TCB Astros Hitter of the Week: July 29 - August 4

The Astros went 4-3 this past week, and the games were full of some great offensive performances.  Over the seven games they outscored their opposition 38-28 and hit 14 bombs (including Jon Singleton's first of the season right before he headed back to Fresno).

Our list this week includes a regular winner, a new guy, and a two-fer surprise.  Are you ready?  The suspense is killing me!

Honorable Mention

Carlos Gomez

The new guy came charging out of the gate after joining the team on Friday.  For those of you who don't know, Gomez came over from the Brewers because we like guys who can hit.  In his first five games as an Astro he already has three multi-hit games.  He collected his first home run in last night's game, and has now driven in four runs while scoring two.  I know the trade was controversial to many of the Astros faithful, but adding another speed/power guy at the top of the lineup could be what helps us with the push to the postseason.  His slash line this week was .348/.348/.565 which ranks towards the top of the list of Carloses on the team, but not quite the top.

Carlos Correa

One of the ROOT announcers last night said something to the effect of "This kid doesn't make mistakes!"  (Of course this was right before he made a mistake, as per the laws of tv sports announcer jixes.)  Correa was number one on the Carlos scale again this week for the sixth week in a row (he holds the record).  If I just gave you his BABIP (.150) you might think he was in a bit of a rough patch.  You would be wrong.  Even with a little bad luck he managed an OPS of .979, hit four homers, and drove in six runs.  We call that a "Valbuena"  Well, I call it that because I just made it up.

If his last home run did anything it showed that pitchers are going to have to think twice about busting him inside.  I have no idea how that ball stayed fair.

Winner

Jason Castro & Hank Conger

Our catching duo shares this award this week.  They combined to go 10-for-27 (.370), drive in 16 runs and score another seven.  The big story (besides the fact that they just hit a lot) was the power they provided from a position that has not been big on power for quite a while.  Conger hit two homers, one of which was a grand slam on Saturday.  Castro hit three, one of which was a grand slam in Monday's game (which made the big loss into a not-as-big loss on the scoreboard).  The Astros now have two grand slams this season, both this week, and both by their catchers.  I can't imagine what the odds of that happening were, but I figure the words "lottery" or "maimed by a koala" were involved.   Personally I could totally get on board with catchers that hit.  Hey, everyone can have a dream!