Say what you want about Bregman, but there are not many third basemen in baseball better than him. He has had an .OPS below .800 once since 2020 and plays Gold Glove-caliber defense at 3B.
He’s not an MVP-caliber player like Alvarez, Tucker or Altuve, but he’s still well above average and capable of putting together All Star-level seasons.
Something to be said about the number of playoff games he has played for this team as well. Although he wasn’t great this postseason, he has had some big hits and plays for this team. I can’t think of anyone available that I would rather see playing 3rd for Houston than Bregman.
It’s truly bizarre, and not something with an easily diagnosed remedy. The hitters hit worse at home (Home OPS: .736 // Road OPS: .796). The pitchers pitched worse at home (Home ERA: 4.25 // Road ERA: 3.62). They tried painting the batter’s eye before the last home stand and they lost 5 out of 6, including a three-game sweep by the Kansas City Royals. I’m hoping it’s just a fluke that will correct itself once the calendar flips, because it seems like it can’t be easily fixed through trades and free agent signings.
It’s largely the exact same roster that, just one season ago, went 55-26 at home, .779 home OPS vs. .711 road OPS, 2.75 home ERA vs. 3.05 road ERA. Neither the stadium nor the players are the problem. It’s just one of those things.
Lastly, I hope everyone is right about Tucker. He looks like garbage, not injured.
The Athletic aftermath of the loss. The comment section is the usual array of solutions from which certain constants arise.
I don’t be look strictly at the raw numbers. A lot it is situational. I know that makes me a dinosaur.
The biggest problem with Bregman is he’s a 6 hole hitter that was expected to be a 2 or 3 hole hitter for this team.
In a perfect world, Bregman is bottom middle of the lineup and there’s a masher hitting 3, but that’s not how he was used this year, at all.
And if the view him as a good glove, bottom third of the order kind of guy, I’m fine with that. But to continue to treat him like he’s some perennial All-Star run producer you build a lineup around is whack.
I don’t think that makes you a dinosaur. There is nuance to everything. I value Bregman’s plate discipline and ability to work counts, but there are plenty of times he could stand to be more aggressive. Yesterday, he was actually aggressive early in counts and hit a home run. Way too often he lets pitchers get ahead with cookies because they know he rarely swings at the first pitch.
Conversely, I’d like to have a shock collar on Jeremy Peña, Yainer Diaz, Chas McCormick, Mauricio Dubon and Jose Altuve that buzzes anytime they swing at pitches low and away near the other batters box. That infuriates me.
For me, Bregman either bats second because of his strike zone discipline and ability to use all fields or somewhere lower in the order (like sixth). He absolutely should not hit third or fourth for this team.
I’m nothing if not a nuisance.
Agree, six hitter for me, maybe seven.
I’ve always said that!
9th hole hitter in April, 3rd spot in August, 6th spot every other month.
And, I’m a nuisance to grammar conventions for not using nuance in that sentence.
But a four or five if he ever hits like he did in 2019.
All season long I felt like this just wasn’t gonna be our year.
Why the hell am I so disappointed with a totally logical end to the season?
For me it’s the opponent. That and the path to the WS win not including the Dodgers, Braves, Orioles, and Rays actually had me thinking it was possible. But yeah, too many holes in the lineup and in the lineup card.
