George Springer Could be Houston’s Giancarlo Stanton

Ok, George Springer has played in 78 games in his major league career. I get that. I also understand that he was an absolute beast in those 78 games, warranting and 8th place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting, while playing less than half of a season. Springer, much like Giancarlo Stanton could be a player to build a franchise around. Let’s start by comparing some of the right fielder’s stats.

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You’ll notice that Stanton had a higher number of at-bats in his rookie season, which led to a slight edge in power numbers overall. It was Springer, however, that homered at a more frequent rate (one per 14.75 at-bats, compared to Stanton’s one per 16.32). Springer drew more walks in fewer chances, which shows he has a decent eye. His batter’s eye could also lead to him hitting for a higher average down the road. His walk total will likely increase, if his power numbers continue to impress, due to the fear he will cause in opposing pitchers.

I also put in Stanton’s 2014 numbers to show the progress that he has made, and what George Springer could potentially become. For the sake of argument, let’s also show the 162 game pace that Springer was on.

With the season he had going, Springer would have hit 42 bombs, driven in 106, walked 81 times and struck out 237 times. Aside from the stolen base statistics, everything else stays the same, while the stolen bases, and caught stealing numbers each double. In essence, if Springer had played all season, the pace he was on was equal, in terms of home runs and rbi, to the man who finished second in the NL MVP race.

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Is it reasonable to expect this kind of development from the Astros 25-year old outfielder? Expect? No. Springer is in a division with a ridiculous amount of pitching. Yet, the potential is there. In Stanton’s second major league season, he hit .262, hit 34 home runs, and drove in 87. That is certainly attainable for Springer, if he can stay healthy.

According to FanGraphs, George Springer’s BABIP (batting average on balls in-play) was .296, which means that he experienced some bad luck on balls he hit, since his batting average was a much lower .231 in 2014.

If Springer’s batting average can rise in 2015, and his power numbers continue, he could be well on his way to becoming a superstar in Major League Baseball.