Raising Cain
David Pinto | Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 10:44PM The Royals acquired Lornezo Cain from the Brewers in the Zack Greinke trade. Cain enjoyed a breakout year in 2010. He posted a slash line of .317/.402/.432 in the minors. Lornezo continued his hot hitting after his call up with a .306/.348/.415 line in 158 plate appearances. At 24, he was an older rookie, but sometimes when players come up at that age, they are really ready to hit.
Cain, however, hit backwards. Pitchers went after him in the strike zone:
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Pitchers worked Lorenzo Cain right over the heart of the plate.Cain experienced his best results hitting on the edges of the zone:
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Cain hit for his highest averages with pitches on the edges of the strike zone.I'm not sure if this is good or bad. If a player can't cream a ball right down the middle of the plate, there won't be any reason for pitchers to go near the edges. Given the low frequency of pitches in areas where he hit well, it seems his high average may be more the result of luck than skill. I suspect pitchers will go after him down the pipe until he proves he can hit pitches in what should be his wheel house.
Reader Comments (1)
Isn't 158 pa's way too small a sample size to make general assumptions?