Even if he's not a top of the order guy, that's ok too. If he's only a 7-8-9 type guy in a couple of years, he's good enough in the field and on the bases to help the team regardless. It doesn't have to be leadoff or bust for him, in short.
I don't think he will hit .340 or give us an OPS of .830 like he did last year. I would love to see him improve on walks and elevate the OBP. For a long time he is going to have guys like Correa, Springer and Tucker hitting behind him, he needs to really get on base and is not by hacking, is by bunting, hitting, walking, because he is a leadoff hitter for a team that is going to have a lot of good hitter. Look at Deshields, he walks a lot, and thats what we need with the team we have. Like a forum member said Altuve was great for a bad team, now we need him to be good for a great team. We need him to focus on getting on base, not only getting hits. Will he change?? Lets hope so.
Rangers just doing what they're supposed to do just like we did when we beat that at home...movin right along
Good Lord...didn't say he wasn't talented. And yes he won a batting championship last year with his approach, good for him. He's more than likely not going to win another one with that approach though. I wished he had the same approach as Deshields. Deshields has lower batting average but in the games we've played them this year, he seems to really understand being a lead off hitter with his approach and Deshields has been huge for them with his walks, working the count, etc. This isn't something new I've been saying about Altuve after tonight's tough loss. Been saying it a while. I know it's not a popular opinion, but I couldn't care less.
Not when they're up like the one tonight, no. But he's far from alone in that regard. Like I said before, it took a team effort to lose this game. Outside of Gomez and Marwin, every other guy had a coulda/woulda/shoulda game-changing moment(s).
"Result of Castro being on a relative hot streak over a short period of time recently". However you want to phrase it. Same guy who was getting PH for in game situations before the break.
Agree, he looks more like a number 6 hitter, than a leadoff hitter. The problem is the only position we have for a leadoff hitter is 2b unless we continue to use Springer there. I think Springer is too good for that spot. We have a problem there as other positions we don't have a guy that walks a lot. Mabye our leadoff hitter is going to be Moran??? In 2 years: 1. Moran 3b 2. Altuve 2b 3. Correa SS 4. Springer RF 5. Tucker LF 6. Gattis DH 7. Reed/Singleton 1b 8. CAstro C 9. Marisnick CF If we resign CArlos Gomez, the lineup changes
Except Altuve is not Delino Deshields. They are completely different players with different approaches to baseball. Asking Altuve to be something completely different than he has been his whole career is silly. It's like saying he should be more like Jeff Bagwell and hit 30 HRs a year. It's not who he is or what he does.
He is the "ideal" leadoff hitter, getting on base, working the count, not quitting and or giving at bats. How many times have you seen Altuve, in one same at bat have 2 horrible swings? After you see the first one you say, no way he swings at that same pitch again, and what happen? Swings at that same pitch again. Like a forum member said, he is only 25 so lets hope he gets it, and starts thinking on getting on base more, or take him out of that precious leadoff spot. Now, we do have a problem because beside Springer, we don't have that kind of hitter in our team.
I know he's not Deshields. Deshields looks to be a classic lead off player, Altuve isn't. Our future lead off hitter is not on the team yet. Until he gets here, we have to roll with what we have and take the good with the bad.
Right, but leading off a ball game, why swing at first pitch??? A leadoff hitter should do more than that. Sometimes is frustrating to see the at bats of Altuve, thats why he is taking so much tonight because this is not the first time, nor the last one will see him swinging at EVERYTHING as a leadoff hitter. I don't mind Gattis doing that, i do when Altuve does it.
Yeah Altuve is it for now especially with Springer being injured. I'm thinking the club will continue to tweak and put a more appropriate player in the lead off spot in years to come especially now that the team is legit again.
1st and 3rd... no outs 2nd and 3rd... 1 out Sipp didn't help Hope isn't lost. Stros can still have a (very) good road trip. Just gotta outscore the other team a few times.
It's crazy how comfortable Deshields looks up there & how well he has performed. Did Luhnow never watch him play? Only explanation.
