Houston Astros Set to Hit Many Home Runs in 2015
By Tim Boyle
Aug 26, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Chris Carter (23) hits a home run during the eighth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The 2014 Houston Astros made a lot of great strides as a team and as individuals. They won 70 games, which happened to be 19 more than the previous years total. Plus, second baseman Jose Altuve happened to lead the league with 225 hits, 56 stolen bases, and a .341 batting average.
Aside from Altuve’s success, one thing the Astros did particularly well as a team was hit home runs. The 163 they hit was ranked 4th in baseball only behind the Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, and Toronto Blue Jays.
The large amount of home runs didn’t help them to a great extent, as they were still only ranked 21st in total runs scored. This was mostly due to the .242 (25th) team batting average and .309 (21st) on-base percentage which led to far too many of their home runs leaving the yard as solo shots.
A few changes to the roster along with many of their best home run hitters returning, there’s a good chance that the Astros lead the American League in home runs in 2015. The Orioles lost 40 home runs with the departure of Nelson Cruz and failed to replace effectively replace him. There’s a good chance the Astros can leap over the Orioles and limit the competition to the Blue Jays.
Those Blue Jays will be difficult to overtake in team home runs. The battle, though, has already begun. The Astros stole the 18 home runs outfielder Colby Rasmus hit for the Blue Jays last season by signing him in free agency. The Blue Jays shouldn’t feel too much pain from the loss since they did happen to add Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin to help their already potent offense.
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Also joining the Astros’ locker room this year is Evan Gattis. Now an outfielder almost exclusively after moving away from the catcher position, Gattis should get more at-bats if healthy. Although he has only 43 career home runs in 2 seasons, Gattis had just 382 and 401 plate appearances in those seasons. In a full-time role, we can expect his total to approach and possibly surpass 30 home runs for the season.
Rasmus and Gattis join returning home run hitters Chris Carter, George Springer, and to a lesser extent Jon Singleton.
We can expect the most home runs from Carter, the man who actually finished second to Cruz in 2014 with 37. He may have hit fewer home runs, but Carter had a higher home runs per at-bat at 13.7 compared to Cruz’s 15.3 home runs per at-bat.
As a rookie, Springer only played about half the season in-between getting called up and a season-ending injury. However, his 14.75 home runs per at-bat was still one of the best in baseball. A full season at the rate he was able to achieve them in 2014 and 40 should come relatively easy in 2015.
In Singleton’s case, we have yet to see the best of him. The 13 home runs he hit in 362 plate appearances means a contribution of 20 isn’t unreasonable.
Still not yet ready to contend in the standings, one thing the Astros will give us in 2015 are plenty of souvenir balls. My guess is, it’ll be more than any other team contributes to fans collections.