Have you noticed his line lately? He's OPS'g over .900!
.358 obp .559 slg .269 avg 8 HR's
I think he's quietly turning into the star we expected to see.
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Have you noticed his line lately? He's OPS'g over .900!
.358 obp .559 slg .269 avg 8 HR's
I think he's quietly turning into the star we expected to see.
He beats himself still sometimes, but OHH BABY! Dropping opposite field bombs is priceless! A little more work on the discipline and we will have the best 3-5 hitters in our division. Right now BP is getting better, Votto is the best 3 hole you could ask for, and Bruce-Bruce has 8 HR whoa looks like it will not be about just "small ball." Go Reds!!!!!!!!!!
I like that he's taking some pitches and making the pitcher hit the strike zone. His first seven games of April he struck out eight times and walked three — first seven in May he's struck out four times compared to five walks and three bombs. And the best part is that Phillips is starting to see better pitches because of it. It's not a coincidence that both those guys are getting hot at the same time.
Yeah Bruce certainly has been good the last two weeks or so. I have been pretty impressed with him.
The only thing I would like to see him do on a more regular basis would be to basically hit the ball where it's pitched. I understand Bruce hits his share of opposite field home runs, but one thing that I think Votto does so well, and I would like to see Bruce do, is take a pitch on the outside corner and slap it to the opposite field for a single.
I think right now that's the main difference between Votto and Bruce at the plate and the discrepancy in their averages.
He's showing a ton of maturity and discipline at the plate, and its paying off. Waiting for his pitch and smoking it when it comes. Whats wrong with batting him cleanup??
I think it took some patience on the part of the fans to realize sometimes it takes awhile for these guys to get going. We put unreasonable expectations on many of these players.
I wish they would. Separating the lefty's is overblown in my opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by xavr1
Not trying to be Negative Nancy here, but he still has his "WTF swings" at the plate.
Other than that, he's been gold for the past 2 weeks or so.
I noticed early in the season Bruce was pulling his front shoulder real bad, almost like he was trying to pull everything out of the park that was thrown his way. But lately, it seems like he's locked in, keeping his head down, and making solid contact. Great to see him adjust and get geared up for the rest of the season rather than falling into the same problems a lot of young players do, and never allow themselves to get out of their "slump".
I dont wanna say too much here, just that I hope he keeps it going and to be truthful he's nowhere near the monster he could be if he truly stops getting himself out and really truly gets on a tear, which he hasn't yet. But I like what I see.
As has been mentioned, the big thing with Bruce is being consistent with his patience. For instance, he often times will take a few pitches and get up 2-0 in the count. A lot of times he does this at all the right times. But I've noticed, then, in these same situations he'll all of the sudden swing at a pitch out of the strikezone on 2-0, instead of either forcing a 3-0 count or waiting for a perfect hitter's pitch.
Bruce is tremendously talented. He does tease with a lot of signs of plate discipline. However, he's just got to be consistent with that approach and carry it through the entire at-bat better. If he learns the kind of plate protection that Joey Votto has, good night.
I also think people tend to forget that Jay is only 22! He's 5 days older than Yonder and Yonder is in High-A!
He still swings a little too often. He's getting better but I guess when you have the type of power he has you would probably want to swing it as often.
When you have power to all fields at GAB.....that has 40 HR season written all over it...
I dont wanna jinx him. But he's really done a nice job evening up his BB/K ratio in recent days and not striking out at an alarming rate.