Major League Baseball

Astros' Springer still plans to give 100 percent on defense - but be 'smarter' about it

Published May. 14, 2015 10:05 a.m. ET

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The Houston Astros were more than happy to get outfielder George Springer back in time for Wednesday's game with the San Francisco Giants - and that was before he hit the game-winning home run in the eighth inning:

Springer, out for about a week on the concussion D.L. after crashing into the wall making a catch, fell short of saying he 'regretted' the play - but did imply to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle that he should be capable of playing just as 'hard' without suffering any significant injuries. 

Rather than promise to tone things down, Springer said “It’s hard to tell a player to play a certain way, especially if they’re wired to play hard. That’s how they play. It’s kind of one of those things you’ve got to be smart — be smarter I should say — and not hit the wall with my head. But, like I said, if that play happens again tonight, I’m going make the same decision, I’m just going to try not to hit it with my head.

“I plan on hitting it with my back or something like that. You can’t regret the decision to go after the ball because that’s when you start to be somebody that you’re not or play a certain way. That’s not how I am."

Manager A.J. Hinch didn't disagree with Springer's opinion, offering the perspective of "I don’t think guys should ever not play 100 percent. Effort to me is an integrity issue within your team, for your teammates. I can guarantee you the pitcher’s never pitching to the score. So you’ve got a lot of people to answer to when you play the game. If you’re on the field we want you to play smart, we want you to play hard. Sometimes that, in terms of the running into walls and things like that, plays come into question. But you play for your teammates and that more times than not means play as hard as you can as long as you can.”

Springer's a hard-nosed, aggressive player on defense, so the Astros will likely just hope he finds a healthy way to make the difficult plays without sacrificing his body in the future.

(h/t Houston Chronicle)

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