Just as New Year's resolutions have gone down the drain,
so has my autumn resolution. What I was afraid would happen, happened.
The unquestioned truism that baseball is the best sport, coupled with
my possibly delusional perception that the Twins currently seem like a bona
fide MLB team, at least temporarily based on the twelve regular season
games they've played, have already resulted in my tuning them in on
several occasions this month, even if doing so means listening to Bert Blyleven
when Momma Cuan is in the room. (When she's not, I use the "Mute"
button on the remote.) Tradition, curiosity and free home plate box
seats have also intervened.
Tradition: Momma Cuan and I have spent at least a week in Fort Myers four of the last five years, and each time attended at least one Twins spring training game at their local facility, Lee County's Hammond Stadium. We couldn't let that streak die, so we saw them play the Pirates there on March 26. Curiosity: The following evening, March 27, we had a chance (thanks to a Johnny Bodega connection) to check out two year old Jet Blue Park where the Red Sox have their Fort Myers spring training headquarters. The opponent for that game was none other than the Twins. The aggregate total of runs scored by the Twins in the Pirates and Red Sox games was -- get ready -- two! Freebees: Then last week, a friend of ours offered us free home plate box tickets for the Twins' second home game of the season against the A's. It was a beautiful day, we tried out the new rib tips from Butcher & The Boar, downed some craft suds, and enjoyed a highly entertaining game. After the Twins came back from a first inning 4-0 deficit, the A's ended up winning their eighth game in a row against the Twins, 7 to 4 in eleven innings. (Ah, yes, Momma Cuan's worst nightmare, an extra inning game!)
As a result of attending those three late March and early April games, I am back in the saddle and my autumn resolution has gone out the window. Am I setting myself up for major disappointment --perhaps another painful 90-plus loss season -- by paying attention to the exploits of our lovable would-be heroes of the diamond? As of this writing, the Twins are playing .500 ball (6-6), and are only a game behind the first place, big budget Detroit Tigers.
Is the competitive play we've seen so far what we can expect for the duration of the season? I doubt it. The Twins have broken my heart too many times before. A disinterested neutral observer would probably conclude that the Twins have so many problems that writing a book instead of merely a post about them seems more apropos. But since this is a blog and blog writers draft posts, this post is what you get. Based on the three games I've seen live, plus an embarrassingly high number of innings I've witnessed via the idiot lantern so far this young season, here are just three things that should cause even the most optimistic of Twins fans to curb their enthusiasm.
1. Clydesdales At The Corners. The power positions in an ideal lineup are the corner infielders and outfielders, plus the catcher. This blue print does not, however, excuse those five players from being able to field their respective positions. If we consider only the positions of left field and right field, the following four players have started twenty-two times out of the possible twenty-four slots (12 games times two positions) so far this season: Josh Willingham (5 starts in left), Oswaldo Arcia (4 starts in right), Jason Kubel (7 starts in left, 2 in right), and Chris Colabello (4 starts in right). What do these power people have in common? Answer: They all run like clydesdales. This obviously translates into a ground coverage problem, exacerbated by two additional factors. First, none of the Twins' five starting pitchers is a sinker baller, and only one of them, Phil Hughes, has a career strikeouts-per-nine-innings average of over 7.5. (It's 7.6.) As a result, when these guys pitch there are a lot of fly balls. Second, Target Field is a huge park, with lots of room in the gaps. In fact, Ricky Nolasco told the press when he signed with the Twins as a free agent that he was attracted to Target Field. He said Target was built for fly ball pitchers like himself because of the difficulties hitters face when trying to bang the ball over the wall. (No American League park gave up fewer home runs in 2013 than Target Field.) Center fielder Aaron Hicks can't cover the entire outfield by himself. He can't "cheat" a little to help out, say, the left fielder, because the right fielder is just as slow as the left fielder. Expect to see a lot of gappers and Texas Leaguers from the opposing batters.
2. Base Running Boo Boos. Even in the days of The Piranhas (the middle part of the last decade), when the Twins were supposedly fast and were pretty adept at playing small ball, I never considered them to be a good (i.e., smart) base running team. A good base runner always knows the situation, how to take a lead and maybe even steal a base, how to get a "good read" on a fly ball, how to use his third base coach, how to round a base, how to slide, etc. You can't coach speed, so the saying goes, but you can coach those other attributes. This year the Twins finally have Paul Molitor in the dugout instead of being sort of a roving minor league advisor. Molly's forte is base running. I am sad to report that so far I have not seen progress in this important department. The Twins still run the bases poorly. Two examples follow.
