Kuzul

Even with Garrett Richards atop their rotation, the Los Angeles Angels were in trouble. Their lineup wasn’t deep enough, and neither was their starting rotation.

But Richards was not just any other arm. He was the Angels’ unquestionable ace, pitching to a strong 2.34 ERA with 34 strikeouts in just 34.2 innings.

He was 28-16 in the previous two seasons, too, and was considered a 2014 Cy Young candidate before a freak knee injury ended his season that August.

So what chance do the Angels have now, with the news Friday morning that Richards needs Tommy John surgery (first reported by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports)?

“Zero,” said one National League scout who has seen them.

Harsh. But are you going to argue with him?

Good teams come back from serious injuries. The St. Louis Cardinals lost ace Adam Wainwright right about this time last season and went on to win 100 games.

The Angels aren’t the Cardinals, even if both teams wear red and both have employed Albert Pujols. The Cardinals have been finding ways to win for years. The Angels have been making the least of having maybe the best player in baseball in their lineup.

As my Bleacher Report colleague Scott Miller asked in a column last month: “Are the consistently underachieving Angels blowing it by failing to take advantage of the prime of [Mike] Trout?”

Trout has finished first or second in American League Most Valuable Player voting in each of his first four full seasons, an incredible start to a career. The Angels haven’t won a single postseason game in that time (they were swept by the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 Division Series), which is almost as incredible.

You can understand why Joel Sherman of the New York Post would ask new Angels general manager Billy Eppler if he would consider trading Trout to rebuild and restock (as Sherman reported on Twitter on Friday morning). You can also understand why Eppler would “defiantly” say no.

Eppler told Sherman he would win with Trout, which makes perfect sense for a team with the Angels’ resources. Craig Edwards of FanGraphs estimated last month that the Angels were second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in local television revenue, at $118 million this year.

All that money, and the Angels never did get that left field bat they so badly needed over the winter. All that money, and even before the Richards injury their depth chart on MLB.com listed just four starting pitchers.

Now it’s three, led by Jered Weaver. And not the 2011-12 version of Weaver, who won 18 and 20 games and finished second and third in Cy Young balloting. This Weaver has a 5.40 ERA, a 1.624 WHIP and a fastball that averages 81.9 mph, according to FanGraphs.

The Angels are paying C.J. Wilson $20 million this season, but he’s still trying to come back from shoulder trouble and isn’t even throwing off a mound yet. They have Andrew Heaney, but Passan reported he might need Tommy John surgery too.

They had pitching prospects Chris Ellis and Sean Newcomb, who are off to good starts in the minor leagues. But they’re in the minor leagues with the Atlanta Braves, where Eppler traded them to get shortstop Andrelton Simmons.

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reported on Twitter that the Angels will likely call up right-hander Matt Shoemaker and left-hander Nate Smith from Triple-A Salt Lake. Shoemaker won 16 games as a rookie in 2014, but he had a 9.15 ERA in five starts earlier this season.

Smith is one of the team’s top prospects, but even that’s not as good as it sounds. MLB.com says if he maximizes his ceiling, it’s probably as a fourth or fifth starter.

Meanwhile, the Angels are off to a start that should look familiar. Trout has his usual numbers (seven home runs, .996 OPS), while his team is struggling to hang on around .500 (13-15 through Thursday).

They play in an American League West that for now doesn’t include a dominant team. The Seattle Mariners, hot lately, lead the division at 17-11.

But the Angels showed little sign of being able to take advantage, even with Richards.

Without him?

After the NL scout told me they had “zero” chance now, I asked the same question to another scout who works for an American League team. What chance do the Angels have now?

“None,” he texted back.

Harsh. But hard to argue.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney has started just one game this season, and a report Friday suggests his availability for the remainder of the 2016 campaign could be in jeopardy.

Continue for updates.

Report: Heaney Attempting to Avoid Season-Ending Surgery

Friday, May 6

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, multiple sources said Heaney has damage to the UCL in his elbow, which is an injury that could require season-ending Tommy John surgery. Heaney is “rehabbing with hopes of avoiding Tommy John,” per Passan. 

