Astros Strong

by Houston Chronicle

  Correa cemented his strong American League player of the month candidacy with his seventh home run of May, the most he’s hit in any month of his three-year career. He also set career highs for a month in batting average (.386), on-base percentage (.457), slugging percentage (.673), total bases (68) and RBIs (26), three of which he collected on Wednesday.

  Alex Bregman homered for the third consecutive game and for the fifth time in his last 10 games. Marwin Gonzalez hit his 12th home run of the season, Evan Gattis his fourth.

  Carlos Correa had a huge day at the plate, with three hits, three RBIs and a homer. The Astros routed the Twins, 17-6. (AP Images)

  Springer, who batted from the designated hitter’s spot for the first time this season, reached base in each of his six plate appearances and had a season-high four hits. The multi-homer performance was the fifth of his four-year career and second in 17 days. His first homer of the day, in the fifth inning off Twins starter Hector Santiago, traveled 381 feet to left field.

  His second, to left-center field, trumped it by a long shot.

  Ex-Astro Jason Castro had moments earlier narrowed the score to 6-5 with a two-run homer off Tony Sipp when Springer led off the seventh. Springer then took a strike and a ball before Pressly came at him with a 93 mph fastball up in the zone. The crack of the bat left no doubt.

  “I was in shock,” Correa said. “I’ve never seen a ball hit that hard before live in my life. It was not even really where it landed. It was just the way it sounded and the way it came off the bat. It skyrocketed off the bat. It was really impressive.”

  Only a 480-foot bomb by Jake Lamb of the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 29 at Chase Field outdistanced Springer’s blast this season. Springer’s previous longest this year was 454 feet on April 6 off the Seattle Mariners’ Ariel Miranda at Minute Maid Park.

  “That’s all I’ve got,” Springer said of Wednesday’s blast. “That’s about all I can hit it.”

  The next six batters after Springer in the seventh reached base as the Astros strung together five more runs. Gattis plated one on a ground-rule double. Yuli Gurriel scored two on a bases-loaded single.

  After the Astros scored three more times in the eighth, the Twins had backup catcher Chris Gimenez pitch the ninth rather than waste another arm from their worn-out bullpen. Gonzalez took him deep for two runs, pushing the Astros past the season high of 16 they scored in Monday’s series opener.

  “This offense is a complete offense,” Bregman said. “There’s guys that can beat you in so many different ways. It’s tough to navigate through an offense like this. It’s pretty special to be a part of.”

  The Astros scored an ultra impressive 6.2 runs per game in May and have outscored opponents 62-28 during their winning streak. On Friday night against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, they will have a chance to improve to 23 games over .500 for the first time since the end of their 93-win campaign in 2001.

  The season is just two months old.

  “It’s been special,” Springer said. “The quality at-bat after quality at-bat in a row is something that I haven’t seen before. So hopefully, we can keep this up.”

  George Springer

  4 | Center Fielder

  Top-Notch Power

  As Leadoff Slugger, Springer Flouts Baseball Convention

  By Hunter Atkins • June 6, 2017

  A lineup change on May 24, 2015, would prove later to be an innovation.

  In the Sunday finale of a four-game Astros series at Detroit, George Springer, a second-year outfielder with sunken cheeks to complement a cleanshaven face, led off for the first time. He filled in for Jose Altuve, who usually batted first but had the day off following a 3-for-32 slump.

  Anibal Sanchez began the game with a 91 mph fastball down the middle. Springer unleashed a swing so violent that he could have suffered whiplash. It was an emphatic whiff.

  “I guess it would be safe to say,” Alan Ashby said during the Root Sports broadcast, “George Springer is not your classic leadoff man.”

  He never would be.

  In a game against the Rangers exactly one year later, Springer led off again, but he stayed put this time. He proceeded to bat first in 115 of the next 116 games.

  Another year has passed, and the forgettable lineup change has developed into an unparalleled advantage for the Astros, who have the most wins and runs scored in baseball. No team has benefited more this season from a powerful first batter.

