Look at Springer's wheels! Blue Jays DH turns bloop into Little League HR

TORONTO -- Get George Springer some oxygen.

The Blue Jays’ leadoff man turned what should have been a bloop single into a full trip around the bases in the bottom of the first during Monday night's bout with the Mets at Rogers Centre thanks to some help from Juan Soto’s defense in left field.

Running in on a ball that looked like it might be catchable, Soto pulled up and swiped wildly at it as it bounced past him towards the wall in left field. While Soto jogged back towards the wall, Mets center fielder A.J. Ewing raced back to scoop up the ball, but then he bobbled it, too, before Soto eventually corralled it and fired back to the infield.

The Mets gift-wrapped this one for Springer, but he was busting it up the first-base line and kept the pedal to the floor all the way around the bases. The play was officially ruled a triple with an error on Ewing for the bobble, so Springer won’t yet be awarded his 66th career leadoff home run, a stat in which he only trails the great Rickey Henderson (81).

Through a dreadful stretch of baseball over the past week, Springer has, at the very least, been giving it his all. He’s beat out a couple of hustle singles, so it’s only fitting that he’s the one rewarded by the Mets' blunders.

By the time Springer finally raced around third and coasted through home, he was all out of sorts, a mess of limbs tumbling towards teammate Nathan Lukes waiting at home plate. Springer likes to call the DH spot “OP” for “offensive player,” insisting that baserunning is part of the job and a DH does more than just hit. With Monday’s mad dash, he’s made a great case for it.