Altuve +/- 60 Walks

He has turned into a complete hitter. Which I never thought was possible.

 

in the same way Giles will be a good pitcher, Altuve very likely won't double his typical walk total--though he may certainly have improved. He's seeing the ball really well right now though and is being patient. If this (walks, power, steals, avg) lasts all year, he'll be in the mix for MVP

 

Plus... Altuve is becoming more complete. Evidenced by the opposite field power he's been displaying


+

 

Altuve is only 25 years old, a year younger than Springer and close to the same age as Mark Appel... So I certainly believe he can still develop as a hitter. He was just a vastly underrated minor leaguer and came up very early.

 

Not to mention his gold glove defense. Never thought he'd turn into this kind of player.

 

What gets me really excited is the possibility that his power surge this year is a result of being more patient at the plate too. All the sudden he is seeing more pitches, and the result is better pitches to hit. So when he does get them he has a better chance to crush them than swinging at stuff eye level or way outside or whatever (which he was still able to get decent wood on in seasons past but never stood a chance at driving deep).

 

Still can't believe they have him locked up for pennies till 2020.

He may be deserved of an early raise if he continues to keep this up (a token of appreciation and commitment to him being an astro for life).

 

He's had other times where he was walking at a decent clip, but then would go a week or more before the next one.

I'm actually more interested in the surge in power. He's absolutely crushing those balls.

 

The opposite field power excites me...he had never hit an opposite field home run, and now he has two of them within a couple days.

Exciting to watch this little dude do big things.

 

Exactly. We saw him turn on a mid-90s fastball in the series against the Royals onto the railroad tracks, and then he follows that up with two oppo blasts in the next series? That's mighty impressive, must be nice to have that kind of talent!

 

Now, if he could just quit getting picked off - perhaps that is what he will work on for next season.

 

Per 790am...

Altuve had never hit more than 3 HRs in a calendar month.

Now he has 4 with 10+ games remaining in April.

 

I think we're just going to have to resign ourselves to the fact that that is just the kind of player he is. Uber-aggressive on the bases, sometimes to a fault.

 

I wonder if any of it has anything to do with his height. If he takes the same lead as a "normal" sized aggressive runner, he has less of a reach to get back to the base.

I haven't seen all of his pickoffs when diving back, but the ones I have seen, a "normal" reach would have made him safe most of those times.

 

You can stop wondering.

His smaller frame should enable him to be quicker than taller guys, thus, compensate for any reach discrepancy.

He just messes up sometimes.

 

I can't imagine that matters. That would imply that he is unaware of his height and how much of a lead he can take, and is instead basing his lead size on what he sees other people do. I think he's well aware of his size, reach, and presence.

 

Is that what your wife tells you?

 

Based on how many times he gets picked off compared to other potential base stealers, he may not be.