Ya but he still took 6-7 pitches, that's a quality AB even if you don't get a hit, iirc.
Sometimes the release point can fool him when he thinks the ball is coming in more (esp the fastball) but it just stays outside. Unfortunately, Vlad doesn't want to go the other way for whatever reason, so he has to swing to pull on that fastball rather than waiting to see if the fastball will get to his sweet spot and swing late to drive it the other way.