Julien has changed his approach after 6 or 7 bad games?
I highly doubt it. His approach is what got him here.
And I would take issue will the term “passive”. It’s really the opposite of passive. He’s trying to drive the ball. He’s not looking to get a walk. But, he’s willing to trade a single for a walk. He’s not trying to react to pitches early in the count and ‘put the ball in play’ he’s trying to dictate that the pitcher eventually has to throw a pitch that he’s looking for in a location he’s looking for. And then drive it hard. There are obvious reasons to not like this approach…especially in certain situations…but, it’s not “passive”.
It’s an approach that, when executed well, results in a lot of K’s but also a lot of BB and XBH. He’s always maintained a high OBP with the approach.
Still, the only reason for taking the called strike THREE (other than a truly awful call) is that he’s guessing. He’ll have to fix that part of it, as MLB pitchers pretty much all have more than one pitch, if not three, that they’re willing to throw over the plate late in counts.