June 29-July 1: It's hot, really hot this weekend (no, not the Tigers and Jays)

[Skin Blues]

My theory is he can only play in warm weather.

Alternate theory: he's been this good all year and due to the objectively worst batted ball luck in April, everybody thought he sucked.

No matter his batted ball luck, his strike out rate in June was 12.5% lower than it was in April.

He has a 30% career K-rate. That's who he is. Fluctuating 1.2 percentage points above that for a month does not call for the extreme disgust by people on here. For the bipolar forum-goers who now think he's all of a sudden a superstar, that sub-20% k-rate in June ain't sticking around, either.

"how long are we allowed to leave him on a rehab assignment in order to avoiding putting such a bad player in the lineup?"

"he's a liability against minor league pitching"

LOL

[manjusaka]

My theory is he can only play in warm weather.

Alternate theory: he's been this good all year and due to the objectively worst batted ball luck in April, everybody thought he sucked.

No matter his batted ball luck, his strike out rate in June was 12.5% lower than it was in April.

Grichuk hoping change in mechanics at the plate will bring positive results
Published:June 1, 2018

“Being able to stand up more (in the batter’s box) is going to allow me to just kind of eliminate some of the holes and just be in a good position to hit,” Grichuk said. “Standing up taller will give me a lot cleaner bat path, staying above the ball and be able to come down to the ball.

“Anybody that plays knows it’s hard to change up a swing, or a stance, in the middle of a season and know you have to go out and get four at-bats that night and try to perform.

“I always felt more comfortable squatting down low and it created some holes.”

He made mechanical change before coming off the DL. Base on his own words, it not just BABIP luck. the strike out rate in June backed his statement. I would also believe he had far less swinging strike in the month of June compare to rest of his career, but don't have the number.

[Skin Blues]

Base on his own words, it not just BABIP luck.

Players almost never make any excuses for poor results. Whether he chooses to believe it or not, and even if he changes his approach (remains to be seen if there are any lasting changes compared to the player he was for the 400+ games he played prior to June) it was indisputably BABIP luck that suppressed his April wOBA/AVG/OBP/SLG/HR/whatever-you-prefer-to-look-at. We can break it down into individual batted balls to see exactly how unlucky he was. I did this in April, although obviously nobody cared.

[rotty]

These red jerseys are a curse. Hate them

[Lateral Quicks]

Alternate theory: he's been this good all year and due to the objectively worst batted ball luck in April, everybody thought he sucked.

No matter his batted ball luck, his strike out rate in June was 12.5% lower than it was in April.

He has a 30% career K-rate. That's who he is. Fluctuating 1.2 percentage points above that for a month does not call for the extreme disgust by people on here. For the bipolar forum-goers who now think he's all of a sudden a superstar, that sub-20% k-rate in June ain't sticking around, either.

"how long are we allowed to leave him on a rehab assignment in order to avoiding putting such a bad player in the lineup?"

"he's a liability against minor league pitching"

LOL

I highly doubt anyone thinks he's suddenly a superstar - just having some fun with his very small sample size. That said, he did make some very significant changes to his batting stance, which gives reason for some optimism.

[Tanner]

Since coming off the DL he has a 18.7% k% but is still hitting with a lot of power and no real babip luck (.283). Even if he was the same player he always was but provided above average defence and base running he’d probably be a 2 war player. If he’s made any sort of adjustment that is long lasting then he has a chance to be really good. This regime fixed Smoak at age 30. Grichuk is younger. He might have another gear in him.

[rotty]

hopefully pillars catch raised his trade value

[So_Fresh]

1. Curtis Granderson (L) DH
2. Randal Grichuk (R) RF
3. Yangervis Solarte (S) 3B
4. Teoscar Hernandez (R) LF
5. Kendrys Morales (S) 1B
6. Kevin Pillar (R) CF
7. Aledmys Diaz (R) SS
8. Luke Maile (R) C
9. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R) 2B

[johanliebert]

I am done with pillar

[vaff87]

Kendrys Morales playing third? WTF?

[Schad]

Kendrys Morales playing third? WTF?

Fat third basemen is the new Moneyball.

At age 35, that's the first position Morales has played in the field beyond 1B, RF...and pitcher, of course.

[vaff87]

Kendrys Morales playing third? WTF?

Fat third basemen is the new Moneyball.

At age 35, that's the first position Morales has played in the field beyond 1B, RF...and pitcher, of course.

How many World Series does Sandoval have again?

We’re in good shape with Vladdy, I guess.

[BigLeagueChew]

Hes no Astudillo

[vaff87]

Hes no Astudillo

Goes without saying. That’s why we had to sign his cousin.

[JaysRule15]

Bautista is coming home tomorrow. I'm excited af.

[Lateral Quicks]

Very promising start from Borucki. And we optioned Sweeney less than a week after recalling him? Did Sweeney run over someone's cat, or did Ross Atkins accidentally type Sweeney's name instead of Gurriel's?