Reasons vary for uptick in power
As fantasy owners, we’re always trying to figure out what makes a player successful or unsuccessful.
Is there a reason why he’s producing better or worse than we expected? And were our expectations even realistic in the first place?
With the best of the best gathering at Petco Park for the All-Star Game last week, I was able to ask some of this year’s All-Star Game participants about the keys to their success so far in 2016. Their words also lend insight as to whether they might be able to keep up that success.
POWERING UP
The significant increase in home runs this season was a hot topic during All-Star week.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked about it at his annual meeting with the Baseball Writers Association of America. (He said he was confident MLB’s stringent drug-testing procedures were ensuring the rise wasn’t due to steroids and stressed that there has been no change made to the baseballs.)
Perhaps the best explanation was offered by the Chicago Cubs’ who attributed it to the sheer number of pitchers in the game today who can throw 95 mph and above.
“The speed has gone up, and when the speed goes up, the velocity off the bat when you hit it on the barrel is going to go up, too,” Zobrist said. “For me that makes sense that the ball is going to go further. I don’t think guys are any stronger than they were.”
For fantasy owners, home runs have come from some surprising sources. Houston Astros second baseman
entered the week with 14 home runs, one short of the career-high 15 he hit last year.
“I’m not going up there just to swing, I’m there with a plan. I think that’s why maybe I’m hitting a little bit more for power,” Altuve said.
The extra power hasn’t come at the expense of batting average either. He was leading the American League with a .340 average. Throw in his 24 steals in 27 attempts and Altuve has been the most valuable fantasy player so far. But the additional power is what’s driving his value.
“Maybe I’m not trying to put the ball in play anymore,” he said. “I’m trying to drive the ball. That’s what’s happening.”
Hitting .348, Washington Nationals second baseman was the only player in the majors with a higher average than Altuve’s. He, too, is hitting for more power this season.
“I’m just looking for a pitch in my zone, and I’m trying to hit it as hard as I can,” Murphy said. “If it ends up going over the fence, it’s an unexpected bonus.”
Murphy’s power surge began at the end of last season, and especially in the playoffs, when he hit seven homers in 14 games.
Murphy’s 18 homers already represented a career high.
“It’s always nice when you mold a little bit of your approach as an athlete to have success doing it,” he said. “Finishing the year last year and then having success this year helps with confidence.” Cincinnati Reds outfielder
had hit 23 homers in the first half and earned a spot in the All-Star Game Home Run Derby.
He’d always hit for power in the minors but couldn’t break through in the majors — until the Reds acquired him from the San Francisco Giants late last season.
“A huge part of this journey is to be able to get everyday at-bats and be able get into a rhythm and get hot and maybe have a week where you hit four or five home runs,” Duvall said. The majors’ leading home run hitter is
of the Baltimore Orioles, who has been valuable to fantasy owners not just for his ability to hit for power, but also for average.
His 28 homers entering the week were just six short of his career best, and his .287 average was nearly 20 points higher than he has ever hit for a season.
Trumbo credits working with Edgar Martinez last year in Seattle with the Mariners and hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh of the Orioles for helping him become a more complete hitter.
“Ideally I’d like to strike out a little bit less, but generally I think you’ll find that when guys are bigger power hitters, there are more strikeouts that go along with it … and more walks,” he said.
While he plays his home games in hitterfriendly Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Trumbo has been just as prolific on the road. His 28 home runs were split evenly, home and away.
TAKING THE NEXT STEP
There’s another group of hitters who were solid players before but have been able to put everything together during All-Star seasons. Boston Red Sox outfielder
hit below .200 his first two seasons in the majors and just .249 in 2015. However, the momentum from a strong second half of last season seems to have carried over.
He changed his approach at the plate — and it has made a world of difference.
“I think just being aggressive with balls in the strike zone, stop being so passive,” he said of the key to his turnaround. “Be aggressive with pitches in the zone and attack the pitchers as they are attacking you.”
Bradley had a 29-game hitting streak this season and entered the week with a .299 average and 14 home runs.
Red Sox teammate entered the week third in the AL in hitting with a .322 average. That’s not a huge surprise since he was the runner-up to Miguel Cabrera in last year’s batting race.
However, the problem fantasy owners had with Bogaerts was that he didn’t hit for enough power. But that’s starting to change.
“I can feel it,” he said. “I’m kinda pulling the ball a little bit more, which is unusual for me.”
Bogaerts hit 10 home runs in the first half and added No. 11 in the first game back from the break.
“It’s not that I want to pull, it’s just that they start pitching me in, in, in that it’s become a habit now, and I can’t go the other way on a regular basis as I would want to.”
While the extra base hits are nice, he’d rather be able to string together base hits on a regular basis. But if pitchers are going to challenge him inside, he has been able to make them pay. For Washington Nationals catcher
the difference between this season and last is like night and day — because he’s able to see much better. Ramos had eye surgery in the offseason, and that has made a tremendous difference in the way he has been able to pick up the ball.
“Last year and the year before, I was swinging at a lot of bad pitches out of the zone,” he said. “Right now, I’ve got my plan. I know what I want to do when I’m hitting. The surgery helped me to recognize the pitch really well, so I’m very happy for that.”
The results have been amazing. After hitting .229 with a .258 on-base percentage in 128 games a year ago, Ramos entered the week with a .327 average and .380 OBP. He was on pace to obliterate his career highs in home runs, RBI and runs. Those numbers made him the most valuable catcher in fantasy over the first half of the season.
Ramos’ .352 average on balls in play indicate he probably won’t continue to challenge for the National League batting title, but his improved strikeout and walk rates validate his assertion that he’s seeing the ball much better.
FOLLOW SENIOR FANTASY EDITOR STEVE GARDNER