Matt Tuiasosopo was demoted down to Tacoma a little over a week ago. He's played in eight games down there and has nine hits for a respectable .321 batting average. Eight of those hits being singles leaves him with a putrid .357 slugging percentage however. That's not the interesting part though. What is interesting is that his on base percentage stands at .525 thanks to an astounding 12 walks. He's drawn at least one walk in five of his eight games.
He's even reached base on an error twice giving him a pretty robust .471 park-adjusted wOBA. Granted it's only eight games, but those 12 walks in Tacoma against just seven strikeouts are a welcome sight to see after his 10 K, zero walk stint in Seattle this year.
Even more interesting, and related to the above, are his plate discipline numbers. Through his recent career, Tui has seen about four pitches per plate appearance in both Tacoma and Seattle. Tui has always seen an above average number of pitches. Combined with his below average contact rates, it helps to explain why he has such high strikeout rates. Early into 2010 though, Tui has raised that aspect of his game. He stands at 4.8 pitches per PA through his 12 games in Tacoma and was at 4.32 while in Seattle.
It's still early, but it's definitely worth keeping an eye on as Tui works to find himself a consistent role in the organization. He seems destined to a utility role in the field, but he can start showing something at the plate that would make his case much stronger to stick with the team for longer than a few weeks each April.