Andrew McCutchen, OF PIT McCutchen has gone 13-for-28 (.464) with two homers and five RBIs over his last seven games to raise his batting average from .217 to .275. McCutchen has trimmed his strikeout rate from 19.6 percent to 13 percent from 2012 to 2013, mainly by making contact on 74.1 percent of balls thrown outside the strike zone, up from 61.3 percent last season, which he has done despite posting a nearly identical chase rate to 2012. Making more contact on balls thrown out of the zone should explain why his walk rate has decreased from 10.4 percent to 6.9 percent since last season.
Chase Headley, 3B SD Headley is 24-for-75 (.320) with seven doubles, three homers and 10 RBI since returning from his fractured thumb. His .396 BABIP will obviously decline, but Headley has routinely posted a higher-than-normal BABIP (.340 for his career). What I'm more interested in keeping an eye on is his HR/FB and his ISO. Prior to putting up a 21.4 percent HR/FB last year, Headley had a HR/FB of 7.6 percent or lower in the previous three seasons. And his ISO last year was a career-high .212. So far, his HR/FB is 15.8 percent and his ISO is .250.
Dan Uggla, 2B ATL Uggla went 2-for-4 with two solo homers and three runs Wednesday against the Reds, giving him seven homers on the year. After posting a career-low HR/FB of 11.4 percent last year, Uggla has a 29.2 percent HR/FB this year, which is the good news. The bad news is that he has a career-low flyball rate and a career-high groundball rate, as well as a career-worst 33.9 percent strikeout rate. He'll be lucky to hit .230.
A.J. Burnett, RHP PIT Burnett didn't beat the Mariners Wednesday afternoon because Felix Hernandez was throwing for the other side, but he did strike out nine and hold Seattle to two hits and two runs in seven innings. Burnett has a 12.12 K/9 in 49 innings after striking out fewer than 9.0 batters per nine in each of his last four seasons. Coming into Wednesday's start, the Pirates right-hander had a swing-and-miss percentage that was nearly 2.0 percentage points higher than last season and a contact rate that was more than five percentage points lower.
Jay Bruce, OF CIN Bruce hit just his second homer of the season Wednesday against the Braves. It's been a miserable campaign for the outfielder, as he has struck out in 31.4 percent of his plate appearances and walked in just 7.1 percent. Bruce's flyball rate and HR/FB are both at career-low marks. On the plus side, he has made some hard contact on the few balls he has put in play, recording a 29.2 percent line-drive rate that has helped him hit for a .362 BABIP. However, it's disheartening knowing that even with that .362 BABIP, he is hitting .248 on the year.
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