Today will be an abbreviated Astros stats, with a look at two of the Astros top performers for the month of May.
- On the surface, J.D. Martinez is having the second best offensive month of his career. We all remember when he came up in August of 2011 and took the league by storm. Well, that month, he hit .295/.325/.509 for a 127 wRC+. In May of this year he has hit .306/.333/.528, good for a 133 wRC+. Only last April, when he put up an 141 wRC+, was higher. Unfortunately, a closer look at the numbers doesn't look as encouraging. The 4% walk rate he has posted this month is well below his career average, and the 29% k-rate is the highest he has ever posted. His overall numbers were boosted by a .404 BABIP, which is clearly going to go down. This month was nice, but I'm not convinced that he has turned any corners.
- Jason Castro, on the other hand, has now taken over from Altuve as the Astros top offensive weapon. His season numbers stand at .286/.341/.482. He has demonstrated more power than ever before. His 6 HR has matched his career high and his isolated power stands at a very good .196. He has a 1.4 WAR on the season, which ranks as the 6th best for catchers in MLB, and the 3rd best in the AL. You might have heard of the catchers ahead of him: Joe Mauer, Yadier Molina, Buster Posey, Carlos Santana and A.J. Ellis. We've all been assuming Altuve would be the Astros All-Star representative, but Castro is making a strong case.
