Blue Jays offence could improve with a correction to this veterans' strikeout numbers

George Springer's resurgence in 2025 was one of the biggest reasons behind the Toronto Blue Jays' worst-to-first run, as the 36-year-old posted career-best offensive numbers across the board as the team's primary designated hitter.

Well, it's 2026 now, and those days appear to be long behind Springer. Through the team's first 11 games, he was hitting .159/.260/.341 (77 wRC+), and as you might expect when the leadoff hitter is struggling, the Blue Jays' offence suffered as a result. During their six-game losing streak, Toronto mustered just 11 combined runs.

In that time, Springer struck out six times and only managed three hits. The Blue Jays depserately need him to get back on track if they want to keep the entire lineup from sinking.

George Springer must stop chasing outside the zone to return to his 2025 form

A lot of Springer's struggles can be traced back to his newfound chasing habit; he's offering at pitches outside the zone 27.0% of the time this year, a huge jump over his 20.4% mark from last season.

That's had all sorts of adverse effects for his game, including a jump in strikeout rate (25.9%), far fewer barrels, and much lower slugging numbers.

That being said, when does make contact, he's still doing so with authority. His exit velocity numbers remain in line with his figures last year, and his hard-hit rate is above 50%. Springer needs to be more selective at the plate -- his overall swing rate is up more than six percent from last year -- but the pieces are still in place for him to get back to where he was.

The good news: There's proof that a better Springer will lead to better team results. In the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the veteran slugger went 2-for-4 without getting punched out once. In turn, the Jays stopped halted their losing streak and won 4-3.

There's obviously a lot more that needs to happen before the juggernaut of 2025 returns -- better health would go a very, very long way toward that goal -- but the Blue Jays have to make due with what they have at the moment. Save for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., there is arguably no hitter more important to this team's success than Springer. A better, more disciplined approach should put him in position to be game-changing weapon he was a year ago.