A transient hitting streak usually comes with no discernable differences in what I call the "approach stats"...things like CT%, P/PA, O-SW%, Z-SW%, and K/BB. A guy in a hot streak that's unlikely to last will be doing everything the same but just (a) getting better results on BIP or (b) hitting the ball a little harder when he makes contact (resulting in a temporary power surge).
That's not what's happening with Rob Johnson. Watch the games, guys...seriously. He's having much tougher at bats, swinging at fewer balls, loading up in crippling counts, etc.
The result has been a P/PA split that does this:
APR: 3.43
MAY: 3.62
JUN: 3.72
JUL: 3.84
AUG: 4.40
And K% by month of:
APR - JUN) 26.5
JUL) 16.1
AUG) 9.1 (granted...small sample)
His O-SW% was 32.6 at the end of June (I looked at it then), and is now 26.7, his LD% has shifted from being extremely low at the end of June (14.5%) to being almost unsustainably high now (24.3%) and the entire shift has been from flyballs to line drives...meaning he's getting on top of the ball a lot better now.
and of course we all know that his K/BB has shifted suddenly and dramatically.
This isn't the profile of a guy having a little a hot streak. This is a player LEARNING.
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