It's not like last year was a concerning level, but rather a return to his career average territory. But prior to that, he was walking in the 8-9.5% range and had bumped up to that level for four straight years. If he remembers that skill again and has the singles fall in to hit .270, then he'll be on base 35 or 36% of the time.

Part of me kind of wonders if his lower walk rate was due to his weirdly high batting average on balls in play. I remember with the Twins that he was a fascinating player because he was both unbelievably streaky within an individual season (there will be 2-3 week periods where, for all his talent, he will be the last person you want at the plate) and really consistent from season to season. Which makes sense. People who hit .280 don't get seven hits in every single twenty five at-bat repetition. But it's still weird to watch.

In any event, the way he usually responded to streaks was to keep up whatever he was doing. So if contact meant hitting .389 for Hunter like it did all of last year, then you can bet he went to the plate looking for contact.