Altuve returns to reliable status
Don’t mention it to him, but Jose Altuve’s defense at second base seems back to normal.
“I don’t want to talk a lot about it,” Altuve said before Tuesday’s game against the Angels. “I’m a little superstitious, but I feel pretty good at second base.”
Altuve’s meltdown in last October’s American League Championship Series against the Rays left some wondering whether his throwing problems were the result of an awful few days or a precursor for more long-term trouble. Altuve and bench coach
Joe Espada spent most of the winter dissecting video of his fielding style and throwing mechanics. Neither has offered any specific insights on what was wrong or what they fixed.
Altuve entered Tuesday’s game against the Angels as the only qualified American League second baseman without an error. In the second inning, the second baseman committed his first on Jared
Walsh’s sharp ground ball to lead off the frame. Altuve bounced a throw after fielding the baseball behind second base.
Before Tuesday’s game, Altuve had assisted on 58 outs in 25 games. Just five qualified second basemen had fewer assists.
Altuve is worth negative-1 defensive runs saved, according to both Fielding Bible and FanGraphs. Padres second baseman
Jake Cronenworth leads all second basemen with four defensive runs saved, according to both calculations.
“(Altuve’s) worked hard on it,” manager Dusty
Baker said earlier this month. “He just had a bad stretch. It happened to be on national TV in a big moment. That was a onetime bad experience through a few games. They just don’t hand (Gold Gloves) out. That’s something that’s in the past, and that’s a moot point at this stage.”
Bregman off to faster start
Alex Bregman starts slowly. It’s been an unfortunate hallmark on an otherwise impeccable beginning to his career. Few can forget the 2-for-38 slump he sank into during his first 10 major league games. He rebounded to slug .478 and finish his rookie season with a .791 OPS.
Bregman has had two subsequent seasons with similar trajectories. He garnered an All-Star appearance in 2018 despite a .717 OPS through the first 30 games. In 2017, he had a .684 OPS after 30 games.
Each of the last two springs, Bregman has vowed to fix whatever causes him to crater early in seasons. He slugged .500 and had an .874 OPS after 24 games last year but strained his hamstring in Colorado to interrupt the rhythm. A stint on the COVID-19 injured list this year threatened to do it again. Bregman did not allow it.
Across his first 29 games, Bregman is slashing .313/.374/.500. Manager
Dusty Baker gave the two-time All-Star a day off Tuesday against the Angels after Bregman had played a stretch of seven straight games.
“He’s kind of borderline in the yellow. We’ve got red, yellow, green (to determine a player’s availability),” Baker said of Bregman, who battled a hamstring injury throughout spring training. “I looked at the schedule and thought it’d be best if he was off today. It allows him to play (Wednesday), four against Texas and then an off day.”
Bregman added more than 20 pounds in the offseason to gain durability, but most of his earlyseason struggles arise after mechanical issues.
“In years past, mechanically, I haven’t been sound early in the year coming off the baseball and not staying closed and through the baseball,” Bregman said after Monday’s loss to the Angels. “I started doing that this year as well a little bit.”
Skeeters go 5-1 in first series
Outfielder Jake Meyers hit two home runs as Sugar Land won at Albuquerque 6-4 to finish 5-1 in a seasonopening series.
Meyers hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth inning and added a solo shot in the seventh. Taylor
Jones gave the Skeeters more cushion with a tworun homer in the seventh.
After a day off Wednesday, Sugar Land will open a six-game series at Round Rock on Thursday.