Fowler's offensive presence was sorely missed while he was out. If he had enough plate appearances he'd be 3rd in the AL in OBP. Also, his OPS is over .800.
Right now there is a realistic chance the Astros will own the league leaders in BA, Hits, HR and SB. Could have won some money betting on any one of those, much less all 4. Dallas Keuchel also leads the league in complete games, and he has a staggering lead in GB%.
Didn't get a chance to post my reaction to that HR. But man, Carter is insane! 4k's.....no problem. Amazing where he's come since July 1st.
Not to be all police-y - but July 1. He was actually dreadful in June (.164/.243/.388/.631). Since July 1: .307/.353/.693/1.046 with 17 HRs and 42 RsBI. I have zero energy to confirm it's the best in baseball (likely not) but it's an incredible 71/175 pace, which shows you how bananas he's been. Unfortunately, he's walked a grand total of 11 times during this stretch, which is just terrible. And his BAbip is a pretty staggering .326, which will absolutely regress. And he's still a little too boom-or-bust (17 of his 47 hits have been HRs; that's a remarkable 37% - again, hard to see him sustaining that blistering a pace). Hopefully, he can settle into being a .250/.330/.500 guy moving forward.
I'm nitpicking, but I wouldn't call that "staggering". The average is around .300 or slightly above, so while that's a little lucky, it's nothing huge. I've seen hot streaks where guys go between .350 and .400 on BABIP... that's what I would consider staggering. But your overall premise is fair.
That, and his BABIP on the season is still only .264, so one could say the improved BABIP is more about water finding its level than good luck.
Carter's BABIP for the year is .268, which is both below average and below his career # of .289. If anything, he's been unlucky this year and was due for some (positive) regression towards the mean.
I think he'll be close to the numbers you suggest going forward with his BA being about 10-15 points less causing the OBP and slugging to be lower as well. I expect regression in BABIP and HR/FB from the surge, but I would expect his walk rate to increase over his recent surge. 17 HRs among 47 hits is not boom or bust, but a comparison of boom versus good results. During his surge, he has not been too much of a boom-or-bust player as his OBP is over .350. Unsustainable, yes, but you word it almost like 17 homers in a month and a half is a bad thing. Carter is going to be a boom-or-bust player, but he has enough boom that he should be at least an okay player considering he doesn't play defense. If he truly has made a lasting adjustment that will keep his K Rate to just being bad instead of atrocious, he could be a good player.
Yeah, he was .311 last year. Of course, with all the HRs and Ks, he doesn't actually put a lot of balls in play, LOL (I think it's less than 500 the past two years)... 40% of his plate appearances the past two years have resulted in either a HR or K. Unreal...
To me, that just goes to show how crazy McGwire, Sosa, & Bonds were during their roided up years or Bagwell's MVP season.
Keep in mind with Bonds that he was also walking 100's of times a year. I think he is in a league of his own.
Question: I have uVerse 300 and just got the HD Premium Tier package, mainly for NFL Redzone. It also comes with YES (Yankees), CSN Bay area and Fox Sports West (A's,Angels). I am at work right now and am really hoping I'll get to watch the Astros at my apartment tonight. Does anyone know if I'll be able to watch the Astros play those teams or is it blacked out? I know I get to watch them when they play the Rangers.
