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Parker Hageman

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  1. Parker Hageman
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2271-Mauer-showing-progress-but-not-ready-for-play
  2. Parker Hageman
    The effects of taking several foul tips off his face mask are still lingering for Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said before Tuesday’s game against the Royals. “He came in today and says he’s feeling pretty decent,” Gardenhire said but later added that Mauer will not be ready to return the lineup any time soon. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] “He’s not ready anyway right now. We just have to wait and see; I don’t have a timetable. They got to tell me when to play him. I will discuss it with him once we get the go-go from the doctors. There’s no sense in talking about it until he gets back.” Gardenhire’s recollection of the events leading up to Mauer’s DL visit is something that is becoming more and more commonplace among catchers. “He came to my office earlier in the day and we talked about not catching, I was going to play him at first base and he said that would be a good idea. He took one off his helmet and mask -- a couple of them pretty hard,” Gardenhire recanted. “He said his forehead kind of hurts. That was the first time I heard about that. It was good when we were playing first base but once he got out there in batting practice it wasn’t good at all. He was taking ground balls at first and Joe normally doesn’t miss too many ground balls and he was missing just about everything. You could see he was a little loopy.” What happened to Mauer was innocuous but because of the increasing amount of concussion awareness and preventative measures set up by the league, the frequency of these instances will likely grow, Gardenhire believes. In 2011 MLB instituted a seven-day disabled list specifically to handle these types of injuries. According to medical research cited by the league, the mild variety of concussion injuries typically clears within five-to-seven days and gives the player the opportunity to be evaluated by the team’s medical staff. “I don’t think we even knew they had it,” said Gardenhire. “You didn’t know you had a concussion. It wasn’t something that was talked about. It was just ‘man, I don’t feel good today’ but you just played. And it was because there was nobody ever diagnosing it as a concussion. It just wasn’t there. You know, you get knocked out in a game you get back up and finish the game. Nowadays that just doesn’t happen.” Of course, the player in the most direct line of fire is the team’s catcher. As HardballTalk.com pointed out last week, in the past month five catchers have been place on the seven-day DL. “This is a good thing,” Gardenhire acknowledges of the added attention to concussions. “But you are going to see a lot of this from catchers. They get wacked pretty good. That foul ball off the mask, and I know they are trying all kinds of things, there’s no way to stop. I don’t know what kind of mask they can make that is going to stop that neck from getting whipped back like that after you get a 90-plus mile per hour ball tipped right into the mask like that.” It is hard to foresee MLB making any changes to the way the game operates that would remove the catcher from harm’s way of the foul tip (robot umpires and catchers?). Equipment will be examined by the sport to see if there are any styles that provided added safety. However the current available stock – heavy or titanium or goalie-style – offer little difference in the level of protection, says Gardenhire, especially when trying to stop the whiplash effect of the neck snapping back upon contact. “They all got different masks. You got heavy masks, the really light mask, titanium, you know all that stuff. No matter how light his mask was, you still saw him got hit that time and everything shook. It’s gonna happen. There’s no getting away from it." "It’s just something we are going to have to figure out and deal with it now and go from there. You are going to see that quite a bit, catcher’s getting dinged up.”
