Astros: 5 Candidates for Regression in 2022

Yuli Gurriel –  .319, 15 HR, 81 RBI

I expect some pushback on this one because everyone loves Yuli and he had a career year, which is fresh in the fans minds.

Gurriel appears ageless, but expecting a 38 year old (in June) who hit 20 points higher than he ever has in his Major League career to duplicate that feat is not a wise bet in my opinion.  That said, the right-hander could regress and still hit .300.

There’s also this: Gurriel’s expected batting average was 48 points below his actual average, which indicates the stars were aligned for Gurriel, at least to some degree, in 2021.

Even with the monster season, Gurriel is a career .293 hitter and I would expect his 2022 to be closer to that number than .319.