Anthony Rizzo enters the Cleveland series batting .146 with a .243 wOBA in 57 plate appearances. Even though these are pretty putrid numbers, the underlying metrics suggest he hasn’t been that bad.
Rizzo’s expected weighted on base average (xwOBA by xStats) is .313 and expected wRC+ is 101, or slightly above league average.
Digging more, Rizzo’s average exit velocity of 91.1 mph is actually better than the 88.3 mph average he recorded last season. Plus, Rizzo’s contact rate is up 1.8 percent and he’s swinging at 20 percent fewer pitches outside the strike zone.