I've not given up but I'm not expecting him to be the savior of this team's batting woes. Dude hit .168 in 95 games in the big leagues.
Who said savior? He's already here. But if JS can consistently slug .500 and have an OPS of .835+, he'll be a vitally important piece of this puzzle.
Singleton was 22 when he came up for a bit. Wallace did it ages 23-26. I'd be much more concerned about a 25 year old still floundering than a short stint by a 22 year old. Even moreso when you're talking about a power hitter
I don't understand why people are claiming Altuve is a better option. Springer is faster (much better SB rate) and has a higher OBP. Correa has too much power to bat leadoff. I'd like a lineup of: Springer Altuve Correa Gattis Lowrie Carter Tucker/Rasmus Castro Marisnick/Rasmus I could understand switching Altuve and Correa. Our lineups have been really varied. We'll see if that changes.
Because if anybody watched any games last year, you would know that Springer thrived 2nd in the order and Altuve won a batting title at lead off. Springer was only put in the leadoff this year because he was slumping earlier in the year. Now that hes back to a decent hitter (IMO will never hit over .260) he can go back to driving in runs and getting strikes thrown to him when Altuve gets on, steals a base and has Correa behind him in the order.
I think you're severely discounting George Springer's overall talent: he didn't thrive because he hit 2nd; he thrived because he's a very good baseball player. That makes zero sense. You move players DOWN in the line-up if they're slumping. Springer's batting lead-off because, since about May 18, his OB% is .400+, which is far and away the best on this team. This isn't 1978 anymore; people are going to have to grasp that OB%, and not BA, is the most important aspect of a lead-off hitter's game.
Don't draw a knee-jerk conclusion and then dig your heels in defending it for years - have an open mind. He, like virtually every player ever, struggled upon his first taste of MLB. But, to his credit, he has raked this year at AAA and if Carter, who is back to god-awful Carter, continues to hum along with a .380-90 slugging %, Singleton has more than earned another chance.
I'm interested to know how many of Springer's outs were fly balls that would have been RBIs or moved the runners up. Just curious.
By slumping, I meant driving in runs. Altuve has apparently seen his BA and OBP dip. If Springer leading off is costing Altuve to drop off maybe it isnt worth have Springer in the leadoff. Springer should be driving in runs with the power and speed he has anyway, and now that his bat has picked up somewhat, he should be back at the #2.
What was it, $10M over 5 years? If he bombs out in the minors, thats all he will ever see. If he makes the Majors, he should be able to add another $30-40M over the following 8 - 10 years or so after that as a role guy, double that as a starter. Not to mention that $$$ isn't the only thing that motivates people. Your kidding, right?
What a pompous response. Yes. People, including me, watched games last year. You are confusing causation and correlation. You're suggesting Altuve won the batting title because he was leading off? Why do you think that Springer leading off is causing Altuve to drop off? You're just making a wild presumption. You don't know that Altuve will turn back the clock to last season's level just by moving to leadoff. In fact, that is very unlikely. Springer is a better leadoff hitter for now.
If I came off pompous, I apologize. Im also certainly suggesting that it didnt hurt him winning it in any fashion. The batting order, at the time they switched spots, we'll say May15 , Altuve's OBP was higher along with a higher avg. IMO, Springer was put in the leadoff spot to see if he could get on so Altuve could drive him in or advance him. Well, the opposite happened; with Altuve dropping off and Springer coming around. Hitting leadoff is maybe not the causation of a better OBP or Avg but if you connect the dots, theres certainly a straight line going in one direction with an arrow pointing to the top right corner. Isnt that what a Lineup card is? A presumption. Presuming who will get on and who will drive in. Im definitely not saying that Altuve is gonna return to last years form, but hes sure as hell a lot better than what hes producing now hittting 2nd, thats for sure. Plus, now that Springers hitting the ball, why not put him back into the 2nd spot and see if Altuve can gain his mojo back to get driven in by Springer's bat? What is it gonna hurt?
The people that want Jose back in the leadoff (myself included) are just trying to think of anything possible to get Altuve back to being Altuve. Nothing more, nothing less.
