Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
Each triple-slash line has its own particular geometry. Some rise like a staircase, with roughly equal proportions, each figure growing over the previous one; some end up top-heavy, some are bottom-heavy, some come out strangely flat.
But there has never been one like Yasmani Grandal’s: a profoundly lopsided affair, with a meager batting average that gives way to a comparatively imposing, swollen on-base percentage before tapering off with a modest slugging figure.