The Seattle Mariners’ offense – though perhaps underrated heading into this season – was not great by any measure last season. Nor has T-Mobile Park ever been a favorable place to hit.
Those two facts don’t make what Jeffrey Springs did in Seattle on Friday night any less impressive. The Athletics left-hander racked up nine strikeouts in six innings, allowing just three hits and walking one. After getting Tommy John surgery to fix an ailing elbow and putting together an outstanding first outing of 2025, could the underrated Springs revert back to his elite 2022 form this season?
3 Reasons Jeffrey Springs Is Worth Rostering for 2025
Reason #1: He’s Been Elite Before and Can Do It Again
Usually, one start is never enough to make any assumptions about a pitcher’s future value. However, it’s hard not to be excited about nine strikeouts in six scoreless innings. Especially when that starter is Jeffrey Springs, who had a fantastic 2022 campaign before injuries kept him mostly off the field for the last two years. After switching to a starting role in May 2022, Springs posted a 2.46 ERA in 135.1 innings pitched. That was the 10th-best in MLB among starting pitchers with at least 130 innings pitched, and an indicator of a bright future.
After getting hurt and missing most of the last two seasons, Springs is finally healthy again. If he continues to pitch well, he could go from being an underrated starter on a small-market Athletics team to an All-Star-level starter like he was beginning to become in 2022.
Reason #2: His Underrated Changeup is Unhittable
Despite being heavily underrated and rarely talked about, Springs’ changeup is one of the nastiest pitches in baseball. It charted +9 Run Value in 2022 (per Baseball Savant), which was outstanding given he only threw 135.1 innings. It also tunnels perfectly off of his fastball before plummeting vertically, which helps him get a lot of weak contact and whiffs on the pitch.
Jeffrey Springs Pitch Movement, 3/28/2025 @ Seattle Mariners
- Fastball: 12 inches horizontal break, 17 inches vertical drop
- Changeup: 14 inches horizontal break, 35 inches vertical drop
Throwing an admittedly slow fastball is actually to the underrated left-hander’s benefit because his changeup becomes nearly indistinguishable. Springs averaged 89.9 MPH on Friday with his four-seam fastball, which is about a tick and a half below his pre-surgery readings. But the lesser speed difference between his fastball and changeup makes it harder for the hitter to tell what’s coming, which was evident on Friday night. Hitters chased on 44% of changeups Springs threw outside of the zone, which is a good indicator that he was disguising his pitches well.
Reason #3: His Pitching Style Fits Fantasy Baseball
Springs also fits the bill perfectly for fantasy managers. His very good control helps him limit baserunners – in 2022, he had a 5.6 BB% and just a 1.07 WHIP – and his arsenal is set up to be efficient while also racking up strikeouts. On Friday, he threw just 83 pitches in six innings while striking out nine hitters.
His sinking changeup allows him to get ground balls from hitters swinging on top of it, but he can also get whiffs on it when needed, like he did against the Mariners. And having an underrated slider that plays well off of his changeup – it moves the opposite direction horizontally, with just 2.1 inches of vertical separation – gives Springs another way to tack on strikeouts. Eating up innings while punching out at least one batter per inning pitched is a recipe for success when it comes to fantasy baseball, and Springs has shown he’s that type of pitcher. His K/9 has been at least 1.06 every year since 2020 – and by the looks of it, he’ll continue that streak in 2025.
Athletics left-hander Jeffrey Springs – while underrated and somewhat unproven in the last few years – is a perfect waiver-wire pickup for fantasy managers. His deceptive arsenal, flashes of brilliance in years past, and very good outing against the Mariners on Friday show he has All-Star upside and could help any fantasy team in 2025.
