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Astros Countdown: Top Five Players to Watch in June
By Colin Gay
To say that the Houston Astros had a stellar month of May would be an understatement.
The Astros won 22 of their total 29 games played. Lance McCullers Jr. was the American League Pitcher of the Month in May with 37 strikeouts and a 0.99 ERA in six starts. Offensively, Marwin Gonzalez shined, hitting seven home runs and driving in 22 RBIs with a .382 batting average and 1.198 OPS.
As the first place Astros head into the month of June, there are areas of this team that fans need to watch out for. Here are the top five players to watch for the month of June.
In the month of April, catcher Brian McCann looked like he did when he was in an Atlanta Braves uniform. He hit .274 with three home runs and 13 RBIs, scoring himself 10 times. The major surprise was how often that the 33-year-old veteran got on base, walking 11 times compared to 10 strikeouts with a .375 on-base percentage.
Unlike the rest of the offense, McCann had a bit of a downfall in the month of May. Even though he closely matched his home run and RBI total with three and 12 respectively, his batting average took a serious hit, finishing May with a .204 batting average. On top of that, the amount of runs McCann scored decreased to only four.
However, the one commonality of these two months was his patience at the plate. For the second straight month, McCann walked more than he struck out, with eight strikeouts compared to 10 walks. With the decreased batting average, his OBP took a bit of a hit, but was still at an impressive .339. McCann is now on pace to have his highest OBP since 2010 and his highest OPS since 2013.
If his 2017 season is anything like his 2016 season with the New York Yankees, he could be in for a powerful month of June. Even though his batting average stayed relatively low, at .231, he had a season high five home runs in June with a .492 slugging percentage and a .843 OPS.
If his career provides any indication, it seems as though McCann may hit his way to some more All Star votes to get out of third place before the month of June is over.