Report From The Fort: Five Spring Training Tells

[John Bonnes]

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

We’re still a week from Grapefruit League games, but that’s not too early to start talking about what we want to watch. Any value in watching spring training games isn’t in looking at players’ stats. Partly, that’s because it’s just such a small sample size. But on top of that, players are testing out new pitches and swings, which can produce results that will never make it into an actual game. 

No, if there is any value, it’s in looking at what players or coaches are trying to do, and reacting to success or failure. For instance:

Brooks Lee’s Lateral Movement

Brooks Lee spent the offseason working on two things, and one of them was getting more explosive lateral movement as a shortstop. “It's kind of like an obvious thing,” said Lee when asked about his offseason focus. “You know, balls hit to me, I'll make the play, but it's the ones I don't get to.” Lee’s range and whether he can handle the defensive workload of a shortstop are major questions for the Twins. So watch how often he gets to balls “in the hole” to his right, or on the other side of second base to his left.

Brooks Lee’s Left-handed Opposite Field Swing

The second thing he worked on was his left-handed swing, specifically hitting the ball to the opposite field. Coming up through the minors, Lee’s strong side was hitting for a high average, especially left-handed. Instead, last year he hit better (.266 BA) right-handed than left-handed (.220). 

 

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[mikelink45]

I only read two notes - the headline implies 5

[CRF]

Lee needs to prove he can play a serviceable SS, improve at the plate, and stay off the IL. He's not gonna be CC in his prime, but he can't stink it up out there. Somewhere in between would be ok. 

[shimrod]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

I only read two notes - the headline implies 5

TD is preparing us for a season of drastic underperformance. A two to five ratio of wins to promises is probably what we should expect. 

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

I only read two notes - the headline implies 5

Click on "view full article".

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, CRF said:

Lee needs to prove he can play a serviceable SS, improve at the plate, and stay off the IL. He's not gonna be CC in his prime, but he can't stink it up out there. Somewhere in between would be ok. 

Agreed, but Correa wasn't "CC in his prime" last year either. 

Lee does need to maximize his range by being as quick as possible with his first step and taking proper routes to ball. I was surprised that he had better stats as a righty hitter. Most switch hitters are better from the side where they get more at-bats.

[bean5302]

Things which are required to be a good MLB shortstop.

Quickness: The ability to react and accelerate right or left a step or two.

Run: The ability to cover ground and run down pop ups or get to slow rolling ground balls.

Arm: A throwing motion which is compact, but delivers high velocity allowing for a quick release and accurate high velocity throw across the diamond (often 120+ feet).

Fielding: Just general skill set including a soft glove, footwork, positioning and glove transition skills.

If I was to grade Lee vs. Minimum SS vs. Correa (peak), a24, 2025 on a 20-80
Quickness: 50 vs. 50 vs. 70, 70, 50
Run: 35 vs. 50 vs. 65, 55, 45
Arm: 40 vs. vs. 60 vs. 70, 70, 50
Fielding: 40 vs. 50 vs. 60, 60, 60

Keep in mind, Correa won Rookie of the Year as a starting shortstop at age 20 in 2015. At his peak, he was one of the most sure gloved fielders, with enough speed to play center field, excellent reflexes and a cannon arm.

Brooks Lee has been ploddingly slow (like DH/1B speed) with relatively quick reflexes, a weak arm, and an error prone glove. Fixing one of his faults to become better than "adequate" doesn't make Brooks Lee a viable SS, and I just beyond hate watching the Twins pursue such a ridiculously stupid path for a player who can't even hit.

[Jeff K]

22 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Click on "view full article".

perhaps I'm blind, but I don't see it.  

[stringer bell]

34 minutes ago, Jeff K said:

perhaps I'm blind, but I don't see it.  

At the bottom of the OP, in red.

[Mike h]

Jeff K, I don’t either 

[dxpavelka]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

Agreed, but Correa wasn't "CC in his prime" last year either. 

Lee does need to maximize his range by being as quick as possible with his first step and taking proper routes to ball. I was surprised that he had better stats as a righty hitter. Most switch hitters are better from the side where they get more at-bats.

We're still at the point where it's difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from what we've seen thus far.  But, YES, we are getting to that point.  This is a big season for Lee.  I don't expect him to stay at SS long term but hopefully we see enough to let Culpepper develop until he's ready and to think Lee can handle 3B or 2B with Lewis or Keashall shifting to 1B.  Hendry Mendez forcing his way into the 1B mix can only be a good thing.  All of his slash lines improved after being traded to the Twins organization last year which is encouraging.  If his power numbers follow suit and he learns to play in the dirt he could make things very interesting.

