Justin Smoak-How is this even possible?

[texasdave]

Just came across a stat that made me do a double-take.

Justin Smoak started the year with the Rangers and drew 38 walks in 275 PA. Which works out to a very respectable 13.8%.
He gets traded to the Mariners and draws exactly 1 walk in 81 PA.
This equates to a miserable 1.2%.

For comparison, Smoak's 13.8% would nestle right between Pujols at 13.9% and Votto at 13.7% That is some pretty serious walking.
OTOH, Smoak's 1.2% would be worst among players with 350 or more PA on the year.

That doesn't even seem possible to me.

[Brutus]

Well, I would say 81 PAs is still a pretty small sample. It's barely a quarter of the sample used with Texas. That's probably your answer right there.

Easy for a guy to go into new surroundings and perhaps his approach changes as he's eager to impress the new teammates, coaches, front office people, etc. That's probably the case here.

[lollipopcurve]

Pitchers are going to be much more careful in Texas than in Seattle. Plus, Smoak's reputation probably took a hit as the season wore on, making pitchers more willing to challenge him.

[NorrisHopper30]

Better hitting coach in Texas?

[RedsManRick]

Small sample. Which doesn't mean pure random variation. But it does mean that the effects of any minor trend, such as a new approach, pressing to impress his new organization, bad umpires who aren't used to guys taking pitches in the PCL, or most likely a confluence of such factors could have what appears to be a major effect.

I'd be curious and want to better understand what's going on. But I wouldn't be worried, yet.

[Brutus]

Small sample. Which doesn't mean pure random variation. But it does mean that the effects of any minor trend, such as a new approach, pressing to impress his new organization, bad umpires who aren't used to guys taking pitches in the PCL, or most likely a confluence of such factors could have what appears to be a major effect.

I'd be curious and want to better understand what's going on. But I wouldn't be worried, yet.

You mean jojo isn't at home, taking this news horribly....

[Kingspoint]

Almost everyone's Offensive stats go down in Seattle.

Look at what happened to Chone Figgins. He lost about 100 points off of his On-Base-Percentage.

[blumj]

Justin Smoak as a Ranger was, more often than not, hitting in front of Matt Treanor in a lineup that was otherwise pretty stacked. The Mariners don't get on base enough to give other teams much reason to pitch around anyone other than Ichiro or Branyon.

[jojo]

You mean jojo isn't at home, taking this news horribly....

His walk percentage as an M this season isn't really a symptom of his underlying skill set or change in approach as evidenced by his time at Tacoma.

It's most likely just one of those things.