Sgt. Luhnow's Winning Ball Club Band!
At the very last minute, I decided to rework my blog post title as a paraphrase to the landmark album by The Beatles that turns 50 years old today. Not only is it one of the greatest albums ever in rock n roll, but also among the greatest musical compositions of all time across the genre spectrum. I remember listening to it for the very first time in college while still working at a Borders bookstore, back when those were around. Tells you how long it's been! If you have never heard this album before, I highly recommend and encourage you to do so by any means necessary. Be prepared to go on a sonic journey that you won't soon forget!
My paraphrasing just happens to fit exactly what Jeff Luhnow's ball club has been doing a lot of lately, which is winning! The Houston Astros wrapped up a 3 game sweep of the Minnesota Twins yesterday, and in the process, posted a record high 40 runs across a three game set, which surpasses the previous record of 34. According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the team also went 20-for-40 with runners in scoring position (RISP) throughout the entire series. Every player up and down that lineup card contributed greatly to the win, each getting at least one hit throughout the game. Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweeted about it afterwards:
El Oso Blanco, like the rest of the lineup, had himself a wild Wednesday! Defensively, he got the nod behind the plate and helped lead the pitching staff to strikeout 14 Twins batters. 8 of those came courtesy of called up rookie starter, David Paulino. While he didn't get credit for the win with only going 4 innings, the kid certainly has some promise for the future of this club. With Joe Musgrove and Charlie Morton both being on the disabled list, it is always a good thing when a minor league call up can answer with poise and agility.
But back to the Big White Bear! He allowed his mighty bat to show at the plate again, going 4-for-6 on the day. He had a pair of singles, one of which tallied another RBI, a ground-rule RBI double, and THIS rocket of a line drive down the left field wall to pad the lead for the spacemen even further. By this account, Gattis came just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle for the first time in his storybook career so far. But time will most certainly change that, especially given his newfound patience and contact at the plate.
Going into Wednesday, Evan was slashing a respectable .267/.341/.405/.746. After Wednesday's game, his season offensive slash line went up drastically to an eye-popping .287/.355/.451/.806 in 2017. To calculate, the bear has raised his batting average 20 points, his on-base by 14, his slugging by 46 and his OPS by 60. But that's not all! Just look at some of the advanced stats on him that changed with the one game:
wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus; league average = 100): From 106 to 121
ISO (Isolated Power; league average = 140): From .138 to .164
BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play; league average = .300) From .295 to .310
Additionally, he is still posting a respectable walk ratio of 8.0% and an excellent strikeout ratio of a mere 14.5% heading into the month of June. All the while, being incredibly humble about it to the reporters. Check out what he said to Taggs (Brian McTaggart) post game:
Speaking of the Lone Star rivals, that is the next three game series up for the spacemen this weekend. Living just 15 minutes away from Arlington, I can already sense that this will be a wild west showdown in the making. Hopefully, the five fellas that provided the bombs will be in tomorrow's first game to open up the Silver Boot showdown. Whoever is in the lineup, this team is incredibly special from top to bottom. And yes, that includes the Gatty Daddy Bear!
No critical mass in sight for these spacemen. Rest of the league, BEWARE!!!!
My paraphrasing just happens to fit exactly what Jeff Luhnow's ball club has been doing a lot of lately, which is winning! The Houston Astros wrapped up a 3 game sweep of the Minnesota Twins yesterday, and in the process, posted a record high 40 runs across a three game set, which surpasses the previous record of 34. According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the team also went 20-for-40 with runners in scoring position (RISP) throughout the entire series. Every player up and down that lineup card contributed greatly to the win, each getting at least one hit throughout the game. Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweeted about it afterwards:
You would think that the Minnesota Twins pitching staff, both rotation and bullpen, were masking as Santa Claus, or even Oprah Winfrey. "YOU GET A HIT! YOU GET A HIT! EVERYBODY GETS A HIT!!!!" Ahem, sorry. Back to business, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle also reports that, in yesterday's game alone, they set a single-game season high in home runs with 6. These all came courtesy of George Springer with two of them, Carlos Correa continuing his breakout merry month of May, Alex Bregman, Marwin Gonzalez, and yes, your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis.George Springer on base all 6 times, Evan Gattis had a 4-hit day, Carlos Correa had three hits. #Astros hit 6 home runs pic.twitter.com/dCzoK9u5cR— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) May 31, 2017
El Oso Blanco, like the rest of the lineup, had himself a wild Wednesday! Defensively, he got the nod behind the plate and helped lead the pitching staff to strikeout 14 Twins batters. 8 of those came courtesy of called up rookie starter, David Paulino. While he didn't get credit for the win with only going 4 innings, the kid certainly has some promise for the future of this club. With Joe Musgrove and Charlie Morton both being on the disabled list, it is always a good thing when a minor league call up can answer with poise and agility.
But back to the Big White Bear! He allowed his mighty bat to show at the plate again, going 4-for-6 on the day. He had a pair of singles, one of which tallied another RBI, a ground-rule RBI double, and THIS rocket of a line drive down the left field wall to pad the lead for the spacemen even further. By this account, Gattis came just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle for the first time in his storybook career so far. But time will most certainly change that, especially given his newfound patience and contact at the plate.
Going into Wednesday, Evan was slashing a respectable .267/.341/.405/.746. After Wednesday's game, his season offensive slash line went up drastically to an eye-popping .287/.355/.451/.806 in 2017. To calculate, the bear has raised his batting average 20 points, his on-base by 14, his slugging by 46 and his OPS by 60. But that's not all! Just look at some of the advanced stats on him that changed with the one game:
wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus; league average = 100): From 106 to 121
ISO (Isolated Power; league average = 140): From .138 to .164
BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play; league average = .300) From .295 to .310
Additionally, he is still posting a respectable walk ratio of 8.0% and an excellent strikeout ratio of a mere 14.5% heading into the month of June. All the while, being incredibly humble about it to the reporters. Check out what he said to Taggs (Brian McTaggart) post game:
Always an inspiration to hear the bear talk! This entire team is speaking loud volumes to all of the doubters out there that are trying to squawk nonsense about how "this won't last," or worse, "The Rangers will be right back in this by September." HA! That's incredibly laughable! No other team in the AL West division has what it takes to even make a wild card spot. That certainly isn't going to change any time soon. That's not cockiness, that's reality!Gattis post game pic.twitter.com/VpVxnBqE7n— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 31, 2017
Speaking of the Lone Star rivals, that is the next three game series up for the spacemen this weekend. Living just 15 minutes away from Arlington, I can already sense that this will be a wild west showdown in the making. Hopefully, the five fellas that provided the bombs will be in tomorrow's first game to open up the Silver Boot showdown. Whoever is in the lineup, this team is incredibly special from top to bottom. And yes, that includes the Gatty Daddy Bear!
Original Photo Credit: Jim Mone of The Associated Press
No critical mass in sight for these spacemen. Rest of the league, BEWARE!!!!
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