With Correa out till Tuesday, yeah. After Alvarez PH for Toro, I questioned (and posted) whether or not Tucker was going to have to play 1B.... because the only other guy’s who could play 3B were Yuli and Bregman. Of course, I didn’t realize Mayfield was up. I guess they could have also put Straw at SS... but given that Straw can also play LF, if Mayfield wasn’t up it would come down to if Tucker’s a worse 1B than Straw is a worse SS. In the end, Mayfield is here... so Hinch can PH for Toro or Diaz all he wants.
They don’t have the same swing but Tucker has a very similar body type to Cody Bellinger. Both 6 4” but Tucker is at 190 and Cody is about 205 and you can tell Tucker is a little slight still. I only mention it because as far as body type that is who Tucker reminds me of which hopefully he can have the same output in the future
I think the key for Tucker to hit for average is to maintain an up the middle approach that we saw today. If he gets a pitch he can handle that's when he needs to turn on it, but a lot of his struggles last year were from rolling over and trying to pull everything and then getting an easy ground ball
Pretty cool for Zack notching W's over all 30 teams. Broadcast should've given more insight on this feat historically.
I’ve never seen any other rookie’s debut get hyper-criticized as much as Tucker’s. In the end, there’s no guarantee that he’s an everyday big leaguer, let alone an all-star/MVP candidate... but given that he’s hit at every level, and he’s still incredibly young, you gotta give him a chance to figure it out. So far, yes... his results in the last week are much better... but he’s still essentially the same player, just now with some experience. Then you have phenoms like Alvarez... no explanations
Well, it was the Instagram clip that was posted above, but Instagram videos are garbage, so let's just go straight to the source.
I think their graphics person must have been out or drunk tonight. They came back from one break with news from around the league, and it had the "Orioles and Tigers: 111 combined losses". Blum read it in a slow "what the hell are they talking about" voice. "That seems a little low," he quizzically said. Turns out, the Orioles and Tigers were a combined 111 games below .500. Just a little different.
As you said, he has a little more experience under his belt. Last year maybe he was pressing a little too much and being too aggressive and trying to make something happen, hence the weak grounders. Today he took what he was given. Notice the ground out to air out ratio last year was 1.15:1 this year it's .86:1. Just needs to stay within himself and trust his hands and ability. He'll be fine
I just wanted to point out that Blum knows his golf. 19 degrees is indeed about the expected loft angle of a 2-iron shot. I bet most pros couldn't keep a 2-iron as straight as Yordan kept that HR. I need to go to bed, but I keep watching this one more time. Look at the pure, intentional force with which he impacts that ball at the 0:37 mark. That's art.
Imagine Yordan Alvarez hitting Instead of a Big Baseball, but destroying a golf ball. His swing looks like a professional Golfer.
Sure, players make adjustments on a game to game basis... and sometimes on an AB to AB basis. Comparing ratios and stats to last year... or drawing any sort of conclusion based on last year, is entirely my point. It remains the most hyper-criticized debut in Astros history. I'm just never going to delve too much into a players tactics during his debut... there's just too much of an exponential adjustment to be made on all fronts (different travel, different stadiums with a 3rd deck, different food, different workout facilities/regimens, showering with fully grown men, etc.).... and that's all before the most important change, facing guys who are not just a little better than AA/AAA, but as said before exponentially better. Saying Tucker's change this year is some total philosophical and tactical overhaul of the game he's been playing his whole life is a little bit of a stretch (granted, that's not really what's being said, but you get the point). He didn't get called up and pull a Costanza saying "now, I'm going to do the exact opposite of what didn't work last year!". Yes, he's more comfortable... its not all "new". Yes, he's making more of an effort to go with the pitch... things he may have been doing at some points his whole career when he was trying to get going (I remember Bagwell specifically forcing himself to do that when he started slumping). In the end, if the greatest player of this generation (Trout) can struggle mightily during his first callup... anybody can/will struggle... minus Yordan.
The sound it makes when he makes good contact... along with that follow-through... at this point (which is extremely early as he's not even been here for a full season), that's going to be a HR until proven otherwise. Haven't been that many players in the history of the game (including the steroid era) where that was true.
When I see BAG ( Bregman, Alvarez, and Gurriel) on the lineup card, odds are it is going to be a good day.