  3. Parker Hageman
  4. Parker Hageman
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2246-Ron-Gardenhire-talks-September-roster
  5. Parker Hageman
    On Monday night, Fox Sport North broadcasted the New Britain Rock Cats game, giving Twins fans in the Midwest another glimpse of one of the game’s top-ranked prospects in Miguel Sano. Sano, who went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts lowering his average to .238, made a nifty play on a slow chopper to nail the runner at first to end a threat early in the game. Much has been made about bringing the 20-year-old Sano up to Minnesota this September but the Twins have been steadfast in their development process and not wanting to rush anyone before their time. On Tuesday, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was on MLB Network Radio radio recently and discussed what his roster could look like come September – and it likely does not include Sano. “I’m guessing that probably not,” Gardenhire said when asked if Sano would see action in September. “I would think that [Terry Ryan] has not totally said no to Sano but I think he’s leaning really heavily not doing that move and letting him go home. He’s played a lot of baseball this summer and having him fresh in spring training and see where that takes us.” Gardenhire continued to say that nothing was out of the question but Ryan will be spending the next four or five days in Rochester trying to make the final decision on which players will be on the roster come September. The manager also addressed another question regarding the status of veteran first baseman Justin Morneau, who had cleared waivers last week and is free to be traded to any team. “I’m sure Terry and them have had phone calls and listen,” Gardenhire said, “but everything I’ve heard is that there is money involved and all that and other teams are not wanting to touch money and stuff like that.” Morneau, 32, is owed approximately $3.5 million for the remainder of the season and other teams are not necessarily interested in obtaining that contract in exchange for a player hitting .261/.316/.418 in 503 plate appearances this year. “We would do it for Mornie if the opportunity came,” said Gardenhire. “I’m sure Terry would look at it and think about it really seriously, but we’re also trying to help our ballclub. We’re looking for some kind of prospect or something like that that can help our ballclub next year.” The Twins have not given their fans much reason to watch the club at the season’s conclusion. Dating back to 2011 the Twins have won just 44 of 132 games after July 31 - so any form of excitement to the late season roster would be welcomed.
  6. Parker Hageman
    Well, the K/BB rate is MUCH improved. The downside is that his ability to go the other way more early in the year was a product of bad timing and not intentional. Since he fixed his timing, he's almost been exclusively hitting the ball left of second base. So...whatever. More importantly, like the images that are shown in that previous article, he isn't attempting to pull pitches on the outer-half of the plate like he did last year, which is likely a product of understanding the strike zone.
  7. Parker Hageman
    Correct. Almost all heat maps/pitchfx charts of the strike zone are from the catchers/umpires perspective. Depends on the hitter, but yes, majority of hitters pull the ball.
  8. Parker Hageman
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2233-Swing-change-fuels-Doziers-surge
  9. Parker Hageman
    At the end of May, Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier was batting a sad .214/.259/.299 and providing little reassurance that he would be able to consistently hit major league pitching. Since then, however, Dozier has been on fire offensively and has posted a robust .254/.340/.492 line with 10 home runs in his last 270 plate appearances. This turnaround has been amazing for Dozier, but it has not been entirely unexpected. In the spring, Dozier showcased new mechanics [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] that should have helped create a more firm platform out on his front foot as well allow him to open up his hip to better. Once the season started however his production remained static. Hitting coach Tom Brunansky is familiar with Dozier after working with him for several seasons in the minor leagues and tinkering with his swing. Brunansky admitted earlier in the season that his approach is about getting hitters to have a feel for the swing rather than replicate something visually. Dozier’s problem, Brunansky diagnosed, was his timing. So, as 1500ESPN.com’s Brandon Warne found out from Dozier and Brunansky recently, the second baseman began plotting on ways to improve his timing at the end of May: In layman’s terms, Dozier was starting his swing way too late. This means that his lower-half was beginning late with the pitcher’s rhythm and that his path to the pitch was going to be tardy. In spite of having a solid base, Dozier’s swing was well behind of where he needed to be. Dozier himself admitted he found that he was behind several fastball in May that he should have been able handle. Although Dozier speaks towards the point of the foot strike, his timing was thrown off earlier than that – when he first would begin his swing at the foot lift: While facing this low-90s fastballs from left-handed pitchers, we see that Dozier’s front foot lift begins much later in May (LEFT) than it in August (RIGHT). In the first instance, Dozier received a fastball middle-up and instead of pulling the ball, his timing is behind and he fights it off towards the right-center field gap. The next images are of his foot strike – the point where his front foot lands in his strike. Take notice where each pitch is in the examples. In May, the pitch is already on him. In August, the pitch has just been delivered. The latter gives him ample opportunity to read the ball and react instead of fighting off pitches. The same trend can be found for Dozier versus right-handed pitchers as well. In this example of earlier season versus late season, we see the same pattern – Dozier is beginning his swing much later. Why is Dozier’s timing a huge issue? For starters, it means a better command of the strike zone as it gives him a longer (relative) look at each pitch. No longer does Dozier have troubles with in zone fastballs as his bat does not drag through the zone late. Now he’s driving balls all over the zone, particularly on the inner-half. Notice in this heat map below that prior the end of May (LEFT), Dozier was struggling to do anything with pitches inside the strike zone. After May (RIGHT) Dozier was doing damage on those same pitches and was turning on those thrown inside (a location he struggled to do anything with prior to June). Since his and Brunansky’s work, that area of the strike zone has been one in which he has been most productive. (NOTE: Heat maps are views from catcher/umpire perspective.) While Dozier’s heat map shows how well he’s done at the plate, but his spray chart shows how well he’s succeeding after the ball has been put into play. Advertised as a pull-ball hitter in the minor leagues, Dozier has not fulfilled that potential at the big league level. It is easy to conclude that part of what was impeding him has been his timing issue. As you can see in his spray chart below, prior to May (LEFT) Dozier did not hit much down the line. After making changes to his timing mechanism, Dozier’s ability to pull the ball greatly increased. Here you see that the bulk of his hits since June 1 came down the left field line: Clearly, a vast majority of his hits have gone to the left side as he exhibited a significant amount of power to boot. Combined with his stellar defense, Dozier’s offensive turnaround as made him one of the team’s top contributors at a position that has become increasingly more offense-oriented in recent years. It may seem like a completely subtle change, but timing – even fractions or fractions or seconds – can be vital to a player’s swing. Credit both Dozier as well as Brunansky for this surge.
