Where is Domingo's Power?

[CheezWizHed]

I keep having to do double takes when I see Domingo's OPS. Looking at his AVE and OBP, he is pretty close to his career numbers, but his SLG fell off a cliff this year.

 

Any thoughts?

 

2018: 254/322/362/683

Career: 260/348/452/800

[dlk9s]

In his pants.

[JohnBriggs12]

Last year was an outlier and so is this year. He's more of a 15-20 HR guy. He hits a lot of balls on the ground and he rarely pulls the ball. Pitchers pound him inside. Last year an inordinate amount of his fly balls left the park to RF. With the additions the Brewers made, he picked a bad time for a power outage.

[Baldkin]

In his pants.

 

No, that's where his party is.

[FVBrewerFan]

Last year was an outlier and so is this year. He's more of a 15-20 HR guy. He hits a lot of balls on the ground and he rarely pulls the ball. Pitchers pound him inside. Last year an inordinate amount of his fly balls left the park to RF. With the additions the Brewers made, he picked a bad time for a power outage.

 

Every year can't be an outlier, pretty much the opposite of the definition.

 

Santana has always had power until this season. Who knows, he's trying to focus on higher OBP and lower slugging. Or, it could be temporary and he will hit a bunch of bombs in the 2nd half of the year.

[benji]

How about the fact that he doesnt get regular at bats?

 

 

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[jerichoholicninja]

Last year was an outlier and so is this year. He's more of a 15-20 HR guy. He hits a lot of balls on the ground and he rarely pulls the ball. Pitchers pound him inside. Last year an inordinate amount of his fly balls left the park to RF. With the additions the Brewers made, he picked a bad time for a power outage.

 

Every year can't be an outlier, pretty much the opposite of the definition.

 

Santana has always had power until this season. Who knows, he's trying to focus on higher OBP and lower slugging. Or, it could be temporary and he will hit a bunch of bombs in the 2nd half of the year.

 

Outlier as in 2017 is a really good year and 2018 is a really bad year because the real Santana is somewhere in the middle. Domingo really looks like he has no idea what he's doing at the plate. Swinging through hittable strikes and wildly swinging at anything with 2 strikes. For his sake and the sake of the Brewers offense, he needs a couple weeks in Colorado Springs.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

How about the fact that he doesnt get regular at bats?

 

 

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He got regular at-bats for the first month, and was horrible.

 

I know it's kind of a "chicken or the egg" argument, but the only reason he is not getting regular at-bats now is that, other than a stretch of about a week in May, he's been crappy.

[MoreTrife]

Last year was an outlier and so is this year. He's more of a 15-20 HR guy. He hits a lot of balls on the ground and he rarely pulls the ball. Pitchers pound him inside. Last year an inordinate amount of his fly balls left the park to RF. With the additions the Brewers made, he picked a bad time for a power outage.

 

Every year can't be an outlier, pretty much the opposite of the definition.

 

Santana has always had power until this season. Who knows, he's trying to focus on higher OBP and lower slugging. Or, it could be temporary and he will hit a bunch of bombs in the 2nd half of the year.

 

Outlier as in 2017 is a really good year and 2018 is a really bad year because the real Santana is somewhere in the middle. Domingo really looks like he has no idea what he's doing at the plate. Swinging through hittable strikes and wildly swinging at anything with 2 strikes. For his sake and the sake of the Brewers offense, he needs a couple weeks in Colorado Springs.

 

I think he meant he's had power in his career including minors prior to 2017....so 2017 is not an outlier.

[markedman5]

Lots of guys are struggling at the plate not just Santana.......it happens. You just hope they get hot as the season goes along to get back to close to career norms.

 

If not we won't have to look hard to find the reason we missed the playoffs.

[CheezWizHed]

I'm ok with saying 2017 was a statistical outlier because I didn't compare his 2018 to 2017. I compared it to his career numbers (including the really bad Houston numbers).

 

His 2018 average is .006 points lower than career average

His 2018 OBP is .026 points lower than career.

But his 2018 SLG is .090 points lower.

 

So theoretically he is hitting/walking just under his career norms, but slugging far lower.

 

If we were to compare 2017 to 2018, I think "career year in 2017" is pretty easy to explain. But why he can't manage a 450 SLG nor get close is pretty surprising.

 

I wonder if there is some nagging injury that hasn't been disclosed?

[FVBrewerFan]

Far too early in his career to declare 2017 his "career year" isn't it?

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Sullivan has a FG post today about HRs being down relative to last year, so that may explain part of Domingo's power slump.

