Fangraphs: Adam Jones Is Up To Something

[weams]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/adam-jones-is-up-to-something/

[weams]

I noticed something about Adam Jones. Machado, as noted, is showing some weird changes in his plate discipline. Jones is, too, in a different way.

This is nothing new to some of you, but I suppose some of you aren’t all of you. Jones, this year, is still swinging aggressively. He’s still hitting the ball harder than average. He’s still not drawing walks, but he’s still on pace to hit 25 or 30 dingers. Jones, in almost all areas, looks like himself. But all of a sudden, there’s contact. Jones is avoiding whiffs like he hasn't avoided whiffs.

He doesn't whiff!

[Can_of_corn]

He doesn't whiff!

Cool, baugh.

[Phantom]

Loved this article.

Less excited about the Pearce news:

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/batted-ball-distance-decliners-3/

[Frobby]

His K rate hasn't changed significantly from April (when he was red hot) to May (when he's been ice cold). 10 K's in 20 games in April, 7 in 15 games in May.

[Aglets]

His strikeout % has been pretty darn consistent from 2009-2014. It stayed between 18-19.7% of his PA.

So far in 2015 he has cut that down to 11.6%, which seems like a huge reduction, and no i have no idea if it's sustainable or not.

[Aglets]

Chris Davis on the other hand...........holding at 39.1%.

[Camden_yardbird]

Loved this article.

Less excited about the Pearce news:

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/batted-ball-distance-decliners-3/

Read the two articles. All of the climbers are NL west and a few NL central players. All of the decliners are AL or NL east. There is some factor besides just natural regression or advancement driving these numbers.

As for Adam, got to think Coolbaugh found a hitch or produced a more efficient swing for Adam.

[AlbionHero]

Adam with better contact (and he keeps on playing like a top defender in CF like the numbers have had him at the last year and a half) is an elite player in this league. I hope he can keep it up.

[Phantom]

All of the decliners are AL or NL east.

Dexter Fowler is the biggest decliner, and...a Cub. Second is a Ray. Third a cardinal. 4th a Tiger. 5th a Royal. 6th, a Padre.

Color me confused by your comment.

[25 Nuggets]

You?ll notice the consistency. Only one of the seasons shown is partial. In all the other ones, Jones batted more than 500 times, and his strikeout rate fluctuated between 18 ? 21% while his contact rate fluctuated between 74 ? 78%.

Let's wait at least until the All Star break before saying his K and contact rates will be representative.

You see a lot of activity around 75% or so. A few peaks jut above 80%. But this current run? By this measure, at least, it?s a career high for Adam Jones. He?s never before had a 35-game contact rate of 84%. Last year he briefly reached 81%. He got up there as well in the middle of 2012. It?s actually an interesting graph ? beyond Jones setting a new high, it seems like there?s been more dramatic volatility the last few years of Jones? career. I don?t know why that would be. I know that baseball is a game of constant adjustments on both sides, but that seems over-simplified.

OK so he's set a new high over 35 games. Cool! Again that's 35 games and he says right here Jones' rates have been volatile.

[srock]

This is a really good article. I posted this in the comments:

I agree, this pattern is repeating, the contact rate graph shows it. This iteration is more extreme then the previous, but that also looks like the start of a pattern.

In my opinion (and i watch Jones play quite a bit) he is learning how to maximize the hot streak and minimize the slump. This is someting Jones has been doing for several years and it continues to pay dividends.

What throws chaos in the numbers is the amount of time he played through injuries which really put him in some slumps. He stays healthy this year and I predict its his best.

Here is the contact rate chart from the article:

[Slade-OH]

Interesting article that Fangraphs dropped today on Adam Jones that discusses how Jones has seen a dramatic improvement from career norms in 2015 with lowering his strikeout rate and increasing his contact rate.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/adam-jones-is-up-to-something/

[OFFNY]

o

I posted this last month (April 25th) in the 7th inning of a game against the Red Sox:

o

Earlier in the game, Jones punched a single the opposite way on a very similar pitch.

That time he poked it to the opposite way again, but it was a flyout.

I like the fact that he is getting a piece of outside pitches, and going the other way with them.

A bunch of opposite-field hits and opposite-field flyouts are a lot better than strikeouts.

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/147610-vs-RED-SOX-4-25/page24

Later in that same game, Jones again went the opposite way on an outside pitch and hit a lead-off triple in the bottom of the 10th inning, sparking the Orioles' come-from behind win, which culminated in David Lough's walk-off home run.

I would love to see Jones continuing to do this ...... it won't result in many home runs, but if he cannot completely lay off of the outside pitches, I would at least like to see him get a piece of the ball, which would give him a chance to get on base with an opposite-field hit, and/or get a sacrifice-fly with a medium-range fly ball with a runner on 3rd base and less than two outs ....... both of which are considerably better outcomes than is a strikeout.

[weams]

Loved this article.

Less excited about the Pearce news:

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/batted-ball-distance-decliners-3/

I believe he has an injury myself.