Cody Pirkl

As players' service clocks continue to run through 2020, season or not, the obvious worry is for the Twins to prematurely lose players like Trevor May, Marwin Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz when us fans had looked forward to another year of watching them at Target Field. There may be another player that’s been overlooked in this group however, whose days in Minnesota may be through if the 2020 season is cancelled.By now you’ve seen Eddie Rosario’s image on the article and are saying to yourself “Eddie Rosario is under contract until 2022”. You’re correct. Technically. There are a few things to consider however. 2020 is Eddie’s second year going through the arbitration process, a system that gives consistent raises year to year leading up to free agency. From 2019-2020, Eddie received a raise of about $3m and currently sits at $7.75m. Eddie is due for his last run through the process in 2021, his salary very possibly set to exceed $10m. When comparing this around the league, it’s not particularly lucrative. However, context is important. The Twins have the greatest problem a team can have on the horizon. There’s not enough room for all of the talent in the outfield. Jake Cave is a sneaky good player that holds his own at the MLB level. Brent Rooker has punished the minor leagues at every level. We’ve all been hearing about Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach for some time, and both looked near MLB ready this spring as previously pointed out by fellow Twins Daily writer Nash Walker. The Twins may just not be all that incentivized to pay money that could be spent elsewhere on a corner outfielder when they have so many talented lower-cost options. Another catch with allotting a significant amount of money to Eddie Rosario is his performance. While his 2019 was surely affected by injury, it wasn’t a great note to end on if it does lead right into his final year of arbitration. While always a streaky player, Eddie’s valleys seemed to outweigh his peaks in 2019, as he finished just 3% above league average at the plate according to wRC+. His swing rate on pitches outside of the strike zone was a career high at 46.3%, a skill that good hitters typically decrease as they mature. While he made contact on these swings at a ridiculous 75% clip, his hard hit rate in the 34th percentile clearly shows that contact on these pitches just don’t lead to consistently driving the baseball. While Eddie still gets a decent amount of good swings in, pitchers simply don’t have to throw him anything that he can do damage with. The biggest issue with Eddie in 2019 was definitely his defense. He had -6 defensive runs saved in left field paired with an unforgivable -17 Outs Above Average according to Baseball Savant, the worst in all of baseball. The analytically inclined front office is bound to question whether they have a replacement that can improve upon Eddie’s slightly above average offense and league worst defense in 2019. The discussions around Eddie on the trade market this winter may have foreshadowed that it may be a “yes”. Look beyond things like RBI total that are based on opportunity, something Eddie got plenty of hitting cleanup in 2019 for one of the best offenses in history. His overall profile on offense paints the picture of a streaky hitter that may not age particularly well. His defense, while likely limited by injury, was so bad in aggregate that even the highlight reel plays that come to mind were completely overshadowed. I’m betting on a bounceback for Eddie in his next healthy season, though the business side of the front office might not have much incentive to make that bet if his salary increases again. All things considered, Eddie may need to be added to the list of players we may have seen the last of in 2019 for the Twins. And yes Twins fans, despite my critical view of our left fielder, that makes me sad. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

I think it becomes more debatable with the Red Sox presumably taking a step back. The Orioles are obviously bottom feeders, but their park is still a hitters park. Jays should be better than years prior as well. Regardless, I believe the bigger factor is the wildcard of Cole moving into the biggest stage in baseball. Maybe it's nothing, but it could be huge!

