It’s time for the Blue Jays to move George Springer back to the leadoff spot

George Springer entered the 2025 with plenty of noise around his status on the Blue Jays roster due to two substandard seasons. That noise got even louder this March when he hit just .108 in 15 spring training games, which led to most Blue Jays fans assuming that his spot in the lineup would once again be a black hole.

Instead it's been the exact opposite.

Springer's looked like a different player through the first seven weeks of the 2025 MLB season, and his resurgence has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed.

And, after two years of Blue Jays fans begging manager John Schneider to move Springer out of the leadoff spot, it's time for the team to consider moving him back to the top of the lineup.

It’s time for the Blue Jays to move George Springer back to the leadoff spot

Springer served as the Blue Jays leadoff hitter for the first four years of his Blue Jays tenure before the team elected to move him further down in the lineup this year.

And it's been a huge win so far this season. Springer entered the weekend slashing .279/.390/.488 with five home runs, 18 RBI and a OPS+ of 149.

He ironically is acting more like a leadoff hitter despite usually hitting fifth of sixth in the lineup. He's seeing 4.21 pitches per plate appearance after only seeing 3.74 last year, and is in the 98th percentile in chase rate.

But saying that Springer should take over the leadoff spot isn't an indicitement on current leadoff hitter Bo Bichette.

The complete opposite, in fact.

Bichette's been a solid leadoff hitter for the Blue Jays this year (.290/.338/.415), but moving him out of the leadoff spot would allow for the team to take advantage of his penchant for putting the ball in plate.

Bichette's starting to heat up at the plate (he's mashed three home runs in May), and the Blue Jays' offense would reach a new level if those home runs came with runners on base.

There's a better chance of that happening if he hit in the middle of the lineup behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Anthony Santander than if he was hitting int he leadoff spot.

Along with showing more discipline at the plate, Springer's also hitting the ball harder (52.5% hard-hit rate), which would be an added benefit of having him leadoff.

Springer's also turned the clock base on the paths. He already has six steals this year despite only ranking in the 52nd percentile in sprint speed. He's stolen more than 100 bases in his career so it's clear that he knows how to pick his spots.

On the other hand, Bichette's stolen four bases and ranks in the 26th percentile in sprint speed.

Speed doesn't matter as much in a leadoff hitter (this isn't 1996 anymore), but Springer's ability to nab a base would keep pitchers and catchers honest. And we know what happens when pitchers don't pay enough attention to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

All this comes with the caveat that the Blue Jays might not want to mess with a good thing. While the team's lineup is still a little all over the place, Bichette and Springer are one of four everyday players with an OPS+ above 100, so the team might not want to mess with what's been working.

But it's clear that Springer is a different hitter than who he was last year, and moving him up the lineup could be a huge shot in the arm for a team that needs it.