Baker will have some tough decisions to make with everyone hitting including Meyers. What would your line-up look like when Chas, Brantley and Altuve come back assuming they are perform like they always have. I assume Dubon will have regular starts all over the field if he keeps hitting. Meyers and Chas will split time in centerfield again until one of them either takes another step forward or falls off a cliff. I think Chas will be as consistent as always and Meyers will be the wild card. He will continue to hit and win the position because of his defense or regress to what he's been in the last year. Brantley and Alvarez will split between DH and LF. What do we do with Julks? We will also have to make a decision between Diaz and Hensley. We will need to send one of them down and the other will be the primary 1st base backup. My bet is that we keep Diaz and send Hensley down. Altuve Bregman Alvarez Abreu Tucker Chas/Meyers Brantley Pena Maldy/Diaz *Dubon will bat last unless Altuve is having a rest day. How do you send Julks down when he is batting almost 300, so I assume we send Salazar down. Baker will be forced to use Diaz more.
I’m thinking 1. Altuve 2. Brantley (assuming he’s back to himself) 3. Alverez 4. Bregman 5. Tucker 6. Abreu 7. Peña 8. Dubon/Myers/Chas 9. Maldy
You have to remember Baker doesn't like to have 2 lefties next to each other in the lineup, and I think Alvarez should always bat in the first 3 since he's our best hitter.
I assume this as well, but expect Dubon to play more regularly but not at any one position. He will start 4-5 games per week at: 2B, SS, and 3B and maybe once in a while in CF while the primary infield starters take a day off or a DH day. Even if they both go 0 for the next 100, both Abreu and Maldy will continue to get the majority of the starts at their primary positions until at least the All star break before the team makes any decision or move to replace them
What makes you think Altuve and Brantley returning will finally persuade Dusty to move Tuccker UP in the lineup?
I'm starting to think that Brantley and Chas should platoon in left based on if the pitcher is a righty or lefty. There should be no reason why Chas should ever be on the bench against a lefty since his career OPS is over .900 and is currently hitting 1.3 against lefties this season. Brantley is pedestrian against lefties. Chas should also split time with Meyers in center until Meyers either proves himself long term or regresses. That would leave Yordan playing DH most of the time.
Its a long season... by the time the Astros get some guys back, some others may find their way to needing time off. The goal is always to have the full lineup in place by the end of the season and possible playoffs.
Still too much time to say, I would imagine this will sort itself out by the time Altuve is back. Salazar and Bannon will go down for Chaz and Brantley, that likely still leaves a month for thing to develop before Altuve's return. Dubon "should" become a dedicated backup infielder when Tuve is back. His numbers have been trending down for a week now, he isn't hitting nearly as well as people think he is despite still hitting .329. When his BABIP gets to a sustainable level he's a below average bat. He's an extremely good bench player, but he should be just that, people have started to overvalue him. For the purpose of discussion, if Jake Meyers can maintain what he's done so far this season he's unquestionably an everyday player because his defensive metrics are extremely good for his career. If Hensley doesn't show any improvement he will be sent down for Altuve, but he is far more flexible than Julks defensively, and with 5 ahead of him (2 everyday all stars) in the OF/DH pecking order once we're healthy, getting him regular AB's would start getting tough. If he's still hitting at that point the organization will have to make a tough call on trade versus maintain depth with the outfielders. v Righty Altuve Bregman Yordan Tucker (dusty won't but he should) Abreu Brantley Meyers Maldonado/Diaz Pena (see how he does with protection behind him) v Lefty Altuve Bregman Yordan Chaz Tucker Abreu Meyers Maldonado/Diaz Pena
That's pretty reasonable. I hate that Chas gets relegated to batting against lefties being our 4th outfielder when Meyers and Tucker need rest. The dude is batting over .800 OPS.
Having Bregman behind Alverez keeps the opponent from walking Alverez. You walk Alverez and you bring up a guy in Bregman with a career .375 OBP who makes solid contact. Walk Bregman and Tucker is waiting for the kill.
2B Altuve LF Brantley 3B Bregman DH Alvarez 1B Abreu RF Tucker SS Pena CF Meyers/McCormick/Dubon C Maldonado/Diaz Bench/PR/PH: Julks CF distribution will depend on health and how everyone is performing.
Truth be told I think Chaz will be a flat out better player than Brantley this season, but with his proven track record and reliable bat he's gonna play regularly. Brantley is gonna get a lot of days off, and Meyers would get days off too so even in my ideal scenario Chaz would still likely start 60-70% of the games.
If he gets to play close to 70 percent of the time, I'm good with that. I know he has his limitations but he has proven himself to be an everyday player.
I don't disagree. I'm just saying Dusty would probably disagree with that lineup because he has his rules.
Dusty and the recent Astros have made it a point of giving veterans a lot of rope, and making decisions that benefit them. Brantley has an incentive laden deal. He gets an additional $500K if he gets 400 PA and another at 425. Then $750K every 25 PA after that. And he is starting 25-30 or more games late if he can return after just a week in Sugar Land. Dusty will put him in the #2 spot in the order the very first day that he can and he will stay there nearly every game he is healthy enough to play. He will need to average 4 PA per game in 100 of the remaining 132 or so games to hit 400. Dusty will give him every chance.
