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<\/p>\nCLEVELAND \u2014 Early data is often noisy. Looking at a player\u2019s stat line a week into the season, good or bad, isn\u2019t going to tell you much about what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n
But with the proliferation of information that\u2019s been provided to the public, there is so much more to sift through. One data point that can stabilize quickly is bat speed. As pointed out by Eno Sarris, Pete Crow-Armstrong has seen a big jump early this season.<\/p>\n
At 73.8 mph, Crow-Armstrong\u2019s bat speed is up a full tick above last season\u2019s average. Is this intentional? Is Crow-Armstrong even aware of this?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said recently before a loss to the Cleveland Guardians.<\/p>\n
In fact, Crow-Armstrong thinks it\u2019s a result of him feeling off with his mechanics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just been fighting certain things movement-wise,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cUltimately, it\u2019s probably a result of me being late and then I gotta catch up. Naturally, I think that happens a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s early and hardly a reason to panic. Crow-Armstrong got off to a slow start last season, posting a 50 wRC+ over his first 17 games. He then went on a hot streak that had him in MVP conversations by the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m late and I\u2019m trying to create space, then the move\u2019s not right,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m hitting a bunch of grounders. I\u2019m not swinging harder. It\u2019s not a conscious thing. It\u2019s probably a product of something that\u2019s not working.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs looks on from the dugout during the eighth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels. (Jayden Mack \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
So to Crow-Armstrong, intentional or not, this jump in bat speed isn\u2019t even a good thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s bad habits leading to that,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cIf I\u2019m late on heaters, then I\u2019m going to be swinging harder because I feel like I gotta catch up. If I was just on time and taking my normal swing, I\u2019d probably not be swinging as hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hitting coach Dustin Kelly says he monitors these things and has noticed that Crow-Armstrong\u2019s bat speed is up as well. Kelly believes that it has to do with Crow-Armstrong being fresh and aggressive early in the year. But like Crow-Armstrong, he doesn\u2019t think it will lead to better outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw this last year, too,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAt the very beginning of the year, his bat speeds were through the roof. And then they tapered down. Actually, in his best stretch, they were a little bit lower than they were at the start.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, Crow-Armstrong has been putting the ball on the ground much more than he\u2019d like. At 43.8 percent, his groundball rate is a dozen points higher than last season. He\u2019s stolen a few hits still, with two bunts singles and a few grounders finding holes. His lone extra-base hit was a misplayed pop-up that he turned into a double. In fact, he\u2019s yet to hit a ball categorized as a line drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happens a lot,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cEarly in the WBC that\u2019s kind of what was going on. That\u2019s just a product of timing. When you\u2019re on time, you don\u2019t feel like you have to add more to your move.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right now, Crow-Armstrong said he\u2019s spending a lot of time breaking down his at-bats to see what\u2019s wrong. What\u2019s he seeing?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hanging back,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cI\u2019m not trusting that move forward and trusting that I know how to hold it and I\u2019m very capable of hitting the ball out front without trying to beat the ball. It\u2019s just about trusting your move. I\u2019m just not quite there.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Crow-Armstrong is at his best, he\u2019s hitting the ball in the air to the pull side. Last season, he was fifth in baseball with a 52.9 percent pull rate behind stars like Kyle Schwarber, Cal Raleigh and Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when I am pulling the baseball in the air, I\u2019m usually producing and pretty dialed,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cThat\u2019s just being on time. Not being afraid to be early or late, just being ready for a fastball and hitting whatever else I see off that.\u201d<\/p>\n
This, of course, is nothing to be worried about. A week of baseball doesn\u2019t tell the story of a season. So much so that the whole conversation with Crow-Armstrong started with thinking that something positive was going on.<\/p>\n
But Crow-Armstrong had clearly been thinking about what was wrong with his offense, looking for a fix. He\u2019d studied his swing and identified the issues. Yes, there are some mechanical issues he\u2019ll correct. But largely, it\u2019s in his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always mental, man,\u201d Crow-Armstrong said. \u201cEverything turns physical from what\u2019s going on up here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 Early data is often noisy. Looking at a player\u2019s stat line a week into the season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[479,363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-565945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-chicago-cubs","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}