Royals Video
There are many doubts we can have around a baseball hitter, and one of the ones that creates the most expectations usually appears when he manages to erase one of his main problems at the plate. No matter how much he manages to distance himself from his historical inconsistencies, we remain attentive to the first sign of regression. Part of that narrative has been around Michael Massey's improvements in the batter's box this year, and we are already at the end of August. That means the final stretch of the season is approaching. At this point, many of the major trends among qualified hitters, whether good or bad, will be very difficult to reverse this late in the season.
That makes Massey's story a much more reliable outcome. Throughout his career, since debuting with the Kansas City Royals in 2022, Massey has struggled against left-handed pitchers. Between 2022 and 2024, he averaged an 80 wRC+, with his improvement to 101 in 2024, but the following year he had the biggest drop of his career, recording just 41. His xSLG and xwOBA hit rock bottom, at .262 and .206, respectively.
Massey's defensive ability at second base, forming a key combination with Bobby Witt Jr., along with his slight offensive impact against right-handed pitchers, justified part of his time as a starter. That story has taken a turn that seemed unsustainable, but has gradually become reality: Massey is posting a 140 wRC+, almost 100 points above his deepest drop last year, with an impressive .321/.346/.526 slash line, an .871 OPS and a .407 BABIP. Yes, it seems absurd, but he has increased his slugging by .249 points, his ISO by .162 (.205 from .043), his BABIP by .118 and his batting average by 87 points.
Now, even more unusual is how he is doing it. Usually, this type of adjustment should be linked to better plate discipline, a higher contact rate both inside and outside the strike zone, and perhaps fewer strikeouts. What if I told you that Massey has done the exact opposite? It seems crazy, but he has broken all of those standards: his Contact% has fallen from 81.7% to 73.7%, his O-Contact% from 71.9% to 49.1%, he has increased his strikeout rate (K% from 18.4% to 25.6%) and has reduced his swings inside the strike zone by 9.1 percentage points (70.9% vs. 61.8%) compared with last year.
Let's see how Massey has turned the tide in his favor in the lefty vs. lefty matchup, analyzing this 2025 vs. 2026 comparison:
On the left, we have his 2025 heat map, and on the right, this season's. Notice how spread out the heat samples were last year. It is quite easy to notice how it has changed this year. This season, the intense heat points in the lower areas have a lot to do with the way Massey has hit the main pitches that neutralized him. In particular, he has made notable adjustments against sliders. Last year, his HardHit rate was just 22.2%, while Miss Distance reached 9.9, a combination that helps explain why his swing lost so much quality. This season, he has reduced that miss to an average of 3.2, with an xSLG of .438 and the highest hard-hit rate of his entire career (37.5%). His swings have not stopped being aggressive against sliders, and he has also paid the price with a 41.4% whiff rate, but the increase in quality at-bats has been worth it.
Let's see here how Massey hit sliders.
On the left are the results from this season. Compared with last year's samples, you can see how the opposition went back to attacking him in areas where they had controlled his swing. This year he has started to do damage in three different zones, two of them with an xBA above .750. Massey has received the highest percentage of pitches in the lower zones and toward the outside corner, so a key adjustment for him began by letting the pitches get to him. His bat speed stayed above 65 mph, and he also adjusted his launch angle from 21 degrees to 16.
Against four-seam fastballs, the determining progress can be seen in IdealAtkAng%, which improved by 19.4%. Miss Distance has been reduced to 0.3, with better bat speed that has been reflected in a 4.6 increase in his HardHit% rate. Massey has also experienced improvements against the sinker, the pitch he was attacked with the most (4.4%) in 2025. This season, he has reduced his whiff rate by 7.1%, and his xSLG from .277 to .373.
Look, there is something clear here, and that is that we do not know how long Massey will be able to maintain these adjustments. Left-handed pitchers have been throwing him too many fastballs and sliders, so I suspect that very soon we will begin to see a change in plan. Even so, the adjustment that could sustain this pace from Massey may be his total focus on contact. Since June, his BABIP has risen from .253 to .326, but the jump does not appear completely isolated: he is getting more line drives (24.6% from 13.3%), and his bat speed is allowing him to pull the ball more often (11.5%).
For the first time, Massey is taking control in his matchups against left-handed pitchers, finally tasting the nectar of glory after walking back to the dugout with his head down so many times. Now it is no longer about knowing whether he can do it. The question is how long he will be able to sustain it.
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