2020 is set to be an unconventional season if the MLB is able to play at any point. We’ve discussed how a modified or shortened season can improve the odds for the underdogs across baseball. That prospect extends beyond just the teams in my opinion. I believe that some individual players stand to benefit as well, which is why 2020 may be a great opportunity for Jose Berríos to take home his first Cy Young award.The Competition The 2020 field for the Cy Young could be a bit softer than it was in 2019, and may provide a slightly better opportunity for Berríos to take home some hardware. Gerrit Cole Leaves the AL West for the AL East. He faces a huge change in ballpark and is set to face the big stage of New York for the first time, a transition that’s been difficult for superstars throughout baseball history. Justin Verlander has already had groin surgery this spring. Could this be the year that Verlander’s age catches up and he downgrades from a super ace? Chris Sale’s 2020 is already over before it’s begun, as he’s opted to undergo Tommy John surgery. Mike Clevinger has unbelievable skill, but his health has become a consistent issue in recent years. There are plenty of realistic candidates for the award in the AL, but if the top tier of pitching falters even just a bit in a potentially shortened season, the odds for Jose Berríos can make a huge jump. The Skills Berríos has been making adjustments for a few years now with his pitch mix. From 2018-2019, he nearly doubled his changeup usage while still maintaining his near 30% whiff rate. He’s clearly becoming more confident with the pitch, and I’d expect to see it even more when baseball resumes. Throwing more changeups helps neutralize opposite handed hitters, and Berríos has performed much better against them the last two years as he’s gotten more of a feel for it. We’ve also heard about and seen in limited fashion this spring how Berríos overhauled his breaking ball this offseason. The ALDS was a bit of a wakeup call that fueled this change, as the elite Yankee hitters chased him early by refusing to swing at the pitch out of the zone. It may be a necessary change, as the whiff rate on his GIF worthy breaking ball dropped by about 10% in 2019. It will essentially be a pitch that no opposing hitters have seen before. If it makes him more effective against the league’s top hitters, Berrios could make a big leap forward on that pitch alone. The Shortened Season? The 2020 season may inadvertently patch up the biggest weakness Berríos has. It was reported that he changed his workout routine this offseason to try to avoid the burnout he’s historically seen toward the end of the year. His ERA in the second half of the season throughout his career is more than a run higher than the first half number. August and September are by far the worst performing months of his career. We have no idea what the regular season schedule will look like in 2020 if MLB gets around to one at all. That being said, every week that baseball isn’t played, it becomes less likely that a full 162 games will be played. This could reduce the physical tax that likely led to an ERA over 7 from Berríos in August last season. He’s struggled with the marathon season in his career, might he fare better with a sprint? Berríos was already a Cy Young sleeper for some going into 2020. His ongoing adjustments to his craft were enough for Twins fans to dream on all offseason. The field for AL Cy Young may be softer, even just slightly, which isn’t insignificant. More importantly, a shortened season could eliminate the physical breakdown we’ve seen in the past, which has been the Achilles’ Heel for the Twins ace the last few years. 2020 will be a season unlike any we’ve ever seen before. While there may be a bit of chaos as strategies and expectations are adjusted, Jose Berríos may be in a fantastic position to take home his first Cy Young award. — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

That's a great question! He does still have to be retired for 15 years in order to be considered for the Veteran's Committee unfortunately. The way the cycle works for voting on what they consider "modern" players lines up in 2022 next, when Johan will not yet be eligible.

I agree! It's hard to say Johan should be in the Hall. I just think it's a guy punch to his career that he wasn't even deemed worthy of several times through the voting process. He doesn't have the accolades but his peak should have garnered more attention from the BBWAA in my opinion.

