X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community!

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Batting Stance Adjustments Leading to Early Breakouts

It has been a wild and crazy season, to say the least, to start 2020. With samples still very small, the numbers are off a lot of the time in one direction or the other. This is why diving in and finding tangible change can be the difference in the production sustaining or it being a hot streak. This drove me to look into swing mechanics and launch angle changes to a few hot starters. Next thing you know, there were five I have found so far.

We will take a look at the swing changes and the underlying numbers that are showing changes to follow. If or when production follows a tangible change, I buy in. Let’s see what these five players who have made some adjustments look like under the hood.

The last thing I want to note is that I am not a scout and do not pretend to be. I simply find the obvious changes and show them. The big takeaway for me here is digging into the numbers following the changes.

Featured Promo: For this week only, take 50% off any full-season or yearly Premium Pass on the site! Just enter discount code THANKS when checking out. Thanks for being a reader, and Happy Holidays! Sign Up Now!

 

Eric Hosmer (1B, SD)

Unfortunately, Eric Hosmer has missed most of the year due to a stomach ailment. He is currently on the IL. He could be a solid hitter this year if in fact the fly-ball tendencies continue. There is not much to add in terms of changes in the numbers or production due to the lack of games played and overall available data.

This is just simply something to monitor and if your are in a position to take on a stash to your team, buy low or pick him him off the waiver wire if he has been dropped.

 

Carlos Correa (SS, HOU)

Carlos Correa continues to hit well to start the year. He is currently slashing .389/488/.639 and we have seen imoproved plate discipline as well. The early walk rate is a career-best 14.0%. The strikeout rate is also down to 18.6%. The lowest it has been since 2015.

He is chasing a lot less to start the year. With an O-Swing% of 26.1% and a swinging strike rate of just 8.7% he is showing the plate discipline but also not swinging through a lot of pitches either. He has managed to increase his O-Contact rate and keep his Z-Contact rate similar to last season's rate. This shows he is being selective and when he swings, contact is made.

The launch angle has come down a bit to 18.6 degrees. This is still a career-high mark and with it the ground ball rate continues to remain low. Currently sitting at 28.6% while the line drive rate is heavily benefited by this. This will play well to the batting average and BABIP sustaining a bit.

Advertising

We are finally seeing the potential and health come together. With these changes, I buy in on Correa for the 2020 season.

 

Kyle Lewis (OF, SEA)

This is one of the more noticeable swing changes entering 2020. We have seen Lewis jump to an unsustainable start in 2020 but that does not mean he can't hold on to some of the production. He was a target for late power, but with the new approach and swing, it could lead to less home runs but also less of a hindrance on the batting average as well.

Currently, Lewis has three home runs and a triple slash of .375/.423/.583. He is on an absolute tear. The expected stats show regression but he could still sustain solid production. The big red flag is the strikeout rate. It is at 36.5%. Similar to last years start. He also whiffs a bit much so the whole in the swing is very real. Unfortunately, the average launch angle has since dipped from 6.6 degree when the tweet went out, to just 1.1 degrees. This is concerning. It has caused the ground ball rate spike back up to nearly what it was in 2019.

The line drive rate (44.8%) is amazing and will lend itself to sustaining a better batting average than expected but the swing-and-miss will combat that notion. He does have plus-speed as well and will further assist the BABIP and batting average floor.

We also see improved plate discipline with the chase rate (25.9%) down 7.8% from 2019. The SwStr% also dropped 2.7% down to 15%. Which is still higher than we want to see but still an improvement and something positive to note.

He is also swinging less but making similar contact so that could help explain the dip in SwStr%. Ultimately, he is a sell high candidate. I expect a decent year but the peripherals suggest he could be in for a bit of a fall from grace. If you can't find a buyer, ride the hot streak until the wheels fall off.

 

Wil Myers (OF, SD)

Wil Myers has always been a player I could not quit. He made mention of pivoting his back foot and we can clearly see it occurring here. He is still striking out more than we would like. That issue started last year.

He has stolen a base and hit three home runs to date, so that alone already provides value at his ADP entering this year. He has adjusted the ground ball rate since this tweet went out. It has improved to currently a career-best 34.8% with most of the improvement going towards the fly ball rate.

Advertising

Myers has also started hitting the ball up the middle. pull rate is down 7.4% and the cent% is up 7.1%. Almost an exact trade off. He has also improved the plate discipline. Chasing the ball a lot more and decreased his awing strikes. He has done so, while also improving his contact rate overall and in the zone.

