Last offseason saw 35 free agents sign multi-year contracts. Some, like the mega-deals given to Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, made history. Others, like Texas’ three-year deal for Lance Lynn and the Yankees’ two-year deal for DJ LeMahieu, have already paid off big. But the National League’s hottest hitter is

Last offseason saw 35 free agents sign multi-year contracts. Some, like the mega-deals given to Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, made history. Others, like Texas’ three-year deal for Lance Lynn and the Yankees’ two-year deal for DJ LeMahieu, have already paid off big.

But the National League’s hottest hitter is on a one-year contract -- and he’s acing his single-summer audition.

Josh Donaldson is simply tearing the cover off the ball for Atlanta. Halfway through the one-year, $23 million deal he signed last November, Donaldson has hit 19 homers, driven in 46 runs and put up a .961 OPS since the calendar flipped to June. He’s slashing .288/.417/.654 with 11 dingers and 29 RBIs over his last 29 games. One year after it looked as though injuries might have pushed Donaldson into a different stage of his career, he looks a lot like the superstar he was in Toronto when he won the 2015 AL MVP Award.

It’s not just Donaldson’s box-score numbers that are popping out. Statcast’s expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) metric -- which takes a comprehensive look at quality of contact (exit velocity and launch angle), walks and strikeouts -- lists Donaldson right behind reigning MVP Christian Yelich as the NL’s most dangerous overall hitter since June 1.

Highest xwOBA in NL, since June 1

Min. 150 PA (95 NL hitters)

1. Yelich: .425

2. Donaldson: .415

3. Anthony Rendon (WSH): .408

4. Cody Bellinger (LAD): .403

5. Max Muncy (LAD): .399

MLB 2019 avg. xwOBA: .319

Quality of contact is the key here, because Statcast metrics show that Donaldson’s power tool remains very much intact. With his 2018 shoulder and calf woes seemingly in the rear-view mirror, the “Bringer of Rain” is pulverizing baseballs the way he used to north of the border.

Things didn’t look as rosy for the Braves’ $23 million investment -- a record for any one-year deal in MLB history -- through the opening weeks. His 118 weighted runs created plus through May 31 still made him an above-average hitter, but not quite Josh Donaldson; it was nearly the same line (117 wRC+) he put up in limited time with the Blue Jays and Indians last year. His 49.2% hard-hit rate through May remained elite, but the original “elevate and celebrate” champion was pounding a lot of those scorchers into the ground. Donaldson told The Athletic things began to change during a three-game set from June 7-9 in Miami, where he lifted half of his balls in play for hard liners and fly balls despite going 1-for-13 in the series.

As is the case with so many 2019 success stories, Donaldson took off as soon as his contact took flight.

Up, down, inside, outside. Fastball, breaking ball. Hasn't mattered.



Josh Donaldson has making dingers rain since the start of June. ☔️ pic.twitter.com/mmec1B7I9u — Matt Kelly (@mattkellyMLB) August 5, 2019

“I’ve been feeling great,” said Donaldson. “Now it’s just about getting the ball in the air because consistently I’m hitting the ball hard. I feel like everything’s kind of working that way.”

The other concern from Donaldson’s start was his plate discipline, a trademark of his Oakland and Toronto peaks. His 28.1% strikeout rate through May doesn’t stand out too much in today’s whiff-happy climate, but it wasn’t vintage Donaldson (18.1% from 2014-16), either. Donaldson was particularly struggling to see breaking balls (.235 BA, 28.2% K rate), but that’s turned around too. On June 15, Donaldson asked Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer to bring a pitching machine out of the indoor cage and out to the pitcher’s mound, and turn the dial to the curveball setting. He went 6-for-8 over the next two games against the Phillies, with three of those hits coming off curves and sliders.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Snitker told The Athletic about the routine, something Donaldson did often in Toronto. “He knows his swing, and he knows what it takes. They had the curveball machine out there, and then he ended up hitting a curveball in that game. A couple of them. The guy’s not afraid to work at it.”

Maybe seeing so many more curveballs helped Donaldson sharpen his eye (Cody Bellinger has used a similar routine to improve dramatically against breaking balls), or perhaps he’s just more comfortable at the plate. In any case, his chases and punchouts have dropped off a cliff over the summer months. And only four players have homered more off curves and sliders.

Donaldson’s holding his own at third base, too, tied for third at the position in defensive runs saved per FanGraphs. He’s a star who bet on himself last November, reminding the press to look at the back of his baseball card when asked if he could still contribute to the Braves. Now, his numbers are indeed beginning to speak for themselves.

“[Donaldson] has put himself in a position – which is what we all wanted – that the industry is going to want him, too,” Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos told the Atlanta Journal Constitution last month. “He’s going to be very desirable guy and we’re going to have to compete for him, rightfully so. That’s what we hoped for when we signed him.”