2019 Series #42 | Royals @ Indians | August 23, 24 and 25

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

Lost in a poor bullpen performance is the offense, particularly the top of the lineup, sleepwalking through the first 8 innings of today's game.

Glad to see Franmil playing better. Still swings at absolute junk at times though.

It's always difficult to see the pitches when you're in the ballpark. Was Franmil still swinging at awful pitches today?

Was hoping his two home run day meant he was coming out of his funk, but I like to judge people on what they do--not necessarily the result. If you make a bad decision but get a good result, that's still a bad decision.

 

[Urban]

It's always difficult to see the pitches when you're in the ballpark. Was Franmil still swinging at awful pitches today?

Was hoping his two home run day meant he was coming out of his funk, but I like to judge people on what they do--not necessarily the result. If you make a bad decision but get a good result, that's still a bad decision.

Not necessarily referring to anything specifically from yesterday. Just seems like all too often he gets himself down 0-2 early and sets himself up to chase junk out of the zone. I guess that comes with the territory of a guy who can hit you 40 HRs though

 

[Derek]

I think you're just going to have to live with Franmil chasing pitches. It's simply who he is. His chase rate is up 3.9% since joining the club, but it was already a sky high 34.3% in San Diego. And even as high as that is, it's still only 36th among qualified batters (146 batters).

The biggest difference is his swing and miss rate is up 5.4%, and he's seen a 10.9% drop off in his contact rate on swings out of the zone.

 

[shoes22]

I hesitate to just say “that’s who he is” when it’s only his second year in the big leagues. Franmil will probably always be on the less conservative side when it comes to swinging, but there’s still plenty of time to correct bad habits.

 

[Derek]

I hesitate to just say “that’s who he is” when it’s only his second year in the big leagues. Franmil will probably always be on the less conservative side when it comes to swinging, but there’s still plenty of time to correct bad habits.

I'm not saying he can't improve. The slight difference between his Cleveland numbers and San Diego numbers even show that. I'm just saying, he's probably always going to chase more than the average batter. That, however, doesn't prevent him from being an extremely productive hitter.

For example, Javy Baez is fifth in chase rate, and second in swinging strikes. He's still easily an above average offensive player though.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

I think we're all in agreement on Franmil. Good stuff.

It's interesting that his chase rate is pretty much on-par with SD, while his swing and miss is what's up. If he can start ironing out the swing and miss stuff, and continue hitting rockets, his presence in the lineup is going to be really nice.

I usually just scoff at lineup order, but does anyone think there might be some benefit to putting a high chase guy like Franmil immediately after a never-chase guy like Santana? Even as I say it, it feels like stupid theory crafting, but I wouldn't hate the experiment. I'm for anything to keep opposing pitchers out of a comfort zone and make them adjust/change between at bats.

 

[Derek]

I think we're all in agreement on Franmil. Good stuff.

It's interesting that his chase rate is pretty much on-par with SD, while his swing and miss is what's up. If he can start ironing out the swing and miss stuff, and continue hitting rockets, his presence in the lineup is going to be really nice.

I usually just scoff at lineup order, but does anyone think there might be some benefit to putting a high chase guy like Franmil immediately after a never-chase guy like Santana? Even as I say it, it feels like stupid theory crafting, but I wouldn't hate the experiment. I'm for anything to keep opposing pitchers out of a comfort zone and make them adjust/change between at bats.

I don't really believe that line-up construction helps/hurts individual performances, but it can't hurt to try putting him in a different situation. With Jose out, Lindor and Santana are our only without a doubt positive offensive players. No harm in mixing things up.

Just about everybody else borders on average, so it'll just be trying to catch lightning in a bottle.

 

[daddywags]

I think we're all in agreement on Franmil. Good stuff.

It's interesting that his chase rate is pretty much on-par with SD, while his swing and miss is what's up. If he can start ironing out the swing and miss stuff, and continue hitting rockets, his presence in the lineup is going to be really nice.

I usually just scoff at lineup order, but does anyone think there might be some benefit to putting a high chase guy like Franmil immediately after a never-chase guy like Santana? Even as I say it, it feels like stupid theory crafting, but I wouldn't hate the experiment. I'm for anything to keep opposing pitchers out of a comfort zone and make them adjust/change between at bats.

Fun fact - Reyes had his highest number of at bats, highest batting average and highest OPS hitting second for San Diego this season. Only mentioned because it seems weird to me. I still wouldn't put the added pressure of hitting cleanup on him this season. He's still settling in.