Welcome to Houston, Welcome to the Future

I was at the Astros game last night and it wasn't pretty. The starting pitcher, who only threw 56 of his 101 pitches for strikes, wasn't exactly helped out by an error from his left fielder, but that really wasn't the problem.

The Astros offense was, well, offensive. I'm not taking anything away from the Royal's Yordano Ventura, who at only 22 years of age, already looks like he could be a fixture in the Royals' rotation for a good long time. But it wasn't just last night's performance at the plate that was the problem.

At the beginning of last night's game, only two of the starters had batting averages over the Mendoza Line. Factor in Monday night's 12 strikeouts and the Astros team batting line for the nascent season is a very dismal .185/.258/.347.

As I left the game, I knew that this had to be the straw, the straw that would bring George Springer to the people. The dwindling crowd of diehard fans, including me, was starting to get restless, particularly after news spread that Springer had hit out a moon shot Grand Slam in Colorado Springs for the RedHawks last night. "It's time," I thought to myself, "How can the Astros not bring him up now?"

I wasn't home long when the news came that Springer did get the call and would be headed to Houston. Even though I thought Luhnow and Company would do their best to keep Springer down on the farm until the Super Two window closed, I knew that was no longer feasible. The long-suffering fans needed this. We can only take so much and the limit had been reached, at least mine had.

As fans, we don't need George Springer to be a superstar overnight. That is a lot of pressure to put on a pair of 24-year old rookie shoulders. But we need the hope that he represents. We need to see the light at the end of a very, very, very long tunnel. We've started to see some encouraging signs from the pitching staff, but now it's time to see a spark from the offense.

George Springer - May 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Springer will provide a spark in more ways than one. He is a very special player. He is shy and quiet and thoughtful away from the field. But on the field, Springer is silly and gregarious and charismatic and very, very talented. His teammates have a nickname for him.

#Superman
— Jiovanni Mier (@JioMier) April 16, 2014

I don't know what to expect from Springer when he gets to Houston tonight. Will he be a Rookie of the Year candidate like Ryan Braun or Mike Trout? Or will he take a while to settle in, like a Jose Bautista? My best guess is he will fall somewhere in between. Fans will need to be patient with him at times and realize that sometimes he will be Superman, but sometimes he will be Clark Kent.

What I do know is that Springer will provide a much-needed spark for both the Astros and their fans. Welcome to Houston, George. Welcome to the future, Astros fans.