In 2018, Johan Santana became eligible for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame for the very first time. He was promptly found ineligible for future consideration after drawing only 2.4% of the vote from the BBWAA. While a solid Hall of Fame resume is certainly in question, a first ballot exit is outrageous for one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball in the 2000s.Reason to withhold votes for Santana is obvious. Not throwing a pitch past your age 33 season is a bruise to your resume. Santana laid it all on the line in 2012 to complete a 134 pitch no-hitter with the Mets. After posting a 2.35 ERA to begin the season, he followed up his no-hitter with an 8.27 ERA in the 10 starts that followed. He would never be the same pitcher after ruining his shoulder in the spring of the following year. For injury-shortened careers, The JAWS system was created to examine a player’s dominance rather than longevity. This is a metric that averages a player’s career bWAR with the bWAR from their seven-year peak. For Johan Sanatana, his seven-year peak from 2004-2010 was fantastic. He led baseball with a bWAR of 43.6 during that time. In addition, Johan was number one in ERA, WHIP, Ks, and opponent batting average. Not to mention being top five in several other categories. For Johan to have topped so many charts in this span is even more impressive given the competition during this time. These peak seasons from Johan paralleled other pitchers in their heyday such as future Hall of Famer C.C. Sabathia and the late already Hall of Famer Roy Halladay. For those seven years, Johan Santana was THE ace of the MLB. Some compare Johan to Sandy Koufax, whose career ended at 30 due to physical ailments as well. I wouldn’t go quite so far as to call the two extremely comparable, as “The Left Arm of God” has a resume that’s hard to top given his three Cy Young’s to Johan’s two, four no-hitters to Johan’s one, perfect game, three pitcher's triple crowns to Johan’s one, regular season MVP as well as two World Series MVPs. Koufax is a legend, his mystique in the history books is almost unparalleled. To use his similarly shortened career to justify Johan’s deserving of being in the Hall of Fame may be a stretch. Johan’s JAWS metric of 48.3 is actually superior to Koufax’s at 47.4 however. He may not have the accolades of Sandy Koufax to push him into undisputed Hall of Fame territory, but shouldn’t a pitcher with a higher value peak and similarly shortened career at least be considered for a few runs on the ballot? JAWS is a metric that was put together for players just like Johan Santana. Some say “It’s not the Hall of very good, it’s the Hall of Fame.” Johan Santana was not very good before injuries took his career from him, he was the gold standard of the 2000s. Longevity in a career will always be a benchmark to many writers for voting a new member into the Hall. That being said, this wasn’t a couple of fantastic seasons in an otherwise “very good” career. It was a pitcher who demonstrated he was on his way to a full career of excellence before his body betrayed him. A first-round exit was a snub, plain and simple. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

1. It's pretty funny that they have Buxton hovering around the Mendoza Line and still being worth 1.2 WAR. The Show respects the defense. 2. Arraez with 10 dingers. Wow.

You could definitely argue that Mays should be #1. He had the two respectable years and then the big 3.1 fWAR year that earned him his contract. I mostly just slotted Blackburn at 1 because I think he's fresher in people's minds. Blackburn also never eclipsed a 12% K rate after his rookie season which absolutely cracks me up. I also think that yes, defense plays a big role in the success of pitchers like these who pitch to contact. But when you're THAT contact oriented, the BABIP monster is bound to catch up at some point, even before the launch angle revolution. It's why groundball specialists are projected to level off at number 4s or 5s in present day baseball. You don't see K rates as extreme as guys like Mays and Blackburn, but below average K rates limit a pitcher's ceiling with the exception of just putting together a tremendous season of BABIP luck. It's really fun to look back and see how things have changed.

You're correct, I think quarantine brain got me! His changeup was in the high 80s. He was more of the low walks/strikeout and groundball type but wasn't quite in that soft tosser mould.

