Brunansky

[Riverbrian]

I have a heard a few people call for the head of Tom Brunansky. 

 

I have no idea if Brunansky is a good hitting coach or not because I haven't seen him work. 

 

However... I do feel like blaming Brunansky is like blaming the Auto Body guy because someone brought Jimmy Dean's Porsche in the same condition after the accident at 8AM and said... I need this ready by 3PM. No Auto Body guy can do that. 

 

Blame the guy who brought the car in. 

 

Rosario is swinging at everything... Arcia, Buxton and Dozier are trying to hit the ball 600 feet. Murphy hasn't seen that many professional pitches. Santana is coming off a year where the wheels came off. Park hasn't seen any MLB pitches... Sano is still new and still needs to adjust to adjustments. 

 

I'd say his job is larger then most in his profession. 

 

Unless you have proof that Bruno is saying to Arcia... "See that Dog on the Target Center Building... Try to Hit that... I think you can do it" 

 

I'm not sure Bruno is to blame. 

[Thrylos]

 

I have a heard a few people call for the head of Tom Brunansky. 

 

I have no idea if Brunansky is a good hitting coach or not because I haven't seen him work. 

 

However... I do feel like blaming Brunansky is like blaming the Auto Body guy because someone brought Jimmy Dean's Porsche in the same condition after the accident at 8AM and said... I need this ready by 3PM. No Auto Body guy can do that. 

 

Blame the guy who brought the car in. 

 

Rosario is swinging at everything... Arcia, Buxton and Dozier are trying to hit the ball 600 feet. Murphy hasn't seen that many professional pitches. Santana is coming off a year where the wheels came off. Park hasn't seen any MLB pitches... Sano is still new and still needs to adjust to adjustments. 

 

I'd say his job is larger then most in his profession. 

 

Unless you have proof that Bruno is saying to Arcia... "See that Dog on the Target Center Building... Try to Hit that... I think you can do it" 

 

I'm not sure Bruno is to blame. 

 

Data:

 

Rank of the Twins in AL in strikeouts (lower better, out of 15) :

2016: 13th
2015: 11th
2014: 12th
2013: 14th

- Brunansky Twins' hitting coach ------

2012: 2nd
2011: 4th
2010: 3rd
2009: 3rd

 

Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc...

 

[HitInAPinch]

Arcia is actually looking better this year.  Getting into shape has a lot to do with that.  I don't know if someone had a 'come to Jesus' meeting with him or not.  If there was, it probably fell to Brunansky.

 

Rosario is 2nd inline for the CTJ meeting.

Who's been talking to Nunez this year?   Bruno.

Dozier had 3 hits to the opposite field 4-5 games ago.

Murphy needs the reps, badly.

Buxton needs a lot of reps at AAA. 

 

After his ending to today's game, Sano could use a little base-running pep talk

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Arcia is actually looking better this year. Getting into shape has a lot to do with that. I don't know if someone had a 'come to Jesus' meeting with him or not. If there was, it probably fell to Brunansky.

 

Rosario is 2nd inline for the CTJ meeting.

Who's been talking to Nunez this year? Bruno.

Dozier had 3 hits to the opposite field 4-5 games ago.

Murphy needs the reps, badly.

Buxton needs a lot of reps at AAA.

 

After his ending to today's game, Sano could use a little base-running pep talk

The only thing different with Nunez is his babip. It's .440.

He's taken all of 2 walks in 65 PA.

He has 3 XBH and 19 singles!

Basically, he's getting a bunch of seeing eye singles, and that's not sustainable.

He's gonna crash hard when that babip normalizes.

[HitInAPinch]

 

The only thing different with Nunez is his babip. It's .440.
He's taken all of 2 walks in 65 PA.
He has 3 XBH and 19 singles!
Basically, he's getting a bunch of seeing eye singles, and that's not sustainable.
He's gonna crash hard when that babip normalizes.

Well, I'm not that much of a believer in BABIP. 

