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The Astros have been on a tear, but some players haven’t contributed as much as others.
The Houston Astros are currently 89-54, 35 games above .500 with a 2.5 game lead over the Oakland Athletics for the A.L. West lead. With 19 games left, there is still plenty of time to separate themselves in the standings to be able to breathe a little easier. In September, the Astros have outscored their opponents 45-21 during their 8-1 September.
With 19 games remaining in the regular season, the Astros have bouts with the Detroit Tigers (59-84), Arizona Diamondbacks (76-67), and the Seattle Mariners (79-64) to get us through the next nine games. We’re hoping these three players find ample opportunity to turn things around as the team primes themselves for the postseason. Starts from Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs.
Trending Down: Carlos Correa
It’s still taking Carlos some time to find his groove, but that’s ok. With a team this deep and their winning ways returning, the Astros can afford Carlos to slump in hopes he hits his stride when the playoffs come. Since his return on August 10th, Correa has been a .167 hitter going 16 for 94. He’s only driven in 13 runs and scored eight himself.
September hasn’t been kind to Carlos as he is only four for 23 with three RBI. He tallied four hitless games in his last seven. The Astros are winning despite his continued slump, but Correa has three more weeks to find his groove because they will need his services in a run to repeat.
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Trending Down: Josh Reddick
Josh Reddick’s bat has cooled off a bit in the last eight games. After having a good August, Josh is batting .174 this month. With 23 at-bats, Reddick has only four hits. The Right fielder tallied just one run scored and one RBI and struck out four times. As we mentioned with Correa, the team has the luxury to allow the lineup to endure some slumps but this must change when the playoffs start.
Josh will have some good opportunities to provide offense as the schedule eases up a tad including a three-game set against the Tigers where he is a .289 hitter against. We’re hoping Josh can bounce back when the calendar turns to October.
Trending Down: Jake Marisnick
An all too familiar face to the downward trends is Jake Marisnick. He is hitless in September thus far through nine at-bats. His season average dips to .207. Marisnick has been sprinkled in the lineup to bat and for some relief efforts and has only one RBI to show for this month.
We all know Jake is more of a defensive presence on this team than he is a staple in the lineup, so the Astros aren’t too worried. He will need some recovery time from the DL as we anticipate with Correa. I’m hoping some easier matchups provide for Jake to get things rolling so he can find spots to hit in the postseason.