In the beginning of the 21st century, the Twins valued different styles of pitchers than they do today. Velocity was an afterthought, and at times I wondered if they avoided it. Strikeouts were overrated, get that ball on the ground. Despite the inconsistency this volatile philosophy caused, some pitchers still hold a special place in Twins fans' hearts. That’s why I wanted to take a trip down memory lane and rank my top 3 pitchers from the previous era of Twins baseball.3. Joe Mays Joe Mays was classic early 2000s Twins. He actually debuted in 1999 and put up 1.5 and 1.9 fWAR seasons respectively in his first two years, right around a 2019 Martin Perez season in terms of value. It was 2001 however that everything went right for Mays. He rode a 3.16 ERA and 4.27 FIP through over 230 innings and put up 3.1 fWAR. In his lone All-Star season, Mays had a career low BABIP of .243 and struck out an outrageous 12.9% of hitters. For reference, Jose Berrios has struck out 23.1% of hitters he’s faced in his career. Mays was rewarded with a 4-year $20 million contract with the Twins, a much more lucrative deal in those days. Unfortunately, Mays pitched three more seasons with the Twins and was worth -.2 fWAR. He never recaptured that season where the ball seemed to find his fielders' gloves consistently. 2. Scott Diamond Scott Diamond was one of my favorite Twins pitchers of this era for a number of reasons. Who doesn’t love a big leaguer that wasn’t even officially drafted? He found his way to the Twins by way of the Rule 5 draft, where stories of even moderate success are rare. He was a bit unlucky in his debut season of 2011 with a 5.08 ERA and 4.36 FIP in 39 innings. In his second season however, Diamond managed a 3.54 ERA and 3.94 FIP. He walked less than 5% of his batters faced while spinning grounders at a 53.4% clip. He was worth 2.4 fWAR in 2012, which was more than the rest of his career. Diamond also flamed out after his career year. Much like Mays, the groundballs just stopped going his way, and his career 10.9 K% just couldn’t keep him afloat. 1. Nick Blackburn I don’t know about you, but when I think of Nick Blackburn, I think of Pirahna Baseball. Blackburn’s success actually matched up with some classic early 2000s Twins teams in 2008 and 2009. In those seasons he succeeded with an 87 mph fastball and a groundball rate of around 45%. He fit the mold of not walking or striking anybody out (5.7% and 10.8% respectively for his career) and was the exact style of pitcher the Twins front office loved during that era. Blackburn at least managed to string two successful season together and they came in seasons where the Twins were competitive, with 2009 being the classic “Game 163 Season”. Unfortunately just like Diamond and Mays, Blackburn’s success had an expiration date. He pitched three more seasons and was worth -.4 fWAR, and I still remember the sadness of going to games and seeing Nick Blackburn banners in 2012 as he limped to a 7.39 ERA. These pitchers are proof of how far the Twins organization has come. This strategy clearly wasn’t ideal for the long haul as we see with Mays', Diamond's and Blackburn’s careers. That being said, the previous era is full of forgotten pitchers that were tons of fun despite having no chance of making the current Twins roster. Which ones were your favorites? MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

In the beginning of the 21st century, the Twins valued different styles of pitchers than they do today. Velocity was an afterthought, and at times I wondered if they avoided it. Strikeouts were overrated, get that ball on the ground. Despite the inconsistency this volatile philosophy caused, some pitchers still hold a special place in Twins fans' hearts. That’s why I wanted to take a trip down memory lane and rank my top 3 pitchers from the previous era of Twins baseball.3. Joe Mays Joe Mays was classic early 2000s Twins. He actually debuted in 1999 and put up 1.5 and 1.9 fWAR seasons respectively in his first two years, right around a 2019 Martin Perez season in terms of value. It was 2001 however that everything went right for Mays. He rode a 3.16 ERA and 4.27 FIP through over 230 innings and put up 3.1 fWAR. In his lone All-Star season, Mays had a career low BABIP of .243 and struck out an outrageous 12.9% of hitters. For reference, Jose Berrios has struck out 23.1% of hitters he’s faced in his career. Mays was rewarded with a 4-year $20 million contract with the Twins, a much more lucrative deal in those days. Unfortunately, Mays pitched three more seasons with the Twins and was worth -.2 fWAR. He never recaptured that season where the ball seemed to find his fielders' gloves consistently. 2. Scott Diamond Scott Diamond was one of my favorite Twins pitchers of this era for a number of reasons. Who doesn’t love a big leaguer that wasn’t even officially drafted? He found his way to the Twins by way of the Rule 5 draft, where stories of even moderate success are rare. He was a bit unlucky in his debut season of 2011 with a 5.08 ERA and 4.36 FIP in 39 innings. In his second season however, Diamond managed a 3.54 ERA and 3.94 FIP. He walked less than 5% of his batters faced while spinning grounders at a 53.4% clip. He was worth 2.4 fWAR in 2012, which was more than the rest of his career. Diamond also flamed out after his career year. Much like Mays, the groundballs just stopped going his way, and his career 10.9 K% just couldn’t keep him afloat. 1. Nick Blackburn I don’t know about you, but when I think of Nick Blackburn, I think of Pirahna Baseball. Blackburn’s success actually matched up with some classic early 2000s Twins teams in 2008 and 2009. In those seasons he succeeded with an 87 mph fastball and a groundball rate of around 45%. He fit the mold of not walking or striking anybody out (5.7% and 10.8% respectively for his career) and was the exact style of pitcher the Twins front office loved during that era. Blackburn at least managed to string two successful season together and they came in seasons where the Twins were competitive, with 2009 being the classic “Game 163 Season”. Unfortunately just like Diamond and Mays, Blackburn’s success had an expiration date. He pitched three more seasons and was worth -.4 fWAR, and I still remember the sadness of going to games and seeing Nick Blackburn banners in 2012 as he limped to a 7.39 ERA. These pitchers are proof of how far the Twins organization has come. This strategy clearly wasn’t ideal for the long haul as we see with Mays', Diamond's and Blackburn’s careers. That being said, the previous era is full of forgotten pitchers that were tons of fun despite having no chance of making the current Twins roster. Which ones were your favorites? MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

