Vlad Jr. has a fastball problem. His launch angle on four-seamers in the heart of the plate he's hit to pull side this year? -7 degrees. His overall rate of pulled air balls is down. His FG run value on fastballs has gone from +40 in 2021 to +2 this year.
Now his contact ability remains borderline elite. Lowest K% of his career.
He's still 93rd percentile in exit velo (was 99th in '21). But an adjustment is necessarily to do more damage on the pitch types, fastballs, he faces half of the time. The good news is, plenty of guys (including Bryce Harper +45 FG runs vs fastball in '15, +7 in '16) have made it.
He's still at an age when most guys are debuting in the majors. Thoughts on Vlad, the Angels, and more here:
thescore.com/mlb/news/27086…