Brett Lawrie looks great at the plate

[reedjohnsonfan]

I got called out a couple of weeks back for saying he looks dangerous. His swing looks great this year as it's way quieter and he looks more focused and zeroed in. I think his bat speed looks faster than it was last year because of his adjustments. He has 5 no doubters he's been fouling balls straight back. With the 3rd lowest BABIP in the league, wait until those hard liners start falling in and we'll see a good batting average with 25+ HR from Lawrie... if he can stay on the field. What a fun guy to watch not only on D but at the plate.

[Jays]

He has 6 line drives this year.

[Chappy]

He has 6 line drives this year.

 

Yeah I found that odd too. Lawries has looked like complete and utter s*** at the plate. 5 HR's doesn't make up for complete s*** almost every other plate appearance.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

.244 wOBA

 

Looks great at plate.

[magits]

I got called out a couple of weeks back for saying he looks dangerous. His swing looks great this year as it's way quieter and he looks more focused and zeroed in. I think his bat speed looks faster than it was last year because of his adjustments. He has 5 no doubters he's been fouling balls straight back. With the 3rd lowest BABIP in the league, wait until those hard liners start falling in and we'll see a good batting average with 25+ HR from Lawrie... if he can stay on the field. What a fun guy to watch not only on D but at the plate.

 

Uh no he still has that ridiculous bat waggle that's making him late on half decent fastballs.

[HERPDERP]

Uh no he still has that ridiculous bat waggle that's making him late on half decent fastballs.

 

Funny enough, his swing isn't the worst on the team. Goins' waggle is just utter s*** and extremely late in his load. It's not a coincidence both are terrible this year.

[shortstop]

Uh no he still has that ridiculous bat waggle that's making him late on half decent fastballs.

 

it is the ridiculous waggle imo...

 

imo, I hope we keep him & not give up on him early...he has the mentality, desire and pedigree to be around a .300 hitter...i say mentality b/c he had it when he came up to the big club but lost it somewhere the next season...started chasing stuff he didn't chase and despite his home runs this year, continues to be late on pitches...and frustrating to watch how many 0-2 counts he gets himself into usually after watching a down the middle fastball called for strike 1...

[fatcowxlive]

.244 wOBA

 

Looks great at plate.

 

47 wRC+

 

Looks amazing imo

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Great,What you talking bout Willis!

 

Are you saying this with a straight face or did I miss the lol at the end?

 

He is actually all that is good and bad with the Jays!

 

All or nothing approach to hitting!

 

Hitting hrs does make him a great hitter!

 

See JPA in case you need a recent reference!

[Eragon]

Great,What you talking bout Willis!

 

Are you saying this with a straight face or did I miss the lol at the end?

 

He is actually all that is good and bad with the Jays!

 

All or nothing approach to hitting!

 

Hitting hrs does make him a great hitter!

 

See JPA in case you need a recent reference!

 

Don't!

 

Hate!

 

On!

 

Brett!

[xposbrad]

so was this a sarcastic post in regards to his slow start? Hopefully he picks it up, he needs to show he can start hitting.

[Candy Maldonado]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hkaYcnZhZwM/U1cdxgiX16I/AAAAAAAAHbM/btkCTqhuQYM/s1600/Lawrie-Stache.gif

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Don't!

 

Hate!

 

On!

 

Brett!

 

I don't hate Brett! Just wish he would hit more often! Right now he is not hitting great!

[BlueJayWay]

I didn't know there was another Brett Lawrie. We should try to acquire that one because ours has looked pretty terrible at the dish.

[Buster]

looked like a good at bat against Lerster just now

[John_Havok]

Hit an offspeed meatball like he should have. Doesn't mean his overall approach is sound.

 

Lets look at his pitch values this year and you can see why he's struggling so much.

 

FAstball value - -1.5 runs. IN his previous 3 years, +12.6, 6.4 and 7.2.

 

He's also well below his career norms against the offspeed stuff, with the exception of the splitter. Whether his issues are mechanical or approach related, he's getting bad results overall.

[ElNik2013]

You've gotta love how we were worried about Lawrie's power and he has 6 home runs already. On the other hand, let's hope that average goes up to around .275, with a .340 OBP and he maintains some of the power.

