Title: Is Brett Lawrie Putting Himself In Harm’s Way?
Date: June 26, 2014
Original Source: Fangraphs
Synopsis: This article looked at Brett Lawrie being hit by a pair of pitches in short order, and whether a change in approach at the plate put him in additional danger.
It’s kind of hard to pick apart Brett Lawrie’s game right now. Yes, the strikeout rate is up some and the walk rate down even further, but he already has a career-high in home runs, his isolated slugging is up and he is once again posting roughly a league-average weighted runs created plus (98), more than enough to make him a valuable player thanks to his quality defense at both second and third.
With that said, Lawrie really could stand to get out of his own way a little bit.
This isn’t one of those pieces suggesting a high-energy player tone down the intensity or anything like that, because that’s part of what makers Lawrie the Stone Cold Steve Austin-if-Red Bull-were-beer of baseball. But Lawrie is on the disabled list after fracturing a finger on his right hand, the second time this month he was caught on the hands with a pitch.
Take a look at where Lawrie is set up for each pitch that caught him:
Continue reading at Fangraphs.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 