On Dec 21, 2017:
His 42 games in Seattle he hit .265 w/ 6 HR. If he would stay at that production in 2018, he would hit 21 HR with a decent BA. Obviously we'd all rather have Santana, but that wouldn't be a bad year for less than half the price. He also wouldn't be the first player in the last 5-10 years to go from an average/doubles guy, revamp their approach, and become a 25-35 HR player.
posted by BR1986FBWhat you are saying is exactly what I meant. Seems like a lot of these guys are adopting the Fall Ball Revolution approach and it's feast or famine. Don't quote me on this but I think there was both a record number of strike outs and a record number of HR's. If pitchers can somehow adapt to this, I think we'll see numbers taper off.
I know for sure MLB set a record for HRs hit in a season. Wouldn't surprise me with strikeouts, as the game has adopted the idea that a strikeout is just like any other out(I can't 100% buy in on that). Pitchers have started to adjust, more and more offspeed pitches and more success with the high fastball.
posted by BR1986FBI agree and it was the first thing that popped out at me when I heard his stats. From what I've heard, it sounds like a lot of guys have been hitting abnormal amounts of HR's.
While I wouldn't be surprised at any MLB player(or pro athlete) being popped for PED's, Alonso did make a pretty dramatic change to his approach in 2017. He scrapped his "toe touch" load style, and went to an aggressive leg kick ala Josh Donaldson. He also went all in on the Fly Ball Revolution, basically doubling his launch angle from around 10 degrees to around 20. More balls in the air = more doubles and HRs. Will be interesting to see how he performs this year after such a dramatic change. He was as good as any slugger for most of the 1st half last year then tapered off.