  10. Parker Hageman
  11. Parker Hageman
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2219-Jamey-Carroll-talks-defense
  12. Parker Hageman
    Earlier in the season, I tracked down the recently traded Jamey Carroll in the Twins’ clubhouse and picked his brain on the art of fielding. A player’s offensive production tends to attract the lion’s share of the attention while the contributions with the glove go under-appreciated – especially if a player is not necessarily flashy. As Bill James once said, “Offense is making things happen. Defense is keeping things from happening. People would much rather watch things happen.” [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] People may not have noticed, but Jamey Carroll kept a lot of things from happening. He was signed following a disastrous stretch of defensive baseball which featured Tsuyoshi Nishioka at short and second and current third baseman Trevor Plouffe manning short and throwing bullets into the first base stands. Carroll had proven to be a stabilizing force in the infield. By drawing on his years of experience he has been able to compensate for the lack of overall speed and declining reaction time as he approaches his 40th birthday. “For me, personally, that is a big huge part of the game,” Carroll said in regards to positioning himself before each pitch. “Knowing the swing of the hitter, knowing the type of pitcher who is pitching and the type of pitches he pitches, knowing the hitter and if he is hitting good or not hitting good. Obviously I want to try to be in the right spot so I can field it cleanly and have time to make a good throw – that’s not always the case but I put that all into play before every pitch.” Preparation was a key part of Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken’s success. In the book Men At Work, George Will profiled Ripken’s outstanding defensive contributions and the shortstop said that what helped him become one of the game’s elite defenders was understanding the same things Carroll mentioned above: the hitter, the pitcher and the situation. One of Nishioka’s biggest downfalls was his lack of knowledge when it came to his opponents. In 2011, he attempted to rush a throw from short against the slow-footed Travis Hafner and wound up bobbling the ball while charging it hard. Had Nishioka had more familiarity, he may have waited back instead and made a clean play. (Maybe.) Over his 12 year career, Carroll has contributed extensively at three positions in the infield. While spending the vast majority of his time at second base, he has also seen plenty of action at third and short as he developed into a utility player. During his stay in Minnesota, playing next to him have been two displaced shortstops in Trevor Plouffe and Brian Dozier, two young players attempting to adapt to new positions. Where Dozier’s defense has been impressive at second base, Plouffe’s glove at third has left some things to be desired. Carroll’s positional diversity gives him the ability to understand the challenges for his former teammates. “All three of them have something different about that makes either fun or more difficult,” said Carroll. “Like at second base, turning a double play with not being able to see the runner or see where you are throwing. At shortstop you have to constantly be on the move, you have to have some rhythm with more ground to cover. Then at third, where second and short you have some room to be able to get reads on the ball, at third it is either smoked to you or a chopper, you feel closer to the hitter so that has its own charm. I think if you are playing second or third, you’re footwork does not have to be as skilled as it does when you go to short and you realize how important it is and how much it really is needed. So I think playing those positions and then jumping over to short, it’s more challenging that way.” With the analytics of the game expanding rapidly, especially the advent of advanced defensive metrics like Ultimate Zone Rating, I wondered if Carroll had ever been curious on how his fielding contributions stacks up to his contemporaries by the various new measurement systems. When I asked him about if he ever looked up those numbers, he shot me a look as if I inquired whether he sprinkled his glove with