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Houston Astros’ bats are the most potent in the League

By Brian Murray

MONTERREY, MEXICO - MAY 05: Michael Brantley, #23 of the Houston Astros, celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run and producing two runs on the ninth inning of the Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim match as part of the Mexico Series at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey on May 05, 2019 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. (Photo by Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images)
MONTERREY, MEXICO - MAY 05: Michael Brantley, #23 of the Houston Astros, celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run and producing two runs on the ninth inning of the Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim match as part of the Mexico Series at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey on May 05, 2019 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. (Photo by Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images) /
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The Astros’ offense ranks right up there at the top and if you dig in deep and compare their statistics within the league, the proof is in the pudding.

We’re 35 games into this long season and the Astros are three games up on the other teams in their division. It’s been a season of streaks, slumps, and ups and downs. But when looking at the big picture, this team’s offense has been one of the best in the league and is it’s best asset up to this point.

Looking at the obvious types of offensive statistics that the average fans go to first, the Astros are at or near the top. They have the best batting average by a pretty good margin, coming in at .275. The next team below them is the St. Louis Cardinals with a .265 BA.

The Astros are second in the League in both OBP (.348) and SLG (.489). The Cubs have them beat in OBP (.354) and the Twins just edge Houston out in SLG (.391). Since the Astros are second in both categories, they lead the league in the combined stat OPS, at .837. The next closest team is Chicago with a .818.

There are plenty of different types of statistics to look at and they seem to come up with new ones every year. Some of them use quite complex formulas, combine certain stats, and even take into account the stadiums where teams play.

I’m the old-school type of fan that keeps track of the more traditional stats, but I’m reluctantly changing and broadening my view. For the more advanced new-age fan, yes, the Astros lead in many of those categories also. They have a league-leading 125 OPS+, tops in Runs Created per Game (RC/G) at 5.9, and first in Adjusted Batting Runs (BtRuns) and Adjusted Batting Wins (BtWins) with a 43.9 and 4.1 respectively.

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I could go on and on with statistical examples, but as you can see the Astros lead the league or are in the top tier in most categories. There is still a lot of season left to play, but their strength of schedule to date has been one of the toughest. If the bats continue at this pace it’s going to be a fun team to watch deep into the postseason.

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