Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
When the Houston Astros first called up Robbie Grossman, it sent all five Astros fans on twitter into a frenzy. Grossman is a fan favorite because he gets on base at a high rate.
Grossman started his first call-up with a bang, but quickly regressed, which led to his demotion. Grossman, who is definitely a patient hitter, took his demotion to triple-A Oklahoma City as a chance to get better. That is exactly what he did too: he became a better ball player.
At least, he has for now. What Grossman has been able to do since his recall certainly calls for a regression, but for the Astros and for Grossman, I hope he can maintain some type of consistency. After all, that is what he was sent down for in the first place.
Grossman has been fantastic since being recalled. He has a much different approach at the plate and because of that, he looks like a completely different hitter. While he still sees a lot of pitches, he isn’t as passive in the strike zone in a 3-2 count. He isn’t afraid to swing the bat when he is ahead in the count, and not to mention he is hitting more line drives and grounders rather than shooting them up into the night sky.
Grossman isn’t a power hitter, but in his first opportunity with the Astros, he continually got under the ball. He isn’t doing that anymore, and has been more successful as a result. If Grossman can sustain this type of play, he could be a very solid major league outfielder.
Lee White is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @Lee_White73, “like” him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.
