we were really thin and did not have any options,” manager Aaron Boone said when asked why he began using Judge in the leadoff role this season.
The door opened for him to slide into the leadoff spot after a toe injury to infielder D.J. LeMahieu earlier this year.
This season Judge is batting over just under .400 out of the leadoff spot with 11 home runs.
Comparing that to the two hole, where he is around .290 and the three spot where he is at .360, the fear factor Judge can have on pitchers when he is the first batter they face when stepping into the batter’s box can have an effect that lasts throughout the game.
The only offensive categories Judge does not lead the American League in currently are steals, which he has a career-high 16 and batting average. He has two legs of the Triple Crown locked up and trails in average by only .003 with four games left this season.
George Springer
George Springer is fourth All-Time with 52 leadoff home runs and will be looking to add a few more when he is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
George Springer showing Aaron Judge how to lead off
This year he has a Blue Jays franchise record nine, just three of his personal record of 12 back in 2019 with Houston. Over the weekend the Blue Jays officially locked up their first playoff berth since losing in the 2020 Wild Card Game. That was the only playoff experience this young Blue Jays core has besides Springer, who helped the Astros get a ring in 2017 and 2018 ALCS MVP Jackie Bradley Jr.
Over his last seven games Springer is hitting .429 with four home runs, eight RBI and seven runs scored.
His Blue Jays currently have a four game hold on the top American League Wild Card spot, which guarantees them three home playoff games in “The Six.”
MLBbro.com reporter Malik Wright caught up with Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer, one of the most prolific leadoff hitters in MLB history. Springer’s bat has been hot in the last month of the regular season and is leading Toronto’s surge towards a playoff berth.
There are few roles in the game of baseball more important than the leadoff hitter. The head of the snake, the table setter, however you want to frame it; the leadoff batter sets the tone for how your offense begins a game.
Work the count and get on base by any means is usually the name of the leadoff game. But players who are able to provide some pop out of that spot, blasting a leadoff home run strike a different type of fear into opposing pitchers.
With Toronto’s George Springer hitting his 50th leadoff homer on Monday (fourth all time), MLBbros are well represented on the Top 10 all-time list.
The greatest leadoff hitter of all time, naturally Rickey Henderson is number one on this list. The Hall of Famer hit 297 home runs in 25 seasons for nine teams, and went deep to lead off a game for every one of them.
Rickey hit a career high nine leadoff homers for the Yankees in 1986 and did it again in 1990 during his second stint with Oakland. Arguably the coolest player to ever touch a baseball field, Rickey Henderson was truly a one of one.
George Springer – 50 Leadoff Homers – 4th All-Time
George Springer is the only active MLBbro on this list, and with the way he’s raking this season he may end up second all time before 2022 ends. The blast Monday was number 50, and his seventh this year with over half a season to go. One more would give him the franchise record for the Blue Jays.
Now Springer is no stranger to setting franchise records out of the leadoff spot. In 2019, George set the single-season record for the Houston Astros when he put 12 leadoff homers into the seats.
Curtis Granderson hit 344 home runs in his career, and was a valuable weapon for several teams over the course of his big league career. Unfortunately for Curtis, in two of the years he left the yard most, he was in the Bronx hitting behind The Captain.
But before he got to the Yankees, Curtis sent plenty of warning shots to start games for his teams. Granderson hit seven leadoff homers four different times; twice for Detroit in 2007 and 2009, and then went back-to-back for the Mets in 2015 and 2016.
Granderson retired in 2019, and is still the Tigers all-time leadoff homer leader with 24.
Jimmy Rollins – 46 Leadoff Homers – 7th All-Time
Jimmy Rollins did it all for Philadelphia during his 2007 MVP campaign, including hitting nine leadoff homers. Unlike every other MLBbro on this list, Rollins hit all of his leadoff homers with the same ball club.
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