He hasn't. In fact his walk rate and pitches seen are both slightly up from last season. In fact the only number that is significantly changed from last year is his BABIP, which would lend support to fears that last year was merely an outlier. He's gonna bust out of this funk, but I think those people that are expecting Altuve to return to last years level may be disappointed.
He hit 2nd about half the time last year and hit over .370 hitting second, much better than first I keep hearing people say him hitting second is his problem It isn't....he has just struggled .....it's not about place in lineup
Ok LongTimeLoser It's not a bump for bumping sake but a reference to a previous conversation so we can talk about it again. Not to mention Springer is still hitting leadoff, so it is relevant in more than one way.
I am liking the Springer, Correa, Altuve top of the order. Springer is best on base guy on team. Correa is the best hitter after him. Altuve is good at singles if either of those guys are on second. Gattis makes good hard contact which makes him a good RBI man even though he's been hitting ball at people a lot. He's going to go crazy from plate at some point this season.
Yeah, as long as all 3 are getting the most AB's/game, their offense is going to score some runs.... even when its basically those 3 and NOBODY else doing anything (which is what it has felt like lately). Between Gattis, Carter, Valbuena, Castro/Conger, Tucker, and Santana... ONE of those guys has to be able to go on an extended streak beyond one good game here and there. Thus far, the only other guy on this team showing a semblance of quality consistency is Rasmus.
Gattis actually doesn't make hard contact, he's simply not a very sound hitter. His LD% is 18.1 which is 130th out of 161 players this year. Since he started in 2013 he is 244th out of 246 in LD%. His free swinging nature often leads to some very lazy outs. His BABIP is 218th out of 246.
And yet over that same time period, he's 43rd (granted, I would have guessed he was around 20-30) in hard contact and 19th in FB%.
If you hit a ball to an outfielder it is usually considered hit hard, even if it's completely routine. Chris Carter is 22nd in hard hit rate, and 3rd in FB%.
Do you consider being 43rd in hard hit rate as not being able to make hard contact? Yes, Chris Carter has been better than him at hard contact, but that is almost like saying Mike Trout is a better player than Springer so Springer must suck. Hard contact plus FB% tends to lead to HRs and Sac flies.
After he went 0-4?... I get the impression Singleton isn't in the Astros' long-term plans. They had a prime PH opportunity Friday night and the Astros stuck with Carter. And then he doesn't see the field yesterday, which makes no sense to me - IMO, he should be playing everyday while he's here. Carter and (especially) Gattis should both be on notice.
They had a prime PH opportunity on Saturday as well to PH for Singleton (bases loaded, tie game), on a day where he was already 0-3 with 2K's and they had brought in a lefty (I'd even take Marwin in that spot). So, I really don't know what they're doing with him... other than Carter got the start on Sunday because he had a very good Saturday.
And just like that... Correa now batting 3rd. Could this be the lineup for the rest of the season? Could Correa be batting 3rd for the next 15 years?
