Taking a look at his fangraphs page, a couple of things stand out. First, he's seeing a lot more changeups and sliders this year (about 8% increase), and second, he is missing out of the strike zone pitches this year. That may explain his apparent high exit velocity / hard hit numbers. OOZ pitches tend to be hit softer, so if he's missing them, his average hit velo benefits from removing the weaker contact. Now, is weak contact better than no contact? Well, if the weak contact is sprayed or goes the opposite way, maybe it spreads the defense and avoids overshifting and defensive positioning that lets the D get to his hard hit balls. I don't know how you get out of this situation.