Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: George Springer must rebound in 2025

George Springer needs to turn back time and play like he did in his first two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at George Springer.

In his first two seasons with the Blue Jays, Springer slashed .266/.346/.502 with 47 home runs in 925 plate appearances for a 135 wRC+. The 2023 season saw the start of a decline, as Springer slashed .258/.327/.405 with 21 home runs in 683 plate appearances for a 104 wRC+, by far the lowest of his career.

His 2024 season wasn’t good and truly signaled that Springer was declining, as he slashed .220/.303/.371 with 19 home runs in 614 plate appearances for a 95 wRC+ and a 1.2 fWAR. Although he had two good seasons to start his six-year $150 million deal, the contract has aged poorly as it won’t be done until after the 2026 season.

Thankfully, his Fangraphs’ Steamer projection for the 2025 season is kinder than his actual 2024 season. It has him slashing .243/.319/.411 with 23 home runs in 652 plate appearances for a 109 wRC+ and a 1.9 fWAR. It’s still not what you’d expect from someone making over $20 million a season, but at least this season would be above average.

The big question surrounding Springer heading into 2025 is whether he’s still fit to be the team’s lead-off hitter. There’s a simple answer to that question: No. Last season, Springer had 453 plate appearances hitting in the first spot in the Jays lineup, finishing with a wRC+ of 85. His best spot was the fifth spot, where he had a 142 wRC+ in 61 plate appearances, while he struggled in the sixth spot.

Springer should be hitting at the bottom of the order next season and the Blue Jays should look to add a lead-off hitter in free agency or through trade.