Hmmmm...is it Bruno, or Molly

[longstrangetrip]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/12/paul-molitor-is-working-his-magic-in-minnesota/

 

I found this short interview with Dozier quite interesting. He credits the presence in the dugout of Molitor for his greatly improved baserunning. He says he meets with Molly for 5-10 minutes before every game to discuss pitcher's tendencies.

 

It made me wonder if Molly is perhaps having conversations about hitting approach with various players also, because many of us have noticed that the at bats seem much more professional this year (and more productive too). I have been crediting Bruno for the improvement in the Twins' bats this year, but I was always skeptical of this for 2 reasons:

 

1) Bruno isn't new this year. He was the batting coach in 2013 also, and the Twins set a club record for strikeouts.

2) Bruno wasn't exactly a professional hitter himself. Strong, to be sure, but actually quite undisciplined at the plate.

 

More likely is that Molly is getting into the heads of some our hitters who have shown improvement this year. I don't know for sure, of course, but it seems more plausible to me, and Dozier's comments support this hypothesis. It seems logical that there would be time for analyzing a pitcher's pitching tendencies during that pre-game chat also.

 

Anyway, it's great to have Molly in the dugout.

[JB_Iowa]

I don't know what impact he is having on hitting but I do find it interesting that he is seemingly receptive to advanced metrics and has a real interest in finding out what Jack Goin et. al. can provide:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/min/hall-of-famer-paul-molitor-preparing-for-role-as-twin-coach?ymd=20140113&content_id=66545260&vkey=news_min

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/north/story/molitor-working-to-improve-twins-defensive-positioning-030214

[Shane Wahl]

It's probably both, and perhaps the teaching in tandem has a lot to do with it.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Success has a thousand fathers; failure is an orphan.