Chris Shaw’s first few games in the big leagues with the San Francisco Giants were a case study in being overmatched. Pitchers established a formula to get him out, and he rarely deviated. They fed the big, strong left-handed hitter a steady diet of fastballs above the hands and breaking balls below the zone, and Shaw took the bait.
In his first six games at the highest level, Shaw struck out 10 times in 15 plate appearances. Five of those strikeouts were on fastballs up, while the other five were on sliders or curveballs below the zone.