A Goodbye to (Second-Half) Robbie Grossman

In all the roster shuffling that has been going on the last week or so we have said goodbye to one of the most intriguing players of this entire rebuilding period. This is a player that on the surface could have been a great part of this team moving forward. Of course I am talking about Second-Half Robbie Grossman.

Both Grossmans (First-Half Robbie Grossman and Second-Half Robbie Grossman) were part of the return for trading Wandy Rodriguez in the 2012 season. First-Half Robbie Grossman got a shot in the majors at the beginning of the 2013 season, and left much to be desired. While manning left field in April and May, he batted a terrible .198 with an OPS just above .500, and his .045 ISO didn't help matters much. First-Half Robbie Grossman was sent back down to the minors to work on a few things, like hitting a baseball.

In July Second-Half Robbie Grossman got his chance to shine, and boy did he!  Even though his walk rate was low, and his K rate was a bit high, Second-Half Robbie Grossman got on base...a lot. He hit to the tune of .322 with an .816 OPS. Throw in an ISO of .144 and a 125 wRC+ and there was hope that the team had found a piece to help them start the move from rebuilding to respectability going into 2014.

At the start of the 2014 season everyone thought Second-Half Robbie Grossman was in the lineup from April to June, but they were so hard to tell apart (since they both wore the same number and had the same physical features). Somehow First-Half Robbie Grossman was in the lineup in 35 games and hit a blistering .158 over that timeframe. The front office realized their mistake in July it seems, and brought Second-Half Robbie Grossman into the fold. He wasn't quite as productive as the previous season, but still put up solid numbers, including a .732 OPS and a 112 wRC+ at seasons end.

The final straw was the 2015 season. First-Half Robbie Grossman started off 2015 batting .143 with a 31% strikeout rate. He was sent down to the minors...but Second-Half Robbie Grossman was not recalled to the major leagues. Instead Second-Half Robbie Grossman helped the Grizzlies to a Triple-A championship before finally getting released. The Astros had acquired many talented outfielders during this time, and the writing was on the wall for the Grossmans.

Second-Half Robbie Grossman could have been a solid contributor to the Astros. It's just too bad that he was a package deal with First-Half Robbie Grossman.

Goodbye, you Red Sox destroying machine...and good luck!