As the Mariners have swirled the drain in 2008-11, Ichiro's swings at bad pitches, AND the rate at which he connects on those pitches, have gone up --- > and his BABIP has fallen.
He was arm-swinging at lousy pitches, dinking them into play, and, obviously, not hitting them hard. This hit its zenith in 2011, with a 36% OOZ swing rate and an 85% contact rate on those. Producing a sudden drop in BABIP (along with the league-leading Diamond Gems scored on him).
..........
As usual, I politely question how many Mariner games Sandy sees.
A glance at the actual games this year tells you that Ichiro is getting much better pitches, and is attacking them with a lot more gusto. C'mon: Ichiro has been a great player every season except 2011.
The M's have faced TOR's in 9 of 11 games, and Ichiro's batting .289 with an unlucky BABIP. Check him in two weeks.
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