  Springer, huskier and scruffier in his fourth season, had a stretch of seven homers in eight games preceding Monday’s 7-3 win at Kansas City. One of those blasts soared 473 feet.

  Springer catalyzed a sweep of the Rangers with his sixth leadoff home run of the season. He struck again in the fourth with his 16th homer overall and was named the American League’s Player of the Week, having gone 15-for-30 with five homers, a double, 11 runs and nine RBIs.

  “When he kick-starts us like that, there’s an energy boost in our dugout,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Springer’s penchant for leadoff homers.

  Through Sunday, Springer ranked second in the AL in runs (43) and tied for eighth in RBIs (37). Those numbers rival Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (44 runs and 41 RBIs). But Judge is a 6-7 cleanup monster - not a leadoff man.

  “Stereotypes don’t get very far with me,” Hinch said.

  George Springer flexed his huge power in 2017, crushing a career-high 34 homers. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle)

  The choice to begin the lineup with, effectively, a cleanup hitter became trendy last season. The World Series featured the Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber and Indians’ Carlos Santana batting leadoff as designated hitters. The Orioles bumped up center fielder Adam Jones, and the Blue Jays tried slumping right fielder Jose Bautista at the top.

  These men are built like nightclub bouncers, not base stealers. They get paid millions to cross home plate, not reach first base.

  “Now the game is a lot different,” said Altuve, whom Hinch installed in the No. 3 spot last year around the same time as Springer at leadoff. “It’s about OPS.”

  OPS, the sum of on-base and slugging percentages, conveys the ability to get on base and hit for power. An OPS surpassing .800 is similarly admirable to batting above .300.

  Springer’s OPS was .895 entering Monday. Tampa Bay DH Corey Dickerson emerged this year as a new leadoff threat. His 76 hits led the AL and .979 OPS ranked fifth.

  Springer has outperformed and outlasted his leadoff peers from 2016. After batting .190 when batting first this season, Schwarber was dropped to ninth. Santana hit .227 in 35 games leading off. Jones and Bautista no longer bat at the top.

  When aligning hitters, Hinch imagines how they will perform in tandem.

  “I do see some strengths in Springer when the lineup rolls around, which is not something you think of as a leadoff hitter,” Hinch said.

  It is easier to enjoy when Marwin Gonzalez bats seventh and posts a 1.034 OPS, eighth best in the AL through Sunday.

  “The guys in the back of our lineup are the best in the entire league,” shortstop Carlos Correa said.

  Conventions that lasted a century reflected the scarcity of run-producing players. A first-inning run was treated as if it might be the last.

  Not anymore. Leadoff hitters accounted for 10.3 percent of all home runs and drove in 9.6 percent of runs in 2016, both the highest such marks since 1920, according to Zack Kram of TheRinger.com.

  Springer watches his third-inning home run during Game 2 of the ALDS against the Red Sox. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)

  “A 4-3 or a 5-4 game has replaced the 1-0 game,” Springer said. “More teams are built to score every inning.

  “I’m only going to bat first one time,” he reasoned. “It’s not necessarily a dying art, the art of the stolen base, but (opposing) teams would rather have you steal second than hit a three-run homer.�
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  No need to ask the Rangers their preference. In Friday’s 7-1 win for the Astros, Springer threw a tantrum after striking out in the sixth. He slammed his bat into the dirt and spiked his helmet. When bottom-of-the-order hitters Yuli Gurriel and Jake Marisnick got on base two innings later, Springer redeemed himself with a 444-foot home run to center.

  The Astros’ prolific run production has masked the rarity of multi-run homers for Springer: 11 of his 16 home runs have come without anyone on base.

  The loss of potential run-scoring opportunities has not mattered for the best offense in the AL, but the theory that Springer would drive in more runs if he had more runners on base is closer to a guarantee. Altuve and Correa have batted with runners on base roughly 45 percent of the time, whereas Springer has done so 34 percent of the time and hit .333.

