With Carlos Beltran gone and Gary Sanchez not quite a qualifier yet, the Yankees are left with just one regular player with an wRC+ over 100. Chase Headley, though good since May, hasn’t quite recovered from his awful April. Brian McCann is just short, as are Starlin Castro and Brett Gardner. The lone above-league-average player for the “Bombers” this year has been shortstop Didi Gregorius.
Though he’s been allergic to taking walks this year–3.0 BB%; more home runs than walks–Didi has managed to be a productive player thanks to a low-strikeout total (13.7%, continuing a downward trend from his last year with the Diamondbacks) and a big time power surge. Last year, Didi hit only nine homers and knocked 24 doubles–as well as two triples–leading to an ISO of .105. This year, Didi’s socked 17 dingers and 29 doubles, both career highs, leading to an ISO of .175, a–you guessed it–career high. Let’s take a looks–results wise–at how he’s doing it. I’m not skilled enough to spot an mechanical changes, so I’ll leave that to others. Perhaps there is something there, but I’m not confident enough in my amateur scouting ability to see it.
Here is Did’s zone profile from 2015, broken down into HR/BIP (balls in play). There’s a whole lotta blue, no? Even the middle-middle location, where you’d assume any Major Leaguer would do big damage, Didi’s zone is more purple than red. Fast forward to 2016 and there’s a slightly different picture of Didi’s home run power. Unlike in 2015, he’s been able to do more damage on pitches down the middle and even take more advantage of the ones on the inside part of the strike zone. Additionally, he’s made use of the bottom of the zone as well, knocking seven out of the park on pitches at or around his knees. This doesn’t just apply to home runs.
If we take a look at his overall power from 2015 and 2016, we notice a similar pattern. Didi has exploited pitches over the middle, in, and at the bottom of the zone. Both years–in terms of homers and overall power–show that Didi isn’t going to hit for much power up in the zone or away, but it seems he’s got the rest of it covered.
2015 showed that Didi–between decent contact skills and a solid glove–could be a productive shortstop without power. This year’s power gives him an added dimension to his game that makes him even more valuable to the Yankees. Even if this level of his power is his absolute ceiling, combining it with his relatively low strikeout rates and skilled defense gives him star potential.
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