Javy Báez began last year batting .303 with 13 homers and a .375 wOBA through May. But the all-star shortstop produced exactly league average offensive numbers for the rest of the season (wRC+ 100), not all of which may have been the result of the lingering effects of a heel contusion.
Pitchers made a crucial adjustment against Javy as the season wore on, increasing their frequency of low, outside sliders with two strikes. Before June, pitchers would throw two-strike sliders low and away to Javy at a 40% rate. For the rest of 2019, Javy saw similar off-the-plate sliders at an 80% rate.