Explain This to Me

At the age of eighteen, Oscar Colas left Cuba to play in Japan, where he played well enough for the White Sox to sign him. He looked to be a player to watch based on his two seasons in the minor leagues. In 2022, Colas batted .312 with forty-two RBIs for High-A Winston-Salem, which earned him an in-season promotion to Double-A Birmingham. There, he hit .306 with fourteen homeruns and thirty-three RBIs. Those numbers in turn got him a late-season callup to Triple-A Charlotte, where he hit .387 in thirty-one at-bats. Last year in Charlotte, he hit .293 with nine homers and twenty-nine RBIs. So, what happened? Colas is hitting .212 for the Sox far this season in 179 at-bats. To me, he looks like a nervous bundle of energy at the plate, with happy feet. Was he that way in Japan and the minors? I don’t see how anyone could hit with such an approach. Right now, Colas looks to be either a Four-A level talent or someone being hurt rather than helped by his big-league coaches. Until and unless he goes to another team, we may never know the answer.