George Springer

There were signs that Springer was approaching a production cliff in his career, but nothing truly pointed to him having this type of falloff. Springer posted the worst batting average of his full-season career by nearly 40 points and failed to reach 20 homers in a full season for the first time since 2015 when he appeared in just 102 games. The walk rate and the contact rates remained constant, yet Springer's bat appeared at times as if it still had a weighted doughnut on it. Springer has made a career of feasting off fastballs, but hit just .241 against fastballs in 2024 and .192 against non-fastballs. He no longer has the juice to get into the elevate-and-celebrate crowd as his groundball to fly-ball ratio has dropped from 0.70 in 2021 to 1.54 this past season. His 50.7 percent groundball rate was the highest of his career, while his 39.8 percent pull percentage was a continuation of the 2023 struggles. His contract will guarantee him playing time in Toronto, but where that playing time comes in the lineup is anyone's guess. He no longer profiles as a top-of-the-lineup hitter, so his production could be further impacted hitting down in the lineup as Toronto either looks to make one final push in the Vlad era or begins a tear-down after multiple disappointing seasons. Springer is absolutely on his descent down the aging curve and appears to be in a rapidly accelerating phase at this time.