Over at Fangraphs, Jeff Zimmerman charted Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki’s career hitting tendencies. As any Mets fan will mournfully attest, Tulowitzki is enjoying a power surge to start the season: He was .793 SLG and 205 wRC+ heading into last night’s game against the Giants. Through the use of a Loess Curve (see below), Zimmeran discovered that Tulo is turning on pitches with much greater frequency, which leads to an unsurprising conclusion:
This change has allowed him to put the ball into the left-field corner, and the corners are usually the shortest part of the field — which increases the chances of a home run.
Zimmerman suggests that the increased power stems from a changed swing dating back to mid-2009 and improved health.