 

Of course, he is on pace to hit 9 homers, so something else is up too, as he should be a guy who gets to 20 more often than not. He and Braun are a big reason why the offense has struggled. You need to get 3rd OF production from those two combined, and right now they look more like 4th OF types. Hope that changes as temps rise, but we will see...

[monty57]

From Fangraphs data, two things I see are that he's swinging at a few more balls out of the zone (O-swing% 29.2% vs career of 26.7% and 27.2% in 2017) and maybe more importantly pitchers are throwing more sinkers (24.4% vs 20.5% for career and 17.4% in 2017) so he's hitting more grounders (50.8% vs 46.6% in career and 44.9% in 2017).

 

He has also stopped going to the opposite field (20.8% vs 27.7% career, 28% in 2017).

 

This might help add up to the initial question, which is summed up in one stat: 9.7% HR/FB vs 26.3% career and 30.9% career.

 

Pitchers are pitching him down, and he's having a hard time adjusting.

[djoctagone]

For his sake and the sake of the Brewers offense, he needs a couple weeks in Colorado Springs.

the brewers could option him for up to 19 days and then recall him for good. in doing so, he would not burn his final option.

[bork]

Does Rosiak read Brewerfan.net?

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2018/06/07/where-has-domingo-santanas-power-gone/677247002/

[danzig6767]

Last year was an outlier and so is this year. He's more of a 15-20 HR guy. He hits a lot of balls on the ground and he rarely pulls the ball. Pitchers pound him inside. Last year an inordinate amount of his fly balls left the park to RF. With the additions the Brewers made, he picked a bad time for a power outage.

Every year can't be an outlier, pretty much the opposite of the definition.

 

Santana has always had power until this season. Who knows, he's trying to focus on higher OBP and lower slugging. Or, it could be temporary and he will hit a bunch of bombs in the 2nd half of the year.

The answer is more likely that it's just the randomness which happens in sports all of the time, especially in baseball.

 

You have the upper tier players who are consistently good and then there is a lot of players who are more up and down from year to year, whether it's a pitcher or hitter. Or they will have say two good years in a row and then be quite a bit worse the next year, with no clear reason why except baseball is a hard sport to be consistently good at.

 

Look at Jimmy Nelson and Chase Anderson. If hypothetically Nelson hadn't got hurt last year, would it have shocked anyone if he wasn't as good this year? Will Chase ever be as good as he was last year?

[JohnBriggs12]

I'd argue he was never prolific HR hitter in the minors. He had 25 and 23 HR years playing in hitters leagues. In 2014, his last full year in AAA, he hit 16. In 2016, he only hit 11 in 246 AB's for Brewers. Good but not a guy that screams 30+ on a regular basis.

[danzig6767]

I'd argue he was never prolific HR hitter in the minors. He had 25 and 23 HR years playing in hitters leagues. In 2014, his last full year in AAA, he hit 16. In 2016, he only hit 11 in 246 AB's for Brewers. Good but not a guy that screams 30+ on a regular basis.

People weren't asking why Santana isn't on pace to hit 30 home runs again this year. He does have more power and skill though than to be on pace for only 9 homers.

 

The struggles of both Santana and Braun are part of the reason why the offense in general has struggled. Yelich and Cain get on base a lot, but get stranded to often.

[burnzy24]

Does Rosiak read Brewerfan.net?

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2018/06/07/where-has-domingo-santanas-power-gone/677247002/

 

 

Or is CheezWizhed Rosiak?

[CheezWizHed]

Does Rosiak read Brewerfan.net?

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2018/06/07/where-has-domingo-santanas-power-gone/677247002/

 

 

Or is CheezWizhed Rosiak?

 

Bah. I don't even have a JSonline subscription. I do wish I could get some kick-backs for the story ideas however. There have been a few that are eerily similar to some of my Packer threads too...

 

Far too early in his career to declare 2017 his "career year" isn't it?

 

I should say "could've" claimed it a career year. My premise is that he should be able to manage a 450 SLG (career average) rather than 505 (career best). Not that his career will never get better.

[wallus]

What is the chance that Domingo gets sent down when Thames returns?

[djoctagone]

santana doubled in four at-bats in his colorado springs debut yesterday.

[djoctagone]

santana finally hit his second double yesterday. .308 / .419 / .462. clearly, the slugging percentage is buoyed by his batting average.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

santana finally hit his second double yesterday. .308 / .419 / .462. clearly, the slugging percentage is buoyed by his batting average.

 

If he can't hit for power at Colorado Springs, I don't want him anywhere near the major league club. His value lies in his power, as he's never going to be a plus defender or table setter.