The walks and XBH's:  And?  A hit is a it.  A lack of walks is expected if a guy is making contact a lot.

IF his current .373 average was based on a high level of XBH's I'd say THAT was unsustainable. 

Things happen.  There is this thing called a "Career Year" and this could be Nunez's turn.  Not exactly out of the question, considering the AB's he's gotten so far this year.  Until proven otherwise, Molitor can't really afford to take Nunez out of the lineup.

 

All that being said, I'm not so foolish to think his current BA [.373] is the new norm based on the fact it's .101 points higher than his current lifetime BA of .272. 

 

I'm liking the ride right now and have high hopes for the Twins future.  Losses be damned  

[alarp33]

 

 

Dozier had 3 hits to the opposite field 4-5 games ago.

 

 

So the pro-Brunansky argument is that Brian Dozier who is currently hitting .184/.273/.327 had 3 hits to the opposite field once last week? 

 

I'm not really choosing a side in this yet, but that is a pretty poor argument

[HitInAPinch]

 

So the pro-Brunansky argument is that Brian Dozier who is currently hitting .184/.273/.327 had 3 hits to the opposite field once last week? 

 

I'm not really choosing a side in this yet, but that is a pretty poor argument

 

In no way was I making any kind of an argument, one way or the other.  It was a list of observances. 

[nicksaviking]

 

Data:

 

Rank of the Twins in AL in strikeouts (lower better, out of 15) :

2016: 13th
2015: 11th
2014: 12th
2013: 14th

- Brunansky Twins' hitting coach ------

2012: 2nd
2011: 4th
2010: 3rd
2009: 3rd

 

Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc...

 

Well the Twins heavy focus on power/strikeout type players in the draft and international free agency also coincided with Bruno's hiring.

 

I'm not saying he's a good hitting coach, but we've known what Sano, Rosario, Vargas, Santana, Arcia and Park were long before Bruno ever touched them, was he supposed to turn those ducks into geese?

[gunnarthor]

I have no idea if Bruno is a good hitting coach but I thought Vavra was fine - he seemed to click with several different hitting types - LH sluggers like Morneau and Kubel liked him but punch and judy hitters did well with him too.  Bruno was all the rage b/c of 1) Vavra sucks and 2) how well Benson and Parmelee were doing with him in AA.  

 

I think the general talent level the Twins have on their 40 man roster is ok.  I'm pretty sure it's not meeting it's expectations.  I'm not sure how much of that fits into 1) small sample size 2) bad coaching 3) player inexperience.  But I think all three are in play.

[Willihammer]

There's no question the Twins are underperforming their talent level IMO. Distinguishing the coaching, managing, hit sequencing, clubhouse leadership (or lack of), and plain dumb luck from each other is the hard part. Bruno is an easy target, but I doubt he's the main problem. I do wonder if he gets through to the Latin players as well as the English speakers. Seems like those guys have the worst at-bats (with exceptions- Sano, Buxton).

[Pardon My Dinger]

Why do all our teams have crap coaches who used to play here and are named Bruno?

[Pardon My Dinger]

Wait--I figured it out: guys named Bruno are coool. 

[Winston Smith]

I think it's very hard to change low obp-high k guys into a silk purse once they make the majors. These things should be done in the minors, if it's possible at all, and if they make it to majors and are still low obp-high k guys, as the late great Denny Green would say, they are who we thought they were.

[Thrylos]

 

 

 

 

Well the Twins heavy focus on power/strikeout type players in the draft and international free agency also coincided with Bruno's hiring.

 

I'm not saying he's a good hitting coach, but we've known what Sano, Rosario, Vargas, Santana, Arcia and Park were long before Bruno ever touched them, was he supposed to turn those ducks into geese?

 

Ok, I give you 2015 and 2016. Maybe even 2014.  But the 2013 team was pretty much the same as the 2012 team.  Brunansky is the major difference there, which makes me think that in the chicken or egg thing for 2014-2016, Bruno came first... 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Ok, I give you 2015 and 2016. Maybe even 2014.  But the 2013 team was pretty much the same as the 2012 team.  Brunansky is the major difference there, which makes me think that in the chicken or egg thing for 2014-2016, Bruno came first... 