“Opting for conservative care like other pitchers have done,” Angels general manager Billy Eppler said, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

The 24-year-old lefty has been on the disabled list for much of the season with a strained flexor muscle, but Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times reported on April 25 that the team was happy with his progress:

Based on Passan’s report, however, there is a chance the Angels may be forced to carry on without Heaney for the rest of the season.

That possibility is made even worse by the fact Passan also reported Angels ace Garrett Richards is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Heaney is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA on the season after impressing to the tune of a 6-4 mark with a 3.49 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 78 strikeouts in 105.2 innings in 2015.

The Angels acquired Heaney in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014 that sent second baseman Howie Kendrick to the National League.

While the Oklahoma City native was seemingly developing into a reliable, middle-of-the-rotation starter, the Angels are now left searching for answers.

With Heaney, Richards and C.J. Wilson all on the shelf, L.A. must find some starting options in the minors to go along with Jered Weaver, Hector Santiago and Nick Tropeano.

Although the Angels are just four games out of first place in the AL West, they have struggled to the tune of a 13-15 record, and digging out of that hole will be extremely difficult without many quality arms at their disposal.

If Heaney is out for an extended period of time or perhaps even the entire season, Los Angeles’ only hope of keeping pace in the division may be executing a trade for a replacement starter.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Garrett Richards will reportedly undergo Tommy John surgery and is likely out for the season. 

Continue for updates.

Richards Reportedly Tears UCL

Friday, May 6

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported Richards tore his right ulnar collateral ligament and is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery. 

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com added Tommy John is “inevitable” due to the grade of the tear.

Richards Among Angels’ Best Starters 

Richards was one of the Angels’ best starters last year, which is simultaneously an endorsement of the 27-year-old right-hander and an indictment of the team’s starting rotation. According to FanGraphs, the Angels finished 21st in starting pitcher WAR (8.4) and 19th in starter FIP (4.26).

The 2015 season was a bit of a mixed bag for Richards. He failed to capitalize on his breakout 2014 campaign, as his earned run average climbed from 2.61 to 3.65. His 3.3 walks per nine innings were also tied for 12th-highest among qualified starters, per FanGraphs. It’s impossible to ignore his major knee injury in August 2014, though:

There was a good chance he’d bounce back in 2016. Richards didn’t have the benefit of a full offseason to prepare for Opening Day last year, as he was recovering from his injury. That wasn’t a problem this spring.

He pitched 207.1 innings in 2015, and his velocity didn’t register a significant drop—97.1 mph fastball in 2014, 96.1 mph fastball in 2015—following his knee surgery, per Brooks Baseball. Both factors point to his knee surgery playing little role in his performance going forward.

Manager Mike Scioscia has a few different options to replace Richards. Nick Tropeano has starting experience in MLB and would be a good replacement on an interim basis, as would minor leaguer Tyler Skaggs. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Many thought 2015 would be the year the Seattle Mariners finally snapped a postseason drought they’d been mired in since 2001. Those many turned out to be wrong.

But now, it’s looking like they’re only going to be off by one year.

Those who haven’t been keeping an eye on the Northwest may be surprised to hear the American League is having a hard time finding an answer for the Mariners. They went into Thursday’s opener of a four-game series at the Houston Astros on a winning streak and tacked on another with a 6-3 win.

It was a close game until the ninth, when Robinson Cano broke it open with a three-run double. Behold:

The Mariners have now won four games in a row and 12 out of their last 15 overall, running their record to 17-11. That ties them with the Boston Red Sox for the second-best record in the American League and puts them just 1.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the top mark.

“I would say everything is falling in place,” Cano said after Thursday’s win, via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.

The Mariners squad that went into last season as a trendy World Series pick had 11 losses before the end of April and didn’t pick up its 17th win until (appropriately) May 17. Things never really got any better after that for the 2015 Mariners, so it’s understandable if anyone is afraid of getting burned by the 2016 Mariners.

But this is a different team. You can tell just from looking at the names on the roster, which got a dramatic face-lift from new general manager Jerry Dipoto over the winter. You can also tell by looking at what the 2016 Mariners are doing right, which in layman’s terms is “literally everything.”

This isn’t your father’s older brother’s Mariners offense. Scoring didn’t come naturally to them between 2008 and 2015, but now they’re running a .738 OPS (fourth in the AL) and averaging 4.6 runs per game (second in the AL).