magic fairy dust to help him field better. “Maybe when everything is all said and done I’ll go back and take a look,” he said. “I feel it is more of a jinx kind of thing. You can get caught up in it – more so with hitting because that’s something more effected on a daily basis. But you know when you make an error and it sticks with you. You know if you were out of position or feel like you made a mistake while reading a certain thing. I don’t understand the range factor and all that stuff. It goes back to the fact that I’m a big believer in positioning. So when you start judging by range factor and certain guys have this or that, I almost take pride that I am in the right place at the right time instead of having to range for a ball.” What about things that defensive metrics don’t measure or account for from infielders, like knowing where to be for outfield cut? One of the biggest knocks on Nishioka was that he would put himself in a poor or even wrong place to take cuts from the outfielders. Are there guys who have a better ability to position themselves to help reduce the likelihood of runners taking extra bases? “I think it is pretty basic as far as where the play happens and knowing which base. Obviously when the ball is hit and how the ball is hit usually dictates where you need to line up to be. But you also factor in where it is to what particular guy as far as some guys you need to go farther out on and others you don’t but for the most part, where you line up for each base is pretty basic.” Carroll falls in the camp of a spectacularly unspectacular defender. His range is not what it was when he was roaming the artificial infield of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium at the beginning of the century. The first step does not fire off like it once did. The arm, which was showcased in his inning of work in Kansas City recently, is not what it used to be. Nevertheless, Carroll has been steady and committed to his craft.
  13. Parker Hageman
  14. Parker Hageman
    We know that Jared Burton throws a nasty splangeup, but now we have learned he can throw a mean right-cross too. During the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, the bullpen decided to pull some shenanigans with the viewers. As Chris Colabello’s majestic home run sailed over the Twins relievers, Burton takes a “swing” at Brian Duensing, making look like he just cold-cocked him. GIF Link How’s that for playing loose? UPDATE: Following the game, the beat writers asked Burton about the move. Star Tribune's Phil Miller tweeted out that Duensing jumped up and yelled "C'mon punch me, punch me!" Miller writes that the move was ex-Twin Matt Maloney's idea.
  15. Parker Hageman
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2206-Willingham-active-Doumit-down
  16. Parker Hageman
    The Minnesota Twins announce today they have officially reinstated outfielder Josh Willingham and have placed catcher Ryan Doumit on the seven-day disabled list. Willingham, who was hitting a career low of .224/.356/.398 in 298 plate appearances when he opted to have his knee scoped on July 3, had been rehabbing in Rochester. In three games, he amassed eleven plate appearances and just one hit. That one hit, however, was a prodigious home run in Durham that cleared the famous bull in left field (the one which if a batter hits on the fly, wins a free steak). Doumit, meanwhile, had left Wednesday night’s game in Kansas City with concussion-like symptoms which stemmed from a foul tip he took to the mask while catching against the Astros. On the flight to Kansas City, Doumit felt nauseous and then later on during the game on Wednesday where he was lifted for Chris Herrmann.
  17. Parker Hageman
    Hey E. Andrew, Just wanted to say this is some mighty fine research and presentation done for this piece. Very entertaining too, which isn't always easy when you are presenting topics such as this. In regards to the picture, I'm not sure you are attempting to draw this conclusion or that you are just hinting that the grip is giving him a knuckleball-effect, however, the above image of Deduno's grip is for his spike curve and not his fastball. I do believe are on to something about his spin rate and why his fastball has been so difficult to hit. Keep up the good work.
