{"playerId":609,"percentChange":0,"averageDraftPosition":86.3,"percentOwned":100,"playerRaterSEASON":4,"playerRater7DAY":2.5,"mostRecentNews":{"news":"Suzuki had two hits, including a triple, and drove in two runs Monday against Texas ace and fellow countryman Yu Darvish.","spin":"Ichiro has five hits in six at-bats with a double and a triple in two games vs. Darvish this season. He now has 16 multi-hit games, sixth in the AL, but overall he's hitting only .285.","date":"Mon May 21"},"fullName":"Ichiro Suzuki","seasonOutlook":{"outlook":"For the first time in his 11 major league seasons, Ichiro failed to hit .300, and it was not even close, as he checked in at a lowly (for him) .272. Considering his age and approach, it makes sense to assume the impetus of Ichiro's decline was a loss in speed. The data, however, begs to differ. Ichiro's BABIP on ground balls was its normal above-average mark. The root of his woes was hitting fewer line drives and a BABIP on those line drives below league average. While arguments can be made why a certain player's BABIP on grounders or flies is high or low, it is hard to make a compelling argument how a low BABIP on line drives is anything more than plain dumb luck. That said, the fact Ichiro stroked fewer line drives is at least worthy of yellow flag status as this could be a sign of skills degradation, though players of all ages have seasons in which their line drive percentage drops. The fact Ichiro stole 40 bases while getting caught only seven times is also a positive sign. While Suzuki is not likely to challenge for the batting crown any more, a return to .300 is well within reach, as are another 35-40 stolen bases.","seasonId":2012,"date":"Fri Feb 10"},"playerRater30DAY":2.5,"playerRater15DAY":2.3,"positionRank":36}