Maybe the Astros just didn’t think George Springer was ready after all.
Back in March when the Astros assigned top prospect George Springer to the minors there were reports that his agent and the MLB Players Association were considering filing a grievance on his behalf, claiming that service time and/or contract considerations were playing a part in his not making the big-league roster.
Springer had a monster season in the minors last year, hitting .303 with 37 homers and 45 steals to establish himself as an elite prospect. And then when he got off to a big start at Triple-A this season, hitting .353 in 13 games, there were lots of complaints about the Astros not calling him up right away.
Houston eventually did call up Springer on April 16, waiting just two weeks rather than the usual service time-related timetables for prospects, but here’s the thing: Springer has really struggled, hitting .185 with zero homers and 24 strikeouts in 16 games.
It’s certainly very possible that the Astros’ timetable for Springer was based on something other than purely merit or development, but they would be far from the first team to handle a top prospect in that manner and ultimately it turns out that he wasn’t ready to thrive in the majors immediately anyway.
