Grapesoda2525 said:
There does seem to be somewhat of a "clutch" hitting gene in odor somewhere.
If I were to guess? I would expect his exit velocity is pretty high, compared to the league average. When there is a shift, he has 3 guys on the right side of the field, giving the D 50% more coverage, and the 2B can play shallow RF.
With RISP, the D has to have 2 guys on the left side of the IF, playing a more traditional defense. So, he has a better chance to get a base hit. Additionally, the P has to throw more strikes, for fear of a past ball, or walking him. Thus, he gets better pitches.
Where Odor hurts himself most... is when nobody is on. If he'd lighten up and go-the-other-way, it would force defenses to play a more traditional D, at which point, he can mash the ball and have a higher BA.
This week, Odor has done a better job laying off the high pitch. However, at least 3 times he was called out on strikes by pitches clearly too high (twice) or outside (1). That works against him, because if he starts laying off the high ball and they still call it a strike, he is going to chase them. Which is likely what happened on the pitch image above.