Grossman impressing in second Majors stint

MINNEAPOLIS -- It's been a different Robbie Grossman in his second stint in the Majors.

Grossman was first with the Astros from April 24-May 27, and he hit .198 in 111 at-bats while primarily batting leadoff. He returned from Triple-A Oklahoma City on July 27, and entered Friday hitting .583 with two doubles and a homer since coming back up.

"It's definitely noticeable," Astros manager Bo Porter said about Grossman's improved play at the plate. "I said this before, even before Robbie was sent back to Oklahoma City, he had a good stretch where barreled the baseball, hit the ball hard."

The Astros sent Grossman to the Minors with instructions to not hit the ball in the air as much, which would encourage him to use his speed. It probably doesn't hurt that the outfielder is hitting ninth since his return.

"You look now, he's hitting line drives hard, hard ground balls," Porter said. "The one ball he hit in the air, he hit it out of the ballpark. It's definitely something he went to Oklahoma City to work on. He took to the plan. He worked on it, and he's definitely coming back here a lot more confident player, and it's showing with results."