It is a proven scientific fact that one can not run as fast looking over his shoulder as he can looking forward. (If you don't believe me, try it some time.) Baseball teams figured that out long ago, but it has not sunk in with all of the Twins personnel. When a ball is hit to the left of straight-away center field, a runner approaching second base can fairly easily see the outfielder nearest to the ball. The play is "right in front" of the runner, so he should be able to make a judgment of whether he can make it safely to third. However, when a ball is hit to the right of straight-away center, the play is behind the runner as he approaches second. In that case, the runner is supposed to "pick up his third base coach," who will signal to him whether to pull up at second or attempt to make it to third. What the runner is not supposed to do in the latter scenario is turn his head sideways and watch the outfielder himself. When the runner does that, he involuntarily slows down. (Another result is that the third base coach and the manager start to cuss and pull out their hair.) The two worst offenders here are Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe, but they are not alone. The Twins are often accused of playing "station-to-station" (i.e., one base at a time) baseball. Failure to pick up their third base coach on balls hit to right-center or right is one reason.
The second example has to do with one of the oldest base running principles in the book: You never want to make the first or the third out of the inning at third base. Why? You don't want to make the first out of the inning at third base because if you are a runner at second base you are already in scoring position and you shouldn't want to risk killing an offensive inning (i.e., putting up the proverbial "crooked number") before it has a chance to get started. An outfield single will probably knock you in. It is not worth gambling on a close play just to advance an extra base. You don't want to make the third out of the inning at third because you were already in scoring position at second and you want to keep the inning alive. The only time a running gamble heading to third base is acceptable is if there is exactly one out. If the runner makes it to third successfully, he is then in a position to score on a sac fly, which he obviously wouldn't be able to do from second base. In the April 9 game against the A's, with his team trailing 4 to 1, Trevor Plouffe made the third out of the sixth inning when he attempted to go from first to third on a single to center field by Jason Kubel. Had Plouffe stayed at second, the Twins would have had runners at first and second with two out. Instead, the inning abruptly ended and Joe Vavra, the Twins third base coach, looked like his dog died.
3. The Splendid Splinter Theory Goes Haywire. Ted Williams is often called the greatest natural hitter who ever played the game. He was also known to have a scientific approach to the art of hitting. Williams' nickname was the Splendid Splinter. One of the many reasons Williams was such a great hitter was his batting eye. There is an old story that a pitcher complained to an umpire that the last pitch should have been ruled strike three instead of a ball. The umpire retorted something to the effect that "if Mr. Williams didn't swing at the pitch it couldn't possibly have been a strike."
One major problem with the Twins is that there are too many of them who think they have the batting eye of the Splendid Splinter. News Flash: With the possible exception of Joe Mauer, they don't. In 2013, out of the thirty MLB teams only the dreadful Houston Astros (who lost 111 games last year) had more strikeouts than the Twins. The Astros were also the only team to have more called third strikes against them than the Twins. What's even more discouraging is that in the young 2014 season, the Twins are actually averaging more strikeouts per game than last year's sorry statistic (9.33 this season vs. 8.83 last year). In my June 17, 2013 post (Putting Pressure On The D) I wrote about how the presence of base runners puts pressure on the opponent's defense. When you strike out a lot, as do the Twins, especially with the bat on your shoulder, the pressure gauge reads "zero."
Part of the blame might go to Tom Brunansky, who took over as hitting coach last year. I liked Bruno as a player, but consider this: The last three years (2010-2012) Joe Vavra was the hitting coach, only the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers (of the thirty MLB teams) averaged striking out fewer times than the Twins!
In summary, the Twins have a lot of weaknesses to correct if they hope to be relevant in the 2014 season. The three problems addressed above are pivotal and require a lot of remedial work. Good thing there is still a lot of time left this season to address them. It is amazing how quickly the bloom went off the rose following the unveiling of Target Field in 2010. Their announced attendance for many home games this season has been in the mid-twenties, which probably means less than 20,000 sets of fannies were actually in the park. The Twins fans, to their credit, recognize mediocre baseball when they see it.
