Andrew Hoffmann<\/a><\/strong> back to Arizona. He\u2019d been in the midst of a roughly average year at the plate and came to Kansas City with a strong track record of pummeling left-handed pitching. He didn\u2019t produce in his new surroundings, however, as his .206\/.267\/.299 slash in 105 plate appearances with K.C. dropped his season-long batting line to a well below average .228\/.273\/.401.<\/p>\nAs recently as 2024, Grichuk mashed at a .291\/.348\/.528 pace (139 wRC+) with a dozen homers in only 279 plate appearances for the D-backs. The majority of his production that year came versus left-handed pitching, which has been the righty-swinging Grichuk\u2019s bread and butter throughout his big league career. He\u2019s a lifetime .268\/.318\/.500 hitter when holding the platoon advantage, compared to a .241\/.287\/.446 hitter in right-on-right situations.<\/p>\n
Earlier in his career, Grichuk was a capable center fielder, but his sprint speed has dropped more than a foot per second since its peak levels, per Statcast. He now ranks in the 41st percentile of big leaguers in terms of sprint speed. Grichuk has a strong arm, so he\u2019s a capable corner outfielder even with the diminished speed, but he\u2019s at best an occasional backup in center at this point. He played exactly one inning of center field with the D-backs and one with the Royals.<\/p>\n
At 34 and coming off a down season, Grichuk isn\u2019t going to find a robust market. However, he\u2019s an established veteran with a lengthy track record who could hold down the short side of a corner outfield platoon while providing a serviceable backup across all three outfield spots, should his next team incur an injury among its starting group. He\u2019ll probably be capped at a relatively affordable one-year deal once again, though some teams will surely prefer to wait and see if he\u2019ll accept a non-roster invite to spring training later in the offseason.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n