TCB Astros Hitter of the Week: May 5-12

Not many wins, but the hits fell more frequently than they have in the past. Who gets our weekly award? Let's dive into the numbers and see.

Honorable mentions

Matt Dominguez

Remember all those nice things I said about Matty D's walk rate? Well, he went out and promptly didn't draw a walk in seven games. Screw you, Matt!

No, really, he didn't walk, but he was very good. I nearly gave him the weekly award. In those seven games, he hit .379/.379/.552 with a home run and only one strikeout in 29 plate appearances. He led the team in WAR over that stretch and has picked his own averages up to nearly .260. 

Right now, he's on pace to be a two WAR player, according to the projection systems  and to hit slightly less than the 20 homers he reached in 2013. 

Jose Altuve

There's a little of the first half of 2012 in Altuve's game lately. In his last seven games, he's gone for the coveted .300/.400/.500 (.379/.419/.517). He's also stolen two bases and walked six percent of the time. it's the first time he's hit over .300 this late in the season since May 31 of last season. 

Well, that's just stupid. He hit over .300 for a couple games this season in April and was over .300 for much of the first two months of 2013. It just seems like it's been forever since he cleared that arbitrary hurdle. Still, it's nice to see his recent surge showing up in his overall batting average.

George Springer

HAHAHAHAHAHA! I finally get to add him here! Huzzah!

Over his last seven games, Springer appears to be climbing out of his post-call-up funk. He's hit .310/.333/.586 with two home runs and a wRC+ of 155. Ignore that terrible strikeout rate. When he doesn't strike out, he hits the ball berry, berry far.

Winner

Marc Krauss

Yep. I did it.

Give credit where credit is due.

In the last week, Marc Krauss only played in five games and only had 18 plate appearances. He also continued to hold his place, tied with Chris Carter, as the team's whipping boy for fan frustration.

But, did you see what Krauss did in those games? He hit .357/.500/.714 with a home run and a wRC+ of 234. His weighted On-Base Average was over .500. He was on fire in every imaginable way at the plate.

Of course, that didn't make up any for his early season struggles, as all those hits were barely a drop in the bucket to his batting average. It does justify Houston's faith in him to some degree and show what they hope to get out of him, even in small doses. 

Now, he still can't play defense or hit lefties, but he did mash for five games.