I don't know if 2013 was pretty much the same as 2012.  We lost Span and Revere, two pretty low K hitters, and replaced them with Arcia, Hicks, and Clete Thomas.  Our next lowest K guy, Jamey Carroll, also ceased to be a full-time player in 2013, and his at-bats effectively went to Florimon and Dozier.  Our next lowest K guy beyond that in 2012 was Mauer, and he indeed saw a curious spike in K% in 2013 but I'm not sure how much Bruno had to do with that.

[nicksaviking]

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, I give you 2015 and 2016. Maybe even 2014.  But the 2013 team was pretty much the same as the 2012 team.  Brunansky is the major difference there, which makes me think that in the chicken or egg thing for 2014-2016, Bruno came first... 

 

 

2013 saw Chris Parmelee replace Ben Revere and Pedro Florimon replace Alexi Casilla, the replacements were far and away more strikeout prone.

 

I've mentioned several times that Brian Dozier completely changed his approach in 2013. In the minors  he was a low power but high contact guy, which wasn't working in 2012 and saw him demoted. In 2013, he was a different player and my argument has always been that once Josh Willingham (and Trevor Plouffe) showed everyone how to crush the ball to left field, Dozier took up that approach as well. He wasn't good offensively in 2012 but had a 17% K rate, while he became pretty solid in 2013 while increasing that number to 21% (and only going up from there). This might have been influenced by Brunansky, but it also could have been an organizational decision, but even so, for the better part of 2 1/2 years, it was a good one. I'm not sure that Brunansky really has the pull to tell him to knock that crap off at this point.

 

[laloesch]

Impossible to say Riverbrian...unless of course someone here has insider contacts in the organization.  

 

I think it's the perfect storm of inexperienced & undisciplined players.  Everyone is swinging for the moon with the exception of Joe Mauer and Escobar.  I have a REAL BIG problem with that.  

 

Too me, I see a bunch of youngsters who aren't listening to the coaches and go into the batters box with a free swinging mindset.  There aren't selective recognition whats-over.  And that's bad. Real bad.

 

The way i see it, every one of those guys (Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Dozier, etc.) that is behaving this way should be benched or optioned to AAA if possible.    

 

Don't get me wrong, it's alright to take big cuts at certain pitches, but not EVERY single pitch.  Coaches need to put there foot down on this one or this team easily blows the K record for a single season. 

[Mr. Brooks]

Well, I'm not that much of a believer in BABIP.

The walks and XBH's: And? A hit is a it. A lack of walks is expected if a guy is making contact a lot.

IF his current .373 average was based on a high level of XBH's I'd say THAT was unsustainable.

Things happen. There is this thing called a "Career Year" and this could be Nunez's turn. Not exactly out of the question, considering the AB's he's gotten so far this year. Until proven otherwise, Molitor can't really afford to take Nunez out of the lineup.

 

All that being said, I'm not so foolish to think his current BA [.373] is the new norm based on the fact it's .101 points higher than his current lifetime BA of .272.

 

I'm liking the ride right now and have high hopes for the Twins future. Losses be damned

What exactly do you mean when you say you are not a believer in babip?

Babip is not a subjective metric like WAR or UZR or something. Babip is a measured statistic like batting average or stolen bases.

And, we have an extremely large sample size of historical data that tells us that babiping. 440 is neither a skill, nor sustainable.

Also, your logic is backwards on the XBHs.

If a good chunk of his success was XBHs, it would point to a change in approach or swing or something sustainable. Spraying line drives (which is what you need to get XBHs) is not something you can accidentally get lucky and do.

Fifteen hoppers through the infield and Texas league bloopers ARE something that any major leaguer can get lucky and do on any given at bat.

