I've noticed that Jordan has a habit of glaring at umpires when he doesn't like the call. In a game the other day, I remember him glaring back at the home plate umpire on a called 1st or 2nd strike in his 1st AB. IOW, he's not doing himself any favors here.
And two of those starting outfielders have higher OBP than Johnson. Johnson gets flack because he has 3 walks and 31 Ks and seemingly strikes out on terrible pitches.
He does do a lot of glaring, but that pitch was so ridiculously bad, you'd think Maddux or Glavine was pitching.
Actually, all three have a higher OBP than Johnson http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/stats/batting/_/name/hou/cat/onBasePct/houston-astros It is troubling that our entire outfield has such a low BA.
Not sure how I missed Bogusevic's. I must have been looking at slugging. Even though Bogusevic is hitting low, he is trending up and has been getting better swings than Schaefer and Martinez. They ought to keep getting Buck regular playing time for now.
I don't mean to pile on since bobrek just about nailed it, but I'd also like to add that Chris Johnson's .294 average is being buoyed by a .387 BABIP. Basically, he better hope that the balls he puts into play find holes to trickle through, or grass. Without that luck, he's nothing more than a .255-.260 hitter, with an on-base percentage in the low .300s since he walks every once in a blue moon, and a slugging percentage around .425-.440. So, once all of that normalizes, he'll go back to what he really is, a marginal 3B. I was about to say that he's been serviceable, but after I took a glance at his numbers, he's back to being barely over replacement level, which I suppose is his career norm. Well, at least he'll take his fair share of walks. Please allow FanGraphs and me to interject here... Brian Bogusevic J.D. Martinez Jordan Schafer I agree that Bogusevic looks to be trending up. He's been stricken with some bad luck (.271 BABIP), but what's horrified me is the amount of pop flies he's hit so far, and he currently stands at 21%. He still beats balls into the ground, but he's legged out plenty of infield hits (12.8%). Also, J.D. Martinez seems to be suffering from the same thing that's afflicting Bogey: a low BABIP (.270) and pop flies. These account for almost 16% of the balls he's put in play. And finally... Jordan Schafer's hitting .235 with a .349 BABIP. Something must be wrong here. Which may mean that once everything regresses to the mean, Schafer could be one of the worst everyday players in the Majors this season. Oh, he's hitting a lot of pop flies too, since 17% of the balls he puts in play are of this variety. But, he's got the highest line drive percentage (22.8%) out of the 3 everyday OFs. Also, considering that he's a leadoff hitter, he should be able to get some infield hits. And he has (11%).
That was pretty bad. High and outside. My first thought was that the ump was getting him back for complaining during the previous AB. On a related note, Schafer strikes out a CRAPLOAD. I like that he takes walks, but dang, for a guy with almost no power, he shouldn't be striking out so much.
With Josh Johnson on the opposing mound tonight, are we going to get the guy who went 2.2 IP 6 ER in San Diego on May 4th, or the guy who went 6.2 IP 1 ER vs the Mets on April 24th ? http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/546234/josh-johnson
Our offense has been struggling bad the last 3 games. We righted the ship for a struggling Wainwright, only seems fitting we would do the same for Josh Johnson.
Our earlier offensive output was either a fluke or if not, our ship is due righting as well in the form of an offensive breakout. If things continue as they have (last 3 games), a lot of early optimism and momentum is going to go down the drain.
I am, too. If Schafer doesn't pick things up in the next three-to-four weeks, I wouldn't be shocked if Maxwell got an extended look in CF. He has the speed to be a good defender, and though his batting average would probably be low, his power (especially on this team) could make it worthwhile to give him a longer evaluation. Especially as a CF.