I'm sorry to hear that, Mike. I think we're all in uncharted waters here and are being forced learn as we go and do the best we can. I appreciate your interacting with all of our content and hope that TwinsDaily can give you some kind of respite in these crazy times. Wishing you the best.

2019 was an incredible year for the Minnesota Twins, especially rookie manager Rocco Baldelli. Rocco brought in a player centered, calming environment and took home AL Manager of the Year honors. With the 2020 season in jeopardy of being severely shortened however, he has an opportunity to show off that he’s an even better manager than he gets credit for.Rocco Baldelli’s management style aims to refrain from pushing player’s physical limits and keeping them fresh. Rocco regularly gave starters the day off and made the most of the depth the roster had accumulated. Unavoidable injuries popped up down the stretch, but for the most part, the Twins were able to avoid late-season production declining en route to the AL Central title. Everything seemed to work out perfectly, until the ALDS that is. The offense being a nonfactor was a likely result of the injuries sustained toward the end of the year. It was the pitching usage however where Baldelli’s mettle was tested as a rookie manager. When it came to big-time situations in game 1, Rocco Baldelli trusted pitchers like Zack Littell and Cody Stashak, seemingly in an attempt to preserve pitchers like Trevor May and Taylor Rogers for key situations. Those situations would never present themselves after game 1 unfortunately. The game got away from the Twins, and May and Rogers wouldn’t throw a meaningful pitch in the series. I don’t say this to bring up bad memories, but rather to point out the one true beef you may have with Rocco Baldelli as a manager is that at times he can be too conservative. A 162 game season is the perfect season length to choose spots to save your bullets, and Baldelli’s management style in year 1 was perfect for it. As Ted Schwerlzer pointed out earlier this week, an 81 game schedule severely drops the Twins playoff chances. The Twins are built to outlast the rest of baseball, but that depth just isn’t as impactful when the longevity needed from your stars is reduced. Every impact player that’s kept off the field in favor of a utility or backup player becomes less about keeping them healthy months from now, and more about the chances of winning that game being reduced. Not to mention that each game is that much more meaningful. I think that Baldelli’s first taste of the postseason provided him with plenty of learning opportunities. His game management in the regular season was all you could ask for, but it takes more than the average baseball fan believes to flip that switch on your entire process that’s brought you success. While a season cut in half is less dire than a best of 5 against the Yankees, it would still require a shift in the philosophy that Baldelli used in 2019. That being said, all of baseball will be making that shift, and I think Baldelli’s lessons learned in the ALDS will prepare him to be a bit more aggressive in a shortened schedule. What do you think? MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

He's a guy who had a successful minor league career at every stop and came up and had continued success by using the same strategy. That strategy happens to look just like Stroman's even if it was in a very limited sample. His way of getting outs is pretty sustainable by limiting homers and getting ground balls. I think it's valuable to recognize that in context with how Stroman's made a career for himself because it shows that it may not be fair to predict near 5 ERAs for Dobnak going forward. There's a path to success for him and his pitching style is all I wanted to point out.

