if he is, it isn’t because he turned down an offer from the Astros. George springer was my second favorite Astro behind Altuve, but his age and risk profile were different from Correa, and our lineup without him could and did stay elite, so I grudgingly accepted that letting him go was the right move (at the time, not with hindsight). (Correa is more money, more years, but his age is a big difference. if I knew we would go out and get an equivalent bat (Simien or Marte for example) to fill the lineup for the next 2-3 years, then I could accept Letting Correa go).
agree. There are plenty of plodders in MLB that play LF. Yordan looks like he can handle a good number of LF games at MMP, especially every start by LMJ and Framber.
Watching highlights from last years Ray series. Damn. Astros win Game 2/3/4/5/6 without Altuve's yips. I think if the Astros can get through this series with the Sox, they can handle the Rays.
That is true. But since we've been successful moving 3B to 1B with Bagwell and Gurriel, would moving Bregman there be better and then putting Bryant at 3B? I am trying to figure out how to replace Correa's WAR on both offense and defense. It won't be easy. Is 1B less taxing on the Quad and hamstring than SS?
This is my first time seeing and hearing about Luis Robert, that kid has some ridiculous tools. Reminds me of a young Andrew Jones, the staff has done great work keeping their entire lineups to only singles and walks.
After looking at his numbers this year, he might not be a fit anyway. POS L/R/S PLAYER OBP SLG OPS+ WAR 31 A 2B R ALTUVE, Jose 350 489 127 4.4 34 A DH L BRANTLEY, Michael 362 437 119 2.5 27 A 3B R BREGMAN, Alex 355 422 113 2.1 24 A LF L ALVAREZ, Yordan 346 531 136 3.0 37 A 1B R GURRIEL, Yuli 383 462 131 3.7 26 A SS R CORREA, Carlos 366 485 131 7.2 24 A RF L TUCKER, Kyle 359 557 147 5.2 26 A CF R McCORMICK, Chas 319 447 107 2.0 34 A C R MALDONADO, Martin 272 300 58 0.0 BENCH 34 A C L CASTRO, Jason 356 443 118 1.0 25 A CF R MEYERS, Jake 323 438 107 1.1
I know complaints about dusty has been talked to death, so let’s separate this from Dusty. Regardless of who is manager, do people here really think the current lineup construction makes sense? I get that we just whooped ass the last two games, so let’s remove it from the analysis bc recency bias, if we can. Let’s say tomorrow is opening day and we have the exact same squad. let’s start with the analysis of who are our best hitters. top tier: Tucker and Yordan next tier: Altuve and Correa next tier: Bregs, Yuli and brantley Then let’s talk about lineup construction. Most would agree that this is a blend of maximizing ABs for your best hitters, putting people in comfortable positions to succeed, and lefty righty combos, and reasonable minds might disagree with some nuances. As a starting point, seems fairly clear that Tucker and Yordan should occupy the 2 and 4 spots, or 3 and 5. A 3 and 5 alignment is less ideal because it’s harder to alternate between RH and LH. Alternatively, why can’t Tucker leadoff if Springer did and stick Yordan at 3? The other key question is who leads off. I think there are only three legit possibilities: Altuve, Tucker and …. Bregs if his hamstring issues are behind him. Bregs hasn’t profiled as a middle of the order bat since 2019, but he has an elite eye, plate discipline, and should sport a good OBP. He would annoy the ever living crap out of opposing SP to start a game. So I’m curious as to what people think. Let’s assume everyone is perfectly healthy. Lineup A 1. Bregs 2. Tucker 3. Altuve 4. Yordan 5. Correa 6. Yuli/Brantley 7. Brantley/Yuli Lineup B 1. Altuve 2. Tucker 3. Correa 4. Yordan 5. Bregs 6. Yuli/Brantley 7. brantley/Yuli Lineup C 1. Tucker 2. Altuve 3. Yordan 4. Correa 5. Brantley 6. Bregs 7. Yuli Lineup D - something akin to what we have been doing 1. Altuve 2. Brantley 3. Correa 4. Yordan 5. Bregs 6. Brantley/Yuli 7. Yuli/Brantley
With 7 guys as good as we have I don't think it matters. All of our hitters make pitchers work, and even if Tucker has provided more production this season, I can't say with confidence he's gonna provide more production over the next month. That's not to say I think Tucker is gonna start to suck, just that there are a lot of proven bats in this lineup that could dominate at any time. There is no hitter that is "clearly" better than the others in that regard. Given that all of our hitters are good, I'm fine with the traditional table setters then power setup. As long as the CF and C are the last 2, and the lefties are seperated.
How would construct the line-up completely forgetting the personalities. At the top of the line-up, I want people who are good at getting on base because they get the most PAs. Now the next group are those who are good at both getting on base and driving baserunners in. The third group is those who are good at driving runners in, but might have a little trouble getting on base. The last group is just back to best OBP. At this point, you make the minor adjustments to separate those who have difficulty hitting lefties and righties. This should not be without consideration for righties who hit well against righties or lefties that hit well against lefties. Strictly looking at which batters box a player stands in should only be used when the metric data is limited. Then look at speed to see how to avoid placing slow runners ahead of speedy runners , particularly when turning over the line-up. Now the old tradition breaks the groups at the 4 hitter as the clean up hitter. But I believe the metrics indicate moving that point to the third spot is the better choice. Now I value the second group more highly than the other and would choose them first based on OPS or OPS+ and pick them first to fill the third and fourth spots in the order. Then, the first group is selected ro the first and second spots in the order by OBP. I really don't care HOW they get on base, just that they do. Then the third group in positions 5 anf 6 by SLG and finally th last group by OBP again. This is what the Lineup would look like this way and without the Leadoff player being a George Springer clone. POS L/R/S PLAYER OBP SLG OPS+ WAR 1B R GURRIEL, Yuli 383 462 131 3.7 SS R CORREA, Carlos 366 485 131 7.2 RF L TUCKER, Kyle 359 557 147 5.2 LF L ALVAREZ, Yordan 346 531 136 3.0 2B R ALTUVE, Jose 350 489 127 4.4 CF R MEYERS, Jake 323 438 107 1.1 DH L BRANTLEY, Michael 362 437 119 2.5 3B R BREGMAN, Alex 355 422 113 2.1 C R MALDONADO, Martin 272 300 58 0.0 Now Meyer and McCormick are almost clones for purposes of this exercise. And I see no adjustments needed for Alvarez or Tucker because they are as good at hitting lefties as righties. If you bring in Castro, you might move him into the 6 hole. But this is what I believe the optimum line-up is for this team, strictly from the metrics. It does not place value on the psychology of the lead off solo home run that many are fond of.
Yeah... they should make major line up changes after scoring the most runs in the AL and 15 runs in the first 2 games of this series.
I mean Bonilla is still "counting his money".....money you can't take with you and no one will see that total next to your stats. Legacy and history live forever......
