Astros AM Breakdown: The Yuli Gurriel Game

When the Astros offense is clicking, there may not be a better team in baseball.

The Astros are 52-27 on the season and the team has won 15 of the past 17 games. Great news if you’re a member or fan of the team. Their AL West lead is now 4.5 games over the second-place Mariners. A lot of baseball is left, but the Astros are in a good spot on June 25th.

If you watched or listened to the Astros on Sunday, June 24th, then you know about Yuli Gurriel‘s monster of a game.

3-for-5, 2 2B, HR (4), 2 R, 4 RBIs

Thanks in part to Gurriel’s offensive explosion, which was capped by a grand slam in the second inning, the Astros came away with another win.

Gurriel, in fact, had the largest Win Probability Added — WPA — of .160 for Houston. The only other player with a larger WPA regardless of the positive and negative range was Royals’ starter Jason Hammel at -.384.

It is quite amazing what one game can do to a player’s numbers. For example, Gurriel had the following statistics before Sunday’s home game.

.300 batting average
.326 on-base percentage
.405 slugging percentage
.105 ISO
103 wRC+

Compared to his 2017 season when he posted a 118 wRC+, Gurriel’s 2018 numbers are a bit down. Of course, we’re familiar with his hamate bone surgery in his left hand that occurred a few months ago. Anytime a surgery involving the hamate bone takes place for a major league hitter, it is not surprising to see the slow start.

Thanks to Sunday’s explosion though, Gurriel’s numbers jumped in a noticeable way.

.306 batting average
.331 on-base percentage
.429 slugging percentage
.123 ISO
111 wRC+

While his batting average and on-base percentage rose slightly, the notable increase occurred to Gurriel’s slugging percentage, isolated power, and wRC+. These increases should be of no surprise since all three of his hits were for extra-bases. But it is still interesting to see how one game can impact a player’s numbers.