Josh Harrison, Detroit Tigers
March/April Stats: .445 OPS, .078 ISO, 1 homer, 7 RBI, good for a 17 wRC+ and -0.7 fWAR in 99 plate appearances
Since bouncing back in 2017 with a 104 wRC+ and 2.6 fWAR following a couple tough years, the dive for Harrison has been considerable. He posted a 78 wRC+ and 0.3 fWAR in 374 plate appearances last year before his current numbers in Detroit.
For someone who has hit more than 10 homers in a season just twice since debuting in 2011, favoring line drives over fly balls is the way to go for the veteran second baseman. That hasn’t happened so far this year, as his 47.2% fly-ball rate and 13.9% line-drive rate would both be career-worst marks if his season ended today.
Not only is he hitting fewer liners than ever before, but his performance has also suffered. He currently has a 203 wRC+ for this batted-ball event, more than 100 points lower than what he produced last year. While he’s posted a 40.0% hard-hit rate in this situation, it’s also joined with a 20.0% soft-hit rate. That’s almost twice as high as his 11.1% career rate in that specific category.
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