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Astros Morning Snippets: Alex Bregman is coming along in his elbow surgery recovery
By Cody Poage
The latest news around the Astros and baseball on February 18th, including an update about Alex Bregman‘s recovery from elbow surgery and other general updates around camp.
Bregman continuing to progress from offseason elbow surgery
As you may recall, the Astros‘ star third baseman is continuing to recover from offseason elbow surgery. So far, so good, as pointed out here by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Bregman is key to the Astros’ hopes of contending for another World Series title in 2019, and they’ll need him at full strength.
Pay attention to Chris Devenski in 2019
Jake Kaplan of The Athletic has a thorough breakdown here about Devenski’s sudden decline in effectiveness in 2018, and how the right-hander aims to improve in 2019. One of the club’s key relievers in 2017, the Astros need a resurgent Devenski to help stabilize a bullpen that has potential to be one of the best this year.
No first base for Michael Brantley?
Also noted by Kaplan here, it doesn’t sound like manager A.J. Hinch is going to give Brantley any looks at first base. Instead, we should look for Brantley in right field at some point. All in all, the update isn’t terribly surprising, although it was speculated by fans that the former Indian could see some action there when he signed with Houston earlier this winter.
Next. Astros: A healthier team in 2019 could make all the difference?. dark
Breaking balls and Carlos Correa
It is no secret that Correa had a rough 2018 season, primarily due to a recurring back injury that sidelined him for most of the summer. With an offseason of rest and rehab behind him, Correa looks to reclaim his status as one of the best young players in the game today. One area of interest to watch for this season: His performance against breaking pitches.
From 2015-17, Correa posted a .315 wOBA against breaking pitches. The league average wOBA for the same three seasons was .263. In 2018, Correa saw his wOBA against breaking pitches dramatically fall to .207 while the league average was .265.