KC Royals: Bubba Starling Prospect Profile

Areas for Improvement

More Consistent Contact

In his first year of pro-ball, Starling actually looked like he might turn out to have the bat and power that many thought he lacked. He batted .275 with ten home runs in only 200 at-bats. Unfortunately, all of the warning signs were there as he also managed to strike out 70 times.

In his career, striking out has been a big part of Starling’s game. He has a strikeout in just over 30 percent of his at-bats in his professional career thus far. That’s about one in three at-bats.

The positive, is that in 2015 Starling took steps to cut down his strikeouts and it showed. While it wasn’t a big improvement, Starling struck out 27.5 percent of the time at the Double ‘A’ level last season. It’s the highest level he’s played at so far. A strikeout every fourth at-bat beats a strikeout every third at-bat.

If he can get that percentage down a little more in 2015 he may be even closer to the big leagues. A strikeout rate under 25 percent would be another big step.

The video above shows some of the flaws in Starling’s swing. Start viewing around the 1:12 mark and number six has a little bit of an uppercut in his swing. His right shoulder also tends to force his head out of the strike zone which pulls his eye off the ball.

The good news is he’s taken a new approach and has tried to straighten out his swing and keep his bat in the zone longer. This should help hit at least make more consistent contact.

He’s also got some pop in that bat. Seven of his ten Double ‘A’ home runs came in the second half of the year. He also added four home runs in the Arizona Fall League.

If Starling has figured out what he needs to work on, the sky is the limit for the top prospect. If he can improve on his .269 batting average this season, he could make an appearance sometime soon.

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