Climbing Tal's Hill
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Astros’ Chris Carter Is Coming To Life

By Thomas O'Banion

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Way back when, about four weeks ago, I lamented that the Astros had a Chris Carter conundrum. Through the first 30 games of the season, Carter had been horrendous, batting an embarrassingly low .151/.256/.302 with 16 hits and five homeruns. Despite Carter’s ineptitude with his bat, the Astros were in first place, and the team could afford to wait on him to turn around, if he could turn it around.

Back through those abysmal first 30 games, fans were frustrated with Chris Carter, demanding he be traded, sent to the minors, or cut outright from the team. There was no trade market for the struggling slugger, the team cannot send him down because he’s out of options, and he’s making just over $4M this season. Nevertheless, fans were simply enraged by the thought of the big man still being on the Major League roster.

“We can’t take this anymore!”

“We can’t wait on him to figure it out!”

“He’s the worst EVER!”

Or at least that’s what it sounded like. And it’s understandable. We’re fans. We want to see our team do the best, and the players be the best. After the dark days of 2011-14, we can’t stomach mediocrity, much less incompetency.

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Trent Baalke did not think Cris Carter would offer much to Jaguars staff /

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    • Now 30 games later, Chris Carter is turning things around. Since May 12, Trogdor is looking like the slugger the Astros perceived him to be. He’s posted a .269/.383/.527 line with 25 hits, six doubles, six home runs and 19 RBI.

    In 11 games during the month of June, Carter has hit .290/.428/.677 with nine hits, three doubles, and three home runs. To put it simply, he’s hot.

    This matters not to some fans.

    Even though the gentle giant is figuring things out, there are still shouts for his head. The cries for a Jon Singleton call up are still strong. Trade demands for Chris Carter still exist. Calls for the first baseman to be cut can still be heard.

    Believe it or not, CC is actually doing something very similar to last year. He started off really slow and then started finding his groove after the first two months of the season. Through 60 games, Carter’s number look awfully similar to his 2014 campaign. Take a look at this comparison:

    If this is any indicator, Chris Carter is coming to life.

    Given the recent slumps by everyone but George Springer and Carter, it would not serve the team well to remove the big man from the roster as it works its way out of a rough patch. Houston’s ship must be righted, and Carter is doing his best to man the helm until his teammates regain their bearings.

    So, let’s take a deep breath and put away the pitchforks. Right now Chris Carter is not the problem. He’s just an easy target.

    Next: Is Will Harris An All-Star?

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