Thomas Campbell – USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Astros aren’t in a playoff race or anything, so to call any setback “detrimental” may seem silly. That being said, they are still playing for pride. They’re playing with this brand new crop of talent that will be the future of the team, and any time one of those guys goes down with an injury, it’s a big deal.
Robbie Grossman grimaced following a swing in the 12th inning of Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins and was pulled from the game.
Here is what Grossman has done for the Astros since his most recent call up. He’s hit .322 out of the lead-off spot with four home runs and 21 RBIs. Prior to Grossman, the Astros had been hitting under .250 from the leadoff spot, with just one home run and 17 RBIs.
Clearly, Grossman was the guy for the job.
Following an unimpressive first call up where he was tossed into the roll of starting center fielder, Grossman was again sent down to Triple-A and sunk deeper into his slump before his late-July call up.
From that moment, there would be no questioning his value as an MLB-level hitter.
Starting out in the ninth spot as a bench player, Grossman quickly established that he had no intent of being sent back down, and launched into one of the most impressive offensive streaks of the season. During his best streak, Grossman was hitting upwards of .450 in a 10-game span.
Hopefully the strained oblique won’t keep Grossman out for long. It’s a rarity for the Astros to have such a threat batting lead-off.
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