With the adjustments that Austin Slater made to his swing mechanics prior to the season, the young San Francisco Giants outfielder is making a case for a long-term role.
In previous years, Slater has struggled with getting enough loft on his swing. That’s not surprising from a Stanford alum, as Cardinal hitters are often taught to focus on hitting ground balls or line drives.
Case in point, in 2018, Slater posted a 63.1 percent ground ball rate. That’s extremely high and would have been the highest rate in baseball among qualified hitters if he had accumulated the requisite number of plate appearances.