Nationals' Adam Lind: Too pull-happy in 2016

Lind says his struggles at the plate last season came from stubbornly trying to pull the ball through infield shifts rather than going the other way, The Washington Post reports. "He said he's gotten a little pull happy, so perhaps we can get him back to the center of the field, the big part of the ballpark," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said Friday.

Analysis:

While Lind did pop 20 or more home runs in 2016 for the sixth time in his career, he also slashed .239/.286/.431 while pulling the ball 39.5 percent of the time, a far cry from his 2014 performance, when he hit .321/.381/.479 with a pull rate of just 31.4 percent. Ryan Zimmerman remains the Nats' starter at first base, but his own health issues and declining offense make him far from a sure thing. If Lind can get back to his 2014 form at the plate, he could force his way into a much larger role.