Abreu is generally a slow starter, but the lack of pop is starting to concern me. I know he’ll get a long time to prove himself considering the contract and track record, but it hindsight it’s definitely looking like a mistake not having a GM in place to make that call.
I think it's concerning as well. He's got zero pop aside from a few doubles here and there. Hopefully he picks it up this season at some point and keeps rolling.
Abreu did hit one 112 yesterday, which is close to his previous max EVs. I would move him down in the lineup for now but I could see him beginning to wake up if he can figure out some of his swing decision issues.
I feel like we've finally turned the corner, but I'm worried about this upcoming homestand. Not because of the the teams we're playing, but because of the fact that it's a homestand.... Also: The rangers just got swept by the Reds. LOL..... yankees and rangers open up at 4 game series tonight. Who are we supposed to pull for? Can they both lose?
That hard hit is a good sign that the potential is still there, and I agree he needs to be moved down in the order until he starts producing.
His issue last year wasn't about power, it was launch angle. Seems like he hasn't really fixed that issue this season. He keeps hitting on top of the ball for grounders. pretty much the opposite of problem Dubon had before he figured it out.
Abreu will start hitting again. Not sure if it will be a lot of home runs though. 2nd half of last year and the 1st month of this year, his power has been gone. I do think the singles and doubles (and the occasional home run) are coming.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybl...-april-least-valuable-player/?sh=53da97de4104 Astros’ Jose Abreu Is A Contender For MLB’s Least Valuable Player So Far This Season Jose Abreu made an early move in last winter’s free agent market, leaving the Chicago White Sox for the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, signing a three-year, $58.5 million deal. I thought it was a master stroke for the club at the time. One month into Year 1 of the contract, the Astros have received little return. Now it’s still April, and there is an awful lot of baseball left to be played in 2023. It can be argued, however, that Abreu has been one of the poorest performers in the game thus far. His (0.4) fWAR ranks near the bottom of both leagues, and he has accumulated more plate appearances than any other position player with negative WAR through Tuesday’s games. It’s been pretty bleak. Looking at the surface level numbers doesn’t get us very far, though. We need to drill down to the batted ball level to see if there are budding issues within this small sample size. Throughout his career, Jose Abreu has been a hitter first and a power hitter second. And that’s just the way you like it. He has posted reasonable K and BB rates, hit the ball hard in the air, on a line and on the ground, and has not been an extreme grounder puller worthy of infield overshifts. Just last year, he was better than his raw numbers, worthy of a 145 “Tru” Production+ mark, even better than his actual 137 wRC+. This, in a year when he posted a career low homer total of 15. While his average fly ball exit speed reached a six-year low, both his average liner and grounder exit speeds were over a full standard deviation above average, as usual. Ditto his overall average exit speed of 92.2 mph. And for the sixth time in seven years, he hit a representative number of grounders the other way to keep infielders honest. This year, he’s batting a puny .250-.286-.290 overall. What does the batted ball data say? Plenty of not-so-good things. The frequency data is mediocre at best. His 4.0% pop up rate is just below his 2018 career high. His 29.3% fly ball rate is right in line with career norms, but not far above his 28.7% career low. His 18.7% liner rate is just above his 2017 career low of 18.2%. His 48.0% grounder rate is a career high.
I think it makes sense to reserve full judgment on Abreu until a wee bit later in the season. Early on, he has not looked great though. We'll see.
It works well paired with a top 3 defensive infield. Pena needs to get back to where he was last year.
Way too early top 10 Astros trade targets: 1. 1B/CF/LF Kris Bryant 2. SP/DH Shohei Ohtani 3. RP Aroldis Chapman 4. C Salvador Perez 5. RP Brad Hand 6. C Yasmani Grandal 7. C Elias Diaz 8. IF Yoan Moncada 9. IF Matt Duffy 10. SP Lucas Giolito HM: OF Adam Duvall, IF Justin Turner, RP Kenley Jansen
So McCormick and Brantley back in ~a week, then Altuve probably back 2 weeks after that, then McCullers 2 weeks after that.
I'm curious about your reasoning for some of these guys. Mainly the guys under control beyond this season. The Astros aren't going to have a ton to spend next offseason with just Brantley, Maldonado, Stanek, and Maton being free agents. That decrease in payroll will be eaten up with the arb raises. You dreaming of a big bump in payroll? I don't see the Astros adding Bryant at an AAV north of 27 million going forward for his 32-36 year old seasons. Not sure the Astros have or would give up the prospect cost for an Ohtani rental. Chapman makes sense if they don't care about the PR nightmare. Perez will be owed 44 million total in 2024 and 2025. That's a big risk for an older catcher with the 11th highest OPS among catchers. Especially if we are carrying an unproductive Abreu. Hand makes sense Grandal is a free agent and can grind ABs so would not mind that. Diaz would be nice but he is under control on a very reasonable contract the next 2 years. Doubt he is traded. Moncada is making 24.8 million next year plus a team option for 25 million and a 5 million dollar buyout. Just don't see this happening. Not like you can easily dump Bregman's contract if that was even a thought. Duffy is off to a hot start. Only 39 ABs so will have to see. He is cheap and a free agent next season so makes sense. Giolito makes sense if the pitching coaches think they can fix him. It might save his career. Kenley Jansen is set to make 16 million next year. Just don't see the Astros adding that much more payroll to the bullpen next season.
Generally, the Astros did not spend to their limit this offseason. My guess is they have $20-30M to spend against this season’s limit. They have about $20M coming off the books after this season although most of that will be eaten by arbitration raises for other current players. So any player who is only under control this season and next is reasonable financially. Bryant and Salvador Perez were the only players on my list who don’t fit that criteria. The Rockies are a truly idiotic franchise that can always be counted on to make the stupidest possible move. So it would make perfect sense for them to trade Bryant and eat half his contract without asking for much in return, only to see Bryant become an MVP candidate for his new team. Perez’s contract would fit in Houston’s budget as-is, but if KC decides to trade him, they will likely be willing to eat a bit of money in order to increase the prospect return. If they eat $10 of that $44M he’s owed, it gets even easier for Houston to take on. This list was described as way-too-early, a lot can change. Houston’s needs may change, while many other teams will fall out of contention and add to the list of players available. Barring an injury, Houston really needs one elite bat (who can catch or play multiple positions) and maybe a reliever. But if they get all their injured players back and round into form, they may not have any needs at the deadline and may prefer to save their coin for the pending Altuve/Bregman extensions.