  Springer had not led off regularly in youth ball, college or the minors. Now he is thriving as the first line of attack for the most potent arsenal of bats in the AL – even if he could be the biggest weapon behind hitters like Altuve and Correa.

  His solo homers on Sunday did not move Hinch to consider moving Springer into the heart of the lineup.

  “No,” Hinch said. “No chance.”

  Canada High

  Astros Close First Half With Franchise-Record Rout, Pounding Blue Jays 19-1

  By Hunter Atkins • July 10, 2017

  It can happen quickly when playing against the Astros. A team looks comfortable. Its pitcher is in rhythm. It has two outs.

  Then in a hurry, the Astros’ lineup interrupts a sunny afternoon with heavy rainfall.

  On Sunday, the Astros stormed the Blue Jays with a two-out, five-run blitz in the top of the second inning.

  The Jays had, in theory, eight more chances to climb back. But the Astros surged for 14 more runs to overwhelm Toronto 19-1, putting an emphatic final stamp on a monumental first half of the season.

  The Astros’ 18-run margin of victory set a franchise record, surpassing the 17-run difference in an 18-1 win over the Cardinals on Sept. 20, 2007.

  “That was incredible,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We never stopped.”

  The 18 runs were a season high for the majors’ most potent offense, topping the 17 the Astros mounted against the Twins on May 30.

  Amid a flood of 17 hits, Carlos Correa went 4-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs. Jose Altuve, after a day off Saturday, had three hits for the fifth consecutive game, raising his major league-best batting average to .347. He scored three times and drove in three runs.

  The Astros head into the All-Star break with 60 wins (against 29 losses), making them one of five teams to do so in the last 40 years (including this season’s Dodgers, who are 61-29, and the 2003 Braves, 2001 Mariners and 1998 Yankees). Their run differential of 180 leads the American League by a whopping margin, with the Yankees second at 96.

  The offensive outpouring could have compensated for poor pitching, but Brad Peacock (7-1) pushed through six innings as if he could have blown the lead on one bad offering. He struggled throwing low strikes on the outer edge and lost a feel for his curveball, but he undid his own jams in the fourth and sixth innings by inducing popups.

  Jose Altuve watches the flight of his two-run home run off Blue Jays starting pitcher J.A. Happ during a dominant 19-1 win. (AP Images)

  “Unreal,” he said of his poor command. “I can’t explain it. Sometimes it just happens. I lost it.”

  Despite giving up five walks and facing 27 batters, Peacock kept the Blue Jays off the board to underscore the lopsided game.

  “This is a tough lineup, and he shut them down,” Correa said. “He had a comfortable lead, and usually pitchers start getting sloppy and throwing pitches in the middle. He stayed composed.”

  The Astros have averaged 8.33 runs per game in Peacock’s nine starts.

  Yulieski Gurriel struck first in the second with his 11th home run. He lined the ball at such a low trajectory that he busted out of the box thinking it would not clear the wall.

  The other blasts were not in question.

  With two outs, Alex Bregman scored from second and George Springer reached first base on a smash that third baseman Josh Donaldson fielded well before overthrowing first base for a detrimental error.

  Altuve followed with his 13th home run. He connected on a first-pitch changeup off J.A. Happ (3-6) and stepped out of the box slowly to admire the ball’s flight to right field.

  Correa put the Astros ahead 5-0 with his 19th home run. He adjusted to a low slider by bending his knee more than usual to square it up for a no-doubter. The ball catapulted off his bat at 107 mph and a 24-degree angle. Left fielder Steve Pearce did not take a step. He craned his neck to watch the ball hammer against the façade of the second deck.

  “Nobody in the league is a better offensive team than we are,” said Gurriel, who was used to being the best player on most of his past teams in Cuba. “To have three or four superstars, it takes a lot of pressure off me.”

  In the fourth, Correa drove in Bregman for a 6-0 lead, slashing a ground ball the other way. Second baseman Ryan Goins smothered it with a dive but did not have a shot to get a sprinting Correa at first.

  Happ, who pitched four innings, was charged with only two earned runs because of Donaldson’s error.

