The Twins Hitter Set to Benefit Most from Shift Ban Isn't Who You Think

[darin617]

14 hours ago, Ted Wiedmann said:

He would certainly carry value as a DH but it’s so much fun to watch him in centerfield. I would imagine the Twins plan to DH him a fair amount this upcoming season. 

The defense is great but if it means he is only able to play in 100 games all season it's a waste of the bat. 

[TCSquad]

With all this focus on the shift change and batters getting more singles than groundball or line outs, I'm betting we could christen this team the Single-Through-The-Hole Squad. Not quite the same ring as '19's Bomba Squad... but maybe there's a better name I'm not thinking of.

[IndianaTwin]

49 minutes ago, TCSquad said:

With all this focus on the shift change and batters getting more singles than groundball or line outs, I'm betting we could christen this team the Single-Through-The-Hole Squad. Not quite the same ring as '19's Bomba Squad... but maybe there's a better name I'm not thinking of.

Just don't call it the Single-Hits-Into-The-Shift Squad. It would too frequently be shortened with an acronym that would wouldn't work well. 

[IndianaTwin]

3 hours ago, rv78 said:

His last 2 injuries were from sliding into 2nd base and getting hit on the hand with a pitch. Playing DH would have not prevented either one.

True. Though one might argue that full-time DHing would have led to better recovery and/or fewer days off. Plus, that would have given us the bonus of providing one more reason for TD readers to rip on Rocco and the Front Office, and heaven knows we need more of those, right? (sarcasm alert)

Hopefully it's a moot point this year. 😄

[Brock Beauchamp]

Who is this @Ted Wiedmann person and why wasn't he writing for this site a long time ago? 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃

Outstanding work!

[Ted Wiedmann]

5 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Who is this @Ted Wiedmann person and why wasn't he writing for this site a long time ago? 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃

Outstanding work!

Appreciate the kind words. Credit should go to @Nick Nelson and an Alex Kirilloff disagreement 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

More Ted Wiedmann ! More Ted Wiedmann !

[Otaknam]

On 2/20/2023 at 9:41 AM, GKuehl said:

Really interesting work, thanks! 100% agree — fielders will have to field his grounders on the move (if at all), forcing them to make more difficult, rushed plays to throw Buck out at 1st. 

Except I cringe almost every time he tries to leg out an infield hit or slides into second with a double, expecting another pulled muscle, sprained ankle, concussion, or back trouble. 

[Cris E]

Has he always pulled this much, or was some of this related to his injuries,  an attempt to drive the ball more and not have to run as much with the bum leg?

[Ted Wiedmann]

1 hour ago, Cris E said:

Has he always pulled this much, or was some of this related to his injuries,  an attempt to drive the ball more and not have to run as much with the bum leg?

I don’t believe it has anything to do with injuries. Early in his career the coaching staff tried to have him hit ground balls and stay up the middle. It wasn’t working so he tried hitting his “own way” and I think once he has success with it he leaned further into it. 

[DocBauer]

What a surprise diagnosis that I never saw coming! Very interesting! I can absolutely see this making a difference for Buxton not simply due to his speed, but because he hits the ball so damn hard. So when he doesn't launch one, a grounder just might streak on through. 

He's such a natural athlete in everything he does, and is a pretty smart ballplayer, I can see this helping. But despite being pull heavy, IMO, I'm willing to bet his knee injury last season affected his approach somewhat. I might be 100% wrong, but I wonder if his legs are healthy if he doesn't just spray the ball up the middle more, and knick a few more line drives to the right side, improving his numbers anyway. Again, I'm speculating only and don't have any proof. 

And only because they've been mentioned, Gallo hits the ball hard enough I can see a more limited shift...there will still be shifting...working to his advantage somewhat. But I remain unconvinced it will do much for Kepler unless he can get back to barreling up on the ball with harder contact.

[TopGunn#22]

Great article Ted !  Just when a guy thinks he knows a little about baseball an article like yours comes out of nowhere and leaves many of us pondering how much we really know.  Thanks for this enlightening perspective.  We will just have to see what the new rule changes mean for how baseball is played this year. I'm hoping for more of the game I grew up with.