I don't see anything in the numbers you posted that suggests anything more than "BABIP luck".
His BABIP over that period was .367. That's perhaps a little high but he's A) fast so he's always going to be a bit over .300 and B) historically been in the .330ish range. So, it's not like he's had a .500 BABIP or something.
When you say "guy X is playing better" and you use a data set of "before" and "after" as evidence, there has to be a change somewhere.
Evidence of what? Look I'm not a scout. I'm not a hitting coach. If you want analysis of his swing or whatever, I'm not that guy and I've repeatedly said so whenever the topic has come up. And ultimately, the deep dive you need to do this with data just isn't there. No where AFAIK tracks hard hit ball data for minor league players. No where AFAIK tracks O-swing% or Z-swing% for minor league players.
We already have a large sample size data that shows Alcantara can hit at a AAA level. Over 366 PAs in 2014 he hit .307/.353/.537. He then went up to the majors and wasn't ready and had some flaws exposed. Since then he hasn't hit AAA(.231/.285/.399 in 499 PAs last year and the aforementioned 100ish PAs to start 2016). And in that time his K rate had been substantially higher. However, his walk rate has also been up some since really his small 2015 MLB stint. So, it's logical to believe the team has had him trying some new things in that time frame and given his past he's never really hit that bad at any level. So, him struggling while adapting to a new approach would be a logical conclusion.
My point with the recent view slice wasn't to suggest they call him up to the majors today. It was to point out he looked a lot more like 2014 Alcantara only with a better walk rate(and worse K rate sadly). It's not enough sample size to draw any firm conclusions admittedly but like I said that wasn't the point I was trying to make. If Alcantara has indeed returned close to those 2014 numbers AFTER making some changes to his approach, it's a very good sign for him. As I said in the initial post, I want to see his K rate come down more.
Long story short, I pointed it out mainly because it's something that's worth watching over the next month or so. If he maintains a 10%ish walk rate and his K rate continues to fall, he could be a very useful player to spark the MLB team in August. He can obviously play multiple positions and he'd probably immediately be the best runner on the cubs roster as he's presently 12 for 12 in SB attempts. Fangraphs and baseball ref don't track minor league splits but I'd also be curious to see how he's hitting from both sides of the plate since he is a switch hitter.
