BOSTON – George Springer’s first homer in the majors came May 8, 2014 at the Detroit Tigers off Drew Smyly, while No. 300 came Tuesday against Ryan Watson and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Checking in at No. 46 and No. 47 on the slugger’s ledger is his now-Toronto Blue Jays teammate Kevin Gausman, who gave up the pair May 26, 2016 at home with the Baltimore Orioles in a 4-2 Houston Astros win.
“I mean, I’ve been a part of a couple of those, so I’m in that book,” the veteran right-hander quipped when asked this week about Springer’s milestone. “Exceptional hitter, great teammate, great player. Been on a lot of really good teams. He’s played at a pretty high level his whole career, which you respect, always known for putting his body on the line. … I’m not surprised that he’s at 300 homers and hopefully he has a lot more to add on to that this year, too.”
Springer’s 300th was his seventh homer this season and part of a recent surge that suggests he’s finally turning the corner on the fractured left big toe he suffered April 11. He returned from the injured list a mere 16 days after the injury, determined to brush off the pain he felt on every swing and every step.
In his first 13 games back, he batted just .188/.250/.208, but since going deep at Yankee Stadium May 18, when he hit first homer since March 30 to end a 23-game drought, he’s batting .250/.350/.460 with five homers, six doubles, 11 RBI, 13 runs and 14 walks against 22 strikeouts, with five stolen bases — three of them in Boston this week.
Ten of those walks have come this month, a sure sign for hitting coach David Popkins that Springer is about to find his stride.
“We saw him start to expand a little more, not really have the typical George at-bats where he’s hunting in certain lanes and then taking really close pitches. We’ve seen that in the last few weeks where he’s started walking a little more,” said Popkins. “Those are the kind of at-bats I like to see from him. Whether he’s feeling good at the plate or not, whether he’s hitting the ball over the fence or not, those at-bats where he’s walking or seeing a lot of pitches are contagious. Those are lead-off-calibre at-bats. Walks don’t slump. Being able to have those types of at-bats is big for our team.”
That he’s some nine weeks clear of the initial fracture is surely a factor in Springer’s recent uptick, although, as usual, he deflected any conversations about his toe, saying, “I just don’t really pay attention to it, honestly.”
Springer said he didn’t know if the fracture is completely healed or not and that he wasn’t concerned about it, since he knows eventually he’ll recover fully. At the time of his return, he was wary of compensating elsewhere to protect the toe and insisted he hasn’t noticed if he subconsciously has.
“Ultimately, I understand your foot is big to hit, it’s big to do everything,” he said. “So maybe I’ve had to do it to some capacity and haven’t really known that I’ve done it. But at the end of the day, I made the choice to play. Whatever happens out there is on me and I’m excited to have that shot to play.”
All of which brought him to Tuesday and his 438-foot drive over the Green Monster and right out of Fenway, where he’s hit nine career homers. Eighty of his home runs have come at Houston, 70 at Rogers Centre and, in a distant third, 18 at Angel Stadium. He’s the 168th player to reach 300 in the majors, the 16th currently active and is the fifth player to debut in 2014 or later with that many homers.
Aside from Gausman, Springer also has taken current teammates Dylan Cease, Patrick Corbin and Jose Berrios deep once each, while he’s 3-for-9 off Max Scherzer with no home runs.
“I remember when he was a rookie and my time in Detroit facing him, we laugh about those battles and how we’ve progressed through both of our careers,” said Scherzer, who before returning to the IL hit a major milestone of his own with career strikeout No. 3,500. “And here we are at the end, now both on the same team and just the respect I have for him, what he does on the field and everything he does, he’s a great teammate and glad I get to be here and be a part of it.”
Scherzer pitched against Springer during the series when he hit his first homer, holding him to a one-for-three with one strikeout. Three days later came the drive that started the path to 300.
“It was actually to right-centre, which was probably a shock to everybody, including myself,” he laughed. “That’s just a cool moment. A lot of hard work went into that moment and a lot still today. (No. 300) means a lot. It’s a long time. You’ve got to keep grinding and put a lot of work in every year. It’s an awesome experience.”
VLAD GOES DEEP: John Schneider’s go-to line when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slumps is that the all-star first baseman is always just a swing away from breaking out. The Blue Jays are hoping the first-pitch Sonny Gray sinker he pummelled 410 feet to left-centre in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Red Sox is that swing.
“When Vlad’s good, he can do that,” said the manager. “We’ve been talking to him for a while. I know we were joking sometimes it takes a bloop hit to get you going or just a productive day. I like that his first two at-bats he had intent with pitches in the middle of the zone. I know the first one was middle-in, but it had the right kind of angle to it. I’ll keep saying it to you guys, he’s going to get going, he’s going to start hitting some homers. That’s a really good swing against a good pitcher.”
For his part, Guerrero isn’t ready to proclaim that he’s about to rip off on a heater after ending a 24-game drought, but pointed to the steps that will get him back and locked in.
“It’s got to be one at-bat at a time,” he said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “The better swings, the better pitch selection at the plate, that’s when I’m going to start feeling a lot better at the plate. But the most important thing for me right now is that we won the series and I want to be focused on that.”
Another focus is getting himself right physically after missing a couple games last weekend with back tightness. Guerrero returned to the lineup Tuesday and looked more comfortable each day although “obviously, I’m not 100 per cent,” he said. “But I feel a lot better.”
“Like I always say,” he added, “the team needs me to be out there and if my body allows me to be out there, I’m going to be out there. I’m going to compete and do everything that I can for the team.”
FACING DOWN CHAPMAN: Brandon Valenzuela had a pretty straightforward approach to flame-throwing Aroldis Chapman when he doubled off the lefty to plate the winning run Thursday.
“Personally, it’s 100 that feels like 105, so you don’t have time to think about the off-speed,” the rookie catcher explained. “You will either look horrible on the off-speed, or hit the heater.”
Valenzuela fouled off four pitches – including one he popped up that swirled in the wind and out of fellow catcher Connor Wong’s reach. Finally he ripped a 100.1-m.p.h. changeup off the Monster, a drive he conceded got a boost from the gusts Thursday.
“That was a fly ball,” he said. “I thought I was out and then I saw the wind blowing and I was like, ‘OK, it has a chance, it has a chance.’”
TURN OF PHRASE: Schneider dropped an all-time euphemism while discussing Mason Fluharty’s handling of a three-up, three-down ninth for his first save of the season.
“Flu’s got a lot of, what’s the polite way to say this, competitiveness in the right spots of his body,” he said, nearly with a straight face. “He handled it really well. Him and Tommy (Nance) were ready to go in. Both did their part.”
Fluharty joined Braydon Fisher as Blue Jays relievers to both start games as an opener and close out other games in the ninth. The two relievers are among the five Blue Jays to collect saves this season so far.