The statcast date is all positive as well. Every metric for hitting is in the 74th percentile or better. With the exception of whiff% that is. This explains the strikeouts. Wil Myers is back and you should be starting him with confidence moving forward. At the very least, take advantage of the market and need for steals and shop him.

 

Bradley Zimmer (OF, CLE)

Bradley Zimmer has pedigree and offered promise a couple of years ago. He has since battled through injuries and has been left behind in the minds of fantasy owners. He is finally back from injury and playing semi-regularly. He has made a swing adjustment two-straight seasons.

The big reason this is worth noting was the abrupt increase in the launch angle. He is attempting to elevate the ball more. This is not surprising as the league has made this transition as a whole.

The launch angle currently sits at 29 degrees even. This is after posting seasons with: 0.6, 5.3 and 8.2 degrees. In response, you have seen a huge drop in ground balls (37.5%) and the bid jump taking place in fly balls (37.5%). With this, the pull rate has climbed tremendously as well. Up to 43.8%, he is committing to the fly ball revolution.

With playing time up in the air and inconsistent, it is hard to make room on your roster right now but it is worth monitoring and if the production begins to follow, scoop him up.

 

Nick Castellanos (OF, CIN)

I posted this the morning before Nick Castellanos took Bieber deep for his sixth home run of the season. He is on an absolute tear. The Statcast numbers (broken down in the thread) show it. Everything seems sustainable to a point. Sure, he will regress a bit but with this swing change, came a launch angle increase which in turn increased the fly balls. That change will be the catalyst for sustained production. He also began pulling the ball more. Combining the two in this park will greatly benefit the power production.

 

Advertising

Fernando Tatis Jr. (SS, SD)

This thread is fully up-to-date as I am writing this article. It breaks it all down. He has improved his plate discipline early on this year. Tatis Jr. also increased his launch angle and has been more of an all-fields hitter. This allows for him to outproduce certain metrics.

Regardless, he has been every bit worth of that late first or early second-round pick you had to use on him. With three home runs and three stolen bases early on, he is providing everything you were hoping to get from him and more.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy baseball app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, sleepers, prospects & more. All free!



More 2020 Fantasy Baseball Advice




LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

WIN MORE IN 2024

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

ROTOBALLER PLAYER NEWS

RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Alexis Diaz fantasy baseball closers rankings draft sleepers waiver wire pickups

MLB Closers and Saves: Fantasy Baseball Depth Charts

Saves are an important component for many fantasy baseball leagues. Closers are one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball, and one of the highest turnover positions in MLB. Each year, closers drop like flies and many MLB teams make in-season changes due to injuries or poor performance. In addition to closers and saves, relief... Read More


Do These Prospects Matter for Fantasy Baseball?

The 2023 fantasy baseball season has been highlighted by the promotion of nearly two-dozen top prospects to the major leagues to impact fantasy rosters. This week's edition features one player who was called up as the piece was being written. Will these strong performers join the ranks of those who have moved to the majors... Read More


clayton kershaw fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

articles report test

this is a test


Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome back! It's Week 24 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! There are just two precious weeks left, and every start is becoming more and more important as most of the fantasy baseball world is in playoff matchups. If you've made it this far, there's a good chance you don't really... Read More


Aaron Nola - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Starts & Sits for MLB Week 23 - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers! Big week in fantasy leagues as we approach the end of the season and playoffs! As always, we are here with our starting pitcher starts and sits series to help you set those winning lineups for the week ahead! For those who are not familiar, RotoBaller puts out a weekly grid of... Read More


Gunnar Henderson - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Prospects, Draft Sleepers

Points League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome to Week 24 and our fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters. We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform,... Read More


Brayan Bello - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Yo, it's Jon Anderson, continuing to run the show here in terms of late-summer fantasy baseball writing. There are just two weeks left of streaming pitchers, so let's make it count! This weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column aims to identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy baseball week,... Read More


Fantasy Baseball Week 24 Injury News and Updates: Tyler Glasnow, Ozzie Albies, Starling Marte, Anthony Rizzo, Zack Wheeler

September is now more than half over. The baseball season is slowly coming to a close. At this point, fantasy players are pushing for their league titles or just playing for pride. Major League Baseball teams continue to do the same and injuries continue to happen, now with the dreaded term "done for the season"... Read More


Joe Musgrove - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/17/22)

