MLB: Five Hitters Likely to Hit Worse in the Second Half

Jackie Bradley, Jr., Boston Red Sox

.296/.378/.548, .926 OPS, .342 BABIP—Current stats

.238/.317/.409, .725 OPS, .305 BABIP—Career stats

.264/.341/.446, .788 OPS, .326 BABIP—Projection

Jackie Bradley, Jr. has had an interesting career. Going back to 2014, when he first starting getting somewhat regular playing time, here are his monthly OPS marks, with plate appearances:

.716 OPS, 90 PA—March/April 2014

.490 OPS, 94 PA—May 2014

.550 OPS, 87 PA—June 2014

.672 OPS, 77 PA—July 2014

.348 OPS, 39 PA—August 2014

.056 OPS, 36 PA—Sep/October 2014

Did not play—March/April 2015

.154 OPS, 13 PA—May 2015

.641 OPS, 22 PA—June 2015

.282 OPS, 11 PA—July 2015

1.163 OPS, 91 PA—August 2015

.739 OPS, 118 PA—Sep/October 2015

.807 OPS, 89 PA—March/April 2016

1.175 OPS, 114 PA—May 2016

.805 OPS, 102 PA—June 2016

.806 OPS, 39 PA—July 2016

Acknowledging that months are arbitrary endpoints (but easy to look up), over the last 15 months of playing time, Bradley has had two HUGE months (August 2015 and May 2016), eight bad months, and five months with an OPS between .716 and .807. This season, he’s been steady in the .800-ish range except for that big May. His rest-of-season projection is for a .788 OPS. This .800-ish OPS version of Jackie Bradley, Jr. is likely the Jackie Bradley, Jr. we will see in the second half.

Next: The reclamation project