Astros' George Springer Exits vs. Red Sox After Suffering Hamstring Injury

Houston Astros star George Springer exited Friday night's game against the Boston Red Sox with a hamstring injury.

Springer came up limping after making a sliding effort to try to catch a ball in the eighth inning. He was replaced by Tony Kemp.

After the game, Springer noted that his hamstring "locked up" on the play, via MLB.com's Brian McTaggart:

Houston manager A.J. Hinch added Springer is likely headed to the injured list:

"I'm not looking forward to the diagnosis, to be honest," Hinch said. "It doesn't look very good."

This latest injury comes as he was returning from lower back stiffness. Entering Friday night, he had not played since May 19.

Springer has gotten off to a blistering start in 2019. Through 47 games, he was batting .313 with 17 home runs, 42 RBI and a .654 slugging percentage. 

His 2.8 WAR are fifth among position players, per FanGraphs.

The 29-year-old was coming off a somewhat disappointing 2018 season. Although he reached his second All-Star Game, his .434 slugging percentage was a career low, and his 2.9 WAR were his worst since 2014, when he only played 78 MLB games, according to FanGraphs.

Springer's improvement is one of many reasons the Astros are running away with the American League West. 

Most teams would suffer significantly without Springer's offense. The Astros, on the other hand, have no shortage of sluggers who can help pick up the slack with him out injured.