Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
When the Houston Astros called up OF George Springer to the majors a couple weeks ago, fantasy baseball owners were tripping over themselves to pick up the youngster. The outfielder slugged 37 home runs in the 2013 MiLB season. He also finished with a .303 batting average, 108 RBIs, and a mind-boggling 45 stolen bases. He truly displayed the potential to be a five-tool fantasy prospect.
However, Springer wasn’t exactly going to walk onto the All-Star team the minute he got the call. He was obviously going to go through some learning pains. The former UConn standout has struggled to catch up to major league fastballs so far and he has shockingly struck out 23 times through the first 15 games.
Springer also has a lackluster .180 batting average (11-62) to go along with a .250 On Base Percentage. Needless to say, it isn’t the start that the fantasy community expected from the 24-year-old.
Houston decided to sit Springer on Saturday night against Seattle Mariners SP Hisashi Iwakuma. The Japanese sensation is a hard-throwing starter and Houston didn’t want to wear the kid out already mentally and physically.
Springer will be back in the lineup from here on out. He is the future of Houston’s outfield and the team has all the confidence in the world in the youngster. Springer should slowly start bringing his average up and he will only get better with each at-bat.
Springer is the ultimate outfield keeper and will be ranked much higher in 2014. Fantasy fans should hold onto him at all costs, because he will be filling the box score nicely by the end of the season.
The numbers will come in time.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
