The Blue Jays helping George Springer may start with his spot in the batting order

With Monday night's loss to the Red Sox it was confirmed that Toronto would finish last in the AL East for the first time since 2013. Key players have underachieved, most significantly George Springer, who remains the largest free-agent signing in franchise history.

He's on pace for career lows in key offensive statistics including batting average, OPS, SLG and home runs. He'll continue to play a major part to help the Blue Jays get back into contention for next season in order for that to happen is it time to remove their star from his customary leadoff spot?

The Blue Jays need to switch things up in the leadoff spot

When the Blue Jays signed Springer to a six-year $150M contract nearly four years ago, it marked a new era of baseball north of the border with the intention of bringing playoff success. This hasn't been the case, which is no fault of Springer's. They haven't won a game yet alone a series in the postseason still with two years left on his contract time is running out for them to salvage something from it.

This season has been incredibly frustrating and largely inconsistent at one point Springer was the worst qualified hitter in the majors. The Blue Jays took necessary action and moved him down the lineup. They moved him to seventh at one point, the lowest he's ever hit. Despite a small sample size of five games Springer batted .467 with two homers, four RBI and .600 OBP.

The four-time All-Star has also seen game time batting fifth, registering a .236 average in 15 games with five homers and 14 RBI. This is a stark comparison to his stats when batting leadoff. In 99 games, Springer has a poor .213 average with 12 homers, 33 RBI and .638 OPS - which is quite a bit lower than his figure for the 2024 season as a whole (.673).

Some would argue that the Blue Jays don't have a natural leadoff hitter who can replace him but Bo Bichette has had experience of batting there before in 2021 batting .262 with a home run and two stolen bases. Not to mention the fact that Jonatan Clase just went 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk in his first start in the leadoff spot on Wednesday night. That performance alone may have earned him another look there.

It's not a guarantee that Bichette will be with Toronto next season and the Blue Jays don't have many other options asides from Daulton Varsho who did it in 2021 with Arizona, plus Clase. It's clear that Springer will continue to struggle if he remains in his leadoff spot in 2025 and that isn't something the Blue Jays can afford to happen.

It will be Springer's responsibility to show up to spring training prepared to prevent further decline and the age curve. Speaking to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun, John Schneider stated: 'it's looking ahead to try to keep evolving with the game, how do you adjust to how the game is being played we've had those conversations and hopefully it pays off.' If the Blue Jays want to help Springer make the necessary adjustments he can't continue to be relied on to set the tone for the lineup and deal with the heaping pressure of delivering at the top of the order. Even if the Blue Jays decide to move his spot in the batting order he'll always be known as one of the best leadoff hitters the game has ever seen.