In 2019, Marcus Stroman had a career year with a 3.22 ERA and 3.72 FIP. He was traded at the deadline to the Mets in frustrating fashion, as the Twins felt they could have matched the return for the Blue Jays. The rest is history, as the Twins starting pitching depth fell apart down the stretch. In 2020 however, the Twins not only have the depth to fill the shoes of a Marcus Stroman, they may have a version of him themselves.Randy Dobnak burst onto the scene in 2019 riding a heavy sinker/slider combo to success in his short debut. I’m just going to say it, Randy Dobnak can be a Marcus Stroman-esque pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. Do you think that’s ridiculous? What’s ridiculous is how similar the two pitcher’s profiles are. Check out the pair’s pitch usage and performance: Dobnak: Download attachment: Dobnak Pitch Mix.PNG Stroman: Download attachment: Stroman Pitches.PNG Dobnak considers his breaking ball to be a slider despite Statcast categorizing it as a curve. Taking this into consideration, the main difference is Stroman’s consistent use of a cut fastball. Dobnak instead relies on his changeup and four seamer a bit more whereas Stroman rarely uses these pitches. Both pitchers' bread and butter however is their sinker/slider combo. Both use their sinkers around 36% of the time and rely on their breakers for whiffs. Now let’s look at batted-ball profile: Dobnak: Download attachment: Dobnak Batted Ball Profile.PNG Stroman: Download attachment: Stroman Batted Ball Profile.PNG The parity in GB and FB rates are what I find most important. Both pitchers rely on the ground ball in the age of rising strikeouts. Stroman struck out 20.5% of hitters in 2019, while Dobnak struck out 19.5%. Stroman had a walk rate of 7.5%, while Dobnak only walked 4.2% of his opponents. Both pitchers are also exceptional at avoiding barrels, which are determined in part by achieving a launch angle between 26-30 degrees. Both pitchers' sinkers produced launch angles in the negatives in 2019. Dobnak’s 0.32 HR/9 is unrepeatable, but why can’t it plateau around the 0.88 HR/9 Stroman put up in 2019 with such a similar profile? We saw it at last year’s trade deadline, many people believed Marcus Stroman to be a bona fide ace. The fact of the matter is, 2019 was Stroman’s most valuable season according to Fangraphs WAR and it would have ranked behind Berrios and Odorizzi’s 2019. Comparing Stroman and Dobnak may partially be an argument that Stroman is a bit overrated, but it’s hard to ignore just how much the two pitchers overlap with their strategy and results on the mound in 2019. The elephant in the room is obvious. Randy Dobnak has just 28.1 innings under his belt at the major league level. He’s also taken an unlikely path to the majors and was never considered the prospect that Stroman was when he was taken 22nd overall in 2012. His 1.59 ERA in 2019 is not going to happen again. Even his 2.90 FIP seems ambitious. The skills Dobnak showed are fairly sticky historically however. While he certainly overperformed, things like walk rate and groundball rate don’t typically just disappear from year to year, especially since they’re both skills he showed all through the minors. Randy Dobnak is due for regression in 2020, but his performance in 2019 leaves a lot of room for it while still being an impressive pitcher. He gets ground balls at an elite rate and has a slider that induces a healthy amount of swings and misses just as Marcus Stroman does. In fact, you could take the pair's underlying peripherals and they would be nearly indistinguishable. Because of that, I don’t think it’s crazy to say that Randy Dobnak could put together a season that matches up closely with Marcus Stroman. What do you think? MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article

The thing about Arraez regressing to around .300 is that it may put him below an .800 OPS which just isn't that special of a player when paired with the defense he put up last season. It's not like he'd lose his job or anything with those kinds of numbers, but a future of Royce Lewis at SS and Polanco shifting to 2B becomes very real.

