he has to make the adjustment to them now, in order to stick at the major league level.

I think he has a huge hole in his swing. He's looked awful against lefties to start the season. I've been on the record before stating that it is no fluke that he spent 10 years in the minors, it's quite possible the rest of the league has figured out how to pitch Cust. His K rate is ridiculous right now. I know a lot of you are fine with his K's as long as he is walking and hitting HR's, but at this rate he will obliterate every single season K record. Maybe he's feeling the pressure of being an MLB regular; hopefully I'm wrong, because right now he is hurting the team as a middle of the order run producer. Maybe the A's could drop him in the order until he gets it going

What about Hannahan and Barton? Its not like the corner infielders on this team look exactly comfortable at the plate. Im not saying Cust will have a great year but you have to give a little more time then 10 games.

and learn to hit the Curveball himself.

This is one of the best articles I've ever seen at Hardball Times.

It uses pitch F/X data, great writing, and analysis to tell us what types of pitches Jack Cust hits well, and where he's vulnerable.

It's also pretty scary for an A's fan - if guys on the Internet are writing this, every team Jack Cust faces obviously knows the same information (except for the Giants - they don't use computers).

Please do read that article if you get a spare five minutes. It convinced me that Cust is going to have a hard time replicating last year's success, which is saying something, because I'm the biggest Jack Cust believer there is.

Cust is a streaky hitter, who crushes pitchers mistakes. He will get hot, hit some home runs, walk and strikeout.

He will get hot at some point.

Through 10 games, Jack Cust is playing like crap.

Why?
Well bad luck could easily be the answer ....

Okay, how?
Much better.

Thanks, care to answer?
Sure. He's not hitting enough line drives, he's hitting ground balls instead. While he is hitting fly balls not as many are leaving the park and he's getting unlikely with a ridiculously low .118 BABIP.

Should we expect this to change?
Yes and Maybe.
His .118 BABIP is going to increase, even if nothing else changes. Based on his career numbers and the changes in BIP distribution, his BABIP should be about .100 points higher.
His HR/FB rate is well below his career numbers and will probably bounce back.
His LD and GB percentages? Well those are numbers where real changes could exist. But then, we're talking about 10 ground balls and 2 line drives, whereas, based on career numbers, you'd expected 8 and 4.

So warnings about small sample size should apply?
You think?

So should I be worried?
Not really -- if he keeps up what he's been doing, some of those GBs will find holes and more of those flies will be the big variety. I'd expect, based on maintaining his present BIP numbers, him to improve to .200/.370/.467. If he improves is LD rate, he could be a good deal better.

Do they throw breaking pitches during batting practice beyond the Keith Foulke-esque fastball? Or is it the case that the only exposure players get to off-speed stuff is during the game?

I'm getting tired of this phrase ... if you hit .100 for 10 games? That sucks. It sucks bad. And you need to be told it sucks. Do better. Period. I don't want to hear about how things even themselves out. Not necessarily. This could mean you'll hit .100 for the season. It may not, but who knows? What you did last year has nothing to do with this year. When you go on a 15 game hitting streak with 7 bombs, then I'll say "That's good! Keep doin' that!" But as long as you're hitting .100, I'm going to say, "That's bad! Do better!"