CTH’s Houston Astros Hitter of the Month in July

Offensively, July was an interesting month for the Houston Astros. While they went .500 with a 12 W- 12 L record, they had one of the best offensive months of the season.

Over those 24 games, the Astros posted a season-best .257/.318/.422 slash line and they had their fewest strikeout totals on the year with 181 (in April they had 210 over 22 games)

There are three reasons for this: including Preston Tucker rebounding after an ugly June, Carlos Correa establishing himself as the best shortstop in the league, and Jose Altuve returning to All-Star form after a rough May and below average June.

Therefore, it is only logical that one of these guys gets CTH’s Hitter of the Month for July. That would be none other than Jose “Gigante” Altuve.

Jose Altuve “gigantic” month looked like this:

24 games, .317/.367/.436, 18 runs, 32 hits, six doubles, two home runs, 16 RBI, six stolen bases, four walks, nine Ks

Gigante led the Astros in batting average, runs scored, hits, doubles, and RBI and stolen bases. Plus Altuve showed his ability in the clutch with a walk-off home run against the Red Sox on July 23. And then there was the really weird five RBI night where Altuve tried to stretch two singles into doubles but was able to distract the Angels infield long enough to get the other base runners to score. Weird, really funny, but oddly impressive with his smarts by turning his mistakes into runs.

Gawd, this guy is fun to watch!

Honorable Mentions

Carlos Correa’s star-spangled month looked like this:

23 games, .306/.378/.541, 13 runs, 26 hits, five doubles, five home runs, 14 RBI,  one stolen base, ten walks, 18 Ks

Pretty darn good for the rookie. Wink, wink… One has to think that Correa is leading the way in the Rookie of the Year race. He’s cool, calm and collected and plays like he’s been in The Show a while. Glad he’s playing for the Astros.

Preston Tucker also deserves an honorable mention. Bamm-Bamm’s bat was also an offensive force:

23 games, .314/.344/.570, 12 runs, 27 hits, four doubles, six home runs, 11 RBI, four walks, 13 Ks.

Houston is incredibly lucky to have such outstanding rookies that are showing up many of the team’s vets. With George Springer out of the lineup, Tucker did his best to pick up the offensive slack. He’s making a very strong case to be the everyday left fielder for the rest of the season.

That’s a wrap on a hot month of July for Astros’ hitters. Hopefully, their bats will keep sizzling in August!

Next: Scouting Carlos Correa: Interview