Casey Schmitt has been a revelation for the Giants. Since being promoted, he’s been the team’s best hitter and a defensive spark plug.
But, there have been a few issues with his approach at the plate. He has shown a propensity to chase bad pitches at times. While he’s batting .295, he’s struck out 20 times in his 97 plate appearances and drawn just one walk.
Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic joined Tolbert and Copes on Monday to discuss all things Giants.
He both praised Schmitt and offered cause for, if not concern, at least caution.
The ability Schmitt has shown to hit inside pitches could have opposing pitchers adjust to work the outside of the plate, where he’s chased. Baggarly was massively impressed by the double Schmitt had in the ninth inning against Félix Bautista, but thinks it might be something other pitchers avoid:
I don’t think he’s Pablo Sandoval in terms of, I don’t think he’s turning around pitches at his neck quite yet. But he does have some pretty good plate coverage. I think that people are trying to figure out if they can get him out in, and once they figure out that that’s not easy to do, then I think they’re gonna go away and away and away and then it’s gonna it’s gonna be up to him to not swing at those pitches.
Clearly he’s not drawing a lot of walks. Clearly his swing percentage overall is like the highest in the major leagues.
So I totally expect that there’s going to be an adjustment that pitchers make and maybe will try to get him to chase. It’s sometimes those shadow ones. I mean, that’s tougher.
It’s easier said than done to lay off those pitches, but the ones that are non competitive, the easy takes. You gotta make sure those are easy takes and you use those to get some count leverage, and that obviously makes a big difference.
Adjusting to pitching approaches is one of the great challenges all MLB players face. If Schmitt can adjust — and his early excellence is encouraging — there is only mounds of optimism to have for his future.
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