And as the Mariners thrive with run production, they’re not skimping on run prevention. They have a 3.04 ERA that ranks second in the AL, and it’s a balanced collaboration between the club’s starting rotation (3.37 ERA) and bullpen (2.33 ERA).

It helps that Mariners pitchers have gotten a boost from their defense. According to Baseball Prospectus, the Mariners ranked 19th in defensive efficiency (simply converting batted balls into outs) last season. This year, they’re among the league’s 10 most efficient defenses.

With the Mariners taking it out on opponents from every which angle, their record might actually underrate them. Perhaps it’s actually their run differential that’s hitting the nail on the head. At plus-32, it’s the best in the American League.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that what holds true in the first month of a season will continue to hold true throughout. But even after the Mariners are run through the smell test, things don’t smell too fishy.

It’s appropriate that Cano is the latest Mariners hero, as that’s a role he’s been playing all year for the club’s offense. With a .918 OPS and nine home runs, he’s easily putting a lost 2015 season behind him. And though the practical explanations for this are complicated, the overarching explanations are simple.

“Physically, Robbie’s in a much better spot this year than he was last year,” Mariners skipper Scott Servais told Jorge L. Ortiz of USA TODAY, in reference to Cano’s 2015 health woes. “He’s moving better. Mentally, he’s in a great spot.”

Cano isn’t doing it alone. There are solid hitters up and down Seattle’s lineup. Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager can keep that up. Seth Smith and Chris Iannetta probably won’t, but Nori Aoki and Adam Lind could balance that out by living up to their track records.

Rather, a more pressing question is whether Seattle’s hitters are actually that good on the other side of the ball. What could allow that to last, however, is if Mariners pitchers continue to make it easy. According to Baseball Savant, they went into Thursday’s action among the league’s best at initiating quiet contact:

Mariners pitchers have been doing this mainly by getting ground balls, as they began Thursday ranked fourth in the AL with a 47.0 ground-ball percentage. Felix Hernandez and Taijuan Walker are already working on ground-ball rates over 50 percent, and the staff’s collective ground-ball rate will only climb higher if Hisashi Iwakuma and Wade Miley start collecting ground balls at their usual rates.

What could interrupt the flow of Seattle’s pitching staff is the injury to reliever Tony Zych. Divish reports that his bum right shoulder is going to keep him out of action for as long as six weeks. That could mean six weeks without the only guy in the Mariners bullpen with plus velocity.

But it could survive just fine. By keeping hard contact at a minimum despite pedestrian velocity, the 2016 Mariners bullpen is succeeding like last year’s Astros bullpen. The latter used an array of different looks to shut down games, and the former bears a resemblance.

“It’s a different look,” Servais said of his bullpen in April, via Adam Lewis of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “It’s just not everybody throws 95-98 miles per hour. Some guys will do it with the breaking ball. Some guys do it changing eye levels up and down the zone. Some righties get lefties out … I like the diversity of our bullpen.”

It all adds up to a pretty convincing formula for winning ballgames, and it’s hard to imagine a more perfect time and place for it to come together.

The Astros were the popular favorite to win the AL West, but they’re just 10-19 out of the gate and, as David Schoenfield of ESPN.com pointed out, are feeling the effects of some questionable front office decisions. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels have plenty of issues of their own.

Snapping postseason droughts has been all the rage in baseball recently. It was the Baltimore Orioles‘ turn in 2012, then the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013, the Kansas City Royals in 2014 and the Toronto Blue Jays last season. Now, it looks like the Mariners’ turn.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Texas Rangers prospect Joey Gallo will reportedly be forced to miss nearly a month with a groin injury.

Continue for updates.   

MRI Reveals Mild Strain

Tuesday, May 3

Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram shared the MRI results on Gallo’s left groin and confirmed he will miss three to four weeks. Stevenson noted Gallo dealt with the same type of injury in 2013, but it was on his right side.

According to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News, Triple-A Round Rock placed Gallo on the seven-day disabled list on Sunday before the full extent of the injury was known.

