Bruce has disappeared

[fredtoast]

Through August 4 Jay Bruce was having a very solid season. He was hitting .260 with a slugging percentage close to .500 (.492) and a very respectable .833 OPS. His 17 HR and 59 RBI ranked in the 30's among all MLB players which is pretty good considering there are 30 MLB teams.

However over the last month Bruce has only hit .127 (14 of 110) with only 8 extra base hits and 5 walks. His slugging percentage has only been .245 over that period. These are poor numbers even for a pitcher. I know Bruce has a tendency to be a streaky hitter, but I don't think I have ever seen him slump this bad for this long.

His batting average has dropped to .229 and his OPS has dropped by almost 100 points to .736.

[Johnny Cupcakes]

Jay Bruce is having a massive slump? Say it aint so!

This is the one thing that I've always disliked about him. He has the potential to be one of the top power hitters in baseball, yet his consistency issues routinely bring him down. I wish he could get it together and have a solid season from beginning to end.

[McC]

(09-04-2015, 04:20 PM)Johnny Cupcakes Wrote: Jay Bruce is having a massive slump?  Say it aint so!

This is the one thing that I've always disliked about him.  He has the potential to be one of the top power hitters in baseball, yet his consistency issues routinely bring him down. I wish he could get it together and have a solid season from beginning to end.

It's the weirdest thing, that the same guy can be so red hot and then so ice cold.  When he's hot, he hits everything.  When he's not, he hits nothing.

It's not easy being 30 games out.  Hasn't stopped Votto, though.

[fredtoast]

(09-04-2015, 04:20 PM)Johnny Cupcakes Wrote:   He has the potential to be one of the top power hitters in baseball, yet his consistency issues routinely bring him down. I wish he could get it together and have a solid season from beginning to end.

Jay has been one of the best power hitters in baseball.  In fact from 2011 through 2013 he hit more home runs and had more RBI than any other player in the National League.  In both '12 and '13 he finished 3rd in home runs, won a Silver Slugger Award as the best hitter in the league at his position, and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.

But I have never seen him slump thid badly for this long.  He pretty much sucked all of last year, but he was dealing with injuries.

[Goalpost]

Teams play that defensive shift on him, and Bruce just can't beat it. The last 2 years, 267 games, he is batting .222, a combined 216/970.

[fredtoast]

(09-06-2015, 07:37 AM)Goalpost Wrote: Teams play that defensive shift on him, and Bruce just can't beat it.  The last 2 years, 267 games, he is batting .222, a combined 216/970.

They were playing the shift against him earlier in the year when he was hitting well.

He had was not hitting like he did in 11-13, but through the first four months of the season he was one of the top 30-40 power hitters in the majors.  And that is pretty good considering there are 30 MLB teams.