janb526 wrote: ↑31 Jul 2026 21:46 pm
I would guess that Tinker toy Oli has messed him up by moving him to second in the order. Let's see, let's move the league leading RBI guy to the second hole and move our DH/catcher who is not hitting a lick to the 4 hole. Makes perfect sense to no one! Typical Oli
bgwinn01 wrote: ↑31 Jul 2026 23:06 pm
We are watching a young superstar going through growing pains. Has nothing to do with where he is in the order. He’s adjusted before, he will again. It is painful to watch. Be patient with this asset. It’s Major League Baseball.
I can accept that, I just laugh that batting order causes hitting indegestion when he was struggling prior to..
I disagree. Walker was putting together a nice argument for a wealthy extension, and showing with the hitters in front of him, he could be that RBI guy in the lineup..
For reasons we can only imagine (i think it was an effort to pad Ivans stats and exposure), they took away a bargaining tool from JW. It absolutely has to effect him.
You dont move your #4 hitter because he's in a slump. No different than you dont move your leadoff hitter because he slumps. All players slump. Play through it.
bgwinn01 wrote: ↑31 Jul 2026 23:06 pm
We are watching a young superstar going through growing pains. Has nothing to do with where he is in the order. He’s adjusted before, he will again. It is painful to watch. Be patient with this asset. It’s Major League Baseball.
I can accept that, I just laugh that batting order causes hitting indegestion when he was struggling prior to..
I disagree. Walker was putting together a nice argument for a wealthy extension, and showing with the hitters in front of him, he could be that RBI guy in the lineup..
For reasons we can only imagine (i think it was an effort to pad Ivans stats and exposure), they took away a bargaining tool from JW. It absolutely has to effect him.
You dont move your #4 hitter because he's in a slump. No different than you dont move your leadoff hitter because he slumps. All players slump. Play through it.
His numbers were already falling way before the last 9 games. That's a significant point you are missing. He had a great ,60 game run. That happens.
Who knows why his hitting has dropped off. Certainly posters on CT don’t know. I guess most likely pitchers have adjusted or there is a hitch in his swing and approach but I don’t know and neither does anyone on this board.
Making stupid claims about where he bats in the order or his current mentality is, well like I said stupid.
He made some adjustments after last season and it worked. But teams constantly adjust and now they have neutralized him. If he can't continue to adjust he will not be a star with star pay. This is too long to be a bad streak. He has all the physical tools anyone could hope for and a great attitude. Just need that third piece- the ability to adapt. I think he will do it.
hotrivets wrote: ↑01 Aug 2026 08:09 am
He made some adjustments after last season and it worked. But teams constantly adjust and now they have neutralized him. If he can't continue to adjust he will not be a star with star pay. This is too long to be a bad streak. He has all the physical tools anyone could hope for and a great attitude. Just need that third piece- the ability to adapt. I think he will do it.
Jatalk wrote: ↑01 Aug 2026 08:01 am
Who knows why his hitting has dropped off. Certainly posters on CT don’t know. I guess most likely pitchers have adjusted or there is a hitch in his swing and approach but I don’t know and neither does anyone on this board.
Making stupid claims about where he bats in the order or his current mentality is, well like I said stupid.
The mental game in sports is far from stupid. It plays a HUGE part in the equation. Do you golf? I play a lot of golf. When things are going good, its beyond great. When I hit a rough patch, and my confidence takes a dive, and mentally I start over thinking everything? My entire game takes a dive.
No idea why you would think the mental aspect is stupid. Look no further than Rick Ankiel. Hes a perfect example of what problems the mental part of the game can do to a player.
Jatalk wrote: ↑01 Aug 2026 08:01 am
Who knows why his hitting has dropped off. Certainly posters on CT don’t know. I guess most likely pitchers have adjusted or there is a hitch in his swing and approach but I don’t know and neither does anyone on this board.
Making stupid claims about where he bats in the order or his current mentality is, well like I said stupid.
The mental game in sports is far from stupid. It plays a HUGE part in the equation. Do you golf? I play a lot of golf. When things are going good, its beyond great. When I hit a rough patch, and my confidence takes a dive, and mentally I start over thinking everything? My entire game takes a dive.
No idea why you would think the mental aspect is stupid. Look no further than Rick Ankiel. Hes a perfect example of what problems the mental part of the game can do to a player.
Absolutely it is important. The stupid part is posters on CT thinking they know about Walkers mentality. You know it impacts your golf game because it’s you. You are not JW and have no idea what is going on in his head.
At the start of the year I would have been happy with 22 dingers and 80 ribbies. Two months to go and he is drowning again, ever so slowly.
If a team wants to cough up a top ten young pitcher in the league, go for it. We have zero aces on the horizon. Doyle is STILL learning how to pitch effectively,
hotrivets wrote: ↑01 Aug 2026 08:09 am
He made some adjustments after last season and it worked. But teams constantly adjust and now they have neutralized him. If he can't continue to adjust he will not be a star with star pay. This is too long to be a bad streak. He has all the physical tools anyone could hope for and a great attitude. Just need that third piece- the ability to adapt. I think he will do it.
Agreed.
Yes. Although I would prefer he hit 3 or 4, batting second is not the reason he is slumping. If you watch his ABs you will see that in most of them he gets one pitch to crush and he is either fouling it off, or missing it. Earlier in the season he was crushing that pitch. They are pretty much pitching him the same way, seeing if he will bite on the low and away breaking stuff out of the zone, and then getting him to guess on strike three, where he often watches a perfectly hittable pitch go by rather than guarding the plate. He is guessing a lot, and when he gets his pitch he is missing it. Hopefully he gets out of the funk. Kid has talent and is a hard worker and no doubt is frustrated. Batting #2 is really not the problem, although again, it is not where I would put him in the order. It seems the whole offense goes and JW goes lately....