Matt Olson of the Athletics leads the majors in striking out with 32 Ks. What caught my eye was his slash line, .274/.354/.425. That looks more like a selective lead-off hitter than a high strikeout power hitter. In 2017, Olson was a pure home run hitter. Of his 49 hits, 24 were home runs, two were doubles, and 23 were singles. What changed?
The batted ball stats as FanGraphs suggest Olson lowered his launch angle. His percentage of fly balls is way down and his percentage line drives is way up from 2017. Olson is hitting for a higher batting average and getting on base a little more, but his slugging percentage is way down. He’s not striking out any less.
I don’t know what is better. I suspect hitting the ball squarely on a line is the better approach, and as he refines it, ball will leave the park. If he is going to swing that hard, and strike out that much, he will need to move runners a long way when he does make contact.
from baseballmusings.com https://ift.tt/2HMGxyv
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