The Pecan Park Eagle

JOSE ALTUVE
#1 AL BA Hitter at .357
April 20, 2016
“The Best of the Best”

Take a look at the 40 current batting average leaders in the 2016 American League season. Jose Altuve (.357 BA, 133 hits) is the leader in hits and  30 points up on David “Big Papi” Ortiz of the Red Sox for the BA leadership and he looks good to date to be well on his way to a second American League Batting title.

At the same time, take a look at the obvious. Altuve is the only member of the Houston Astros to qualify for member ship in the Top 40. You have to go all the way down the list to the player ranked # 48 to find Carlos Correa (.266 BA, 92 hits) as the next Astro – and to # 57 to find George Springer (.257, 98 hits) as the third man:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/league/al/qualified/true

As we feel sure you will also note, the Texas Rangers have 4 of their members among the Top 40 hitters for batting average.

The stretch run needs and possibilities for the Astros in 2016 raise the question, even if it sort of answers itself. – Do you see anyone out there among the best hitters for non-contending teams that would be worth a trade conversation – or are we looking at a list of MLB’s modestly talented best hitters that would still invite a mortgage on the farm as the cost of their acquisition?

The 40 AL Batting Average Leaders

Through the Afternoon Games of Wed., 7/20/16:

Bill McCurdy

Publisher, Editor, Writer

The Pecan Park Eagle

Houston, Texas