Why Blue Jays' Grichuk is struggling despite numerous offensive gains - Sportsnet.ca

TORONTO – A deep dive into some Statcast data reveals some interesting things aboutcentre-fielder has dramatically cut back his chase of pitches outside the strike zone, from 33.3 to 24.2 per cent. He’s swinging at four per cent fewer pitches, too, down to 46.3, and when he does offer at a pitch, he’s making contact more often, as his whiff percentage is down from 28.1 to 21.8 per cent. His strikeout rate is also down, from 25.8 to 22.9 per cent, while his walk rate is up from 5.6 to 10.

Even with small sample size caveats applied, good stuff, all of it, and in theory, all those improvements should add up to a more productive hitter in the box. But to this point, Grichuk has barely delivered replacement-level production, his gains undermined by an alarming drop in average launch angle, from 16 to 4.1 degrees, which in turn has pushed his groundball rate up to 46.6 per cent.

“The exit velo is still there with the chase rate being down, which is a big key thing because a lot of guys can chase less but not hit the ball as hard, by being patient and being passive. I still want to be aggressive, while limiting my chase rate. I think I’ve been hitting the ball hard, just not getting it in the air. Positive game putting the ball in the air in three at-bats and we’ll see day-to-day what it looks like.

ShiDavidi I mean he’s batting 279 , I’m happy with that as he normally is a sub 240 hitter. I could care less about his power, we need guys hitting for average to get on base for the Bo Show

ShiDavidi A traditionally slow starter for a 60 game season is tough. Why not give Alford a chance to hit? Heck, he runs fast.

ShiDavidi Sign Bautista

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