When the Cleveland Guardians acquired Myles Straw last year from the Houston Astros, they thought they were getting a leadoff-type capable of getting on base enough to justify his complete lack of power.
He was good last year after coming over to Cleveland, with a .285/.362/.377 line, two homers and 13 stolen bases in 60 games, with speed to burn and great defense.
He had all the ingredients of a solid top-of-the-order hitter.
That is no longer the case in 2022.
Straw is slashing .216/.303/.272 with no homers and 13 steals in 93 games so far in the 2022 campaign.
Basically, he is not a threat to inflict damage on contact, as 216 Baseball Pod shows with its latest tweet.
Good morning!
Myles Straw’s Baseball Savant page is a WILD ride#Fortheland pic.twitter.com/kIeaLGgeNG
— 216 Baseball Podcast (@216BaseballPod) July 27, 2022
Straw Is An Excellent Fielder With Blazing Speed, With A Limited Offensive Profile
Straw is in the 11th percentile in average exit velocity, and his max exit velocity is also mediocre, as he is in the 18th percentile there.
96 percent of the hitters in the league have a better hard-hit rate than him, and he rarely barrels the ball (ideal contact with a certain minimum of exit velocity and in a specific spectrum in the launch angle department).
On the other hand, Straw has elite plate discipline, judging by his 87th percentile in K% and 80th percentile in walk rate (BB%).
He is also among the league’s best in the fielding categories and is still very, very fast.
All things considered, Straw now profiles as a fourth-outfielder type with excellent defensive skills and blazing speed, but unless he makes some mechanical changes, his offensive upside will be extremely limited.
The Guardians will likely look for ways to replace Straw’s at-bats with the deadline approaching if they have playoff aspirations.
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