That's actually a really great question. I'm a firm believer that even for Chacín, his performance this time of year isn't necessarily indicative of how he'll pitch in the regular season. Unfortunately for him, he's on a non guaranteed deal and the Twins have so many options that they can boil their decision down to performance. I like Dobnak better not because of spring performances, but because of how each of their 2019s went.

Spring training is a time for players to get back into the swing of things before the games that actually mean something begin. We’re a little over the halfway point and most of the regulars have gotten at least some work in. If you’re looking at the performance of a particular player or the team as a whole and thinking “this whole thing is coming crashing down”, you’re doing it wrong. Here are a few things beyond performance that are actually meaningful in spring training.Health: Pretty much the most important part of spring training. Players need time to ramp up before the 162 game season begins. In just the last week, we’ve seen Jorge Polanco and Marwin Gonzalez make their spring debuts after offseason surgery. It was great that both came back and had two hits in their spring debuts, but it’s more meaningful that they’re on track to play in the games that matter in a few weeks. While Byron Buxton is an important piece, it should be encouraging that he’s the only regular still sidelined and that all reports say he’s progressing well. The health so far in camp is a great sign (knock on wood) whether we’re winning or losing games. Velocity: A lot of pitchers show up to camp working on something or just trying to get their arms right for the season. However, velocity is something to keep an eye on. If a pitcher shows up to camp striking out the world, a boost in velocity might signal that he made a change to their offseason routine and could foreshadow a breakout. Check out Trevor May so far. In 2019, May was averaging 94 or so for the first few months. His effectiveness correlated with his steady rise in fastball velocity as the year went on, which could mean we see a fire breathing dragon right off the bat in 2020. Conversely, if a pitcher gets lit up in spring, who cares right? That is unless they’re missing a few ticks on the fastball. Losing velocity in some cases could be a sign that something’s wrong, and for most pitchers, a few MPH makes a huge difference in their effectiveness. For as worried as some are about Kenta Maeda’s first two starts, the fact that he sat 91-92 should tell you that he’s likely just working the rust out, no need to overreact. Change in Style/Approach Lots of players spend all winter working on adjustments and use spring training as a test run. If you hear a news piece about an adjustment a player is making, it should raise an eyebrow. This winter we’ve already heard that Jose Berrios is working on the shape of his curveball to tunnel it better with the rest of his pitches and make it more deceptive. Early results are looking good... Berrios has been dominant with his change thus far, but in some cases it takes a bit longer to click. Eddie Rosario reportedly wants to see more pitches and become a bit more selective in 2020. In the few televised games I’ve seen, Eddie struck out in a few ABs while laying off some pitchers pitches, something I don’t know that I’ve ever seen before. It’s a huge change for him, and the process this time of year carries much more weight than the resulting strikeout. Other changes in style/approach I’ve seen are Randy Dobnak talking about working on the depth of his slider and Marwin Gonzalez appearing to have a new timing mechanism in his swing. If Dobnak is throwing that pitch for fewer strikes or Gonzalez takes a few swings where he looks lost, don’t be shocked. The Minnesota Twins have a roster full of players whose larger sample size of 2019 should outweigh any stats they put up while they’re playing in between golf sessions down in Florida for these few weeks. In regard to spring training, I always say that the encouraging signs are more indicative than the discouraging ones since adjustments are always being made this time of year. Sit back and enjoy baseball being in your life again, the season is only a few weeks away. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email — Follow Cody Pirkl on Twitter here Click here to view the article