bryant sucks bandPUBLICACCESS

[David]

this is thread for being afraid that bryant won't ever get better and will never make contact again

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I don't think he will get much better than he's been this year. But he's been playing at a 6-win pace, so I'm OK with that.

[Guest]

I don't think he will get much better than he's been this year. But he's been playing at a 6-win pace, so I'm OK with that.

 

 

that pace implies he can do what he did in april, may, and june again

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I don't think he will get much better than he's been this year. But he's been playing at a 6-win pace, so I'm OK with that.

 

 

that pace implies he can do what he did in april, may, and june again

 

Indeed it does.

[UMFan83]

Has struck out in 46% of his ABs the last 21 games

[Derwood]

He'll lead the majors in K's, so that's something

[Hairyducked Idiot]

He'll lead the majors in K's, so that's something

 

If Javy is called up in the next week, he might catch him.

[Guest]

you people

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm way more concerned about Soler.

[Clem Fandango]

I'm way more concerned about Soler.

 

Yup. Bryant is basically doing what I kind of expected him to do. Run hot, run cold, strike out a lot, draw a lot of walks. I'm not worried about him.

 

Soler I'm worried about. Wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs dangle him out there in the offseason for trade if he doesn't show any sign of improvement.

[Guest]

eh bryant looks much more helpless to me

 

soler just looks like a guy who has to make some adjustments

[Hairyducked Idiot]

eh bryant looks much more helpless to me

 

soler just looks like a guy who has to make some adjustments

 

Soler is almost literally Pedro Cerrano. He can't hit anything offspeed, at all, and teams have figured that out. He's holding at replacement level despite a .371 BABIP.

 

That's not something you can just easily adjust, imo.

[Guest]

bryant can't hit fastballs down the middle soooo

[Hairyducked Idiot]

bryant can't hit fastballs down the middle soooo

 

What about hanging sliders?

http://m.mlb.com/video/v302995383/colchc-bryant-walks-cubs-off-with-tworun-homer

[imb]

There is only schwarbs

[ctcf]

you people

[ctcf]

I'll go on the record as thinking this is a product of the league adjusting to him after a very productive start and that he's going through an adjustment process of is own. He's a rookie and I'm honestly not worried yet.

[treebird]

Last 7 days .167 .389 .167 .556

Last 14 days .139 .250 .306 .556

Last 28 days .135 .258 .270 .529

 

http://i.imgur.com/wWEj83R.gif

[Guest]

bryant can't hit fastballs down the middle soooo

 

What about hanging sliders?

http://m.mlb.com/video/v302995383/colchc-bryant-walks-cubs-off-with-tworun-homer

 

this was right after russell scalded a ball and then david ross hit one to the warning track, IIRC

 

dude was throwing BP. bryant should've had him at the home run derby instead of his dad.

[DiamondMind]

I'm way more concerned about Soler.

[Clem Fandango]

Last 7 days .167 .389 .167 .556

Last 14 days .139 .250 .306 .556

Last 28 days .135 .258 .270 .529

 

http://i.imgur.com/wWEj83R.gif

 

You just can't find that kind of consistency in today's game.

[Banedon]

Even more concerning.....I think he's the first rookie ever to go through a slump.

 

http://reactiongif.org/wp-content/uploads/GIF/2014/08/GIF-afraid-fear-scared-scary-scream-GIF.gif

[sontensei]

So, I dug up this old article and its interesting in regards to Bryant's K's and swing.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/kris-bryants-one-offensive-question-mark/

 

Even in the minors his contact rate was below 70%

 

69% at AA

65% at AAA

 

"Bryant’s Triple-A contact rate ranks 25th-lowest since 2008. I already noted Springer and Baez. Brandon Hicks has also been in the same territory. Somewhat distressingly, you also see Mike Olt‘s name, not that Olt has ever drawn as much praise as Bryant has. In case I need to keep issuing reminders, Bryant is a better prospect than Olt ever was, but Olt was thought of as a good prospect once upon a time, and contact problems have contributed to his being a disappointment.

 

If you look in the majors, since 2002, 23 players have batted at least 1,000 times while posting contact rates no higher than 70%. Of those, only four players come in below 65% — Russell Branyan, Wily Mo Pena, Kelly Shoppach, and Mark Reynolds. Only two other players in the group have made contact with fewer than two-thirds of their swings. This whole pool has averaged a 108 wRC+. The superstars are Jim Thome and Giancarlo Stanton. The lesser stars include Richie Sexson, Jack Cust, Ryan Howard, and later-career Sammy Sosa. Thome could be the ultimate Bryant upside, handedness be damned, but Thome maxed out the rest of his offensive profile. If Bryant is going to keep swinging and missing, then if he wants to be highly productive, he needs to get as much as possible out of his eye and his power."

 

 

 

Also his Iowa Coach was saying he has a hole in his swing

From an old Des Moines Register article last winter..

 

 

“He’s got a few things that he’s got to work on at the plate,” Pevey said. “He’s got a hole that he’s got to fill in and I won’t mention where that hole is. He knows where that hole is and we’ve discussed it.”

 

Basically, his swing is gonna generate a ton of whiffs. Will he fix it? I think its up to his Dad.

[KingCubsFan]

eh bryant looks much more helpless to me

 

soler just looks like a guy who has to make some adjustments

If Soler qualified, he'd lead the majors in LD%. I still think he's getting screwed on called strikes (although I don't really have any data to back that up). He should add some loft to his swing, but I think he's going to be fine.

[Burt Macklin, FBI]

There are two sides to this slump.

 

1) We're seeing a guy who normally struggles to make contact REALLY struggling to make contact. Which is of course concerning, because that's a quick and dirty ticket back to the minors (see 2014 - Baez, Javier). But we're also seeing...

 

2) Bad luck. Bryant is still doing Bryant things - ie when he hits the ball, he hits it really hard. He's 24/188 in Hard% in July, at 40% (which is right in line with his May and June). This comes with a .214 BABIP, which everyone here knows is not going to stay that low. But his HR/FB is also low for how hard he's hitting the ball (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/what-hard-hit-rate-means-for-batters/). If you want a quick and dirty estimate (professional statisticians look away now) you can pull that correlation and say his HR/FB should be more like 18%, which would give him 2 more homeruns on the month and push his line to .189/.288/.453/.741.

 

So be terrified of the complete lack of contact. I am. But we're also seeing why Bryant is special - he may be one of the few players who can survive such a high K% because he just hits the ball so damn hard.