If he hits at his 2022 level the rest of the season then he will finish about .725 OPS (.726 if exactly same PA as 2022) which would be right at MLB average. For me that would be a win after the first 60ish games. Not to mention he would have a track record of 100 games at over .800 OPS and the miserable start behind him.
Abreu also had a bad first 2 months in 2022. Then he had 2 months with an OPS well into the .900s. Abreu is definitely capable of puting up some sick numbers, and as he showed last night, he still has plenty of power. His issues have been mostly mechanical and mental this season. Piss poor launch angles and a hitch in his swing. Looks like the hitch is gone, now I hope he does a better job of recognizing pitches.
I wouldn't say "plenty of power". All three of his home runs this year have barely cleared the walls. I will take that instead of the previous barely missing home runs, but he isn't launching Alvarez or Tucker level no doubt home runs.
The ball yesterday was eviscerated. It would have been 20 rows deep in a lot of parks, Cleveland just has a high wall.
It’s about exit velo and HH%. His latest run of games has those numbers back in step with some of his career bests. Plus they don’t have a lot of other big power options with Yordan out… so even if this is an element of randomness as to when he’s getting hotter, I’d rather it be now while they need somebody to carry a big stick (would prefer Tucker, but not sure its in his nature… he’s not streaky but he also doesn’t get ultra-hot… just steady).
And I would add that it's still a launch angle issue. He hit those balls hard. He is still improving. I am actually actually getting my hopes up for a formidable lineup come October.
dare i say he's starting to look like an actual decent player? I saw his war was at -1.3 and thought wow what an improvement LOL
It's obvious that Yordan was stunting Abreu's progress. We need to trade Yordan now and he may get to 100 RBIs yet
He changed his swing and somehow he got all F'ed up. His swing is closer to 2021 Abreu right now. I'm hopeful for some crazy power numbers.
Speculation: maybe someone with a coat up the chain could've told Bagwell to stay the F away from the clubhouse and his ear... maybe its PEDs... who knows... ...that or he realized Yordan's bat is superior to his and he hasn't been the confident stud-hitter he once was, bc Alvarez has been deemed worthy to pimp that crown and is the godfather of swang in the clubhouse.
https://theathletic.com/4611978/2023/06/15/astros-notes-jose-abreu-mechanics/ José Abreu’s breakthrough began in the batting cage alongside Alex Cintrón, the hitting coach with whom he has worked tirelessly to turn around his awful season. All season, before games and after, the two men studied video, tried different drills and changed some of the finer points of his swing mechanics. None of it translated into tangible results. Abreu seemed late on everything. His swing and mechanics contained too much movement. Abreu sensed a problem with his hand position, too. One day earlier this month, Abreu arrived for work and told Cintrón “hey, I got it.” “He found himself cutting his swings off. His bat has to be under, more on the same plane, a flat bat,” Cintrón said after Wednesday’s 6-5 win against the Nationals. “He felt that one day, then I helped him with his lower body, how to position himself in the batter’s box. He was going too forward instead of staying behind. His back leg connected with his head and shoulders and everything. That was the click.” The tweaks have allowed Abreu to take off. He struck three more hits, drove in two more runs and hit his first home run as an Astro at Minute Maid Park during Wednesday’s win against Washington. Since June 1, Abreu is slashing .327/.346/.571 and has raised his season OPS from .541 to .609. He has six extra-base hits this month after having eight across the first two. Cintrón adjusted Abreu’s back leg to create more balance in his batting stance and eliminate some unnecessary movement that slowed his swing. “He was going too forward. He had too much weight on his front side and then he had to go forward, back, forward,” Cintrón said. “He was doing three movements instead of doing two. He’s going up there already loaded on the back side (to) just go attack. Shorter moves, quicker moves, faster moves to the ball.” Cintrón echoed what most around the Astros preached for the first two months of Abreu’s season: his track record is too long to continue cratering. Cintrón pointed to Abreu’s awful start last year, when he awoke on May 19 with a .625 OPS. He slashed .333/.402/.481 for the remainder of the season. “He always struggles in April and May. After May, this is José Abreu,” Cintrón said. “ … When he finds his stroke and he finds it mechanically, that’s a guy who can hit everything every day, does everything the same way. I’ve always had confidence that he would be this guy.”
