Back on May 24, José Altuve took an 0-for-5 at Cleveland, dropping his batting average for the campaign to .306 in the process. That’s obviously not a bad mark by any stretch, but for the two-time defending AL Batting Crown winner, it was well under par. Flash forward almost a month, and Altuve has surged to the top spot on the AL batting-average leaderboard once again by hitting a cool .433 (42-for-97) over his last 25 games.

Altuve put up his first multi-homer game of the year in Tuesday night’s win over the Rays, as he went 3-for-4 while adding a double in his 13th multi-hit performance during the previously mentioned 25-game span. In addition, Altuve has posted a 1.181 OPS with 14 extra-base hits and seven steals since May 24, placing himself firmly back in the early-MVP conversation as the midway point of the season approaches.

 

In Case You Missed It

Odubel Herrera went deep for the fourth straight game during Tuesday’s win over the Cardinals and has now put together five multi-hit efforts in his last seven games. Over that stretch, the Philadelphia center fielder has gone 13-for-31 with five homers and two doubles.

Brandon Belt allowed his batting average to fall below the .300 mark for only a brief moment, as he raised it from .296 to .305 with a 3-for-4 effort in Tuesday’s victory over the Marlins. The Giants first baseman had been just 2-for-14 since returning from a two-week stint on the DL.

Following his weakest outing of the year last Friday versus the Twins, Corey Kluber rebounded with seven scoreless frames in a 12-0 rout of the White Sox on Tuesday to become the first pitcher in the bigs to reach 11 wins this season. Kluber has now worked at least 7.0 innings while allowing two runs or less in eight of his 16 starts on the campaign.

 

Thursday on the Hill

The day’s premier pitching matchup is undoubtedly the earliest on the slate, as James Paxton and Luis Severino will meet on the mound at Yankee Stadium. Severino has struck out at least seven batters in each of his last four starts, working to a 1.61 ERA and 37-to-5 K/BB ratio across 28.0 innings in that span. Paxton is sporting a 3.53 ERA and 11.3 K/9 through 15 starts, but is coming off a poor outing against the Red Sox that saw him surrender six earned runs in just 2.1 innings.

Tyler Skaggs certainly seems to be in the midst of a long-awaited breakout season and has been nothing short of ace-like so far this month. Through three starts in June, the Angels southpaw has allowed only three runs (one earned) while posting a 1.05 WHIP and 22-to-5 K/BB ratio across 20.0 innings. Skaggs will be on the bump at home against the Blue Jays on Thursday night.

 

Streaking

Michael Taylor (WSH) - 11 games - 1.142 OPS, 16-for-35, 1 HR

Eugenio Suárez (CIN) - 10 games - 1.044 OPS, 11-for-37, 4 HR

Mike Trout (LAA) - 8 games - 2.039 OPS, 16-for-23 (11 BB), 4 HR

 

You can follow Nate Miller on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad or hear him every Monday & Thursday hosting the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Podcast along with Colby Conway.