Gallo did not make the Rangers roster during spring training, but Townsend said the outfielder and third baseman has drilled seven home runs already in the minor leagues this season. His trademark power is why he is such a highly regarded prospect, and it was on full display last year when he played for the Rangers.

Gallo only appeared in 36 games for Texas in 2015 and hit .204, but he connected with six home runs, including one off dominant Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Clayton Kershaw:

Gallo was responsible for an offensive WAR of 0.4 in 2015, per ESPN.com, and has a bright future ahead of him as a 22-year-old slugger.

MLB.com ranked him as the Rangers’ No. 1 prospect coming into the 2016 campaign because of his “off-the-charts raw power” that helped him lead the minor leagues with 40 home runs in 2013 and finish in second in 2014 with 42 long balls.

There has to be some relief within the organization that the strain is only “mild,” but Gallo’s long-term future is critical for the franchise. The Rangers will likely treat the recovery process accordingly and make sure he is fully healthy before he returns to the field.

His overall health is far more important than rushing him back, especially since he hasn’t even appeared at the major league level yet this season.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

No scientific survey is needed to know that every MLB team would love for its prospects to be ready at 20 years old. Just like anyone would rather dine at a restaurant with a Michelin star.

But neither figures to happen with frequency.

That’s why the quick ascension of Texas Rangers rookie outfielder Nomar Mazara has captivated baseball like Scott Disick’s latest fling does Page Six.

Through 18 games, Mazara, now 21, is hitting .324/.380/.441 with two homers and eight RBI. He is third among all rookies in batting average and second in on-base percentage.

Talent has been a driving force, sure. But there are other promising 21-year-olds in the game, the majority of whom haven’t reached MLB. There are others who are still figuring out professional baseball in Double-A.

Maturity has been Mazara‘s biggest asset as he has navigated baseball’s professional ranks over the last four years. At 16, he signed a contract that included a then-record bonus of $5 million. So, in essence, this was supposed to happen. The Rangers expected it.

That comes with pressure, none of which Mazara felt.

“I didn’t put too much pressure on myself,” Mazara said. “I didn’t care about the money. I just wanted to play baseball.

“I was pretty young when I signed, so I had to take it step by step,” he continued. “I had to develop in the minor leagues. I think they did a pretty good job of taking care of me down there—to give me what I needed at times. It didn’t take that long. It only took four years. I respect the way they did it, and I’m here now.”

The question now: Will he stay?

Mazara was supposed to make his MLB debut this season, just not this early. A calf injury to right fielder Shin-Soo Choo necessitated that Mazara be called up April 10.

At the time of the injury, Choo was expected to be out four to six weeks. He was only hitting .188 but had an OBP of .409—his key number. So reason would suggest Choo will reclaim his starting spot once he is healthy.

That will leave Texas debating what to do with Mazara—provided he is still playing at a high level. During his interview with Bleacher Report, Mazara said he would feel comfortable with a move to left field. It would require relegating Ian Desmond to the bench, a move that the Rangers would assuredly make if Mazara‘s play warranted it.

Prince Fielder is the team’s DH and doesn’t figure to be moved from that role, giving Texas few options should the organization elect to keep Mazara at the big league level. With a prospect as young as Mazara, however, the concern is getting him regular plate appearances.

So this much is certain: He won’t remain at the MLB level to sit on the bench.

Essentially, Mazara is going to need to play at a level that forces the Rangers to keep him with the big club. A slump would make sending him back to Triple-A as easy as a network’s decision to cancel a poor-performing drama.

Few in the Rangers organization seem to feel he will fall off, though.

“The separator for Nomar is just, you can call it maturity, or you can call it just a presence,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “He seems very relaxed in his own environment. I don’t think we’ve been fooled by that at all. I think that’s real.”

Jason Wood, manager of the Round Rock Express, the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, echoed that sentiment: “His maturity level for the age that he is at right now is just off the charts.”

What makes Mazara such a prolific hitter is his ability to dictate the strike zone.

That’s not a learned skill, according to Banister, but something that is innate. The Texas manager has seen players of all ages without the rare attribute, though he admitted it’s something that can develop further.

“That’s something that he’s probably had all the way through his baseball career,” Banister said. “That’s not something that just showed up.”

Combine that with a naturally calm demeanor, and Mazara isn’t a player who looks anxious at the plate. It’s why the right fielder is hitting second in the lineup.

