Just watching that ball come in calmly for a strike. Of course, in an 0-1 count he was still a .900 OPS hitter, so it was 0-2 he tried to avoid. But once a pitcher started piping 1st pitch strikes in there to get ahead, Gar would launch on first pitch to the tune of .384 average/.684 slugging.
The only time you EVER got the better end of the deal with Gar was 0-2/ 1-2/ 2-2, when he had to fend off strike 3 rather than crush your melon.
3-2? He was back to being a crusher.
I expect Ackley to have similar splits. I dunno if he can have Gar's impressive road/home or Lefty/Righty splits (ie, NONE), but Dustin has an impressive eye and as Doc says has made up his mind on out-of-the-zone pitches well before they get to the plate.
I've been saying since we drafted him that I wasn't worried about his power, especially for the position. I think I should be able to take the positional value out of the equation shortly. He crushed that HR every bit as far as Smoak has crushed some of his, but it got out faster and he was crouching forward doing it.
That bat speed translation is something else. I think it would be interesting to have a lineup that allowed Ackley to hit #2, but realistically Ackley 3 and Smoak 4 works great for me, and we should be seeing it by year's end.
Start up the Dustin and Justin show for the next 5 years. Should be highly entertaining. Just get them a bit more offensive help, please.
~G
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