George Springer III (born September 19, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to being drafted by the Astros in the first round of the 2011 MLB draft, Springer played college baseball at University of Connecticut, where he was named a First Team All-American.
Springer made his MLB debut on April 16, 2014, at Minute Maid Park against the Kansas City Royals. Batting second and playing right field, Springer collected his first career hit, an infield single, against Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. Springer hit the first home run of his MLB career on May 8, 2014 at Comerica Park off of Detroit Tigers pitcher Drew Smyly. On June 26, Springer hit his 15th homerun, becoming the first Astros rookie to reach that mark before the All-Star break. On July 23, 2014, Springer was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left quad strain. On September 16, the Astros announced that Springer would not play for the remainder of the 2014 season. In 78 games of 2014, Springer batted .231 with 20 home runs, 51 RBI, and struck out 114 times.
During a game against the Texas Rangers on April 12, 2015, Springer robbed Leonys Martín of a potential game-winning grand slam by making a leaping catch by the wall in the 10th inning. The Astros would go on to win over the Rangers 6-4 in12 innings. Springer became a key figure in the 2015 Houston Astros miracle playoff run. He along with Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Pitcher Dallas Keuchel. They won the wild card and made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. They lost to future World Champion Kansas City Royals. People questioned the Royals for purposely getting out Astros Pitcher Colin McHugh on what could've been a series winner for the Astros
In the 2016 season Springer became a key person in the rebuilding of the team after the bad start of the season. On July 25 Springer hit a Home Run on the first pitch of the game at Minute Maid Park against the New York Yankees. George Springer currently holds the career record among active players in "Papa Slams" with three.
