Astros: 3 struggling batters on the verge of a breakouts

1. Jose Altuve

I had the audacity to claim that Jose Altuve wasn’t struggling just about a week ago, and while I rescind the sentiment that he isn’t struggling, my logic of why he isn’t struggling still remains the same.

The fact is, he is swinging wildly like he hasn’t been since his early days in Houston. He’s going way outside the zone and not seeing the ball well at all. His strikeout percentage is up to 22%, which is just otherworldly for Altuve, who even at his worst, never went above 15%.

But when he makes contact, he’s the same old Jose Altuve. His launch angle, exit velocity, barrel percentage, hard-hit percentage, it’s either where it’s always been or not far off. For guys like Toro and Springer, it’s easy to see the problem and for Altuve it’s the same—he just needs to find his plate disciple again.

Once Altuve finds his plate discipline again, we’ll start to see him get back to where he belongs.