James Fegan headed down to Charlotte to visit a few hitters wrongfully imprisoned biding their time in Triple-A. Even Charlotte hitting coach Frank Menechino doesn't know what Luis Robert is doing there:
So what’s the benefit for Robert the player remaining in Triple A? A straightforward answer is hard to pin down as he bruises the competition.
“Nothing,” said Knights hitting coach Frank Menechino when asked what Robert has improved. “He hasn’t improved nor gotten better, he’s been the same since he’s got here. And that’s pretty good, right? How much is he going to improve with 200 at-bats in Triple A? I don’t know.”
But the part about Zack Collins intrigued me more. I'd noticed since Collins' return that he'd had less of a three-true-outcomes profile. In 14 games, he's hitting .360/.459/.540 with nine walks to 11 strikeouts over 61 plate appearances. Four of those walks game in one game, and four of those strikeouts occurred in another.
This appears to be a deliberate choice Collins is making:
But upon his return from Chicago, Collins not only reached out to set up work with Menechino, but was willing to quickly incorporate his recommended stance and hand placement changes, which might be uncomfortable for a while as he incorporates them midseason (though they’re made more comfortable by good early results). The larger goal seemed to be keeping Collins from leaning too hard into a strikeout-laden, three-true-outcomes identity that has come to define him.
“If I could make myself instead of .230 with 25 homers, into .280-.290 hitter with 15-20 homers, I think that would be a little better,” Collins said. “I’m way more into my legs, so I have way more balance. I’m seeing the ball a lot better. I’m hitting off-speed a lot better. I’m not so much worried about the inside pitch as much. I’m driving the ball to left field a lot better. Getting on top, hitting the ball hard, hitting a lot of hard line drives is something that I guess I haven’t done my first couple years. Within this last week or two I’ve hit a lot of hard line drives and hard groundballs.”
Collins has a history of claiming a quick triumph after midseason mechanical adjustments that had early success, only to fall back into the same profile that he's worn since his pro debut. But it's worth keeping an eye on, even if he maybe should be trying it out in Chicago sooner rather than later.
Gwinnett 17, Charlotte 4
- Luis Robert went 2-for-4 with his seventh homer.
- Nick Madrigal was 1-for-3 with a sac fly.
- Zack Collins was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Yermin Mercedes, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Danny Mendick was 0-for-4.
- Kelvin Herrera's rehab start: 1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2 HR
Birmingham 8, Pensacola 5
- Luis Basabe went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and two strikeouts.
- Blake Rutherford was 1-for-3 with a sac fly.
- Gavin Sheets, 1-for-4 with a homer and two strikeouts.
- Ti'Quan Forbes was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Laz Rivera, 1-for-2 with a sac bunt, HBP and strikeout.
Carolina 2, Winston-Salem 1
- Steele Walker went 2-for-5 with a triple and a strikeout.
- Andrew Vaughn was 1-for-4 with a K.
- Kade McClure: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 1 HBP
Kannapolis 6, Columbia 4 (Game 1, 9 innings)
- Camilo Quinteiro went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Lenyn Sosa was 2-for-4 with a homer.
- Romy Gonzalez, 3-for-4 with two doubles.
- Corey Zangari and Amado Nunez were both 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Bernardo Flores before the delay: 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Kannapolis 3, Columbia 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Camilo Quinteiro went 0-for-1 with a walk.
- Lenyn Sosa, 0-for-2 with a walk.
- Romy Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with a stolen base.
- Corey Zangari, 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Amado Nunez was 1-for-2 with a homer.
AZL Athletics Gold 10, AZL White Sox 3
- Harold Diaz went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jose Rodriguez singled twice, got plunked and struck out.
- Bryan Ramos went 0-for-2 with a walk.
- DJ Gladney, 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Logan Glass and Josue Guerrero both were 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Sidney Pimentel singled and struck out thrice.
- Victor Torres went 1-for-4.
- Misael Gonzalez singled, walked, struck out and was caught stealing.
- Yoelvin Silven: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
DSL Reds 10, DSL White Sox 6
- Anthony Espinoza went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout. He was caught stealing.
- Yolbert Sanchez walked twice and struck out once. He was caught stealing.
- Benyamin Bailey went 1-for-5 with a K.
- Luis Pineda went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Wilber Perez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a K.