It’s a spot in the order that sees a high number of fastballs. Given that most teams have, in theory, their best hitters in the middle of the order, pitchers are careful not to put the No. 2 hitter on base.

But the spot is important enough that any team, especially one with championship aspirations like Texas, wouldn’t hit a player that high in the order if it didn’t think he was capable.

His demeanor—calm, without anxiousness at the plate—makes him an ideal top-of-the-order hitter. Both Banister and Wood indicated they’ve rarely seen him off balance. Wood was complimentary of Mazara‘s discipline in laying off two-strike pitches.

Regardless of what happens when Choo returns, Mazara is certain to help the Rangers in their playoff chase if he plays anywhere close to his current level.

“I want him to get healthy quick because our team needs him—but when he gets healthy, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t make decisions,” Mazara said. “So I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing right now and see what happens.”

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter @SethGruen.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Angels closer Huston Street has not appeared in a game since April 23, and he’s headed to the disabled list with an oblique injury.

Continue for updates.

Angels Fill Street’s Roster Slot

Friday, April 29

The Angels PR team announced Cam Bedrosian has been recalled from Triple-A to fill Street’s spot on the roster.

Street Remains Among Baseball’s Most Consistent Closers 

Fletcher said Joe Smith would assume the closing responsibilities if Street does eventually go on the disabled list, and the team would probably call up Al Alburquerque or Cam Bedrosian from the minor leagues to fill the vacated roster spot.

Street has been impressive in nine appearances this season with a 1.17 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and five saves in five save opportunities. While it is a small sample size, the ERA is more in line with what fans saw of Street the past few seasons than his 3.18 mark for the Angels in 2015:

Street played for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Angels throughout his career and is a two-time All-Star and the 2005 American League Rookie of the Year. His 320 career saves are 18th in baseball history, per Baseball-Reference.com, which is a testament to his longevity and ability to come through with the game on the line for his team in the final inning.

The 32-year-old provides a reliable, veteran presence in the backend of the Angels bullpen and is one reason the team is only a game out of first place in the American League West through the early portion of the season.

The silver lining for Los Angeles is the fact Smith looked comfortable closing Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals. He pitched a scoreless inning and allowed a single hit as he preserved the victory and moved the Angels back to .500 at 11-11.

Smith was used more in a setup role for Los Angeles last season and notched 32 holds, but he proved he was capable of finishing games in 2014 when he tallied 15 saves behind a sparkling 1.81 ERA and 0.80 WHIP. If he posts numbers like that while Street recovers, the Angels will likely still be well within striking distance in the division when the closer returns.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Gomez was forced to exit Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners with a hand injury after getting hit by a pitch. 

Continue for updates.

Gomez Diagnosed with Hand Contusion, Listed as Day-to-Day

Thursday, April 28

According to the Houston Chronicle‘s Jake Kaplan, Gomez’s X-rays came back negative. 

Houston acquired Gomez via trade from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 because he is a two-time All-Star and former Gold Glove Award winner. His combination of power and speed makes him a threat at the plate, on the bases and in center field. The Astros are a better team with that versatility available on a daily basis.

Despite Gomez’s impressive track record, he struggled at the dish for the Astros in 2015, hitting .242 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 41 games, although he drilled two home runs in the postseason. Thus far in 2016, he is batting .197 with no home runs and just two RBI. 

The Astros made the playoffs last season and don’t necessarily need Gomez healthy to compete, especially with Preston Tucker available to occupy center field. However, Gomez’s track record indicates he would add more pop to the order and provide the defense of a former Gold Glove winner, which could prove to be the difference on the road to October.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols moved into sole possession of 13th place on the all-time home runs list during the third inning of Monday’s 6-1 win over the Kansas City Royals, hitting career homer No. 564 to surpass Reggie Jackson (563), per MLB Stat of the Day.

With the Angels already holding a 3-0 lead, Pujols slugged a 1-1 offering from Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy over the center field fence to extend the early advantage to 4-0.

Not yet done for the night, the 36-year-old first baseman hit another solo home run off of Kennedy in the fifth inning, this time going to left field to give his Angels a 5-1 lead on the 565th home run of his career.

