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Another new feature is gearing up this week, as we give awards to the best hitter on the Astros over the past week. In the past, we've done this as a weekly awards post with everyone lumped together. This year, we're breaking it up into separate posts, so the hitters can get their own day, the pitchers can get the next and so forth.
No surprises on this list, I'm sure, as Houston's offense through seven games has had few bright spots.
Runners-up
Jonathan Villar
The biggest surprise of this first week has been Villar. Sure, he's made some mental errors. Sure, he's made some fielding errors. But, the combination of power and speed that Villar has shown are encouraging. You'd like his walk rate to be better and his strikeouts are not sustainable for the top of the lineup. But, as a ninth hitter? I'll take that every day.
L.J. Hoes
I don't know. He's been pretty great. Hoes will not hit .300/.417/.600 for the rest of the way, but it's a good start. His defense leaves something to be desired, but we know he'll make contact. If he can do that with a 8-9 percent walk rate? Hoes could be a valuable piece of this outfield, with or without George Springer.
Jesus Guzman
Color me surprised. I had few expectations for Guzman, given his platoon splits and the stalled power he showed in San Diego. However, given more playing time this weekend, Guzman showed he can hit and hit for power in Houston. Don't expect him to keep up this torrid batting average, but he should settle into a nice role, providing 15-20 home run power with a decent on-base percentage.
Winner
Dexter Fowler
Three games does not a season make. Fowler's unfortunate illness scrapped him entirely for the Angels series, which could have led to some of Houston's offensive woes then. But, there's no question that his impact in the three games he played was huge.
Think about this. Despite having 13 fewer plate appearances than the next-highest fWAR batter, Fowler still doubled his total. He was basically worth half a win in just three games. That's an unsustainable pace to say the least, but does underscore just how good Fowler was at the plate in his short time.