Fantasy Profile: George Springer, OF, Houston Astros

Welcome back to the 2015 Last Word on Fantasy Baseball Guide. Over the next several months we will be releasing player profiles, projections, position rankings, and a number of other articles that will help you dominate your fantasy league this season. Whether you play rotisserie or head-to-head; whether you have a standard draft, a snake or an auction league, and whether it’s keeper league or a one-year deal; we have all the fantasy information you need.

For the rest of our fantasy baseball profiles and articles, please check out our Fantasy Baseball Guide Page.

Fantasy Profile: George Springer, OF, Houston Astros

LWOS Ranking 14, Captain’s Value: $16.49

One of the hottest prospects in baseball last year was Houston Astros outfielder George Springer. Coming off a 37 HR/45 SB minor league season split between AA and AAA, the free-swinging Springer was too great of a talent to ignore, even if he had yet to take an AB in the pros.

Springer got off to a rough start, but then hit 10 HR in May. An injury would eventually end his season, but enough fans had already seen more than enough to warrant a high draft pick in 2015.

I don’t blame them. 40/40 potential is rare. Carlos Gomez, a consensus first round pick, is an example of how valuable a player like that can be. Despite several frightening red flags, like his love for the first pitch and the vicious hacks at the plate that look like he’s trying out for the lead in a horror flick, Gomez’s production is too great to ignore. And then when you consider that Springer hit almost as many homers (20), in 78 games, as Gomez did (23) in a full season, it starts to look like it’s time to sell the house.

But not so fast.

After his outstanding 10 HR May, Springer hit .202 the rest of the way. Not to mention, his much talked about pair of wheels never left the garage, as he managed to steal only 5 bases. Also, don’t forget that it would take Joe DiMaggio about 3 full seasons to strikeout as often as Springer did in half of one. When a strikeout percentage over 27% is considered ‘awful’, Springer’s 33% needs a new word.

Make no mistake, Springer has an elite level power/speed combination. The ability to hit the long ball and run the bases like that is rare. That kind of talent is worth chasing. Alfonso Soriano made a career out of capitalizing off of it. For that reason alone Springer will go high, maybe higher than he should, but he is not without his risks: his high strikeout rate likely is not going anywhere, the green light to swipe some bags may inexplicably not be there again, and the downward trend of batting average may not have been a fluke.

Springer is a high risk, high reward type player. He might win you your league, or he might force you to make an early call to your league’s Taco. My advice? Bet on talent. It’s better to be along for the ride than watch it drive by.

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