In the swing of things
Aggressive Springer’s approach at the plate gets results despite strikeouts
LAKELAND, Fla. — George Springer was 7 during the summer of 1997, when a young outfielder named Torii Hunter was playing for the Class AA New Britain Rock Cats in Connecticut.
Springer, perhaps the Astros’ best prospect, grew up behind the Rock Cats’ stadium, and to this day, Hunter remains the player he idolizes.
A 22-year-old Hunter made it to the majors for just one appearance that season before going on to become one of the best all-around center fielders of his generation.
Hunter believes Springer will follow in his footsteps when the Astros finally give him the chance. The two chatted Saturday morning before an Astros-Tigers spring training game.
“My line is always open for him,” Hunter said. “When he calls, I see, ‘George Springer,’ I’m like, ‘What’s up, little guy?’
“I swing aggressively. I’m fast-paced, up-tempo. That’s how I’ve always played.” George Springer
“Tremendous talent. Fast, strong, power, can run the bases, do it all. … It’s like the Mike Trouts, Andrew McCutchens, the George Springers. When I was that age, I was those guys. And those are the guys you really want on your team, because they can be game changers. And those are the guys you give that opportunity early, and he should be in the big leagues.”
The Astros do not disagree on the whole, although it’s fully possible Springer — now 24 — will not be on the major league team on opening day.
One issue is service time. If the Astros wait until later this season for a promotion, they guarantee themselves extra time until Springer can become a free agent several years from now.
Another concern, of varying importance depending on whom you ask, is Springer’s approach at the plate.
Close to the record book
Springer’s numbers last season between Class AA Corpus Christi and Class AA Oklahoma City were historically great. The righthanded batter clubbed 37 home runs and stole 45 bases, putting him three homers away from becoming the first minor leaguer to reach the 40-40 mark since 1956. He also had a .303 average, a .411 on-base percentage and drove in 108 runs.
The down side was the number of times he struck out — 161. Players who whiff that much in the majors and are also highly successful are rare.
Hunter, who has struck out 100 times or more in 11 big league seasons, sees a non-issue because Springer does everything else so well.
“That’s people that don’t know the game,” Hunter said.
“Strikeouts don’t (have) anything to do (with it) when you’re hitting 37 and (driving in) 97. I struck out 90 plus times, had All-Star (selections), helped the team win, (and) I still hit .290.
“If he’s striking out 200 times and hitting .220, that’s different. But he’s going to hit .280, .290 in his first couple years, and then he’s going to figure it out and he’s going to hit .300.”
Strikeouts may simply be a part of Springer’s game, a necessity for a hard swinger to be as productive as he is.
“If he doesn’t strike out anymore, he won’t hit for power,” Hunter said. “People overanalyze that, but it’s the truth. What do you want, (home runs or lower strikeouts)?”
The alternative view is that Springer’s flaws ultimately could be exposed or exacerbated in the majors.
Understanding Springer’s future may start with these questions: Just who is he as a hitter? What is his philosophy as a batter, and how did he grow into the hitter he is today?
Springer said he is not consciously trying to pound the ball into oblivion. Hitters often are taught that when they try to swing too hard, instead of taking a relaxed hack, they do more harm than good. But Springer said his violent hacks are instinctive.
Far from out of control
There’s one clear buzzword around his at-bats: aggressive. As a competitor and a physical specimen, Springer is an elite among the elites.
“I’m aggressive,” Springer said. “Aggressive is probably the best way to put it. I’ve always been taught from the time I was a kid, my dad always used to say to me, ‘The first pitch is sometimes the best pitch of an at-bat.’ There have been times where I swing at all three pitches. There’s no way of telling what I’m going to do. I know in my head I have a plan and an approach and I’m looking for something to drive and if I think it’s there, I’m going to take a hack at it.
“I’ve always been this way. I don’t really know I’m swinging hard. I think I’m not swinging hard, and I’ve been told I’m swinging extremely hard. And I’m like, ‘Look guys, I’m in control of my- self, that’s just my swing.’ I swing aggressively. I’m fast-paced, up-tempo. That’s how I’ve always played.”
