Emotional Departure: As brilliant star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates, waves goodbye and announces his contract termination with severe allegations, tears well up across the room as he announced his…….Read more

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jack Suwinski was projected to play a big role in the 2024 lineup. The slugger was coming off a season where he posted a quality .224/.339/.454 triple-slash, .341 wOBA, and 112 wRC+. Suwinski struck out a ton with a 32.2% K%, but he drew walks at a 14% rate, the ninth-highest mark among National Leaguers.

He was one of the best power-hitting outfielders in the NL as well. He had the eighth-most home runs (26 dingers) and the fifth-best isolated slugging percentage (.230) last season among his NL outfield peers (min. 500 plate appearances).

But this year, Suwinski went from a potential middle-of-the-order, 25+ homer threat to a liability. He hit just .182/.264/.324 with a .259 wOBA and 62 wRC+. While Suwinski cut his K% down below 30% to 28.5%, he hit for far less power, socking just nine homers in 277 plate appearances while carrying a .142 isolated slugging percentage. Suwinski also walked far less often, with a diminishing 9.7% walk rate. But where did it all go wrong for Suwinski, and is there a way he can put himself back on track for 2025?

The big issue for Suwinski was a huge change in approach. For the first month and a half of the year, Suwinski was trying to hit more like a contact hitter. Suwinski was swinging outside the zone much more frequently, 26.5% of the time across his first 138 plate appearances. In 2023, he only swung outside the zone 17.6% of the time.

He seemed to prioritize the quantity of contact, upping his overall contact rate to 79% compared to only 71.9% in 2023, but this came at the cost of his ability to make good contact. Suwinski had just an 88.4 MPH exit velocity and 6.6% barrel rate through the first month and a half of the 2024 season. Last year, he had a 90.5 MPH exit velo and a 15.7% barrel rate. His wRC+ fell to just 50, an enormous drop from what he did in 2023.

This sort of approach does not work with Suwinski’s swing. His average swing length and swing speed in 2024 are 7.3 feet and 73.3 MPH, respectively.

That’s similar to players like Brandon Nimmo, Shea Langeliers, Ryan McMahon, and Anthony Santander, all of whom are known for hitting home runs more than hitting for contact. Contact-focused hitters like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Steven Kwan, Nolan Schanuel, Jake McCarthy, Donovan Solano, and Luis Arraez all have swing speeds under 70 MPH, and swing lengths no greater than seven feet.