Yes, hits are hits in the sense that they help the club in that given moment, and the player doesn't have to give them back, but some hits are skill and some are fluke luck. That's why they play so many games in baseball, and at some point that babip will normalize.

[LaBombo]

 

I have a heard a few people call for the head of Tom Brunansky. 

 

I have no idea if Brunansky is a good hitting coach or not because I haven't seen him work. 

 

[...]

 

I'm not sure Bruno is to blame. 

 

I agree with the rest of this too,   but decided to quote just that part to make up for my intention to violate unwritten TD policy against incorporating an image into a non-Game Thread post.

 

Off the top of my head,   it seems like the hitting coach's job is somewhere between half and a tenth as critical as a pitching coach's.   Pitching is much more complex mechanically than batting,   the consequences of poor mechanics are faaaaar greater (ineffectiveness and/or injury for pitching,   ineffectiveness only for batting),   and a pitching coach gets a fraction of the cycles of opportunity that a hitting coach gets to watch his charges in action, determine what's wrong, make suggestions, and see the results.

 

That being said,   it seems like hitting coaches get blamed disproportionately for bad results, both compared to pitching coaches, and for negative hitting outcomes vs. positive ones.

 

Think about it.    Plenty of fans probably call for Brunansky's scalp when Sano swings and misses so hard on a high 0-2 pitch that a stand of Norway pines outside Grand Marais blows down.    But when he launches a bomb to the second deck of left field at Target, how many fans are like    "wwwWW00000000t!     Bruno, my man!     Way to coach Sano to go deep!"

 

For that reason alone,  it's probably a good thing that Brunansky is a beloved former player associated with the Twins' first championship.    With this group of mostly young players, a new hitting coach and a new approach at the plate just 25 games into the season doesn't sound to me like a good idea, and Brunansky's place in Twins history as a player should help him weather the storm, at least for a while.

 

Or, to paraphrase Unforgiven's English Bob, advising Terry Ryan:

 

'If you were to consider firing Tom Brunansky in midseason, the sight of Twins royalty would cause you to forget all thoughts of dismissal, and you would stand... how shall I put it?  In awe.

 

Now, Joe Vavra....   [chuckles to himself]    Well,    why not    fire Joe Vavra?'

 

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ETmjia-RdyA/TTVNh9dqTeI/AAAAAAAAAUI/wGJFxI13lMc/s1600/English+Bob+-+Pose.png

 

 

 

 

[jimbo92107]

 

I have a heard a few people call for the head of Tom Brunansky. 

 

I have no idea if Brunansky is a good hitting coach or not because I haven't seen him work. 

 

However... I do feel like blaming Brunansky is like blaming the Auto Body guy because someone brought Jimmy Dean's Porsche in the same condition after the accident at 8AM and said... I need this ready by 3PM. No Auto Body guy can do that. 

 

Blame the guy who brought the car in. 

 

Rosario is swinging at everything... Arcia, Buxton and Dozier are trying to hit the ball 600 feet. Murphy hasn't seen that many professional pitches. Santana is coming off a year where the wheels came off. Park hasn't seen any MLB pitches... Sano is still new and still needs to adjust to adjustments. 

 

I'd say his job is larger then most in his profession. 

 

Unless you have proof that Bruno is saying to Arcia... "See that Dog on the Target Center Building... Try to Hit that... I think you can do it" 

 

I'm not sure Bruno is to blame. 

Well said. Bruno isn't teaching anybody bad habits. Young players develop bad habits on their own. Rosario needs to get MUCH stingier about what he swings at, probably in Rochester. Arcia and Dozier have to stop trying to pull everything over the fence. Buxton and Murphy need tons of reps - Buxton in AAA and Murphy in the show. Same with Sano and Park, though Park today looks more advanced than any of the others. 

 

I could recommend panic, and I must admit that's fun to watch, but for now I'll counsel patience. This is a young club where half the guys aren't even sure what position they're going to be playing next week. I have ordered a gross of chill pills for everybody. Please take one after every embarrassing loss. Compliments of Acme Placebos, Ltd.