The run support proved to be more than enough, as Angels ace Garrett Richards struck out five batters and allowed just one unearned run in 6.2 innings to pick up his first win of a tough-luck season.

Richards owns a 2.35 ERA with 30 punchouts in 30.2 innings, but a lack of run support has left him with an unsightly 1-3 record.

It appears the tides may finally be turning for the Angels lineup, as Pujols now has three homers over the last two games after managing just two through the first 18 contests of the season.

The rest of the lineup may not offer much promise, but the Angels should at least be able to count on Pujols as well as outfielders Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun for consistent production going forward.

Trout has also heated up in a big way of late, tallying 10 hits in 21 at-bats over the last six games, with three home runs and five RBI.

Meanwhile, Pujols needs just five more long balls in order to pass Rafael Palmeiro (569) for 12th place on the all-time list.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Jose Altuve: home run hitter.

Seriously, this is going to be a little tough to get used to, with the emphasis on “little.” Seriously, we’ve all accepted the idea that the Houston Astros second baseman is a big-time hitter, an All-Star, one of the better players in baseball.

But a home run hitter?

“He’s not a home run hitter,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said in a text message over the weekend.

That’s a relief. But the fact is Altuve began play Sunday with five home runs, two more than Giancarlo Stanton, who is a foot taller and a ton more suited to hitting baseballs out of stadiums. The fact is he had more home runs than Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout or a whole bunch of other guys taller than he is—which could mean just about anyone in baseball.

Oh, and the fact is that when you say Altuve hit five home runs in his first 55 at-bats of 2016, you also have to say that it wasn’t a fluke.

Just as we once had to say that Altuve was 5’6″ but could still play, now we’ve got to say he’s 5’6″ but still strong.

“He’s a good hitter who is maturing into an even more complete hitter,” Hinch said.

Part of that maturity is learning how to drive the ball for more power. Altuve had 47 doubles in 2014 and 40 last year. He went from never getting to double digits in home runs to hitting 15 in 2015.

As Eno Sarris pointed out on FanGraphs, Altuve‘s fly-ball ratio has steadily risen, and his exit velocity—the speed the ball comes off his bat—has jumped this year.

He may not be a home run hitter, but he’s a good hitter who shouldn’t surprise you if he hits 20 home runs in a season.

But it does surprise us because he’s 5’6″, or maybe not even that tall. It does surprise us because even though baseball history includes some little guys who hit home runs (Hack Wilson, also listed at 5’6″, hit 56 of them in 1930), they played a long time ago.

The Astros had a guy called the “Toy Cannon.” But Jimmy Wynn was listed at 5’10”, not 5’6″, and he averaged 23.4 home runs per season from 1965-1976.

It’s OK that it surprises us because it surprises Altuve, too.

This past week, he told Angel Verdejo Jr. and Reid Laymance of the Houston Chronicle:

It feels weird. I’m not the player that’s used to hitting a lot of homers. … I have to be surprised, because this is the first time I’ve hit five homers in two weeks. I would like to keep hitting homers, but I’m not going to go out there and try to do it. Because I feel like the moment I start trying to hit the homers, I’m going to stop hitting.

That hasn’t happened so far this season. Altuve is still a .300 hitter. He’s still getting on base and scoring runs.

He’s just a good hitter who is a lot stronger than he looks.

“He’s very strong pound-for-pound,” said one scout who follows the American League and knows Altuve well. “He can drive the ball to right-center field.”

Sure enough, the right-handed-hitting Altuve has already homered to right-center and right field this season. He has turned around mid-90s fastballs and feasted on a hanging slider from Anibal Sanchez.

He’s still the Astros’ leadoff hitter because that’s his job, and he’s good at it. Besides, do you think Hinch is going to bat a 5’6″ guy in the cleanup spot?

“He’s the best 5’5″ home run hitter in baseball!” the AL scout texted.

He’s the only 5’5″ or 5’6,” or whatever, home run hitter in baseball, except that, remember, Jose Altuve is not a home run hitter.

He’s a good hitter who hits home runs; a guy who has hit a few more this month and could well hit a few more this season.

But a home run hitter?

No, Jose Altuve is not a home run hitter. And that’s just fine.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com