TCB Astros March Madness 2014: Jose Altuve vs Carlos Corporan

Round 2 of the TCB Astros Fan Favorite March Madness Tournament is underway. From now until the end of Spring Training 64 players will spend the next several weeks facing off in a head to head public vote to determine who advances to the next round and who will eventually be crowned the communities favorite Astros player. For more details check out the tournament introductory post.

The rules are simple, determine which player you want to advance to the next round and then vote. Vote subjectively, objectively, using your trusty magic eight ball or any other set of criteria. It's totally up to you how you want to vote! Votes for this round will last exactly 24 hours.

In this match-up

3 - Jose Altuve

Altuve blazed away at the plate in April and in September, but those two months bookened a lot of mediocrity during the rest of the season, including a rock-bottom month of August where the keystone man compiled a pathetic .490 OPS. Altuve dealt with some injuries at times last year, as well as a death in the family, so there could be some improvement on the horizon. He'll never be a walk machine, but he continued to make excellent contact and his defensive metrics were noticably better. If the improvements keep up, Altuve could become a rock-solid 2.5 - 3.0 WAR player. -Ashitaka

vs

11 - Carlos Corporan

The primary backup to Jason Castro had a promising start to 2013 as he provided excellent defense and some pop off the bench. Although in a small sample size, the switch-hitting catcher posted a 117 wRC+ In the first half of the season, including five home runs in 113 at-bats. The second half was rough for Corpy as he hit .154 while missing three weeks with a concussion. Now Max Stassi is firmly in the picture as a better hitting prospect, leaving Corporan's days as an Astro numbered. -Perry