Where Did the Power Go?

[stringer bell]

In the offseason, the Twins traded two low-power regular outfielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere, and declined to find an alternative for Trevor Plouffe. The two new regulars figured to be Chris Parmelee and Aaron Hicks, both of whom would figure to have more power than the duo of Span/Revere. My thought was that at least the Twins will hit more homers, even though a lot of balls that Revere and Span would have caught will fall. After Justin Morneau had a healthy spring training and Joe Mauer declared himself as healthy as he had been in years, I thought there was potential for more power from the two former MVPs.

 

Josh Willingham and Ryan Doumit were returning, coming off career highs in homers, combined with a full season of Plouffe, Parmelee, and Hicks along with the healthy M & M boys would figure to be a sizeable increase in long balls.

 

So, at the quarter pole, not a one of the players I have mentioned is hitting homers at their projected level. Mauer and Morneau have two each. Hicks, Parmelee and Doumit have three apiece. Plouffe has four long balls and Willingham has five. Multiply those numbers by four and that will total 88 homers from seven starters. Osvaldo Arcia has knocked three homers in limited ABs and Twins shortstops--Florimon and Escobar have poked four long balls. At the rate these guys are going, they will barely hit 100 home runs and most likely finish last (again) in the AL in circuit clouts.

 

What happened? I guess we can blame the weather for early suppression of homers, but it has warmed up and the Twins haven't increased their homer output substantially. Maybe things will start changing today. I hope so, because I'll be at Target Field witnessing tonight's event.

[silverslugger]

What are the totals for Twins/Visitors at TF and Twins/home team away from TF? What site would have this info most readily available? I did just a bit of looking at stats on yahoo a few days ago and it seemed the Twins had scored more runs than their BA/OBP/Slugging would warrant. I do remember seeing a recent (within the past week?) graphic on tv suggesting the Twins were one of the best teams so far at hitting with men in scoring position. That seems a bit ironic to me because it just seems that each time I see the bases loaded the Twins hitters seem to crap out.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Thrylos]

In the offseason, the Twins traded two low-power regular outfielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere, and declined to find an alternative for Trevor Plouffe. The two new regulars figured to be Chris Parmelee and Aaron Hicks, both of whom would figure to have more power than the duo of Span/Revere. My thought was that at least the Twins will hit more homers, even though a lot of balls that Revere and Span would have caught will fall. After Justin Morneau had a healthy spring training and Joe Mauer declared himself as healthy as he had been in years, I thought there was potential for more power from the two former MVPs.

 

 

Morneau is a sad story. He is a shade of his former self and has as many HRs as Florimon at this point. Not sure what the scoop is with him...

 

Span + Revere had a grand total of 4 HRs the whole 2012 Season. Hicks + Arcia + Parmelee (who replaced those 2) have 7 HR between them already. Hicks will be good for at least 10 and Arcia & Parmelee for at least 15 depending on how much they play. That would be at least 10 times as much as Span + Revere last season. Mission accomplished as far as power goes.

[jokin]

Morneau is a sad story. He is a shade of his former self and has as many HRs as Florimon at this point. Not sure what the scoop is with him...

 

Span + Revere had a grand total of 4 HRs the whole 2012 Season. Hicks + Arcia + Parmelee (who replaced those 2) have 7 HR between them already. Hicks will be good for at least 10 and Arcia & Parmelee for at least 15 depending on how much they play. That would be at least 10 times as much as Span + Revere last season. Mission accomplished as far as power goes.

 

Making a sad story yet sadder----this is a stat I never envisioned remotely possible---

 

Mauer and Morneau---4 HRs

Escobar and Florimon---4 HRs

 

Remember the early days at TF when Twins Left-Handed Hitters complained about how unfair the RF dimensions and the Evergreens in CF were to their fragile psyches?

[righty8383]

Fire bruno!!!

[kab21]

ESPN has the Twins with 30 HR's and opponents with 35 HR's. It kind of sucks to hit at 30F so that is probably one factor.

 

Willingham will start mashing and Plouffe could go on a (shorter) hot streak and the numbers could change a lot quickly. Yet the Twins won't hit a lot of HR's if Morneau stays in the teens and Arcia doesn't get FT AB's.

[Craig Arko]

The bobbleheads took it.

[Danchat]

Here's the answer, folks. There ISN'T any power. Last year, many players had career highs in HRs. That was a GOOD year. Now, in a down year, I don't find it surprising. Willingham and Plouffe aren't on hot streaks. Mauer isn't a home run hitter. Arcia, Hicks, and Parmelee should get some more but that's about it. Maybe Clete Thomas or Chris Colabello could bring some power.

