I think the perception of him is also shaped by Correa. He may eventually scale that mountain and become a beast - but he's looking more and more like a high OB% guy with a dash of pop who's good with the glove - extremely valuable but too many fans are going to see him as "not as good as Correa."
http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/34886/alex-bregman After a pretty dismal June (.215 BA/.682 OPS), he is having a very good July (.333BA/.939 OPS). Even better, he has more BB (9) than SO (8) this month.
In the month of July, of the 12 Astros who have played at least 10 games, 8 of them have an OPS over 1.000 (Reddick, Jake, McCann & Beltran are slacking). The team OPS for July is .999
Anti-Stat Post: Clubhouse Chemistry, courtesy of David Ross, Astros edition (Pence and Fowler get love too) Carlos Beltran I wish I would have had the opportunity to play with Carlos Beltran. I always respected the way he played, and I hated when we were playing against him and he came up to bat in a big situation. But I’ve also heard stories about him taking the younger guys under his wing — especially the Latino players. I don’t know Beltran personally, but from talking to Brian McCann and others who have played with him, he appears to be just one of the best guys to be around. You know how sometimes you hear a guy described as a “student of the game?” Well, Beltran is a teacher of the game. He’s a veteran the young guys always know they can approach to talk about hitting — strategy, what a good at bat looks like, finding an edge against an opposing pitcher … anything. I think he’s the perfect fit for this young, talented Astros team. When you get a winning player with his experience willing to share his time and knowledge with a core of young, talented players, that can only be a positive, and I think it will take the Astros a long way this season. I also think he’ll leave a mark on those young guys that will last long after he’s left the game. Brian McCann To to be a glue guy, you have to be a good person first. There’s no way around it. And Brian McCann is genuinely one of the best human beings I’ve ever met. After I left the Red Sox in 2008, I signed with the Braves to back up McCann, and I could see right away how he carried himself and the way he lifted everybody up around him. Whether he was dealing with the pitching staff or talking with me about game-calling, he would always put a positive spin on the conversation when you least expected it. He could do that because he paid attention. That’s the biggest key to being unselfish: You have to be aware of what’s happening with everybody around you — how they perform and how to get the most out of them. It seemed like Brian was always there to tell me, “Hey man, great swing,” or, “Bro, you’re one of the best at the exchange. I’ve never seen a guy as quick as you.” And it always seemed to come right when I needed to hear it most. It’s kind of a sixth sense, knowing what a guy needs to hear and when, and Brian had it. When he had the day off and I was catching, he was the first one to high-five me at the top of the steps when I came off the field. Every time. You’d think the guy would take his day off and just hang back. But no … he was there, watching my at bats, noticing when I threw guys out and how I called the game. He was always there to lift me up. All the guys on this list are the kinds of guys you want and need to have in a clubhouse. But out of everybody I’ve ever seen or played with, I don’t think anybody has ever had as big an impact on the kind of teammate and person I became as Brian McCann. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/david-ross-mlb-elite-glue-guys-101/
Fun fact: If they were to beat the Mariners record, the Astros would hold the team HR records for both the NL (249 in 2000) and AL
Fun fact: Altuve is almost hitting identical to his 2016 numbers before he fell apart and lost his lead over Trout. At his peak he was hitting .366/.429/.581/1.009 after 123 games. I remember him being very good, but this kinda surprised me.
Bullpen ERA by month: (usage-Innings pitched)(war) April: 2.91 (80.1)(1.6) May: 3.88 (97.1)(1.7) June: 5.14 (103.1)(1.8) July: 5.79 (79.1)(-0.2) Pretty alarming trend. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.a...d=0&team=21,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0
Starter ERA by Month: (usage-Innings pitched)(war) April: 3.63 (148.2)(1.7) May: 3.42 (163)(2.7) June: 4.52 (137.1)(3.0) July: 4.48 (122.2)(2.5)
I don't really care about team wide trend as Astros pitched a lot of guys that suck so guys that will be on playoff roster aren't pitching. That said, Harris and Devenski (and to a lesser extent Feliz) have me more worried about the pen than JJ, Guduan giving up runs. Devenski, Giles, Harris, Peacock, and Morton likely handle most of relief innings in playoffs provided Morton not needed in rotation. Astros probably want to add one guy in pen for playoffs.
Fair points. But in July, overall RP innings went down to April levels yet, the ERA continues upward. And while we protected IP's for guys like Devenski, Giles, Harris, Peacock, and overloaded others, those others for the most part were doing pretty well early in the season. I understand why we did what we did. Out of necessity surely. But I have to wonder if some of those guys who got overworked would still be viable now had we not overloaded them. August will be telling. We got our starting rotation back. The SP/RP innings should adjust to normality. Hopefully we see ERA's adjust to normality as well.