BaseKnock MLB took an interesting look at a few "late career All-Stars," beginning with Cozart, and suggested that the biggest difference between the Reds' 31-year-old shortstop now and before is that he's more disciplined at the plate.
As they write: He's swinging at just 24% of pitches out of the zone per FanGraphs, well below his career norm of 29%. That, combined with his typically strong contact skills (he's running a low 5.9% swinging strike rate), has given Cozart the best walk rate of his career at 12%.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, it’s contract time for Cozart, who will become a free agent after this season.
There is plenty of speculation around baseball that the Reds could trade him before the deadline at the end of this month.
What do you think should happen? What do you think will happen with the first-time All-Star?
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