What's Ailin' Old Fernando?

MetsGeek — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:40:05 -0000

Fernando Tatis, 2008 Comeback Player of the Year, has had an extremely down 2009. After posting a .372 wOBA in ’08, Tatis is down to .301 this year. His only saving grace has been his plus defense at first base (1.5 UZR) and left field (1.6 UZR). SNY announcers Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez have said that it looks like Tatis’s stance is different this year, leading him to flail off-balanced at pitches away. Do the numbers corroborate the claim?

Year	LD%	GB%	FB%	FB/HR%	K%
2008	25.6	42.3	32.1	15.9	21.6
2009	16.3	55.0	28.7	5.4	7.3

Wow. It seems as though Ron and Keith may be right after all. Tatis is striking out a rate about 1/3 as much as last year, but this hasn’t been a good thing for him, since his BABIP is just .264 (after .345 last year). From watching him play, it seems as though Tatis is more slouched over, trying to just make contact, whereas last year he was more upright, trying to hit the ball hard. Once again, the numbers seem to agree:

Year	O-Swing %	O-Contact %	Z-Contact %
2008	22.4	60.2	83.0
2009	24.1	70.3	90.5

So it looks like Tatis is not only making more contact, but he’s making it on pitches he probably shouldn’t be swinging at anyway. Maybe his high BABIP last year made him think that putting the ball in play would undoubtedly lead to a higher average. Regardles, Tatis’s problems are fixable, and hopefully he’ll be able to rebound for a stronger second half.

SB Nation User Blog: MetsGeek

What's Ailin' Old Fernando?