A Consensus on Lucas Duda

[Guest themetfairy]

I like Duda. I want him to do well.

Fingers crossed!

[Centerfield]

Well that's the thing right? Does a spray hitting approach negatively impact his greatest strength (power). We'd all love for someone to hit for average and power. Easier said than done.

But anyway, my point is to state that Duda is not a true spray hitter. So the perception is somewhat well-founded.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

And my point is that the shift is probably most effective when it prevents home run hitters from trying to hit home runs

[A Boy Named Seo]

Another truly layman's observation, but guys today never (hardly ever?) cheat up a few inches the box. Most even have their back spike a few inches outside the batter's box. Those extra inches are probably necessary for the extra velocity nowadays, but cheating up a little can help catch 12-6 curves before they dip below the knees (or curves at the knees destined for the dirt), and hard sliders before break your bat on either side of the plate.

I don't think moving up a little in the box in ST would mean he's trying to become Tony Gwynn or anything, and would may help him stay on top of some breaking stuff, a bit more realistic than hoping he never swings at one out of the zone. If he's getting burned by heat over and over, just scrap the whole thing.

Signed,
Genius on the Internet

[Centerfield]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: And my point is that the shift is probably most effective when it prevents home run hitters from trying to hit home runs

Maybe. But maybe not. I don't think being a spray hitter and a HR hitter are mutually exclusive. Take a look at Carlos Gonzalez spray chart:

http://www.fangraphs.com/spraycharts.aspx?playerid=7287&position=OF&type=battedball

This looks like a guy with a .291 career average. The approach doesn't stop Carlos from hitting with power.

Trying a different approach may or may not work. Certainly it's hard, which is why the elite hitters are elite. But I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that he try.

Look what it did for Yoenis Cespedes over the last two years.

In 2014, Cespedes hit .260 and hit 22 HR's. His spray chart:

http://www.fangraphs.com/spraycharts.aspx?playerid=13110&position=OF&type=battedball&pid2=13110&ss1=2014&se1=2014&ss2=2014&se2=2014&cht1=hittype&cht2=battedball&vs1=ALL&vs2=ALL

In 2015, he started to spray the ball a bit more, and got better results, both in BA and in power.

By 2016, his spray chart looks a lot different:

http://www.fangraphs.com/spraycharts.aspx?playerid=13110&position=OF&type=battedball&pid2=13110&ss1=2016&se1=2016&ss2=2016&se2=2016&cht1=hittype&cht2=battedball&vs1=ALL&vs2=ALL

A lot more green on the second base side.

Now, it may or may not work with Duda. But how would we know without him trying?