He finished the game, Trout hit a routine groundout and Altuve dogged it. I'd wanna punch his little a** in the face after that.
An Altuve tidbit: he has only 15 strike outs on the year and only 6 in the past 26 games. With him catching fire as of late, his ability to continuously put the play has been awesome. I know he has never been considered much of a strikeout candidate, but it's great to see it continue with his improved hitting this season. He is also in the top 8 of the league in doubles and on pace to remain in the top 10 by the end of the year based on historical comparisons (40 should get you in the top 10 and he is on pace for 48 or so)
Bargain of the year so far: Keuchel ($508K) has posted a 2.4 WAR so far, tying him for 2nd place alongside Buehrle ($18M) and Scherzer ($15.5M) among MLB pitchers.
Just hope he can keep it together all season. He was off to the slowest start of his career, but has picked it up in May. Now he just needs to avoid the collapse he's had in his first 3 seasons. Would really like for him to cement his spot as a building block. Altuve/Dominguez/Castro have all shown me enough to say they can be starters for a contender, but none have proven to be stars. Looking like an all-star.
Yeah I'm not even excited about Altuve yet, I'm certainly happy he's hitting so well, but we've seen this before from him. In 2012 he had an .826 OPS through 66 games, finished with .740 In 2013 he had an .827 OPS through 43 games, finished with .678 His BABIP is very sustainable right now, so that's a positive. He is still very much a subpar defensive player, so he has to hit pretty well to offset it.
As Blummer said in the first inning after not seeing in them in a little while, this team looks like they have some "swagger". Also noted, Mike Trout is hitting .263 and leads the league in strikeouts?!?wtf!? Pre-season he was anointed best player in the majors! As far as Altuve goes, he really needs to prove that little body can hold up and produce for a whole season, or he just isn't the guy.
It is worth noting that the passing of Altuve's grandmother and Paredes deciding to become a wrecking ball prior to Miley Cyrus played a role in his regression. The strong finish he had in Sept/Oct (an OPS over .840 after a month where it was below .500) seemed more the norm for him. Also, he was doing great prior to the Paredes collision which I really do feel played a big role. That all being said, I don't think Altuve will finish white hot like he is now, but I don't see why he can't bat over .290 for a full season and keep the K rate down. As for that nucleus, amen. I am more sold on Matty D and Altuve than Castro (Stassi is unproven but worth a shot as a full time catcher in my opinion). Also, I know it wasn't entirely inclusive, but I am confident that Springer will be in that core. There is more certainty in this lineup than we have seen in quite some time.
We and you have a major disagreement on Altuve vs Castro, even with his slow start offensively Castro is still on pace to post a WAR over 2, in 2012 he posted a WAR of 1.3 in only 87 games. He was recovering from injury and posted an .830 OPS over the last 61 games of 2012. He basically had one really bad week this season dragging down his numbers, which are still decent. Altuve is bad defensively, in 2012 even with his .740 OPS, he only managed a WAR of 1.4. If Altuve can't maintain a .300 BA, he simply isn't very productive given his lack of walks or power.
First, I am not saying that Altuve has more potential than Castro. I am just sold more on Altuve than I am Castro. Castro seems to have a lot of small injuries nag him, and that is just a bother to me from catcher. In 5 seasons, Castro has played less than 100 games in all but 1. Altuve has played in 145+ games in the 2 full seasons he has been available. I would love to see Castro remain a 4+ WAR player, but regression says otherwise and his poor start to this year (while still currently sporting a .298 BABIP which seems about right) may be more the norm for him in the future. His growing strike out rate this year is more than concerning as well. Altuve offers the ability to steal bases, play around or below league average second base, bat for a high average and what appears to be improving walk rate, and a catalyst for the offense. In short, I am not pulling for Castro to fail or wanting Altuve to out perform him. I just trust his production potential more than Castro's. Altuve being 3 years younger at a less destructive position helps as well. Lastly, I think Altuve will finish the year with a higher WAR than Castro this season.
Altuve leads the club: Doubles (14) Triples (2) tied BA (.305) TB (79) SO (fewest with >100ab) (15) WAR (1.3) OBP (.350) Castro leads the club: RBI's (22) I am having a hard time seeing Castro as more valuable than Altuve.
If they finish the season playing this way Altuve is much better, but I don't expect that. Last season was an aberration for Castro, I always expected it to be. I think by years end his OPS will be in the .740-.760 range, and K rate will be closer to last seasons. As for Altuve, maybe I'm just putting too much weight into it, but I've seen him collapse 2 straight seasons. Until I see him maintain this, I won't believe it. Make no mistake I'm absolutely rooting for him, I love to be wrong when I make negative predictions.
