Would you then put Altuve there? I don't see it happening but it's reasonable. It fixes THAT. But this team still needs more than 4 hitters producing regularly to win a WS. Maldy has been better at least. Jake is unproven but could fix CF. The problem is 3B and 1B. Both are proven established above average run producers. Therefore it's very hard for the team to pull the plug on them. If Pena or the CF ( with Meyers playing) platoon was hitting that badly, I think the team would have urgency to bring in a replacement even if it's a rental and "reset andvtry again next year" at those positions.
You don't bat someone hitting .214 in the 1 spot. He is not a threat to run. His walks is not enough to make up for his lack of hitting and speed.
While I agree his hitting and walks around enough to get an OBP where you would want it for the leadoff spot, it ain't like Altuve is a threat to run either. He has 3 stolen bases this season. He had 5 last season.
This team simply does notcdteal bases at the top of the lineup. If Altuve, Brantley, and/or Bregman get on it makes zero sense to potentially take the bat out of Alvarez and/or Tucker's hands. The middle and bottom of the order are different which is why I like Tucker, Pena, and Siri running. I would be fine switching Bregman and Altuve. Getting on base - regardless of how- is a leadoff man's job. And taking pitches to a lesser extent. Altuve is getting on 1 1/2 percent more often (.346 to .331) but Bregman historically has been much better. The switch could help Akex change perspective or thought process. He sounds like he thinks a lot maybe too much. He also takes way more pitches. Altuve is a much better run producer behind Bregman and Brantley. Not perfect but I like that lineup much better.
Bregmans .341 on base percentage is not significantly different than Altuve's .354 Altuve's .521 slugging IS significantly different than Alex .363 Switching them in the lineup actually DOES make a lot of sense The other players on our roster who get on base at a higher rate than Alex are Tucker, Yordan, Brantley and Pena...that's it The roster needs upgrading, but until Click does something, Alex is clearly one of our top 5 offensive players currently on the roster
The only criteria for lead off should be OBP. It doesn't matter HOW you reach base, just that you do. BA is a generally useless piece of information left over from an earlier era.
Walks are just as good as singles until there are runners in scoring position. Thats when singles are better than walks.
Hypothetically, homer rate will be the same for someone no matter where in the lineup... kinda helps if there is someone on base ahead of him. Hence, move Altuve to 2 or 3.
I too like the idea of switching Bregman and Altuve in the lineup. Maybe not as a long-term solution, but for something more short-term to give the offense a jolt? Absolutely. Long term, Bregman needs to get his sh*t together and figure it out, regardless of where he bats in the lineup.
What an amazing series that was. I took my family to one of the 3 games in Arlington. Guess which one I went to.... What makes it worse is that when I checked last week, Verlander was supposed to pitch. Instead he pitched the day before in Houston. That place looks so much like MMP and it was 75% Astro fans. It seriously felt like we were at a home game. We got club level seats and half price food and drinks, since my niece works for the rangers. Even got a couple of game balls for my kids. Believe it or not, ranger fans were all pretty nice, even after the 8th inning meltdown. Totally different vibe than a cowboy game.
After rightly being called out several times for trusting my memory, which used to be sharp, when it failed, i decided to collect the individual splits from 2022 for our position players. L/R POSITION (R OPS) (L OPS) R MALDONADO, Martin 510 586 R GURRIEL, Yuli 634 633 R ALTUVE, Jose 853 898 R PEÑA, Jeremy 790 842 R BREGMAN, Alex 775 555 L BRANTLEY, Michael 872 785 R SIRI, Jose 666 318 L TUCKER, Kyle 835 839 L ALVAREZ, Yordan 1161 793 BENCH R McCORMICK, Chas 614 868 R DIAZ, Aledmys 487 843 L CASTRO, Jason 383 0 R DUBÔN, Mauricio 319 919 L MATIJEVIC, J J 0 0 The top 9 players OPS vs Right handed pitchers: L ALVAREZ, Yordan 1161 L BRANTLEY, Michael 872 R ALTUVE, Jose 853 L TUCKER, Kyle 835 R PEÑA, Jeremy 790 R BREGMAN, Alex 775 R SIRI, Jose 666 R GURRIEL, Yuli 634 R McCORMICK, Chas 614 Bench R MALDONADO, Martin 510 R DIAZ, Aledmys 487 L CASTRO, Jason 383 R DUBÔN, Mauricio 319 L MATIJEVIC, J J 0 The top 9 players OPS vs Left handed pitchers: R DUBÔN, Mauricio 919 R ALTUVE, Jose 898 R McCORMICK, Chas 868 R DIAZ, Aledmys 843 R PEÑA, Jeremy 842 L TUCKER, Kyle 839 L ALVAREZ, Yordan 793 L BRANTLEY, Michael 785 R GURRIEL, Yuli 633 Bench R MALDONADO, Martin 586 R BREGMAN, Alex 555 R SIRI, Jose 318 L CASTRO, Jason 0 L MATIJEVIC, J J 0 Those on both lists are not platoon candidates. L ALVAREZ, Yordan 1161 793 L BRANTLEY, Michael 872 785 R ALTUVE, Jose 853 898 R PEÑA, Jeremy 790 842 L TUCKER, Kyle 835 839 R GURRIEL, Yuli 634 633 R McCORMICK, Chas 614 868 RH Platoon R BREGMAN, Alex 775 R SIRI, Jose 666 LH Platoon R DUBÔN, Mauricio 919 R DIAZ, Aledmys 843 This is a STARTING POINT before adjustments to cover all positions and quirks from small sample size.
