Climbing Tal's Hill
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Astros’ Springer and Gattis are coming around

By Blake Permenter

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April was a solid start to a surprise season for the Houston Astros, finishing the month with a 12-7 record and a three-game lead on the Los Angeles Angels. This success was shocking not only because they are the Astros, but the fact two of their top hitters, George Springer and Evan Gattis, were awful.

When I say awful, I don’t mean they struggled… I say that they were bad. How awful were they might you say? Let’s start with George Springer.

How Awful was Springer?

Springer burst onto the scene a little late last season. However, he was able to post 20 long balls in a limited amount of games before ending the season on the DL. Many, including myself, believed Springer was poised for a fast start this season on his way to 35+ Home Runs. The fast start did not happen.

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Springer has been a notorious swing-and-miss type of player, however beginning the season striking out 31 times out of his 85 at bats in May (36.45) was not the plan. Springer was only able to garner 17 hits, 3 of which left the ballpark. His slash line for April ended: .200/.300/.365.

One thing that Springer did have working early in the season was the running game. Springer displayed his aggression on the bases last season with his 100% effort at all times, and that is one thing that never changed. Last year the speed was mostly visible going first to third, but not by stolen bases. Springer ended the month tied with Altuve and Marisnick for the AL lead in stolen bases with 8.

How Awful was Gattis?

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Now to Gattis.. seemed like every Astros fan I saw on Twitter was head-hunting Gattis in April.

It took Gattis five games to reach finally base as an Astro, and 6 to finally get a hit. In those six games, he had racked up an unearthly 13 strikeouts. This many strikeouts were unusual for a guy who had never struck out more than 97 times in a season (although never played more than 108). If you are on twitter like myself, you could not help but feel bad for the guy.. he was going to turn it around soon, right?

Even after getting his first hit, Gattis finished April on a .226 clip, which raised his monthly total to a whopping .164.

Today

Springer nor Gattis currently have eye-popping numbers. However, they are completely different players than back in April. Springer is currently hitting .259, however, is off to a fast start in June hitting .380. Riding a seven-game hitting streak that is highlighted by the first Astros five-hit game since 2003 (Craig Biggio), Springer is a human highlight reel these days.

A fan favorite, Springer hustles with the likes of Craig Biggio, dare I say has a much better skillset. We are just waiting for it to click completely, and for it to stick. Last night Springer hit two homers while getting three hits in the Astros 6-3 win. We might be in store for some more Springer Dingers.

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