Moises Sierra comes up to the Jays and hits in a time when no one besides Edwin Encarnacion wanted too. He hits better than Anthony Gose, his prime roster spot rival, and he makes some highlight real throws. He looks like a big leaguer.
One would tend to think he’s made a smooth adjustment to the league, but you must ask how much of that is because the league has not yet adjusted to him? In the Majors, there is so much information available on every player that raw talent is quickly smelted into its composite elements. The sample size on Sierra is large enough to dissect now, and the word on him is getting around.
Sierra swings early, and wantonly. He’s aggressive. Commendable when are ambushing the league and trying to make a name for yourself. But, even in the span of a month, you are starting to see the league dissect his tendencies and make adjustment. His Average has slipped fifty points, and he still swings freely.
I am not criticizing Sierra’s approach, or his ability. Ambushing the league when it’s not ready for you is exactly what you should do. I’m simply bringing attention to the fact that there is a game with in a game at the big league level. Info versus talent. Talent reacting to info. Info adjusting to the new data, and so on. Some pitchers will change the out pitch they go to just to muddy the waters. Some hitters will ambush repeatedly when they are pegged as patient hitter a pitcher can work ahead of easily. And some scouts are old enough to know when a player is just playing outside himself to put a question mark int he mind of team he’s facing. Spy vs. Spy, if you will.
Anthony Gose was over matched at the plate in the big leagues, but Sierra wasn’t. That bought him some time. But what will keep him there is how makes his next adjustment. One thing you can be sure of is that the league is adjusting to him. All outs can’t be made at home plate to end the game (that was highlight in Sierra’s career to this point, I think) and there wont be many more cookie fastballs now that he’s shown he can hit them far. Sierra will have to make his share of counter adjustments if he wants to stick. Indeed, not making this next adjustment is why so many players don’t stick.
I think Sierra will make the adjustments—he’s young and too talented not to—but the speed in which he does is what you should watch for. At a level where everyone is supremely talented it becomes a game of adjustments, and how fast a player can make them.