It's obviously better if Yuli starts getting hits but I'm starting to revise downward my opinion of his ceiling. He made some hard contact but they were going for singles. He'll have to hit a lot of freaking singles to be an average offensive 1B. His bat speed til looks fine but he really needs to pick up on the changeup better.
I was never very optimistic about Yuli as a 1B. I don't seem him as being a better player than Valbuena was (and I'm not talking about just 2016 Valbuena, but Valbuena as a whole). That is livable from 1B, but not somebody locked into that spot long-term.
The fact that we should be awesome at SS,2B and CF, 3 typical low production positions gives us flexibility for some below average performance at the power positions. If Gurriel ends up being a solid hitter, but below average power for a 1B , I'll be OK with it, at least for this year. Having said that, I have and still want Reed worked in somehow. He has the potential to be a horse at DH/1B. Something I have never felt Gurriel will be. Beltran is old, Reddick is limited. After the big 3 (hopefully 4 with Bregman) there are a lot of question marks this year, and moving forward.
It's funny some of you are so hung up on 1B or 3B not hitting homeruns just because thats what most ppl in that position do.. Yuli and Breg have been lights out defensively (which is not at all what I expected for Yuli) and We have really really strong middle infield hitting and our CF hits HR's off the first pitch of the game like its his job. Man I also really want an amazing .300 hitter with 30 HRs at every position but I'll take what we have and our potential right now every day. Sidenote. Some of you fans are insufferable... We just had our best hitting game (Yuli did a lot of that) and won the game. Yet people still complain about hitting and pitching late in the game. Do that after a loss, I can't handle it after EVERY GAME especially when we won it.
Yea unfortunately that's how it works for first baseman. The best defensive first baseman still generates minimal value because of the sheer lack of opportunities. If the 1B isn't hitting well he basically has no value. We could put Nori Aoki at first (solid avg/OBP) and he'd be a below average first baseman because of lack of power. I'm not hung up on Bregman not hitting for a ton of HR power yet. He's playing out of position and was never supposed to be an archetypal 3B. If he gets his avg up, hits some doubles and steals a few bags I'll be perfectly happy with him. Ignore button or go away?
Bregman's had some issues with his throws, and Yuli doesn't stretch well at 1B. They haven't been amazing defensively, and so far have been terrible on offense this year.
Not throwing rocks or anything, but you can't come to a fan message board and then get mad at fans for venting their frustration. Is it tiresome? It can be. Did we finally get some hits last night? Yes, but to quote Mr. Wolf.."let's not start sucking each other's d**ks just yet, gentlemen". The team hasn't hit well all season, and there will be frustration give the offseason build-up. It's part of being a fan...to have other fans to both celebrate with when things go great and to be mad with when things are bad.
The Rockets forum has 10X more of it than here. Better stay away from it if what you see here bothers you.
I've always been open to moving bregman down in the order ... But why would you do it right after he had a good game ?
