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As usual, Blue Jays outfielder George Springer started quickly against the Astros on Saturday.
That’s a 376-foot leadoff home run that left Springer’s bat at 102.7 mph — all at the expense of a Luis Garcia cutter. That’s the first of his two home runs on the day, and currently in his second season in Toronto, Springer is hitting a robust .304/.356/.595 with six things in 21 games.
Now let’s focus on this “leadoff” part of the equation. Springer recently scored his 200th home run of his career at the age of 32. This is how he brings unusual power to the leadoff spot. Speaking of which, here’s your updated leaderboard for the most career homers to start a game:
Unsurprisingly, the glowing Rickey Henderson leads all the comers, and by a huge margin. However, Springer is working its way up the ledger. He compares even more favorably given the number of times he’s taken advantage of his leadoff opportunities. Let’s apply the context of the opportunity to this leaderboard:
|
player |
leadoff home runs |
At bats leading away from the game |
At-bats/leadoff home run |
|
Ricky Henderson |
81 |
2,462 |
30.4 |
|
Alfonso Soriano |
54 |
723 |
13.4 |
|
Craig Biggio |
53 |
1.407 |
26.5 |
|
Jan Kinsler |
48 |
1,034 |
21.5 |
|
Curtis Granderson |
47 |
890 |
18.9 |
|
George Springer |
46 |
601 |
13.1 |
|
Jimmy Rollins |
46 |
1,438 |
31.3 |
As you can see above, Springer leads the top home run hitters of all time in home run frequency. He’s just ahead of Soriano and way ahead of everyone else. Sure, Springer plays and plays in an era that’s very conducive to hitting home runs, but his performances are impressive in any context.
As for gross totals, catching Henderson at the top of that ledger is probably out of reach. However, Springer still plays at the highest level and has signed with Toronto through the 2026 season. He’ll likely be moved down the ranks later in his career, but for at least the next few seasons he should get plenty of opportunities to add to his tally. So don’t be surprised if one day Springer ranks #2 on the list of the most prolific lead-off home run hitters in MLB history.
