3 players the Blue Jays should remain patient with, 2 they shouldn’t 

2 players the Blue Jays could lose patience with

George Springer

After enduring a somewhat down season last year in terms of overall offensive production, George Springer was set to bounce back in a big way for 2024 after working hard during the offseason. However, despite a strong spring showing in which he posted a stellar .415 batting average, along with a 1.217 OPS with 12 runs scored, 3 home runs and 8 RBI, he has been a huge disappointment during the regular season so far this year.

In 33 games to date, Springer has compiled a mediocre .205 average and .582 OPS, together with just 12 runs scored, 4 doubles, 3 home runs and 6 RBI. That would make him on pace for just 59 runs scored, 20 doubles, 15 home runs and 29 RBI for the season, which easily would be his worst productive year ever in his entire MLB career. More worrisome was the fact that Springer has fallen below the 50th percentile in many advanced statistical metrics categories that he normally excelled in, including xSLG, average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit rate.

When the Jays signed him to a six-year contract back in 2021, it was expected that there would be some regression perhaps in his final year or two as he entered his mid-30s. But no one was expecting that it would actually come this early, especially Springer himself. Despite his solid play still in the outfield, he can become more of a liability at the plate as the season progresses if his struggles were to continue. As a result, the Jays may be forced to think of the possibility of a platoon situation for him going forward if he doesn’t make drastic improvements in his hitting in the coming month or two.