Continuing power surge, Gonzalez swats 8th homer
Marwin Gonzalez came into Wednesday having garnered the second-fewest at-bats among Astros position players. Only fifth outfielder Jake Marisnick, who spent a week on the disabled list with a concussion, had fewer.
Yet Gonzalez leads the club in home runs after hitting No. 8 (one more than outfielder George Springer ) in Wednesday night’s 10-1 victory over the Texas Rangers. He also doubled.
In only 61 at-bats over 23 games, the Astros’ switch-hitting utility man is five short of a career high in homers.
“He’s had power. I think when he gets a good pitch to hit, he’s always had power,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “I think the hunting of pitches and his ability to control his swing a little bit — he’s not as wild outside the zone or even inside the zone, overswinging. I think his maturity is starting to show on both sides of the plate.”
Gonzalez, whose 13 homers last season were a career best, has been much more selective at the plate this season. He came into Wednesday swinging at 40.8 percent of pitches, a drastic reduction from the 48.4 percent he offered at last season, according to Baseball Info Solutions.
Five of Gonzalez’s homers have come since Thursday’s series finale in Cleveland, when he took Indians ace Corey Kluber deep on an 0-2 pitch. He has three more homers than singles on the season.
Among major leaguers with at least 60 plate appearances, Gonzalez’s 46.7 home run-to-fly ball rate entered Wednesday as the second-highest behind the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (54.5 percent).
“I don’t know how to answer that,” Gonzalez said of his recent power surge, adding he’s just swinging with the intention of getting hits. “But if they are homers, they’re welcome, you know?”