  With the Rogers Centre roof peeled back, outfielders had to fight the sun in the third inning. By the sixth, an overcast sky darkened the field, and the Astros went ahead 9-0.

  Springer and Altuve singled before Evan Gattis hit his eighth home run, besting Correa with his powerful rip. Not many home runs in the majors have cleared the wall in less than 4 seconds. Gattis turned on a high-and-inside fastball that went 403 feet in 3.9 seconds at 109 mph.

  Carlos Correa celebrates hitting a three-run home run during the seventh inning of the Astros first-half finale. Correa launched 20 homers prior to the All-Star break. (AP Images)

  The Astros had lost on Thursday and Saturday. Hinch initially wanted to give Springer Sunday off, but the threat of the Astros losing their second road series of the year motivated the manager to start his best hitters the day before the All-Star break.

  Hinch got to reprieve Springer when the Astros batted around in the seventh inning.

  Jake Marisnick, Nori Aoki – substituted in for Springer – and Altuve drove in three runs on three hits to push the score to 12-0.

  Correa, who hiked his batting average to .325, made it 15-0 with his 20th homer, a three-run shot that traveled 411 feet to center field.

  It was the eighth time this season the Astros scored six runs in an inning. They hushed the crowd during their onslaught. Gattis inspired brief cheers when he grounded to short for the first out.

  Marwin Gonzalez was left out of the action – until the ninth. After Gattis hit an RBI double, Gonzalez singled, and Correa scored on an errant throw from short. Gonzalez came around to score on a wild pitch for the Astros’ final run.

  For the second time in three days, Francis Martes came in to pitch the ninth inning and surrendered a home run.

  The Blue Jays fans erupted with pent-up excitement when Ezequiel Carrera went deep. Their reaction was a touch exaggerated but appropriate given the absurd production they’d stuck around to watch.

  Carlos Correa

  1 | Shortstop

  He Stands Tall at Short

  Correa Arrives at First All-Star Game as One of Baseball’s Premier Players

  By Jake Kaplan • July 11, 2017

  On the bus ride from the players’ downtown hotel to Marlins Park, Carlos Correa found himself surrounded by familiar company. George Springer sat to his side, Chris Devenski across the aisle. Jose Altuve, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. were all nearby.

  “I just felt like I was on the bus with the boys,” Correa said. “I felt pretty comfortable.”

  Comfortable is also how the As
tros star seemed when encircled by microphones and television cameras for roughly 45 minutes later in the afternoon. Although he’s just 22 years old, the starting shortstop for the American League in the All-Star Game has been in the spotlight since the Astros drafted him first overall in 2012.

  Long ago anointed as a potential perennial All-Star, Correa is making merely the first of what figure to be many appearances at the Midsummer Classic.

  “It’s something you want to do every year,” Correa said. “You don’t want to have a four-day vacation during the break. You want to be able to be part of this special team here. It takes a lot of hard work, and it takes a lot of hits to be able to get here. Hopefully, I can keep doing it.”

  Correa, who will bat fifth for the AL, arrived at his first All-Star Game as one of the best players in baseball this season. While playing a premier defensive position, he ranks seventh in the majors in OPS (.979) and is tied for sixth in batting average (.325).

  He closed the first half with four hits, two homers and a career-high five RBIs in the Astros’ 19-1 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays. His 20 homers for the season give him six more than Francisco Lindor, the shortstop with the next most.

  Correa, who already has matched his 2016 home run total, is one of only two shortstops in major league history to record three 20-homer seasons through his age-22 campaign. Alex Rodriguez is the other. His potential seems to have no limits. He’s one of three MVP candidates representing the AL-leading Astros in Miami, along with fellow All-Star starters Altuve and Springer.

  “It’s honestly like he’s matured 15 years in three years,” Springer said of Correa’s development as a player since the shortstop’s June 2015 debut. “I don’t really know how to describe it. He’s an animal. He can hit for power. He can hit for average. He can hit the ball wherever he wants.”