DirkPiggler
Well-known member
How have Riley's swing/contact numbers looked thus far this year? Any improvement?
It's obvious the easy to find/interpret stats haven't gotten any better.
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How have Riley's swing/contact numbers looked thus far this year? Any improvement?
It's obvious the easy to find/interpret stats haven't gotten any better.
Southcack77
Well-known member
Pitch Info Plate Discipline
ProjectionsMinor LeaguesRegular MLB Seasons
Season Team O-Swing% Z-Swing% Swing% O-Contact% Z-Contact% Contact% Zone% Pace
2019 Braves 34.7% 80.4% 56.2% 42.6% 73.5% 63.4% 47.0% 23.3
2020 Braves 28.1% 75.4% 52.8% 48.9% 75.0% 68.4% 52.2%
Total - - - 33.3% 79.2% 55.4% 43.8% 73.9% 64.5% 48.2% 23.3
ProjectionsMinor LeaguesRegular MLB Seasons
Season Team O-Swing% Z-Swing% Swing% O-Contact% Z-Contact% Contact% Zone% Pace
2019 Braves 34.7% 80.4% 56.2% 42.6% 73.5% 63.4% 47.0% 23.3
2020 Braves 28.1% 75.4% 52.8% 48.9% 75.0% 68.4% 52.2%
Total - - - 33.3% 79.2% 55.4% 43.8% 73.9% 64.5% 48.2% 23.3
OcalaBrave
Spring Training Invitee
That does seem to be the question: Does he struggle because he doesn't have the bat speed or because confidence in his approach at the plate is deficient and he doesn't know what to expect leaving him pure guess work? If it is bat speed, it will consistently be a problem. If it is simply gaining confidence at a level we can expect improvement. His struggles at almost every progression through the system indicate to me it is likely a confidence/comfort issue. 50 ABs at home vs. 50 ABs on the road also seem to indicate a confidence/comfort issue. I hope I am right.
good
jpx7
Very Flirtatious, but Doubts What Love Is.
There was no lineup tonight ...
CyYoung31
Shift Leader
Yes, there was one posted.
It's not bat speed. Hitters don't generate above average exit velocities with poor bat speed.
For hitters it's 1 of 2 things:
1. A physical inability to see pitches, have the brain recognize something (spin, trajectory, location, or whatever MLB hitters recognize that we mortals can't), make a decision on which muscles to activate (swing or don't swing), fire those electrical impulses to the muscles, and then those fast twitch muscles reacting quickly to make the bat hit the ball. I suspect that portion of the hit tool is pure genetics, and either that biological system is MLB caliber, or it isn't...sort of like height. For 99% of humans, that system is lacking, and they can't be baseball players no matter what they do.
2. A long swing that takes (for example) .15 seconds to get through the zone rather than .13 seconds. Riley has had issues with an arm bar delaying his swing. We see guys like Francoeur with a horrid bat wrap lengthening a swing. Sometimes guys have a super long hand load, or a sweeping bat path. Conversely, someone like Acuna has no bat wrap, very little hand load, and fires the bat from a position fairly far from his body (his swing really is beautiful). To me, those issues can be identified and improved. Unfortunately, I don't have the means nor the expertise to even attempt to pretend I know how to diagnose or fix those issues. There are guys who do though...
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They have gotten better. He has improved from worst in baseball in both areas to just really bad. Something like #130-150 out of 175 hitters in 2020 with his number of PAs. With those improvements, he has improved from being a bad hitter to a below average hitter...at 3B.
So I can buy he is improving, but the issue is that improvement isn't enough. The REAL issue is that having a cheap replacement level player (0-1 WAR) at 3B is probably acceptable for this team considering the massive holes in the rotation. If Soroka was still walking, and Folty was still sane, Hamels loved baseball at all, and Wright or Touki figured out how to do anything consistently on the mound, upgrading 3B would probably be a much more pressing need.