Regarding Trevor Plouffe, as former ND football coach Charlie Weis was fond of saying, he is what he is, still watching sharply hit balls go by him at The Hot Corner. But the Plouffer has made strides at the plate. He is currently hitting .326, good for second highest on the team and eleventh highest in the American League.
Tradition: Momma Cuan and I have spent at least a week in Fort Myers four of the last five years, and each time attended at least one Twins spring training game at their local facility, Lee County's Hammond Stadium. We couldn't let that streak die, so we saw them play the Pirates there on March 26. Curiosity: The following evening, March 27, we had a chance (thanks to a Johnny Bodega connection) to check out two year old Jet Blue Park where the Red Sox have their Fort Myers spring training headquarters. The opponent for that game was none other than the Twins. The aggregate total of runs scored by the Twins in the Pirates and Red Sox games was -- get ready -- two! Freebees: Then last week, a friend of ours offered us free home plate box tickets for the Twins' second home game of the season against the A's. It was a beautiful day, we tried out the new rib tips from Butcher & The Boar, downed some craft suds, and enjoyed a highly entertaining game. After the Twins came back from a first inning 4-0 deficit, the A's ended up winning their eighth game in a row against the Twins, 7 to 4 in eleven innings. (Ah, yes, Momma Cuan's worst nightmare, an extra inning game!)
As a result of attending those three late March and early April games, I am back in the saddle and my autumn resolution has gone out the window. Am I setting myself up for major disappointment --perhaps another painful 90-plus loss season -- by paying attention to the exploits of our lovable would-be heroes of the diamond? As of this writing, the Twins are playing .500 ball (6-6), and are only a game behind the first place, big budget Detroit Tigers.
Is the competitive play we've seen so far what we can expect for the duration of the season? I doubt it. The Twins have broken my heart too many times before. A disinterested neutral observer would probably conclude that the Twins have so many problems that writing a book instead of merely a post about them seems more apropos. But since this is a blog and blog writers draft posts, this post is what you get. Based on the three games I've seen live, plus an embarrassingly high number of innings I've witnessed via the idiot lantern so far this young season, here are just three things that should cause even the most optimistic of Twins fans to curb their enthusiasm.
1. Clydesdales At The Corners. The power positions in an ideal lineup are the corner infielders and outfielders, plus the catcher. This blue print does not, however, excuse those five players from being able to field their respective positions. If we consider only the positions of left field and right field, the following four players have started twenty-two times out of the possible twenty-four slots (12 games times two positions) so far this season: Josh Willingham (5 starts in left), Oswaldo Arcia (4 starts in right), Jason Kubel (7 starts in left, 2 in right), and Chris Colabello (4 starts in right). What do these power people have in common? Answer: They all run like clydesdales. This obviously translates into a ground coverage problem, exacerbated by two additional factors. First, none of the Twins' five starting pitchers is a sinker baller, and only one of them, Phil Hughes, has a career strikeouts-per-nine-innings average of over 7.5. (It's 7.6.) As a result, when these guys pitch there are a lot of fly balls. Second, Target Field is a huge park, with lots of room in the gaps. In fact, Ricky Nolasco told the press when he signed with the Twins as a free agent that he was attracted to Target Field. He said Target was built for fly ball pitchers like himself because of the difficulties hitters face when trying to bang the ball over the wall. (No American League park gave up fewer home runs in 2013 than Target Field.) Center fielder Aaron Hicks can't cover the entire outfield by himself. He can't "cheat" a little to help out, say, the left fielder, because the right fielder is just as slow as the left fielder. Expect to see a lot of gappers and Texas Leaguers from the opposing batters.
2. Base Running Boo Boos. Even in the days of The Piranhas (the middle part of the last decade), when the Twins were supposedly fast and were pretty adept at playing small ball, I never considered them to be a good (i.e., smart) base running team. A good base runner always knows the situation, how to take a lead and maybe even steal a base, how to get a "good read" on a fly ball, how to use his third base coach, how to round a base, how to slide, etc. You can't coach speed, so the saying goes, but you can coach those other attributes. This year the Twins finally have Paul Molitor in the dugout instead of being sort of a roving minor league advisor. Molly's forte is base running. I am sad to report that so far I have not seen progress in this important department. The Twins still run the bases poorly. Two examples follow.