Happy Saturday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/17/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Today's MLB slates are split up as is the norm for September baseball. Half the guys I think will play will not, so you have to be as flexible as Gumby to play MLB DFS in September, but that also means that there is a lot of money out there should you dare to dive... Read More


Max Fried - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/15/22)

Happy Friday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


Robbie Ray - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, Draft Sleepers

DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/16/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Fridays are big MLB DFS days and offer a nice respite from the NFL, who command our attention on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. This slate, like most Friday slates, is a big one as all MLB teams are in action today and 28 of those teams are on tonight's 14-game DFS slate. This was a... Read More


kyle farmer fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

There are only two weeks left of fantasy baseball! It's going to be very sad when the season comes to an end, but the impending end of the season means that these are the most important, and therefore most fun weeks of the year – for those of you still competing, at least. I have... Read More


TODAY’S MOST VIEWED PLAYERS

rotating JS ad test

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

test publish 5 mins in future

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Updates for Aaron Rodgers

Warning: Undefined array key "amp_post_template_footer" in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, null given in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Featured Promo: Get any full-season NFL Premium Pass for 50% off and win big in 2022. Exclusive access to our Premium articles, 15 lineup... Read More


derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


Justin Jefferson - Fantasy Football Rankings, DFS Lineup Picks, NFL Injury News

NFL DFS Prop Picks for Monkey Knife Fight - Monday Night Football

Welcome to NFL Monday Night Football, where we have two games scheduled between the Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills.  Monday's games mean our friends at Monkey Knife Fight are offering some fantastic props for us to play once again! The good people at Monkey Knife Fight offer some... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Week 2 Updates for Najee Harris, J.K. Dobbins, D'Andre Swift, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram

Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for running backs in Week 2, as of September 17. The injury statuses for various NFL running backs are up in the air for Week 2 including D'Andre Swift, Najee Harris, Alvin Kamara, J.K. Dobbins, and more. The fantasy football season may be just getting underway,... Read More


michael pittman jr. fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL WRs: Week 2 Updates for Michael Pittman Jr., Mike Evans, Tee Higgins, Allen Lazard, Julio Jones

Welcome to Week 2 of the fantasy football season and the Saturday edition of our WR injury reports! Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for wide receivers in Week 2 as of September 16th. The injury statuses for various NFL wide receivers are up in the air for Week 2, including Michael... Read More


justin herbert fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports for QBs: Week 2 Updates for Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, Mac Jones

Below you will find our updated fantasy football injuries report for quarterbacks in the days before Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season as of Friday, September 16. There are a few NFL QBs dealing with injuries, including Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, and Mac Jones. Being up-to-date on NFL injury news can give... Read More


Trey Lance - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Key Starters and Tough Calls - Lineup Spotlights for Fantasy Football Week 2

Every week, I share some of my favored choices and players to go with when dealing with challenging lineup decisions. These selections are based on my Premium Weekly Lineup Rankings, available as part of the RotoBaller NFL Premium Pass. Enter promo code KING at checkout for a discount and get access to my ranks in all formats, plus... Read More


Saquon Barkley - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, Draft Sleepers

Week 2 NFL Pick Em Selections for No House Advantage

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is underway and that means our friends over at No House Advantage have a TON of great DFS plays we can look to take advantage of. No House Advantage is a unique DFS prop picks site where you do not have to play against the house to... Read More


Wide Receiver Matchups to Target in Week 2: Greg Dortch, Terry McLaurin, Christian Kirk

Week 1 made some things come to light as we got some clarity on some murky situations. Unfortunately, many of our WR targets for DFS last week were victims of this. Robert Woods finished the game with one reception for 13 yards, as the Titans used the rookie receivers much more than him. Brandon Aiyuk... Read More


Carson Wentz - Fantasy Football Rankings, Waiver Wire Pickups, Draft Sleepers

Thunder Dan's NFL Betting Picks for Week 2: Top NFL Player Props Bets

Football season is back! Whether you like to bet game totals, sides, or player props, I have something in here for you, and try to cover a little bit of everything! This year, I started my own free sports betting newsletter, and the good people here at RotoBaller are allowing me to share my picks... Read More


Fantasy Football IDP Injury Reports For NFL Defensive Players: Week 2 Updates for T.J. Watt, Jamal Adams, Jalen Thompson, Ed Oliver

T.J. Watt owners, you know the feeling... I had T.J. Watt in my home league last season. He was constantly checking out of games early with nagging minor injuries, but he must have led every IDP manager who started him to the playoffs. I went back to the well and drafted him early this year.... Read More