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Astros Countdown: Top Five Players to Watch in June
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.
Brad Peacock has been one of the biggest surprises of 2017. The right-hander has a 2.13 ERA with a 0.99 WHIP in 14 appearances. With a .138 batting average against, Peacock is fooling hitters, striking out 38 in 25.1 innings of work.
Starting the year as a reliever, Peacock moved to the starting rotation in May and continued his success. In two starts, Peacock gave up four runs in nine innings of work. A 4.00 ERA may not seem as good as a 1.10 ERA as a reliever, but he was almost as unhittable as a starter like he was in the relief role. He only gave up five hits and walked three in his nine innings of work, amounting to a 0.89 WHIP and a .156 batting average against. The strikeout numbers did not die down either as Peacock struck out 16 batters.
These are fantastic numbers. However, if Peacock is going to stay in the starting rotation long term, he is going to have to last longer in games. In his two starts, he left in the middle of the fifth inning each time with his pitch count in the range of 70-80 pitches. That is a good run for a long reliever, but Astros manager A.J. Hinch is going to expect him to go longer than 4.1 innings per start.
With Charlie Morton on the 10-day disabled list, the Astros are counting on Peacock to pick up where he left off. If Peacock continues to pitch spectacularly with an extended amount of work, he may be there to stay.
After a rough month of April, Tony Sipp proved once again in May why he is still he lefty specialist for the Astros. In nine appearances, Sipp had a 2.79 ERA with a 0.62 WHIP. With a .118 batting average against, he struck out 10 in his 9.2 innings of work.
Sipp was very good in the month of May. However, one problem came back for him. In his 9.2 innings of work, Sipp gave up two home runs. This came after an April where, despite his 5.79 ERA and 2.36 WHIP, he gave up no home runs. Overall though, Sipp seems to be generating ground balls when hitters make contact, with 51.3 percent of all contact coming on the ground, the highest of his career.
Why is June so important for the veteran left-hander? This month determines what the Astros will do before the trade deadline. Many people think that the areas the Astros need depth in are in the starting rotation and in the bullpen, specifically with left-handed pitchers.
What fans should worry about with Sipp is that he is on a very similar track to his 2016 season. After a May in which he had a 1.74 ERA with a 0.87 WHIP, Sipp struggled mightily in June. In 10 appearances, he gave up six earned runs on 11 hits and two walks in 4.1 innings of work amounting to a 12.46 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP.
June was the beginning of the end for Sipp in 2016. It will be interesting to see how the Astros respond depending on how he performs this June.
The main thing for fans to watch out for with Carlos Correa is if he can put up numbers similar to what he did in May. That would be very difficult.
The American League Player of the Month for the month of May, Correa hit seven home runs and drive in 26 RBIs, hitting .386 with a 1.130 OPS. Correa is the first Astros player to win Player of the Month in 2017 and the first since Jose Altuve won the award in June of 2016.
The month of May for Correa should come as a huge sigh of relief for Astros fans. After hitting 20 home runs and driving in 96 RBIs with a .274 batting average and a .811 OPS a season ago, Correa came into the season without a lot of power. With only a .233 batting average, the young shortstop only had six extra base hits with two home runs in 86 at bats. A .349 slugging percentage had a lot of Astros fans worried, especially out of the clean up spot.
Now it seems as though Correa has one thing to worry about. That is the starting job at shortstop for the AL All Star team. He is currently behind Cleveland Indians shortstop, and 2015 AL Rookie of the Year runner up, Francisco Lindor. However, with the numbers Correa is putting up and with more hardware to put to his name, he should have nothing to worry about.
Mike Fiers is a very interesting situation. After underwhelming performances in his first nine starts of the season, Astros manager A.J. Hinch took him out of the starting rotation replacing him with right-hander and very successful long reliever Brad Peacock. However, the day after, No. 3 starter Charlie Morton went on the 10-day disabled list with a right lat strain.
That seemed to be all of the motivation Fiers needed. In his 10th start of the season, he was stellar. On May 30th against the Minnesota Twins, Fiers gave up two earned runs on five hits and three walks, striking out eight in six innings of work.
There was a clear reason why Fiers was so successful in his last outing. It was the only start all season in which he did not give up a home run. This season, he gives up an average of 3.08 long balls per nine innings. To put that into perspective, he averages 3.42 walks per nine innings.
There is no doubt whether or not Fiers has been terrible in 2017. But, if there is any month to turn his season around, it is June because he has done it before. In five starts in June of 2016, Fiers had a 2.86 ERA with a 1.34 WHIP and a .278 batting average against. Those two numbers may not be fantastic, but again, he lives and dies by the home run. In June of 2016, Fiers only gave up three home runs in 28.1 innings.
Next: Houston Astros: Setting June's Magic Number at 14
Fiers is fighting for his baseball life right now. June is the opportunity he has been waiting for. Astros fans will see if he can continue to earn his place in the starting rotation.
***Stats provided by FanGraphs, MLB.com and Baseball Reference***