Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Bryant hurt that front shoulder in 2018 and I'm not convinced it's ever fully recovered.
Rolen did the same thing to his shoulder in 2004 and he just never recovered. The shoulder never got its strength back and he never hit for plus power again. He remained a valuable player, but he had to alter his approach. Bryant hasn't seemed able to find a new approach and apart from a white-hot May last season (that he attributed to that 'ax handled bat') he's just not been the same guy since his shoulder came up lame.
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Pretty sure he doesn't even use the axe handle anymore.
And to say 2019 was carried by a single month is pretty ignorant. Was May an insane month for him? Yes. He had a 190 wRC+ in May. But, April and August were his only months under 130 wRC+.
Bryant goes into really bad slumps where he literally can't hit a meatball right over the plate and he stays in them for weeks. But he's generally a premier hitter in the league.