This past season was the first in which there were more strikeouts than hits. It’s an issue with the commissioner’s office; they’d like to see more hits and more action. Do you see it as a problem?

I don’t know how you solve it, but you’ve definitely seen an increase in velocity year by year. There’s been an emphasis on the whole launch angle thing and pitchers combating that with throwing fastballs up in the zone. There’s been a greater push on analytics and teams to look into it and how to get guys out. Hitters have that as well, but hitting has always been hard. Hitting a baseball is still incredibly hard. It’s just one of those things where hitters have to make an adjustment and we have to find a way. Since I’ve been in the league for parts of six years, you can tell already the difference as far as just the amount of power arms you face on a nightly and daily basis.

Given the oversaturation of statistics and measurements in baseball, what do you look at to evaluate your own performance?

I feel like probably the biggest one is O.P.S. It’s the biggest stat that people take value from in the game, from the people who evaluate it and the people who play it. Just because it’s slugging and on base — two of the things that make up a productive baseball player. We’ve gotten away from batting average a little bit. I still think batting average is important; other people will tell you it’s not anymore in the game, but you don’t want to make outs, basically. You still have to get on base and be productive. Somehow getting on base and getting a hit are really not that big of a deal. It’s still really hard to get a hit in the big leagues, whether it’s a single or homer. There’s still something that can be said for that. You’ve seen that, where the game has gotten away from it, where it’s become acceptable to hit .220 or .230 and hit 30 homers.

Every hit almost feels like a miracle because pitchers are throwing so hard. Do you ever sit back and think, This is a really freakish skill I have?

Sometimes it feels a lot harder than other times. There’s times when you’re in the on-deck circle or on the bench and you’re like: ‘I have no shot. I don’t know how I’m going to do this but I’ve got to figure it out.’ And other times you’re more locked in and it doesn’t feel as hard. It’s the same feeling every spring training when the pitchers are throwing their bullpen or live batting practices and you’re like” ‘Oh man, this might be the year I go 0 for 500. I don’t know how I’m going to do this.’ And then you get back to the process. I feel like, from the side or in the dugout, this guy is throwing is so hard. And then when you get in there, it’s not really what you think it is because you’re so used to it. It just slows down every day when you’re in there.

In the second half last year, did the ball look like a beach ball to you?

There are times even during that second half where there were week stretches where it kind of leaves you and doesn’t feel right. But it comes back quicker. When you go on stretches like that, there’s still times where it doesn’t feel great but it still comes back to you quicker. Some years, you’re constantly searching for “it” — and “it” is different for everybody.