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Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
I've not seen him play so I'm just going by what I've read. It does seem at least a little counter-intuitive.
That said, low-level minor leaguers often struggle to throw strikes. You can draw walks at the lower levels simply by not swinging; you don't exactly have to be discerning about it. It doesn't suggest a good feel for the strike zone, just that he has a ton of raw power and that guys are throwing him carefully to deal with it.
Finally, you can absolutely have a good feel for where the strike zone is without knowing what a pitch is going to do. If you throw me a fastball, I may be able to determine that it's going to be out of the zone fairly easily and lay off it. That doesn't mean I'm necessarily going to be able to pick up that little red disc on the ball when you throw me a slider, gauge the tilt and do anything with it.
Yeah, strike zone judgment and pitch recognition often do go hand in hand, but not always. Starling could very easily be sitting fastball, spotting them when they're wide, punishing them when they're not and simply getting eating alive when they're not fastballs at all.
One doesn't strike out 70 times in 200 ABs in rookie ball if he has an easy time picking up breaking balls.
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Yeah, but you rarely see guys drawing walks at an elite rate (like Starling did) completely fall off the map.
Guys that really have the knack for drawing walks tend to have pretty flat or steady walk rates (look at Adam Dunn, who has walked at a 15-16 percent clip his entire career).
It's just one more thing about Starling that's confusing as a prospect. One of the hardest guys to put a finger on in years.