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CTH’s Houston Astros Players of the Week (June 1 – 7)

By Thomas O'Banion

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The first week of June is now over. Believe it or not, despite a 3-4 week, the Houston Astros are still in first place in the American League West, where they have been since the middle of April.

This past week got off to a great start as the Astros took three games out of four from the Baltimore Orioles, but once they traveled across the Canadian border to take on the Toronto Blue Jays, their winning ways came to a screeching halt. Getting swept by the Jays was not what anyone envisioned, eh?

Houston did not allow themselves to get down for long as the front office made a (sort of) surprising call up for the one and only Carlos Correa. Here’s hoping that a return to U.S. soil and the call up of “The Chosen One” helps them keep their grip on the division lead.

On to the awards…

Pitcher of the Week

The Houston Astros pitcher of the week was an easy choice. No one was better than Lance McCullers Jr.

McCullers snatched this one with an authoritative performance against the Orioles on Wednesday, June 3. LMJ pitched his first ever complete game, only allowing one earned run on four hits. He also struck out 11 batters on the way to his victory. All of this was done on 107 pitches, of which 73 were strikes.

It was a beautifully dominant performance for the rookie hurler.

Hitter of the Week

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Picking the pitcher was simple; the hitters are a much more difficult selection. The Houston Astro that gets this week’s nod is Evan Gattis. George Springer was in contention, but Gattis won it with his timely hits that had an impact on the game.

Gattis’ line this week:

.259/.286/.407, seven hits, a double, a home run, seven RBI

You may be looking at his batting average and scratching your head. However, Gattis had three multi-RBI games, two of them came during wins against Baltimore, and one against the Jays in the loss on Sunday. Gattis tacked on insurance runs, tied the game, or gave the Astros the lead with his hits. That’s why he gets the award, his third so far this season.

Weekly Goats

This is a tie between Luke Gregerson and Jonathan Villar. Both are culpable for the ninth inning of yesterday’s loss against the Blue Jays. Overall, Gregerson has been solid this year, but yesterday he picked up his first blown save of the season. LG allowed three runs on four hits in the deciding inning.

But he wasn’t helped out by his defense, mainly the gaffe-prone Villar who should’ve caught an easy pop fly near second base. Instead JV ran into Jose Reyes, who was standing on second base, and did not secure the ball. This allowed Jose Bautista to get on base as the go-ahead run, and he scored when the following batter hit a single.

Redemption Player

When Hank Conger came over in a trade earlier this season many people were puzzled. He hasn’t really endeared himself to the Houston fan base, mainly because they’re skeptical of his value to the team. However, Conger had an excellent week at the plate, batting .417/.462/.833 with five hits, two doubles, and a home run. If he continues to bat like this, Houston Astros fans will warm to him.

In case you’re wondering about previous weeks:

Week 1 / Week 2 /Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6 / Week 7 / Week 8

Next: Astros Promote RHP Velasquez to MLB

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