Do also factor in that Straw has cost the Astros 5-6 runs defensively over a moderately competent AAAA CFer...
I was looking for something good to say on this subject and then looked at batter stats over last 7 days. Straw .273/.407/.364 That is better than Bregman, Correa or Altuve over this same time period. https://www.espn.com/mlb/team/stats/_/name/hou/split/61/table/batting/sort/OPS/dir/desc
I still dont have that much faith in him. But hey, hes outperforming the overpaid Jackie Bradley Jr., which many were clamoring for in the offseason. So theres that.
2020 Springer/Reddick .899/.693 2021 Tucker/Straw .651/.546 (after 34 games) Both guys up from the last post. Still pretty horrid though It wont be too long before the sample is large enough where we might start thinking these guys might not be much better than this. One of them anyway.
I think Tucker will have a great summer. Straw has been adequate but would love an upgrade down the stretch.
Not likely, although all 4 outfielders in AAA (Siri, Meyers, Dawson, De La Cruz) have gotten off to hot starts, and they can all play CF (although De La Cruz might be stretched there). But for Houston to abandon Straw/McCormick and forego acquiring a CF, one of those guys would have to have an insane first half that completely rewrites their projections.
There is a larger sample. It doesn't look good for Straw. For Tucker, it looks good, though maybe not good enough to override the beginning of the season.
The crazy thing about Tucker is that his runs plus RBI's are near the top for the team. He walks a lot and he drives in runs.
2020 Springer/Reddick .899/.693 2021 Tucker/Straw .741/.552 (after 37 games) (Tuckers highest OPS since April 14th) Its nice to have the opportunity to be positive. Tucker in 3 games has raised his OPS 90 pts! The league average OPS seems to be around .700, so Tucker is now above average? I sure hope he can keep it up!
Yes. He's likely going to continue as a streaky player because he pulls grounders, goes for homers, and swings too much.
For a total value comparison, Tucker has posted 0.9 fWAR so far this season, Straw 0.0. Springer has posted 0.2 fWAR, Reddick 0.0. Last season, Springer posted 1.9 fWAR, Reddick -0.6. Lookin at either of those comparisons, Tucker/Straw is lookin great, even if you project Springer/Reddick 2020 out over a full season. Tucker projects to be a star level player, in no small part to his high defensive metrics.
Springer has been hurt a lot this year, so I am not sure his numbers translate very well. But I get your point. If only Straw could get to league average in OBP. Until then, he is a liability.
I also think if they are able to acquire a good CF for a reasonable price at the deadline, the swap will look a lot better even if Straw is never more than a 4th OF defensive sub and base runner. Getting somebody like Starling Marte for 2 2nd tier prospects and having him be an amazing 7 or 8 hole hitter will be way smarter than throwing $150M at Springer, especially if it worked out to sign Marte to something like $70M/4 yr after acquiring him.
Marte is definitely an offseason target. Before making a trade at the deadline for him I want to see how he performs after recovering from fractured ribs. He's not expected back until June. Hurt ribs and swinging a baseball bat do not go well together.
