The biggest difference is that he isn't swinging at pitches outside the strike zone, in fact his eye has gotten better. Also a lot of the reason why his Z% is somewhat low, is because he finds himself ahead in counts all the time (and thus taking a LOT of pitches) Again, the eye test is there, I have seen a ton of his at bats, he doesn't look passive at all at the plate, he looks like a guy with a plan. Patient when needed, but he definitely has a plan. Credit to the Yankees coaching staff and credit to the front office by having some patience with him. Something certainly seems to have clicked for him last year towards the second half, from August 1st til the end of the season he put up a .760 OPS, showed some decent pop (5 HR) and started taking better at bats. It's not like this season he came out of nowhere, the guy down the stretch clearly was putting it together.