Hard to believe our lineup's batting averages were even worse earlier this year.. 2 or 3 guys <.200. Homeruns are the biggest difference this season vs the past few years.
and, strangely enough, for me that's part of the disappointment in the offense. It's like the Astros can't score unless they hit one out of the park. The last thing I want, even though we play in the damned softball league, is to have a softball offense. If it weren't for Altuve, this offense would be un-freaking-watchable even *with* Springer.
I think Fowler deserves a little more credit. He has scored more runs than Altuve, can walk, and has been hitting incredibly the past month. He isn't near the overall player that Altuve is, but he is something that has helped ignite this team. Also, in games where Fowler scores a run, the Astros are 19-13 FWIW. I think that he is just as much of a cog in the Astros offensive wheel as Altuve. Fowler has a .377 OBP vs Altuve's .376 as well.
Yep... is there a better 1-2 in baseball with those OBP's??? I doubt it. Its the bottom 2/3'ds of this lineup that brings it down... especially when Castro and Matty D are hitting in the 4-5-6 spots. Carter also contributes to the HR-or-nothing problem. Villar is where he should be (9 spot). The main issue is whether or not Castro is going to get back to a semblance of where he was the last two years. He's been awful. Matty D will give you occasional power, but still doesn't hit for avg or get on base... he's basically a 7 or 8 hitter on most decent teams. Obviously, Singleton will need more time to get adjusted... had some good AB's yesterday. Castro is the key... if he improves, this offense can be very productive... especially with that 1-2 production.
Very fair point. I think if Castro has a strong second half, it could be just the boost the middle of the order needs. Singleton will continue to acclimate, Springer gunna Springer, and Castro doing better will encourage better pitches to both Springer and Singleton. That six spot not having a major consistent bopper at 3B/DH/LF is the biggest weakness.
If everybody feasted on good pitching... there would be no such thing as good pitching. Also, the A's have the best offense in all of baseball based on runs scored.
That's Moneyball, the aggregate. Scoring a bunch of runs in the regular season means nothing if you can't score runs in pressure situations against quality pitching. See 1998 Astros. The Moneyball proponents love to call this bad luck. If ereybody hit good pitching there'd be no good pitching? Lol. Thanks for the insight.
Bad luck? Defending champs are a moneyball team. Moneyball is about getting maximum bang for the buck (i.e. getting skills that other teams undervalue). It isn't bad luck that moneyball teams are losing to other moneyball teams spending more bucks on average.
