Voters not giving Springer his due
ARLINGTON — By pretty much any statistical measure, George Springer is playing at an All-Star level this season.
Yet as of the second balloting update released Tuesday by Major League Baseball, the Astros’ right fielder didn’t rank yet among the top 15 American League outfielders in All-Star Game voting.
Does Springer feel he’s having an All-Star-caliber season?
“That’s not up to me,” he said. “The only thing I can do is just go out and do my job and try to help us win. Obviously, you just want to be as good as you can for the whole year, so whatever happens in a few weeks happens. Hopefully, I can just help us win.”
Springer entered Tuesday worth 3.2 wins above replacement, more than any major league position player not named Jose Altuve (3.3), according to baseball-reference.com. The Astros’ leadoff hitter came into the day batting .282 with 13 home runs, 36 RBIs and an .864 OPS.
He has also totaled 10 defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs, ranking fourth among major league outfielders.
“We’re more concerned about beating these guys tonight than the All-Star Game in a month,” he said. “Obviously, as a player and a kid, you watch the All-Star Game. You think it would be great to play there one day. That’s obviously everybody’s goal. But at the end of the year, I would much rather have a ring.”
Altuve, already a threetime All-Star, maintained his lead in voting among AL second basemen. With 893,332 votes, Altuve had a 270,649-vote lead on the Kansas City Royals’ Omar Infante and a 356,859-vote lead on the Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Cano.
For the second consecutive week, the Astros’ Carlos Correa (385,281) ranked fourth in voting among AL shortstops. The Boston Red Sox’s Xander Bogaerts (1,040,465), the Royals’ Alcides Escobar (814,001) and the Toronto Blue Jays’ Troy Tulowitzki (433,958) lead Correa in the balloting.
Colby Rasmus ranked 15th among AL outfielders with 240,651 votes.
The next AL balloting update will be released Tuesday. Voting ends June 30 for the July 12 All-Star Game, which will be played at San Diego’s Petco Park.
Up next: date with Darvish
The Astros were the last team to face Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish before he underwent Tommy John surgery.
They will see the star Japanese righthander for their first time post-rehab in Wednesday night’s game at Globe Life Park.
Darvish will make his third start of the season since returning May 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He didn’t throw more than 88 pitches in either of his first two starts and is expected to be held to between 85 and 95 pitches again Wednesday.
The three-time AllStar allowed one run on three hits over five innings against the Pirates and three runs on six hits over 52⁄3 innings in his last start against the Seattle Mariners. His fastball topped out at 99 mph in his last start, according to PITCHf/x.
“The reports from his minor league outings into his major league outings, he’s very much the Yu Darvish that has been in this league and will be a tough task,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’ve got to find a way to balance out his elite pitches, which are across the board.”
Odds and ends
The reason George Springer served as DH on Tuesday for the second time in three days stemmed from the right fielder’s being “under the weather just a touch,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I’m just trying to control his fatigue level. He’s a guy that flies all over the field. It’s really hot. He’s 90 percent, 95 percent.” …
Hot-hitting Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar started at first base Tuesday for the first time in his life. …
Recently signed Angels righthander Tim Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, will start Sunday in Fresno against the Astros’ Class AAA affiliate. Lincecum is in line to make his Angels debut on June 18 in Oakland, according to the Los Angeles Times, which would mean he wouldn’t pitch during the team’s three-game series at Minute Maid Park from June 20-22.