This comes from Eric Sanlnocencio, who puts in a lot of time and does a nice job  on his MVN site Rays Anatomy, trying to get at Akinori Iwamura’s lack of power in the U.S. He’s got some good observations (although, I’d recommend he read Simon’s recent breakdown of Japanese Ballparks) and has a reel of Iwamura’s homers in Japan that he analyses.

Right handers will stay on his outer half of the plate more, and if Aki doesn’t stay square through the zone, the “pulling off” becomes more of a problem. He will still make good contact, but without the power of his hips and lower half he won’t drive the ball as much. This happens with many Japanese hitters as they struggle. Ask Yankee fans how many times Hideki Matsui “pulls off” and grounds out to second. Same idea here.

Even though two of his three Tropicana Field homeruns in 2007 were hit to left center, I’d make the argument that he was late on the pitch more than he was driving the ball that way with authority. That’s a general description, but it will make sense the more you watch him swing.

I think in the end, Eric, like me, like anyone, can’t exactly explain why there was such a severe dropoff. I think his power will increase this year, but I’d be surprised it it went beyond the 10-15 range. Still, 15 HRs out of your second-baseman isn’t anything to complain about.