[John_Havok]

It's more the lack of solid contact overall that's the problem.

[ElNik2013]

It's more the lack of solid contact overall that's the problem.

 

 

It's concerning that he's been missing or not swinging at fastballs right in the middle. It happened yesterday in the 8th where he missed 2 of them before grounding into a FC.

[John_Havok]

Just checking his stats, he's swinging at fewer strikes(about 2% lower than his career averages), and when he does swing, he's making less contact (about 5% less than career averages). Swinging at 5% more balls out of the zone and making less contact on them by another 5%.

 

HIs overall swing rate is at 50% - appears he's not being as aggressive in the strike zone, and ends up swining more on balls out of the zone. Maybe pitch recognition issues or just not having a solid game plan on what he's looking for.

[reedjohnsonfan]

bump

 

best player

[Orgfiller]

bump

 

best player

 

I like him too but wut? Melky and Bautista so far>

[reedjohnsonfan]

I like him too but wut? Melky and Bautista so far>

 

Sorry.

 

Best non Dominican player.

[GD]

Anyone know where (and if) you can find a source for pitch location on swinging strikes? My initial comments regarding his stance, which I've repeated ad nauseum, is that he has opened up in his set-up ... he appears to be fairly consistent in his approach. If he pulls a ball, it's either a groundout or an HR (opening up and being more upright results in more power, more often). When he goes the opposite way, he's making weaker contact (as a result of opening up). Wondering if he's missing more inside, because he's seeing more "strikes" that aren't actually strikes, because his eyes haven't adjusted to his new stance, or if he's getting desperate to cover the outer half and flailing at offerings.

 

I'd also like to see the swinging strikes in the context of the count.

 

Brooks Baseball or Baseball Savant, probably.

[Jays]

Lawrie this year has a 16.7% HR/FB. Career 11.3%. He probably won't keep up the power he's showing unless something changes.

[crmr]

Lawrie this year has a 16.7% HR/FB. Career 11.3%. He probably won't keep up the power he's showing unless something changes.

 

It's funny this entire thread misses the point that he has a .145 babip and if anything is likely to change it's that

[crmr]

Just checking his stats, he's swinging at fewer strikes(about 2% lower than his career averages), and when he does swing, he's making less contact (about 5% less than career averages). Swinging at 5% more balls out of the zone and making less contact on them by another 5%.

 

HIs overall swing rate is at 50% - appears he's not being as aggressive in the strike zone, and ends up swining more on balls out of the zone. Maybe pitch recognition issues or just not having a solid game plan on what he's looking for.

 

This is good analysis (Really shows the broad picture) but these numbers could all be heavily influenced by a small early season sample.

 

Would be good to track his progression in these departments as the season goes on, I think we'll get a better idea in another 2 months as far as approach changes/ball seeing goes

[Cooler Heads Prevail]

Lawrie this year has a 16.7% HR/FB. Career 11.3%. He probably won't keep up the power he's showing unless something changes.

 

Aaron Hill's HR totals starting at age 23 : 3, 6, 17, 2 ( only 200 abs ), 36, 26. Not sure why you think young players can be accurately forecast.

[TheHurl]

You've gotta love how we were worried about Lawrie's power and he has 6 home runs already. On the other hand, let's hope that average goes up to around .275, with a .340 OBP and he maintains some of the power.

 

20% HR/FB rate is about what he needs to keep up in order to be a 25 HR guy. Honestly there is one guy that has a similar batted ball profile to Lawrie which is probably the best case scenario for Lawrie (and I warn you it's a bad word around here)...he might develop like Adam Jones. A few years of 100 to 110 wRC+ then if all things click he peaks as a 125 wRC+ guy. Assuming his defense still keeps up this will be a great situation.

 

Now that I think about it...Lawrie even has the same Douche profile as Jones.

[crmr]

Check his spray chart from 2014 to 2013 ... and then tell me if you can see if his BABIP so far is mostly "bad luck" or there's rhyme and reason to it (and, hint, check my earlier commentary, as it's based off both my eye, his pitch-by-pitch profile and the spray chart).

 

Check what month we're at in the calendar