Robinson Cano’s Replacement-Level Floor
Robinson Cano’s power vanished in 2014 without a clear explanation. Most believe that he will be valuable even if the power does not return. I think Cano’s risk going forward is greater than meets the eye.
After sporting an ISO of at least .199 every year from 2009 to 2013, Cano posted a mark of .139 in 2014. There is reason to believe that this power outage is permanent. Robinson Cano was a different kind of hitter in 2014. His ground ball percentage was 53% (up from 44% in 2013), and his average HR/FB distance plummeted from 292 to 278. Cano was mostly incapable of hitting fly balls to his pull side, which is where his home-run power used to be, despite swinging at more pitches middle-in. Cano’s aging bat may be unable to turn on major-league pitching the way it used to. As noted elsewhere, Cano’s 2014 power numbers had little to do with the move from Yankee Stadium to Safeco. His problem was that he hit the ball in the air less frequently, with less authority, and to the wrong side of the ballpark.
Aging may have played a role, but it is unusual for an elite slugger’s power to disappear at age 31 without something else going on. Perhaps Cano was dealing with an injury. Perhaps his amazing run from 2009-2013 was fueled by PEDs. We don’t know. But consider the similarities between Cano’s pre-elite 2008 line and his line from last year:
| Year | NI BB% | K% | ISO | BABIP | WAR |
| 2008 | 3.6% | 10.3% | .139 | .283 | 0.1 |
| 2014 | 6.1% | 10.2% | .139 | .335 | 5.2 |
It’s easy to forget that Cano was a replacement level second baseman in 2008. BABIP (along with the changing run environment) is mostly what separates his 2008 replacement level performance from the five-win version of Cano we saw in 2014. The stability of last year’s BABIP may be the key to Cano’s value going forward—a terrifying thought for the Mariners, who presumably did not intend to invest $240 million in the vagaries of BABIP.
There is conflicting data on what to expect from Cano’s balls in play in 2015. For example, ZIPS predicts .323—not so bad. Jeff Zimmerman’s xBABIP formula predicts .299—much closer to the 2008 disaster scenario. Neither of these predictions fully accounts for shifts, and Cano’s performance against them in 2014 is concerning. His BABIP was .388 against the shift and .303 without it. This is disconcerting because Cano displayed no such shift-beating prowess before last year, and his 2014 spray chart suggests no change in his approach that would justify any BABIP spike. To the contrary, last year Cano hit an alarming number of grounders to the right side of the infield, which should have favored the shifted infield defenses. It appears that Cano got lucky—perhaps very lucky—with his 2014 balls in play. My money is on something closer to the xBABIP prediction for 2015.
Cano went from an elite slugger to a BABIP-fueled slap hitter in a short period of time. His 2014 output was akin to an early-career Ichiro, except unlike Ichiro, we lack assurances that Cano will maintain the high BABIP. If the power is truly gone and the BABIP craters, he’s toast—or at least something closer to league average. The risk of collapse is higher than most want to believe, if for no other reason than this same risk was once realized by the same player.
Not sure I buy the argument about the park not having any effect: after all, the air tends to be heavier on the West Coast. It seems like that would lead to a decline in batted ball distance even if everything else was the same.
Right, that only covered dimensions, which is only a small part of the park factors that exist all over the West Coast.
Also, hugely not a fan of speculation like “Perhaps his amazing run from 2009-2013 was fueled by PEDs. We don’t know.” Yep! We definitely don’t know. Maybe he’s an alien, too, except that wouldn’t potentially be cited 20 years from now as evidence of “PED concerns” by Hall of Fame voters.
But check his spray chart. It’s not that he was hitting FBs to deep right that might have left the park in the right atmospheric conditions. He basically stopped pulling flyballs altogether, which was where the bulk of his home run power used to be.
As for the PEDs, this was not meant to be an indictment of Cano, whom I’ve always liked. The point is simply that his power outage cries out for an explanation. I don’t find the change in ballparks to be a compelling one, and the other possibilities – such as aging, injury, or PEDs – don’t necessarily provide comfort that the power will return. If I had to rank these possibilities in order of likelihood, PEDs would be the least likely.
Or randomness, which is by far the most likely explanation. And if it’s the least likely, and honestly not even in the top 3, why mention it at all?
And saying “look at the spray charts” is not really helpful — when I do, I see similar numbers of fly balls, with some clearing the wall and more being caught, well within the range I would consider reasonable for a one-year fluctuation. Put the fly balls into buckets based on field/distance and show they fell, then yes, definitely, that’s an article. This feels like mostly speculation.
Nor does randomness likely explain it. The article mentions that this kind of power outage is unusual, but perhaps I should have explained just how unusual. I checked comps for players who, like Cano, had a 5-year run with an ISO of .200 or greater (min 1500 PA). Then I checked to see what they did in year 6, and compared it to Cano’s 2014 (min 500 PA). There were 161 player seasons fitting this criteria from 2010-2014. Cano’s .139 ISO ranked 156 out of 161. The only players below him on the list were 37-year old Konerko (2013), 36-year old Vladie (2011) and the 2011 versions of Ethier, Bay and Ludwick. I.e., not good.
As for the flyballs, I really don’t know what else to tell you – there are no blue dots on the right side of the field in the 2014 spray chart, and his flyball distance overall dropped from 292 to 278 feet. This is not the recipe for a lefthanded power surge.
Anyway, we’ll keep our fingers crossed. Let’s check in at the end of the year…
People tend to forget that he didn’t have his first 20+ home run season until the new Short Porched Yankee Stadium and it’s supposed jet stream to right center. I don’t know for sure if it’s true or not, but I do think that the change in stadiums might have changed his swing. Maybe knowing the difference, he change his approach to hitting.
I know David Wright spoke on this after his first season in Citi Field and only hitting 10 home runs. It could also be age , but you can’t deny that the home ballpark has an effect.