When you’re hitting .207/.296/.422 with a -0.4 WAR a month and a half into the season, you begin to wonder if a player is in for a rough year. When that player is 35, you start to wonder if this is the beginning of the end. 

Those are the whispers that now surround Curtis Granderson. Are those whispers premature?  

After a horrible 2014, Granderson was reunited with Kevin Long. The result was pure magic in 2015. Granderson hit .259/.364/.457 with 26 homers and 70 RBI from the leadoff spot. He had a 128 OPS+, a 132 wRC+, and a 5.1 WAR. As noted above, Granderson’s 2016 numbers are a far cry from that.  

What’s happening?

First, Granderson’s BABIP in May was .152. Granderson’s career BABIP is .299 (right around league average). That would suggest Granderson is due for a little luck. With that luck, he could return to his 2015 form. However, there are some warning signs. 

According to Fangraphs, Granderson’s hitting a lot of ground balls. His GB/FB ratio is now 0.98 (highest in his career). He’s hitting groundballs 41.2% of the time (highest in his career). Conversely, he’s hitting fewer line drives. He’s only hitting line drives 16.7% of the time (lowest in his career). He’s pulling the ball 45.6% of the time while hitting it up the middle 39.8% of the time. 

Long story short, Granderson is getting affected by the shift.  That’s going to happen when you hit more groundballs. That’s going to happen when you hit the ball up the middle and to the right side 85.4% of the time. The result is Granderson’s .152 BABIP in May and .227 for the season. 

By now means should we look at these numbers and say Granderson is in for a rough 2016. He hit .241/.347/.471 with four homers in April. He was able to hit that well in April despite starting the year on a 1-24 stretch. Also keep in mind, Granderson’s worst month last year was May. 

Overall, there is still plenty of time left in the year.  Like last year, Granderson can rebound from a rough May to put up terrific numbers.  There are warning signs, but sooner or later, we should see the 2015 version of Granderson return . . . or at least the 2016 April version. 

Editor’s Note: this article first appeared on metsmerizedonline.com