It is a proven scientific fact that one can not run as fast looking over his shoulder as he can looking forward. (If you don't believe me, try it some time.) Baseball teams figured that out long ago, but it has not sunk in with all of the Twins personnel. When a ball is hit to the left of straight-away center field, a runner approaching second base can fairly easily see the outfielder nearest to the ball. The play is "right in front" of the runner, so he should be able to make a judgment of whether he can make it safely to third. However, when a ball is hit to the right of straight-away center, the play is behind the runner as he approaches second. In that case, the runner is supposed to "pick up his third base coach," who will signal to him whether to pull up at second or attempt to make it to third. What the runner is not supposed to do in the latter scenario is turn his head sideways and watch the outfielder himself. When the runner does that, he involuntarily slows down. (Another result is that the third base coach and the manager start to cuss and pull out their hair.) The two worst offenders here are Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe, but they are not alone. The Twins are often accused of playing "station-to-station" (i.e., one base at a time) baseball. Failure to pick up their third base coach on balls hit to right-center or right is one reason.
The second example has to do with one of the oldest base running principles in the book: You never want to make the first or the third out of the inning at third base. Why? You don't want to make the first out of the inning at third base because if you are a runner at second base you are already in scoring position and you shouldn't want to risk killing an offensive inning (i.e., putting up the proverbial "crooked number") before it has a chance to get started. An outfield single will probably knock you in. It is not worth gambling on a close play just to advance an extra base. You don't want to make the third out of the inning at third because you were already in scoring position at second and you want to keep the inning alive. The only time a running gamble heading to third base is acceptable is if there is exactly one out. If the runner makes it to third successfully, he is then in a position to score on a sac fly, which he obviously wouldn't be able to do from second base. In the April 9 game against the A's, with his team trailing 4 to 1, Trevor Plouffe made the third out of the sixth inning when he attempted to go from first to third on a single to center field by Jason Kubel. Had Plouffe stayed at second, the Twins would have had runners at first and second with two out. Instead, the inning abruptly ended and Joe Vavra, the Twins third base coach, looked like his dog died.
3. The Splendid Splinter Theory Goes Haywire. Ted Williams is often called the greatest natural hitter who ever played the game. He was also known to have a scientific approach to the art of hitting. Williams' nickname was the Splendid Splinter. One of the many reasons Williams was such a great hitter was his batting eye. There is an old story that a pitcher complained to an umpire that the last pitch should have been ruled strike three instead of a ball. The umpire retorted something to the effect that "if Mr. Williams didn't swing at the pitch it couldn't possibly have been a strike."
One major problem with the Twins is that there are too many of them who think they have the batting eye of the Splendid Splinter. News Flash: With the possible exception of Joe Mauer, they don't. In 2013, out of the thirty MLB teams only the dreadful Houston Astros (who lost 111 games last year) had more strikeouts than the Twins. The Astros were also the only team to have more called third strikes against them than the Twins. What's even more discouraging is that in the young 2014 season, the Twins are actually averaging more strikeouts per game than last year's sorry statistic (9.33 this season vs. 8.83 last year). In my June 17, 2013 post (Putting Pressure On The D) I wrote about how the presence of base runners puts pressure on the opponent's defense. When you strike out a lot, as do the Twins, especially with the bat on your shoulder, the pressure gauge reads "zero."
Part of the blame might go to Tom Brunansky, who took over as hitting coach last year. I liked Bruno as a player, but consider this: The last three years (2010-2012) Joe Vavra was the hitting coach, only the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers (of the thirty MLB teams) averaged striking out fewer times than the Twins!
In summary, the Twins have a lot of weaknesses to correct if they hope to be relevant in the 2014 season. The three problems addressed above are pivotal and require a lot of remedial work. Good thing there is still a lot of time left this season to address them. It is amazing how quickly the bloom went off the rose following the unveiling of Target Field in 2010. Their announced attendance for many home games this season has been in the mid-twenties, which probably means less than 20,000 sets of fannies were actually in the park. The Twins fans, to their credit, recognize mediocre baseball when they see it.
Regarding Trevor Plouffe, as former ND football coach Charlie Weis was fond of saying, he is what he is, still watching sharply hit balls go by him at The Hot Corner. But the Plouffer has made strides at the plate. He is currently hitting .326, good for second highest on the team and eleventh highest in the American League.
No comments:
Post a Comment