NEWSLETTER
Last night, the Houston Astros crushed the Philadelphia Phillies by a final score of 13-4. And the Texas faithful can probably thank Jose Altuve for their 66th win of the season.
Indeed, Altuve (the star of my fantasy baseball team) did exactly what he does best (hit, hit, hit, and hit some more), but to the highest degree and at the highest level. Let’s take a moment to show some love to one of the game’s very best.
Here’s a quick look at his 4-4 performance at the plate (which includes two doubles and a walk). Enjoy:
Altuve is now hitting a ridiculous .365/.431/.574 this season, which is the highest mark of his career in each third of the slash line. And compared to the rest of the league, his batting average trails only Justin Turner (by .004), while his 5.5 fWAR through yesterday leads all of MLB (yup – he’s been even more valuable than Aaron Judge).
Oh, and thanks to a ridiculous (but prolonged) hot streak, his 138 hits are the most in Major League Baseball:
#Astros Jose Altuve batting average:
Last 59 games: .412
Last 48 games: .434
Last 31 games: .469
Last 21 games: .511
Last 15 games: .544— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) July 25, 2017
He’s got a real shot at hitting .500 for the month of July. Think about that.
In any case, this is nothing new. It’s exactly what Altuve does. Take, for example, the stretch from 2014 through last night – nobody even comes close to Altuve on the batting average leaderboards:
Batting Average Leaderboards:
- Jose Altuve: .336
- Michael Brantley: .314
- Daniel Murphy: .311
- Miguel Cabrera: .310
- Justin Turner: .309
He’s the unanointed hit-king of our generation … and my fantasy team thanks him.
