The Twins' Biggest Surprises at the All-Star Break

[jmlease1]

I think it's fair to cite Keaschall as a disappointment: the defense didn't improve at 2B and he was struggling there while also not getting it done at the plate. I'm not out on him by any means, and his recent work in the OF while also improving his results at the plate are encouraging, but expectations were fairly high on him going into the season, and he has underperformed so far. I was surprised by that.

I was surprised Larnach has been this good; I was opposed to keeping him. But he's been better than expected with the bat, and the defense has been acceptable. I think they've made the wrong choice in keeping him in LF vs RF; his arm plays better in RF and his range is less of an issue there, but that's on the Twins not him. They've also protected him against LHP, which has made a real difference.

Clemens has definitely been a surprise. I didn't hate keeping him, but I didn't think he made sense to look at as a starter. As a floor-raising 26th man...fine? He's been far better than that, and his defensive flexibility (a real calling card) has been very useful. But I didn't expect this much hitting from him. It's not just one hot month for him carrying his overall stats, he's been much more consistent this year. He's still not good against LHP, but he's also not just an automatic out this season either, which is also a surprise.

I wasn't that surprised about Bradley. I really thought he was going to be a guy who stepped up this year, and it's nice to be right about something.

Morris has been a bit of a surprise; simply didn't know whether or not he'd take to the bullpen and be able to step into more higher leverage roles, especially not this quickly. But so far he's done well.

[DJL44]

I did not think Morris would be this good, this quickly.

[arby58]

3 hours ago, Scott51104 said:

Shelton (and his staff) has been a pleasant surprise to me.

Absolutely right. I was concerned when he was hired that he was just a retread who was the 'safe' choice. Instead, he seems to be a steadying influence - not so much tinkering ala Rocco. When he has moved things around (like Clemens going to 2B, Lewis to 1B, Keaschall to the OF, and Lee to anywhere but SS), the results seem better.

[purplesoldier4u]

17 hours ago, darin617 said:

Why? Keaschall tried to increase his bst speed over the winter and it messed up his power.

Bat speed does not always directly correlate to HR's.

[purplesoldier4u]

5 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I did not think Morris would be this good, this quickly.

Some guys don't actually begin to use their fastball until they need it and Morris is now using it to set up his other offerings.

[purplesoldier4u]

21 hours ago, Heiny said:

I would add Kreidler to the positives.  He has played well at the SS position and his bat has been better than expected.  Also Larnach has been better than expected both offensively and defensively.  My biggest disappointement has been Royce.  I like him at 1st base and although he's been a little better after the demotion, his BA has been abysmal at under .220 and the way he chases the outside pitch is very annoying.  Zebby has been a pleasant surprise and I expect him to keep getting better.

Before his demotion, Royce appeared to be reaching for outside pitches and, simultaneously, pulling hi body back. Now, while he still reaches for the same pitches, it appears he's staying on the ball and trying to go the other way with it. That's a big change for a guy that loved to be a dead-pull hitter and it will (eventually) force pitchers to come inside more.

[Cris E]

A lot of the surprises are rooted in Shelton and his staff learning what's working (and what is not) and making real changes to improve things. There have been temporary demotions before, but only one or two a year. There have been minor position changes before, but nothing like the SS TO 3B, 3B TO 1B, 1B TO 2B, 2B TO OF parade we've seen so far. 

A lot of the disappointments are rooted in the front office not straying from its position of trash picking and looking a year downfield. While it has yielded a few gems (like Y Gomez) it's also cost a huge number of games as wildly unqualified relievers futilely tried to save leads while desperately saving every per diem dollar offered in the bigs. The following terrible pitchers finished 37 games for this team this year: Garcia, Lawrence, Lawyerson, Topa, Adams plus an injured Sands (and that doesn't even mention the awful Voth and Kent who couldn't reach the ninth.)  Adams maybe gets some slack to learn, and Sands was possibly only bad because he was hurt, but the rest were on the wire for a reason. 

Your impressions are often driven by your expectations, and in this case the good impressions were made by those who made changes vs those who did not. Step it up Zell and Tom P. 

[darin617]

4 hours ago, purplesoldier4u said:

Bat speed does not always directly correlate to HR's.

Exactly. It's not like the hitter needs to generate high bat speed to hit it out. If they get good wood on the ball it shouldn't matter when pitchers are throwing in the high 90's+. 

You could think trying to swing harder may cause more head movement than you want. They still need to see the ball to hit the ball.