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I only read two notes - the headline implies 5

In the paragraph above he mentions testing pitches and swings and reactions plus the two Lee notes and that's 5 I guess.

[bunsen82]

4 hours ago, Jeff K said:

perhaps I'm blind, but I don't see it.  

Its a caretakers exclusive (only marked with gold lettering in the picture when you open the article - no other forewarning as it is covered by the gray backdrop for the Headline - should have had a better thumbnail) -  meaning if not paying you only get teased with the 2 and you have no idea there is actually more article to be read.    Its something I've disliked immensely and have voiced my frustrations with in the past.  If you have exclusive content have it all be exclusive.   Not give partial information and this one is not clear at all at the bottom of the article that you need to be a caretaker to read the rest.  

[bunsen82]

22 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

At the bottom of the OP, in red.

If not a caretaker its not there stringer.  

[Craig Arko]

1 hour ago, Jeff K said:

perhaps I'm blind, but I don't see it.  

There might be some umpire jobs available. 

[D.C Twins]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

Things which are required to be a good MLB shortstop.

Quickness: The ability to react and accelerate right or left a step or two.

Run: The ability to cover ground and run down pop ups or get to slow rolling ground balls.

Arm: A throwing motion which is compact, but delivers high velocity allowing for a quick release and accurate high velocity throw across the diamond (often 120+ feet).

Fielding: Just general skill set including a soft glove, footwork, positioning and glove transition skills.

If I was to grade Lee vs. Minimum SS vs. Correa (peak), a24, 2025 on a 20-80
Quickness: 50 vs. 50 vs. 70, 70, 50
Run: 35 vs. 50 vs. 65, 55, 45
Arm: 40 vs. vs. 60 vs. 70, 70, 50
Fielding: 40 vs. 50 vs. 60, 60, 60

Keep in mind, Correa won Rookie of the Year as a starting shortstop at age 20 in 2015. At his peak, he was one of the most sure gloved fielders, with enough speed to play center field, excellent reflexes and a cannon arm.

Brooks Lee has been ploddingly slow (like DH/1B speed) with relatively quick reflexes, a weak arm, and an error prone glove. Fixing one of his faults to become better than "adequate" doesn't make Brooks Lee a viable SS, and I just beyond hate watching the Twins pursue such a ridiculously stupid path for a player who can't even hit.

YIKES!

[miller761]

Again I will state Tom Kelly's mission statement. Make all the plays you are supposed to make. We make much too much fuss about great range or a great arm. In baseball if you make all the regular plays you will win more games than you lose. If Shelton preaches that the Twins will not be all the doom and gloom everyone is forecasting.

[mikelink45]

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Click on "view full article".

I did and nothing happened - same two points

[mikelink45]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

In the paragraph above he mentions testing pitches and swings and reactions plus the two Lee notes and that's 5 I guess.

I guess that is it - I clicked on view full article and nothing happened - maybe that is one of the five.

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Click on "view full article".

Do not see that as an option???

[rdehring]

As I read these articles, I am intrigued by comments appearing about Shelton mentioning TK.  Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't remember Rocco talking about TK or having a relationship with him?  Will TK be in spring training this year?  Would love Shelton getting that surly old TK out to help turn this team into one that works at playing the game the right way.  TK's way.  Seems this team has been going in the wrong direction ever since TK left, certainly since Gardy was gone.

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, Craig Arko said:

There might be some umpire jobs available. 

I challenge that call 🤙 

[terrydactyls]

There is a similar problem in the Caratini article.  It says there are 7 comments, but none are shown.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

1 hour ago, terrydactyls said:

There is a similar problem in the Caratini article.  It says there are 7 comments, but none are shown.

I noticed that, too.

[Old Twins Hat]

Am I a caretaker?

I have three step-kids.

[old nurse]

9 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I guess that is it - I clicked on view full article and nothing happened - maybe that is one of the five.

It is a caretaker article. They used to. Say at the bottom to read more become a caretaker.  Kind of pointless to have only part of a caretaker article when the staff here routinely complain of cheap Twins 

[Brock Beauchamp]

There should be a “become a caretaker” blurb, as there used to be, but a display bug is not showing it to some users. We are aware of the issue and will work to resolve it. 

[ashbury]

5 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

There should be a “become a caretaker” blurb, as there used to be, but a display bug is not showing it to some users. We are aware of the issue and will work to resolve it. 

I think maybe it's fixed?

[Brock Beauchamp]

12 hours ago, ashbury said:

I think maybe it's fixed?

Yep, got it fixed yesterday afternoon.