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This week in Astros hitting included seven games and the team finished 4-3. They started the week winning the rubber game of the Oakland series at home, then split a four game series at Detroit, and finished the week going 1-1 in the first two games of the series at Baltimore. Over those seven games they scored 33 runs so there were obviously some big hitting performances. It was tough to pick a top guy this week, but here are my totally subjective awards. As always, feel free to tell me what you think. Just because you disagree with me doesn't necessarily mean you are wrong. Let's start with the...
Honorable Mentions
Preston Tucker
This kid is starting to become a fan favorite, and not just among the tuned-in crowd. He added on to his bonafides this week by hitting the first home run of his MLB career. It was a pinch-hit homer that tied the game at 2 and completed a 5-run comeback against the Tigers. Then he did it again on Sunday. He hit a pinch-hit 3-run homer to tie the game at seven on the way to a 10-8 Astros win. He was the first Astros player to hit 2 pinch-hit homers in the same series. What better way is there for a rookie to become a household name?
Evan Gattis
As I said, this was a tough week for deciding who the best Astros hitter was, evidenced by the fact that a guy who had an OPS of 1.097 is an honorable mention. Gattis had seven hits on the week, and six of them were of the extra-base variety. He ended up with two doubles (normal), two homers (normal) and 2 triples (unexpected, but AWESOME). He also drove in six runs and walked four times. It looks like Gattis is starting to be what we thought he was going to be when they brought him over. It appears some of the power bats are starting to get more consistent, which brings me to the...
Winner
George Springer
It feels good as a fan to see hits start to fall for this guy. I mean, who doesn't love this? All season it has seemed like when he hit the ball hard it was right at someone. Not this week. He ended up batting .429 with an OPS of 1.162, scoring five runs and driving in another two. He has recently moved into the leadoff spot in the lineup and done exactly what you want the leadoff guy to do. When you add in his three walks he got on base almost half the time. His average rose over 30 points this week to a more respectable .231 on the season. Hopefully along with Gattis we are starting to see the turnaround everyone has been expecting.
If these guys in the middle of the lineup can keep up a good pace this is going to be the most fun summer of baseball here in years...maybe a decade. And who knows, they might start scoring in bunches before the 7th inning! (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)