This article was originally published as part of Verducci’s View, a weekly baseball newsletter from Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci. Every Monday, Tom empties out his notebook over email and covers MLB’s hottest topics, provides in-depth analysis through both text and video breakdowns, looks forward to what’s worth watching during the week and more. If you want to be featured in his new mailbag, please email [email protected] with any questions about MLB or his decades in the sport.
On May 8, Manny Machado of the Padres was hitting .202/.313/.355, including .100 against pitches 95 mph and faster. It had nothing to do with bat speed or age. His timing was poor. So, he did something about it.
