Houston Astros' McCormick Quietly Improved Plate Discipline in Second Season

At first glance, Chas McCormick's offensive numbers don't appear much different than his rookie season. The center fielder scored 47 runs, swiped four bases, slapped 12 doubles and slashed 14 home runs — all identical to his output last year.

Although McCormick was splitting time with José Siri to start the season, he still finished with more games played than his rookie year, appearing in 119 compared to 108 in 2021.

Given the larger sample, McCormick's batting average and slugging percentage were both slightly down, but his on-base percentage went up.

In 2021, McCormick walked 25 times in 320 trips to the plate, good for a 7.8% walk rate. With 87 more plate appearances in year two, the righty has walked 46 times, giving him an increased walk rate of 11.3% and placing him among the 86th percentile in MLB.

McCormick is not swinging any less often, but he's getting more looks at the plate. The righty is actually swinging at pitches inside of the zone less and outside of the zone more than last year, according to Baseball Savant.

He is whiffing less though. Those out of the zone swings aren't telling the full story on whether or not the outcome of the pitch.

Oddly enough, McCormick's strikeout rate dropped in the process. He was punched out 26% of the time this season, 6.5% less than last year.

Strikeouts were still a smaller thorn for McCormick, and while he looked like a mirrored self for much of this season, his improved approach helped boost his OBP and his chances of starting more in center field in 2023.

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