Jurickson Profar, Oakland Athletics
Upon finally getting an opportunity to play every day in 2018 with the Rangers, Profar flashed some of the potential that once made him baseball’s top prospect. He slashed .254/.335/.458 with 20 homers, 77 RBI, and 10 stolen bases in 594 plate appearances, leading to a 108 wRC+ and 2.9 fWAR.
Getting traded to the Athletics seemed like the kind of move that’d help him continue reaching toward at least some of that projected ceiling of his. While his power hasn’t really changed (16 homers and .187 ISO through 415 plate appearances), not much else has improved.
That’s evidenced by a lackluster 79 wRC+ and 0.4 fWAR for a squad very much in the midst of a playoff race.
Profar’s quality-of-contact numbers don’t look too different from last year, but similar to Franco, he’s had a tough time limiting infield flies. Each of his current-year batted-ball outcomes are within a couple percentage points of his 2018 numbers, except for his infield-fly rate. That number has gone from 12.6% to 19.1%.
After posting a wRC+ of 100 or higher against six different pitches he saw 100-plus times last season, he’s only done it against three so far in 2019. The three offerings he hasn’t performed at an above-average level against are four-seamers, changeups, and sliders. Profar has produced a wRC+ below 90 against each.
About Matt Musico
Matt Musico currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book and created an online class about how to get started as a sports blogger. Check those out and more helpful tips on sports blogging at his website.
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