<\/p>\n
Isaac Paredes is struggling early this season, and pitch selection could be a factor for the usually discerning hitter.<\/p>\n
Jason Fochtman\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Plate discipline is a trademark for Isaac Paredes, making the Houston Astros<\/a> infielder\u2019s evaluation of his slow offensive start to the season Saturday night notable.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say they\u2019re bad at-bats right now,\u201d Paredes said, through an interpreter. \u201cI\u2019m taking a plan to home plate and then I\u2019m suddenly changing it, so I would say they\u2019re bad right now.\u201d<\/p>\n A blend of patience and damage<\/a> made Paredes one of the Astros\u2019 most productive hitters last season when healthy. He ranked second on the team in OPS-plus and averaged their most pitches per plate appearance. General manager Dana Brown regularly pointed to Paredes\u2019 hamstring injury in July as a pivotal event for an offense that struggled down the stretch.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Paredes is back to working counts this season, but he is mired in an early slump. After going hitless in four at-bats Saturday in the Astros\u2019 7-5 loss to the Cardinals<\/a>, Paredes owns a .186\/.314\/.254 slash line over his first 17 games. He has yet to hit a home run, after hitting 20 in 102 games last season, and he has four extra-base hits, all doubles, in 59 at-bats.<\/p>\n After Saturday\u2019s game, Paredes indicated he does not think his early results reflect mechanical issues with his swing. Some of his metrics, in a still minute sample, suggest pitch selection could be a factor. Paredes\u2019 chase rate entering Saturday was 30.3%, compared to a 21.4% chase rate last year. His swing-and-miss rate was up by about 5 percent.<\/p>\n \u201cYou usually don\u2019t see him chasing as much,\u201d manager Joe Espada said. \u201cHe\u2019s usually someone who\u2019s just disciplined and gets better pitches to hit. It\u2019s just taking him a while to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n Paredes is still pulling the ball in the air at an extreme clip, the approach that served him so well in his first season playing home games at Daikin Park. But his pop-up rate is up and his hard-hit rate through his first 17 games was down about 9 percent from last season. He had yet to barrel a ball put into play, per Baseball Savant, and did not hit a ball to an outfielder in his four at-bats Saturday.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m doing the same routine, it\u2019s just not working out,\u201d Paredes said. \u201cBut I\u2019m taking it day by day. We\u2019re going to start adding stuff to see if it can get better.\u201d<\/p>\n In the offseason, and into spring training, much discourse about Paredes involved his trade candidacy<\/a>. Despite their infield surplus, the Astros did not trade Paredes and started the season with that logjam intact, albeit mitigated slightly by shortstop Jeremy Pe\u00f1a\u2019s measured return from a fractured fingertip. Pe\u00f1a is now on the injured list<\/a> due to a hamstring strain.<\/p>\n Paredes, still, has so far occupied the pseudo-utility role that team officials forecast as a way to get him regular at-bats with the roster at full strength. He has started games at third, second and first base and designated hitter. Just once this season has Paredes started back-to-back games at the same position\u00a0\u2014 April 7 and 8 at third base against the Rockies.<\/p>\n To what extent that might be affecting his early offense is unclear. Paredes, the everyday third baseman last year before his hamstring injury\u00a0\u2014 and the Astros\u2019 subsequent acquisition of Carlos Correa\u00a0\u2014 downplayed the idea of moving around the field during spring training. He was asked Saturday night if doing so may be impacting him at the plate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think slumps are part of the game,\u201d Paredes said, through team interpreter Otto Loor. \u201cI\u2019m a guy (that) I don\u2019t like excuses. But that can be a reason for why.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n An independent translation by a Spanish-language reporter present for Paredes\u2019 postgame interview interpreted his response as: \u201cI think that we\u2019re always going to go through rough patches, but like you say, I do think that changes my mindset a lot. I don\u2019t like excuses, but I believe that can be a big factor in what I\u2019m going through.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYo creo que por baches siempre vamos a pasar, pero como t\u00fa dices si creo que me cambia mucho la mentalidad eso. No me gustan las excusas pero creo que ese puede ser un gran factor de lo que estoy pasando\u201d.<\/p>\n Isaac Paredes sobre los cambios de posici\u00f3n y su rendimiento ofensivo. pic.twitter.com\/oj7wZYTOTF<\/a><\/p>\n