Bregman was hitting pop ups and ground balls to the left side of the infield early in the season. He just wasn't making solid contact. He hit 1/3rd in July alone. If memory serves me ( and it doesn't always), that's when he was being moved down the line-up.
Bregman hit the most pop ups in his career in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. Bregman's best offensive years are 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. I think the pop ups are going to hurt him later in his career, but right now they are a by product of him hitting homers/doubles.
Huh? Being left-handed doesn't matter. What matters is the ability to hit against lefties and righties. Abreu hits lefties and righties well...... know who else does? Wilson Contreras. Also, the Astros top prospect isn't Lee, in fact the Astros #1 pick last year is a better prospect and is an outfielder and will likely be ready by 2024. Benentendi is asking for 60 million over 4 years and has a history of injuries, coming off a bad injury, cannot play CF everyday and has almost no power. He no longer steals bases either. So you get a Gold Glove in LF and a player that is very inconsistent with the bat year to year? For 4 years? Coming off injury and lacks power?
Brantley isn't looking for a 4/60 deal.... and isn't a good fielder. FWIW, if he is healthy, I would be fine with Brantley DHing 80 games a year and playing the field 40-50 times. I think Brantley is a better hitter than Benintendi when he is healthy.
Benintendi is basically a LHB version of Chas with an injury history that can't play CF. On his power, he hits a lot of opposite field fly balls. I'd guess he would hit about 10 more homers a season if he was in MMP half the time. He would be a great platoon partner for Chas. I'd prefer Brantley to him though as I think Brantley is a better bat, and the Astros should have plenty of better defensive OFs than Benintendi. I think Framber and Brown are both going to be Top 5 groundball pitchers this coming season. If the Astros can't get Contreras, Benintendi would likely not be a bad pickup, but I'm hoping for a team that can go Contreras/Alvarez/pick a CF at DH/LF/CF in MMP with the wormkillers, but also Alvarez/Chas/pick a CF away with a flyball pitcher up. I see Benintendi as a great pickup if the Astros get Contreras.
I do think there is some value in terms of lineup construction to avoid stacking same handed hitters. For instance, last season Trevor Gott was a shutdown reliever vs righties but struggled vs lefties. The Mariners could more comfortably find ways to deploy him if we have 6 straight righties in the lineup, vs a lineup that never has more than 3 in a row. I think that's a bit of a minor concern overall. Given that Yordan and Tucker are LH COF, and 3 of their top prospects are LHH OFs, I could definitely see the preference for Contreras with the catcher versatility. Either way, it's an exciting time to be an Astros fan.
There had been some reporting that Abreu was struggling with fastballs based on overall results. Here's a look at the peripherals to see if that was just odd luck... https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jose-abreu-still-rakes-against-fastballs/ Abreu hasn’t gotten worse when it comes to making contact with four-seamers; ...That’s been his game for the last five years, more or less: he misses a bit more frequently than average, but makes up for it by hitting the ball hard when he connects. There’s little evidence that the second part of the equation is changing. He was in the 86th percentile for hard-hit rate on four-seamers this year, right in line with his typical excellence. ... ...But if you’re looking for a way to tell that story, don’t use his fastball data to do it. Despite the downtick in his results in 2022, I’m as impressed by Abreu’s ability to pummel the ball as ever.
He's gone from MVP caliber hitter to a really damn good hitter. I'm good with that. He's going to be the third best hitter on the team behind Alvarez and Altuve. That's saying a lot since we have Bregman, Tucker, and Brantley on the squad. His lack of of homeruns can be directly contributed to launch angle. He hit a lot more line drives last season than any other time in his career. This contributed to his high batting average but lower homeruns in 2022. BTW, he hit almost 300 against fastballs last season.
By what measure do you expect him to be the 3rd best hitter? I think Yordan is in a tier of his own. 170 OPS+ I expect Bregman to be 2018 ( not quite 2019) level after his .894 OPS in 2nd half last year. 150 OPS+ Tucker will benefit from shift rules and continued improving in his age 26 season. 140 OPS+ I think Altuve will settle in just a hair below last year which will still make him a top 20 hitter in MLB even if he is 4th best on this team. 140 OPS+ I put Abreu here. Solidly at All Star level at about 130 OPS+ I expect Brantley to put up very good rate stats (125 OPS+) but a step below the 5 of them and with many fewer PAs. I expect Pena, McCormick and Meyers to all have solid 105-120 OPS+ seasons and the team overall to challenge the 2019 team as best hitting team in history
That's some wishing thinking but not out of the realm of possibility. If Brantley gets back to being what he was and Abreu gets back to being a power hitter (MMP will do wonders for him in this department), then this will be the best hitting/run producing lineup in all of baseball.
Abreu is a better, but older version of Mancini. The difference is in not being hindered by Gurriel playing 1B. While he rarely got an opportunity to play 1B, his defensive play in the WS will always be the play we remember. I hope Abreu gives us three good seasons with one of them spectacular (like Gurriels age 37 season.) I can live with 80% of MVP play.
Lolz at “better” Mancini: BA .260 OB .330 SLG .457 OPS .787 avg 27 homers Abreu: BA .292 OB .354 SLG .506 OPS .806 avg 31 homers like cmon, that’s like saying Chas is “better” than maldonado….
You don't think he could change approach if needed to being a contact hitter? I think it may work well with the new anti-shift rules.
.860 SLG Your point well taken, it's laughable to just call him "better" when it's obvious there's not much of a comparison. A decent hitter vs a great hitter.
