I got a text from Grey the other day. He said to meet him in Hollywood because someone offered him a lifetime supply of boba. He was skeptical of course but that .00001% chance intrigued him. I get it. It’s why I always reply to that Prince in Nigeria. Anyways, as we sat down to meet our mystery man, someone lept from behind the conveniently sized and positioned plant and tried to rub Grey’s mustache. When angered, Bruce Banner morphs into the Hulk. In a similar vein, Grey turned into seven-foot anime Grey and went POW! BLAP! SOK! BIF! BAM! like in the 60s Batman shows. The power. The ferocity. I was flabbergasted like the first time I discovered pubic hair. A similar display of power has been experienced by fans of the Cleveland Indians recently. LuPLOW. LuPLOW. LuPLOW. LuPLOW. LuPLOW. LuPLOW. Jordan Luplow has six dingers on the season and has been added in 18% of ESPN leagues. Is there anything here?
Luplow is 27 years old, 6′ 1″, 195 pounds, and bats from the right side. He was drafted by the Pirates in the third round of the 2014 MLB draft. He spent four years with the organization before being traded to the Indians.
Throughout his minor league career, Luplow displayed excellent plate discipline numbers, walking over 10% of the time while maintaining strikeout rates below 20%. He had highs of 16 home runs and 11 stolen bases. The ISO bounced all over the place before settling in the .175 range.
In Triple-A during the 2018 season, Luplow hit eight home runs and stole seven bases in 357 plate appearances. The slash was .287/.367/.462 with a 10.9% walk rate, 17.9% strikeout rate, and .175 ISO.
In 2019, he received 261 plate appearances with the Indians major league squad. He hit 15 home runs and stole three bases. The slash was .276/.372/.551 with a .276 ISO, 12.6 walk rate, and 23.4 strikeout rate.
So, the power is real and the plate discipline numbers have been good throughout his career. But?
He’s much more successful against left-handed pitching than righties. The slash is .267/.377/.597 with a .329 ISO against lefties compared to the .198/.276/.354 slash with a .156 ISO against righties.
So far in 2021, though, he’s been more successful against righties. The slash is .263/.300/.842 with a .579 ISO vs. .207/.361/.552 with a .345 ISO. He has hit three of his six home runs against righties. As a result, the Indians have been playing him more against righties, and even batting leadoff at times.
Does anyone think this is real? Well, 18% of people in ESPN leagues do. The beauty of 56 plate appearance sample size. The funny thing is that the BABIP is a low .179 so he has been unlucky and I am impressed by the 18.2% chase rate. With that said, he is not a .438 ISO hitter. Has he figured out right-handed pitching? Well, the strikeout rate is still 30% against righties so….That’s a no from me, dog.
VERDICT
