Seth Brown has been a solid player with the Oakland Athletics but has declined massively in the 2023 season. He has a lower batting average and seems to have lost most of his power year over year. He was an above-average power-hitter in previous seasons but has now just been a struggle to keep in the lineup with his poor performances.
In 2023, Brown has struck out more and has also started to walk less than usual, now at a career low in walk percentage. While he has thrived off fastballs, he has struggled more year over year, with most of his struggles coming from being one of the worst Breaking Ball and Off-Speed hitters.
Brown has struggled mostly against the changeup in 2023 with a batting average of just .121, while striking out 30.6 percent of the time. His struggles have also been due to him being unable to hit any sliders. He is better but still holds a batting average of just .143 while striking out 34.8 percent of the time. Not often, pitchers will throw a cutter to him because he demolishes them with a batting average of .348.
Seth Brown's main cause of struggles easily identified
He has a few major problems in his game. Firstly, he isn't good defensively, and secondly, he needs to stop chasing pitchers and must increase walks while being less aggressive.
In September, he has shown his full potential. In 17 games, he has hit .298 with one home run and six RBIs and has been able to strike out less while walking more, leading to an OBP of .377 and OPS of 128, which is 28% better than the league during this time.
When he is behind in counts, he has hit .191 with 62 strikeouts and no walks, but he has seven home runs and 17 RBIs. However, when he is ahead in counts, he has massively thrived with a batting average of .250, 30 walks, and ten strikeouts while hitting five home runs and 19 RBIs. His main problem has been when he falls behind; he just tries to hit anything.
Overall perspective on Seth Brown and future potential
Seth Brown is a very talented player who has shown his potential, but at age 31, it's not worth it for the Oakland Athletics to keep him on the roster with him going to decline more and more. Brown is hitting the ball better than ever and just needs to make better contact with it, and you could see him become a 30-home run guy.