What causes decline in player performance?

[*bengalfan74*]

(08-02-2023, 11:51 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Just a few years ago, we were all excited for Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson.

Stephenson 2021-2022 was batting ~.300 and OPS ~.800-.850
However, this season he's down to .251 BA and .701 OPS.

India is similar:
2021 (rookie year) India had a .269 BA and .835 OPS. Won ROY.
Since then, he's batted ~.250 and under .750 OPS.

We see this happen with players all the time, especially younger players.

Since I did not grow up playing baseball, I am curious as to how players end up declining as they get more experience in the majors.
Is it because enough tape is now out there where pitchers/hitters are learning how to attack them?
Is it they are trying new things with hitting/pitching but it's just not working out as expected?

This is my frustration with counting on all these young guys and not making trades for proven veterans sometimes, as these good rookie seasons might not end up being reproduced in the next 2-3 years when all is said and done.

It's an adjustment and readjustment thing.

When a player is a rookie, hasn't been seen by a lot of ML pitchers, not a lot of film. The batter has a bit of an advantage. Once that batter has been playing for several months a lot of the league has seen him, there's a lot of film. The pitcher starts having the advantage.

Now the batter has to adjust his hitting/swinging and adapt to the major leagues. And he has to keep adjusting.

Some never really make the leap in adjusting. India as an example is on the cusp. Can he adjust or is he going to drift back into the utility player realm?