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CTH’s Houston Astros Players of the Week (July 6 – 12)

By Thomas O'Banion

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So…about last week for our beloved Houston Astros…

What’s that? You don’t want to rehash the misery? You’re disappointed that they went into the All-Star break like that? You wish we could trade/cut/throw tomatoes at every slumping hitter?

Well, you’re not alone. No one wants to see the team do poorly. But it does happen time to time. Baseball is marathon, not a sprint (don’t throw tomatoes at your computer screen!)

We’ve done the awards, rain or shine, all season, so let’s get after it.

Pitcher of the Week

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The pitchers tried to hold this team together this week. However, the run support was non-existent, and no one picked up a win. It will be great when this team gets back in sync, and everyone is picking up everyone else.

Anyhow, you could make an argument for Collin McHugh, Lance McCullers, or Dallas Keuchel, or possibly even Dan Straily. McHugh got the honors for this week for his start against Tampa Bay on July 10.

7.0 IP, four hits, three earned runs, walk, six strikeouts, .160 batting average against

He should’ve earned his 10th win of the season, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Hitter of the Week

Rookie Preston Tucker steps in this week as the team’s best hitter. In the midst of the worst week during the first half of baseball for the Houston Astros, Tucker did his best to lift his team to victory. It was all for naught though the rookie did earn it.

Bam Bam’s line for the week:

.385/.407/.538, ten hits, double, home run, two runs, two RBI, a walk

Weekly Goats

Geez, it seems really hard to pick just one player for this hat tip. Everyone, excluding Tucker, struggled at the dish. We could name nine other guys, but that wouldn’t be fair, now would it? Certainly there is a skunk whose odor permeates the rest. That guy is none other than Chris Carter.

.000/.111/.000, 0 hits, one RBI, two walks, five strikeouts

Re-read that: ZERO hits. He did have a sac fly if that gives you the warm-and-fuzzies. Maybe we should change Carter’s nickname from Trogdor to Pepé Le Pew.

Of course, we couldn’t just leave it alone. His first base platoon-mate, Jon Singleton, also struggled mightily, mustering ZERO hits, while drawing two walks, and striking out three times. .000/.250/.000 was Big Jon’s little line.

Redemption Player

We seriously considered leaving this one blank, but at the last minute one guy came to mind: Brett Oberholtzer. We all remember the meltdown he had a couple weeks back when he got pounded early on, and then threw at A-Rod out of frustration. He was sent to the minors, yada yada yada.

Well, the Astros needed him back this week and recalled him from triple-A Fresno. Against the Indians on July 9, Obie was pretty solid.

5.0 IP, seven hits, three earned runs, walk, three strikeouts

It was a much-needed bounce back performance for Obie, and while he wasn’t stellar, he maintained his composure and kept his team in the game. That’s good enough for us. We really need him to return to form and help solidify the back end of the Houston Astros’ rotation.

That’s it for the first half of the season. We’ll have a first half awards post, in a few days, so be on the lookout for that.

Enjoy the All-Star break!

Next: Should the Astros Look At Padres' Tyson Ross?

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