George Springer is Batting Second

George Springer (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)

On an ordinary night, this would not be news. But tonight is not an ordinary night. Far from it in fact.

Tonight, George Springer is making his major league debut for the Houston Astros. Springer will be batting second for the Astros and playing right field. He will be wearing number four.

At the risk of hyperbole, tonight marks the beginning of an era. As the Astros are in the midst of their climb out of the cellar, there are a few moments that in the future, we will be able to look back on and call them monumental:

• The hiring of Jeff Luhnow.
• The hiring of Reid Ryan.
• The promotion and major league debut of Jarred Cosart.
• The trade for Dexter Fowler and signing of Scott Feldman. Yes, I might be going overboard here, but so far in their short stays in Houston, both have started off well. Fowler looks like he could be a core player moving forward, and Feldman is proving to be a rotation anchor. In reality what is the bigger deal, is that the Astros spent some money and acquired veteran players instead of watching them leave Houston.
• The hiring of Nolan Ryan.

But I’m not sure that any match the promotion of Springer. To say that it was necessary is an understatement as the Astros sit at 5-9 with a .185 team average. Springer’s performance in Oklahoma City also showed that there was nothing left for him to accomplish in the minor leagues as he was hitting .353 with three home runs and nine RBI’s.

Springer projects as a star and he will be part of Houston’s core for years to come.

He finished off his minor league career, the assumption and hope is that he is here to stay, on top as he hit a grand slam while going 3-4 and scoring four runs.

Immediately Springer gives the Astros a boost and makes their lineup look that much better. Let’s just hope he does not try to do too much, but there really is nothing more he can do in the minor leagues from a performance standpoint. Watching him take batting practice before his debut tonight, you just see the ball jump off his bat with an electricity that is not seen in all players.