This Astros team has one thing in common, and it’s plate discipline. Alvarez showed enough plate discipline during a long stretch in the minors into AAA ball. Which made it easier for the Astros to call him up. But in order to maximize the potential you can’t just randomly send out the lineup, regardless of how good the guys are. You put the guys in a position to succeed, and the players are left to do their thing. Hinch has an ability to keep the guys loose, loyal, focused, etc... like joking with Bregman on his day off, and pulling Correa’s name out of the box first! Shoot the Astros hire a slew of analytics and statisticians that all have input for the decision makers sort through the what-if’s... But yeah having a whole 2/3 of your lineup with an OPS of .900 at this stage of the season is, AMAZING!!!! But it’s so because in addition to being talented they’ve been put in positions to maximize their talent. And that is what both parties trusting each other does. Tucker should have been here for the ride this season, but he might not have bought into the philosophy just yet. It seems that he has the talent to be a mainstay, so he just needs to have the right mind frame. Altuve, Springer, Bregman, Gurriel, Correa all have a great attitude. And Alvarez has shown he has a solid game attitude too. I think Tuckers time is coming for him to entrench himself amongst the Regulars.
I know that seems low for Yuli, but everyone healthy who is he better than hitting wise in the top 6? I mean, if you are taking about a specific situation where contact is necessary he might be #2 behind Brantley, but overall quality for 162 games? Nah, he’s 7th best, which is nuts. Think about it, the top 6 guys have all been all stars except Álvarez, and if he’s ROY in a half season of play.
Trout AB AVG HR RBI SB OPS 458 .293 43 101 11 1.081 Bregman AB AVG HR RBI SB OPS 481 .295 32 95 4 .985 People have said Trout is a lock, I disagree. As of right now with Bregmans defense considered it’s Bregman all day.
Trout wins on reputation alone. Doesn't matter his team is what...24 games out of 1st place and 14.5 half out of the wild card.
Don't worry about me, Skipper, I got **** done on Saturday so I could take manana off for the most part. It's good to be the hmfic.
Correa could be the best player on this team if could just get healthy. I just hope he get gets healthy and comfortable by the playoffs.
Don’t see how you can make that statement considering even when he has played he hasn’t been as good as Bregman or Altuve and now Alvarez for that matter...
After tonight, Bregs is now slashing .297 .416 .575 .992. The absolute numbers between him and Trout are pretty similar. Bregs has played a few more games. There is one matchup that was indeed an outlier. Bregman only has 75 Ks on the season. Trout had 118 Ks coming into tonight's game. That's probably not going to sway anyone, but it's an impressive differential, I thought.
Totally agree, and that should not be lost on voters. The Astros have been positively starved for infielders because of injuries this year. Bregman has covered the left side of the infield wherever he was needed on any given day for most of the season. And still is. That's incredibly valuable to the team and just impressive in general. Yuli's done the same handling the corners of infield. Those guys should at the very least be co-MVPs of the team for the year. Trout benefits by being the clear best player on his team and having a consistent season. On the Astros, you've had incredible play by multiple teammates with colder and hotter parts of the season. But the hot parts were scorching, which is why Yuli and Bregs have Players of the Month awards. And they were very valuable during those months. Let's just get one of those guys a World Series MVP and sidestep this whole debate altogether.
Of course he has. He’s also the best defensive infielder on the team. Unfortunately he just hasn’t been able to stay on the field long enough to find out.
If it were 20 years ago, hell even 10 years ago, I think Bregman would be neck and neck with Trout. Probably the favorite due to team success being a huge factor once upon a time. But WAR is a major tool these days, and Trout still has a significant advantage. Not to mention less protection. Wins are basically a miniscule factor these days, and Bregs will have to maintain his torrid stretch if he's even gonna make it a contest where team record can come into play.