[Aaron Cross]

Definitely should have sold high on Willingham.

[Aaron Cross]

Morneau is a sad story. He is a shade of his former self and has as many HRs as Florimon at this point. Not sure what the scoop is with him...

 

Span + Revere had a grand total of 4 HRs the whole 2012 Season. Hicks + Arcia + Parmelee (who replaced those 2) have 7 HR between them already. Hicks will be good for at least 10 and Arcia & Parmelee for at least 15 depending on how much they play. That would be at least 10 times as much as Span + Revere last season. Mission accomplished as far as power goes.

And Hicks is a better outfielder than Span.

[gunnarthor]

ESPN has the Twins with 30 HR's and opponents with 35 HR's. It kind of sucks to hit at 30F so that is probably one factor.

 

Breaking that down a bit farther, Twins have hit 15 HR at TF while opponents have hit 17.

 

I'm not sure what to make of it. I think Willingham is slumping but should still hit 20+. Not sure what to make of Plouffe. Parm's been replaced by Arcia who does have some power but might need a season or two to show it constantly at the ML level. TF doesn't help Morny (or LH power in general) - I'd still love to see him hitting in Texas or in NY.

 

We're probably not going to be a high power offense until our RH power hitters get up here.

[fairweather]

I may be in the minority but I think the best of the 2013 Twins is yet to come. The early lack of failure is just slowing the dust settling process. Soon the rotation will shed some of the fat and the power will come for Willingham, Plouffe, and Parmalee. Arcia is going to adjust to the steady diet of off speed stuff and go on to be AL Rookie of the year. I see things getting better. That's not to say I think they'll be a respectable playoff caliber team this year. Just better than they are as currently comprised. Which has been better than most of us thought.

[DedunoTheMuffinMan?]

Target Field is a really tough place to hit homers, so keep that in mind when comparing the Twins' long balls to other teams.

[jokin]

I didn't see the game last night, but I understand that TK is participating in the commentary this weekend. Did he have any comments concerning the Twins power drain?

 

The reason I inquire is because Tom Powers in the PiPress had some scathing criticism of the Twins philosophy embedded inside a mostly light-hearted profile of Ortiz's big night last night and of his time with the Twins. Tom Powers: After all these years, David Ortiz still tormenting Twins - TwinCities.com

 

Highlights include:

 

"Ortiz loved Minnesota when he was here. And he was the most popular guy in the clubhouse. The fans loved him, too, but Ortiz didn't like what the Twins tried to do to him as a hitter. Or at least what he thought the Twins were trying to do to him as a hitter..."I always hit a lot of home runs when I was coming up," he said. "I'd take a big swing and my first manager would be screaming at me: 'Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?' Are you kidding me? You want me to swing like a little girl? I'll swing like a little girl." .....

 

"My first exhibition game here (with Boston), I came up with a runner on second and no outs," Ortiz said during that same interview. "I'm thinking, 'I've got to get the runner over.' "

Ortiz took a make-contact swing. When he returned to the Red Sox dugout, then-manager Grady Little was waiting for him.

"Grady said, 'This is not the Twins. You've got to bring that guy in,' '' Ortiz said. "OK, looks like I got a green light."

[Badsmerf]

And Hicks is a better outfielder than Span.

No, he's really not.

[Guest USAFChief]

Target Field is a really tough place to hit homers, so keep that in mind when comparing the Twins' long balls to other teams.

I don't think that's going to proven true over time.

[TheLeviathan]

ESPN has the Twins with 30 HR's and opponents with 35 HR's. It kind of sucks to hit at 30F so that is probably one factor.

 

While that is encouraging about helping get our offense off the life support....it's scary as hell to think about how much worse our pitching staff could get if weather is suppressing offense right now.

[snepp]

Hey, the starter's FIP/xFIP is *only* 5th worst in the league, while their ERA is 3rd worst. They're due for the 'good' regression!

 

 

What? 5th worst isn't anything to look forward to?

[stringer bell]

And Hicks is a better outfielder than Span.

How is Hicks a better outfielder? He has misjudged more balls in a quarter season than Span did in a full season. I think he'll be good, but he's not there yet.

[Guest USAFChief]

Willingham's power might be returning...he knocked one over the fence in the 9th Sunday.

[LaBombo]

Willingham's power might be returning...he knocked one over the fence in the 9th Sunday.

Jose Canseco likes this.

[Mike Sixel]

Boston and Baltimore.