Blue Jays: Marcus Semien or George Springer in the leadoff spot?

When the Blue Jays signed George Springer to a massive six-year contact, it was at the time to be the leadoff hitter for the club.

Over his 795 game career with the Houston Astros, Springer batted first in 603 of those games.  When he came back from his first injury earlier this season, Springer batted first in the lineup for four games, however, he landed back on the injured list (IL).  After his most recent stint on the IL he has been moved to the fifth spot.  The question now is, how does he get back to the leadoff position?  The short answer is, there is nothing he can to make it happen.

Over his career, including this season, Springer has hit leadoff 607 times and during that time he has posted a slash line of .277/.365/.501 while clubbing 138 home runs and collecting 28 stolen bases, which are all good numbers.  However, I believe at this point, him getting back into that role is completely dependent on how Marcus Semien is performing.

Semien has taken over the leadoff position as he has posted a slash line of .286/.350/.533 and leads all middle infielders with 19 home runs.  Those numbers look incredible, but how has he been performing to start an inning?  Semien has hit leadoff in 67 games so far this season and in that time has hit three home runs to start off the game, along with a pair of doubles, but has gone just 12 for 61 overall and collected only five walks and posted a slash line of .197/.258/.377 prior to last night’s game.  These numbers are not very indicative of someone you want hitting in the number one spot.

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When Semien leads off an inning his slash line gets a little better as he has hit 28 for 122 (.230), but has collected just eight more walks when leading off an inning in 196 plate appearances.

When you look at these numbers, even with how good Semien has been this season, hitting in the top spot may not be the right position for him.

If the offence starts to struggle and go through any type of slump, I believe this may be an easy switch for Charlie Montoyo to make.  He can make an easy flip with Semien and Springer in their current hitting position.

The good part of the debate is there does not appear to be one real wrong answer and just gives the Blue Jays manager a couple different looks.

What are your thoughts, does Springer find himself back in the leadoff position?  If so, how does it happen and what does the lineup look like in your ideal situation?