Suddenly, a thin bench has turned into one packed with guys like Mauricio Dubon, Michael Brantley, Jake Meyers and Yainer Diaz, all who have been and could still be everyday position players. That day has arrived and as they close in on the postseason, productivity at the plate has soared. The offense around Altuve has been spectacular.įor a huge chunk of this season, the Astros survived on stingy pitching while the bats, with a handful of exceptions, struggled, and the team hoped to be at full strength someday. This is after he missed the first 43 games of the season with a broken thumb and had another stint on the IL subsequent to that. Never mind he had five total home runs in just six at bats in two games. That three straight is only the third time in baseball history that occurred. That happened in his last at bat Monday followed by three straight in three consecutive innings Tuesday. The Astros second baseman did something in this series no one had ever done before: he hit four home runs in four straight at bats. Jose Altuve just keeps doing amazing things. But, the Mariners and Rangers managed to stumble themselves and with two blowout wins coupled with a pair of Mariners losses, the Astros are back on top. The Astros were coming off an embarrassing three-game sweep by the awful Yankees at Minute Maid heading to Dallas to meet the team that was ahead of them in the standings. It would have been OK to believe on Monday morning that things were headed in the opposite direction. After last night's shellacking in Arlington, the Astros not only took over the AL West lead for the first time this season, but pushed the Rangers out of the playoffs if they started today. His 43.8% chase rate is still well above the MLB average, but it dipped from 49.3% in June to 43.1% in July and 37.8% in August.At one point earlier this season, the Texas Rangers held a 6.5 game lead in the division. He swung at more than 60% of pitches he saw through June before trimming that rate each of the past two months, per Statcast. If that continues, the Astros would need to find other openings to slot Diaz into the lineup on those days.ĭiaz has demonstrated progress as a hitter over his rookie season. The Astros are hopeful José Abreu can rebound after an IL stint for lower back inflammation and resume a regular role at first base.ĭiaz has caught most of Brown’s outings and half of France’s, but Maldonado regularly pairs with Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander and has caught all but three of Cristian Javier’s starts. Michael Brantley’s return has made for fewer opportunities at DH, where he and Alvarez are sharing time. Martín Maldonado continues to command most starts at catcher, though. After starting 17 of Houston’s first 55 games this season, Diaz started 59 of the next 82, including 23 at catcher and 30 at designated hitter. Manager Dusty Baker said Diaz would “probably” catch Monday’s opener of a critical series against the Rangers, with J.P. Sunday, he was not in the lineup for the Astros’ finale against the Yankees. Diaz is drawing more starts over the past few months but does not have a dedicated spot in the lineup. It also underscored a dilemma Houston still faces with his playing time. Joining them emphasized the production Diaz has offered he awoke Sunday second on the team in slugging (.532) after Alvarez and fifth in OPS (.837). So I can only imagine they are jumping in happiness in the Dominican Republic.”īefore Diaz, the other six Astros rookies to reach 20 homers were: Glenn Davis, Lance Berkman, George Springer, Carlos Correa, Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña. “They said they wanted to see me hit 20 homers. “That was the goal that my parents set for me at the beginning of the year,” Diaz said Saturday through an interpreter.
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