Potanko: Can Jack Suwinski Fix His Extreme Home/Road Splits (+)
Jack Suwinski has got to have one of the most dramatic home/road splits I’ve seen in quite some time.
The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie outfielder is batting .277/.352/.604 with 15 home runs and 27 RBIs at home.
His road numbers: .098/.189/.175 with three home runs and six RBIs.
As a rookie, Suwinski is bound to have some hiccups and stretches of bad play, Yet the vast chasm of home and away performance is baffling on a different level.
When Suwinski was optioned to Triple-A on July 15, the Pirates front office and coaching staff stressed he needed to work on mechanical things in his swing, along with adjusting his approach at the plate.
The demotion was bound to happen. Suwinski went hitless in 28 straight at-bats and looked outmatched.
During his time in Triple-A, Suwinski didn’t dominate and quite frankly still looked outmatched with a 37.7% strikeout rate.
One thing that did remain was his power, as Suwinski hit six home runs and five doubles in 31 games.
| [bet-promo id=”2769″ ] |
But, let’s get back to the home/away splits at the major league level.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington discussed Suwinski’s unique situation during his radio show on 93.7 The Fan Sunday afternoon.
“Obviously [PNC Park] fits (Suwinski) well,” Cherington said, “but I think the much bigger part of the home and away differences is still a very small sample size for it being his first time in the big leagues. (Suwinski), among others, is still working through things. (Suwinski) is working on parts of his game that he needs to tighten up to become more consistent.”
There is no question Suwinski has a ton of power. As it stands right now, Suwinski’s isolated power number is at an impressive .211. To put things into perspective, .211 falls into the “great” category according to sabermetric sites.
Where the left-hander falls short is consistency. As a rookie, we can expect consistency to be an issue, especially for a guy who hadn’t seen Triple-A pitching going into the 2022 season.
One of those consistency issues is making contact regularly. Early in the season, both Cherington and Pirates manager Derek Shelton commended the rookie’s eye at the plate and ability to recognizing balls and strikes. He then started failing to make bat-to-ball contact on a regular basis.
“We see the ability and the power in (Suwinski’s) bat,” Cherington said. ” He recognizes pitches, but it’s just getting him to improve his contact, which will reduce the strikeouts. If (Suwinski) can improve upon his contact, his other skills can be amplified.
Cherington closed that segment by commenting on the Pirates’ belief in the Chicago native to smooth the home/road numbers over and become the well-rounded player they think he can become.
It remains to be seen if Suwinski can become a household name, but there is no denying the power he offers to the Pirates as a left-handed batter at PNC Park.