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CTH’s Houston Astros Players of the Week (June 29 – July 5)

By Thomas O'Banion

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All things considered, last week was a good week for the Houston Astros. They finished June and started July by sweeping the reigning American League champion Kansas City Royals in a three-game series at Minute Maid Park. Then they went on the road to face a tough Boston Red Sox team and fought back to take the first game in the series, lost the second, and then were in a seesaw battle for the third which they ultimately lost.

Two takeaways from the previous week: first, they proved some of the doubters wrong (those that think KC is the real deal but Houston wasn’t). Second, Houston showed some resilience on the road in Boston, and while they should have won that third game, they showcased some great defense and mental toughness that allowed them to stay in the match.

Award time.

Pitcher of the Week

The AL’s best beard did what he’s been doing all season. Against the Royals on June 30, Dallas Keuchel made another great start and solidified his case to be the starter in the upcoming All-Star game. Kansas City had absolutely no answer for him, though their manager Ned Yost got an up close and personal look at the guy who’s been the American League’s Cy Young for the first half of the season. Keuchel’s winning line:

8.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 runs, seven strikeouts.

Dallas dropped his season ERA to 2.03 (first in the AL) and WHIP to 0.96 (second in AL). He also became the first Houston Astros pitcher with 10 wins before the All-Star break since Roy Oswalt did it in 2005.

Pretty frickin’ good. And he’ll be representing the Astros in the All-Star game, too.

Hitter of the Week

More from Astros News

If there was any doubt that Jose Altuve was deserving of an All-Star start, he put it to rest. Gigante is in the midst of a 14-game hit streak, and in the six games played last week, he slashed .400/.464/.560 with a 1.024 OPS. The rest of his stats are as such:

Ten hits, a double, an HR, five RBI, a walk, and three stolen bases.

Whether it was his strong outing, or fans just not wanting to see a mediocre second baseman from the Royals play, Altuve was voted in as an All-Star. He is most definitely worthy.

Weekly Goat

This is a combined award for Josh Fields and Tony Sipp. They have been a big part of the bullpen’s success this year, but last week they stunk it up. Here’re their individual stats:

Fields: 1.2 IP, three hits, three earned runs, three walks, 16.20 ERA. .375 batting Avg against

Sipp: 2.0 IP, three hits, two earned runs, a walk, three strikeouts, 9.00 ERA, .333 batting Avg against

UGLY.

Redemption Player

Evan Gattis hasn’t played much on the field this season. He’s been the Astros’ designated hitter pretty much all year, but A.J. Hinch put him in left field for the final game in Boston.

During the sixth inning of yesterday’s game, Gattis tried to field a ball that hit the Green Monster and bounced onto the field. He bobbled the pickup which allowed Hanley Ramirez to score and extend Boston’s lead. A routine play wound up costing the team a run.

Instead of donning a hair shirt for his penance, Gattis came to the plate after Carlos Correa hit a two-run blast in the seventh inning, and promptly hit a solo shot off the top of the Green Monster to tie the ballgame. Houston fans were satiated with this act of redemption.

That’s it for this week. Here’s the links to previous weeks:

Week 1 / Week 2 /Week 3 / Week 4 / Week 5 / Week 6 / Week 7 / Week 8/ Week 9/ Week 10/ Week 11/ Week 12

Next: Astros Are a New & Surprising Team

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