First off, I’m a huge Adley fan. I firmly believe he brings a winning culture to this team that can’t be measured with a WAR stat. He’s someone we’re lucky to have.
That being said, we all know that the team seemed to have offensive issues that last few weeks of the season. Not shocking as this is a young team at key core positions and the strain of chasing that division title at that age is exhausting.
Adley specifically is a major component of the teams offensive output. While he had a strong start to September he really seemed exhausted to me by the end of the month and into the playoffs. He had a lot of swings that were unbalanced with severe uppercuts being lead by his upper body as his legs seemed exhausted with a lack of lower body drive. I think of his first at bat in game two of the ALDS on the 3-1 count as an example.
It seems by the end of the season he noticeably put on some weight. Not shocking if you’re crouching three hours a day, and are spending more time recovering by the end of the season. I would argue catchers don’t need to be as sticky anymore as the collision at the plate plays no longer exist in baseball. Perhaps a little better conditioning next season and more rest days would do the trick?
Thoughts?