Somehow, Springer didn’t have a summer travel team to play on when he was 11 going on 12. Today, travel teams are everywhere in Connecticut, but back then, there were only a handful.
One team, the Connecticut Blue Jays, was run by Pat Hall, who’s now a coach at Central Connecticut State University.
Hall got word that Springer was looking for a team, even though the deadline to try out had passed. Hall happened to call back.
“That’s just how I do business,” Hall said. “You never know who you’re going to get.”
He didn’t know, though, that he had a potential future major leaguer on his hands. Not then.
Taking a chance
“George might have been one of the smallest 11-year-olds going on 12 that I had ever seen,” Hall said. “Really small. But I worked him out. He threw a bullpen to me. I remember it like it was yesterday: His arms were everywhere and he’s so little, and he’s trying to throw … it as hard as he can.
“I put him in the cage and he was dropping his hands and doing a lot of things wrong, but he was always barreling the ball up. Always barreling it, always barreling it. And I’m like, ‘All right, well, yeah, we’ll give you a chance.’ And obviously, it was a pretty good chance.”
Hall said it wasn’t until Springer was about 15½ that he really started to grow physically, adding some 60 pounds and 6 inches in a span of roughly two years.
Springer used to do flips on the field before games in college at the University of Connecticut, but Hall advised him to stop for fear of an injury.
Springer and Hall still touch base nearly every day, even if just by text message. Hall may know Springer better than anyone besides Springer’s father.
“He’s always been a coach that lets me play … be who I am and hit the way that I want to hit,” Springer said.
Gotta hand it to him
Mechanically, Springer’s hands and head are focal points, just as they were when he was young.
Hall and Astros assistant hitting coach Ralph Dickenson spoke similarly of the work they do with Springer. Three broad keys: keeping Springer’s head steady, getting his hands into the proper hitting position and not drifting forward.
Naturally, all can be connected.
“What I always tried to do was settle his head,” Hall said. “I said, ‘Listen, your hands can move, but I want you to have a short stride, I want you to be simple with the way you stride, so that your head doesn’t move.’ Because there were times where he would get a big leg kick and he would be sliding forward and his head would be moving.
Dickenson, who’s in his second year working with Springer, sees a hitter who’s grown over the last year into less of an “all-ornothing guy.”
“He got into a better hitting position and he began to swing at better pitches, so he came on a lot last year,” Dickenson said. “Even last year at the start of the year, he used to have some late movement (in his hands), where it was all over the place. Just a little bat wiggle that was kind of late.
“Sometimes he tries to muscle and hit the ball too far. And so you just try to keep his effort level down. Keep his head on the ball so he’s not flying all over the place and he, he’s a free swinger — maybe. His past would say that, but I think he’s getting a lot better.”
Because Springer is so physically capable, he’s able to make up for flaws that might hurt others. If he drops his hands improperly as he loads up to swing, well, he’s fast enough to get them back where he needs to — sometimes.
Majors the ultimate test
Hall said Springer believes he can hit any pitch at any time. But few hitters, if any, maximize their ability with that approach in the majors.
One Astros coach suggested that Springer simply will have to cut back on his swing, depending on the situation.
Springer is prideful, but he also has shown an ability to adapt. In college, he was told he had to cut down on strikeouts, Hall said. Springer chopped 30 strikeouts off his tally from 2010 to 2011 at UConn, despite playing in two more games.
At Class AAA Oklahoma City last season, there also was an added emphasis. Springer again improved, despite jumping to a higher class of play.
An ability to adjust is one important tool for handling failure. Springer could throw a tantrum as a kid, but the biggest lesson he said his father taught him was how to handle failure.
Time will tell what changes Springer may need to make to his swing. But at the least, if strikeouts do hurt him, he’s a hitter with the mindset to make the pain temporary.
“Every guy handles things differently,” Springer said. “I’m not going to say I haven’t ever blown up before, because I have. I just believe this is a game where you’re going to fail, you’re supposed to fail.
“You get punched in the mouth, you got to be able to stand back up.”