HOUSTON -- When it comes to home vs. road batting splits, Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick breaks from the ranks when in comparison to many of his teammates.
While the Astros haven't hit the ball nearly as well at home this year as they have on the road, Marisnick -- whose jersey will feature the nickname "Big Fudge" during the upcoming Players Weekend -- has gone against that trend. He went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a stolen base and a home run in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Nationals at Minute Maid Park.
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Marisnick is hitting .330 with a .385 on-base percentage and a .680 slugging percentage with 10 homers and 17 RBIs in 100 at-bats at home. On the road, he's hitting .183 with a .280 on-base and .358 slugging with five homers and 17 RBIs in 109 at-bats.
As a team, the Astros are hitting .282 at home and averaging 4.9 runs per game, compared to .292 on the road and 6.4 runs per game.
"I'm having a simplified approach," Marisnick said. "You have the [Crawford Boxes] down the left, and you just trying to stay through the middle of the field and not think about them. A lot of guys come here and think about them, but for me it's staying through the middle and knowing I can miss the ball and it's going to go out in the Boxes. It's something I've got to get going here on the road and take that same approach with me."
Marisnick hit a homer off Nationals starter Edwin Jackson in the fifth inning Wednesday that put the Astros ahead, 2-1, and he singled, stole second and scored in Houston's four-run eighth inning. He's 6-for-14 in four games during the Astros' current homestand, which ends Thursday.
Marisnick's 15th homer of the season was the only barreled ball off Jackson, according to Statcast™. The ball had an exit velocity of 103.4 mph with a 36-degree launch angle and was projected to travel 393 feet. Ten of his homers this year have traveled at least 400 feet.
"Just looking for something over the plate," he said. "[Jackson] was doing a good job of kind of working corner to corner and made some good pitches tonight. He left one up for me, and I was able to put a good swing on it."
The 15 homers for Marisnick surpasses his combined total from the past two seasons (251 games), and he became the seventh Astros player this year to reach at least 15 homers, which ties a franchise record set in 2015. Carlos Beltran (14 homers) and Josh Reddick (12 homers) have chance to join him in the 15-homer club.