Send in your Questions for the Next Free For All Mailbag
I actually have a good number still left over from last week’s over-stuffed bag — but I also suspect you all may have things you want to ask about this week!
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Hi Roger - wanted to piggyback off of a question from last week about Luciano's bat speed metrics and how they seem to go against what he's been known for as a prospect. I was reading a great article in Fangraphs (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/maybe-the-launch-angle-revolution-wasnt-really-about-launch-angle/) about how bat speed, launch angle and spray angle are intertwined. Since Statcast measures bat speed at the point of contact, the players with the highest bat speed all hit the ball out in front, because that's the point in the swing where the bat is moving the fastest. He found that "every single player has a higher swing speed to the pull side than to the opposite field."
It made me think about Luciano's MLB hit spray chart, and how essentially every hit this year has been to the opposite field. His complete lack of pulling the ball could explain why his average EV and bat speed are so low, since he's letting the ball travel so far before swinging (presumably to cut down on his K rate), so he's not able to generate the level of bat speed he would if he were catching the ball out in front and hitting it when his bat is moving at its fastest. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, because if it's a conscious approach, it seems like an unsustainable way to more or less fake having a lower K rate at the cost of his natural power. Thanks!
I get why they’re doing it (kinda), but it feels pretty irresponsible for the Giants to keep forcing Luciano and Matos to play positions that they clearly are not suited for at this time. Do you think it has hurt their development? This and the rushed promotions you’ve mentioned feel like a Farhan Hail-Mary to save his job.