  18. Parker Hageman
    It seems like an easy pitch to master in theory but plenty of pitchers have struggled mastering it. One reason is that in amateur baseball (high school, legion), pitchers just need a fastball and curve, they rarely take the opportunity to work on a change-up. Additionally, it is a feel pitch, meaning it takes more finesse than a fastball would despite sharing the same arm action. Vance Worley is one example of a professional who never quite mastered this pitch. Twins Daily - Vance Worley and developing pitches Vance Worley and the need for a third pitch - Blogs - Minnesota Twins News & Rumors Forum Vance Worley's change still a work-in-progress - Blogs - Minnesota Twins News & Rumors Forum
  19. Parker Hageman
    Thanks Goat. It was interesting to find out he was not blaming his June woes on anything specific. After all, he could have said that his groin injury was effecting his performance. He didn't.
  20. Parker Hageman
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2197-Burton-Improving-In-Bullpen
  21. Parker Hageman
    The ball explodes out of the pitcher’s hand. You immediately pick up the spin and conclude it is close enough to a fastball that he must be trying to go upstairs with a low-90s four-seamer. However, in the middle of your stride, you recall the hitting coach’s scouting report that says the pitcher has a tendency to turn to the changeup at any point. Suddenly, the spin doesn’t quite look like that four-seamer and you realize: Oh God, it’s not the fastball. In a fraction of a nanosecond, you try to adjust to the speed differential. The message is sent from your brain to your extremities but it’s too late.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] With all of your momentum going towards the pitcher, it is like trying to stop a runaway train. Your hips are already driving forward but the pitch, like Delta Airlines, is slightly delayed on its arrival. It’s at this point when you confirm that the ball is tailing away and the bottom is falling out. You keep your hands back in efforts to react to the off-speed pitch. You realize that there’s no way you can do anything of use with this pitch. It’s quickly fading down and away. At best, you can flick it over the heads of the left-side infielders or maybe foul it off into the seats and live to fight another pitch but, either way, you are committed. You can feel your hands depart and bring your bat around to swish its way through the swing zone. With your weight all on the front leg, you make a last ditch effort to punch the ball. By this point, the ball is at the southern-most portion of the strike zone and still falling. The bat makes an empty woosh as it clears the plate. *** Over 20 percent of all swings on Jared Burton’s changeup conclude like that – without any contact. “I’ve been throwing it since college, really,” Burton says in his Carolina drawl. “It’s always been just a grip but comes out of my hand much harder than a changeup.” Normal changeups, it is said, require about nine miles an hour of difference from the fastball. Rays closer Fernando Rodney, who is credited with having one of the best in the game today, has 12 miles per hour separating his mid-90s fastball from his low-to-mid-80s change. By comparison, Burton typically has just five. And yes, it does come out much harder than the average changeup. Burton’s 87.6 mile-per-hour velocity on his change registers higher than everyone but St. Louis’s Trevor Rosenthal (88). Burton says his particular grip gives him bit more movement than the standard changeups. “It’s basically a circle-change grip but I hold it out on the tip of my fingers more and choke it. It’s much harder and it’s got late down movement. It’s been a good pitch for me.” Over the past two years, it certainly has been a very good pitch for him. According to Fangraphs.com, the Pitch Value on his changeup has been worth 10.4 runs above average, the third-highest among relievers, trailing just Tyler Clippard and the aforementioned Rodney. And, just this year alone, opponents are hitting .152 off it, one of the lowest marks in the game. The action has earned it a different label than just "changeup". After all, calling it a changeup would be a disservice to how impressive a specimen the pitch actually is. “I throw it like changeup but it’s much harder with splitter movement hence the ‘splangeup’ - splitter action.” “I can throw it any time, righty or lefty,” Burton boasts. “It’s more of a swing-and-miss pitch but I can throw it for a strike a good bit. I can kind of throw it more where it fades in the zone or where it has more downward movement.” For the most part, pitchers tend to shy away from throwing their changeups to same-sided opponents. Teammate Brian Duensing acknowledges that he refrains from using his changeup on lefties because he feels the movement goes into their swings. Burton does not share that hesitation because of the variation he has on it, being able to drop it down or make it run. Over the past two seasons, he’s thrown 642 changeups – 315 to lefties and 327 to righties. It is confidence in the pitch that helped earn Burton a two-year deal with the Minnesota Twins. *** Now down 1-2 in the count, you step out of the box to clear your mind and regroup. That last pitch was all types of nasty. Over 30,000 people in the stadium and a million more watching from the comforts of their homes saw you look foolish. It’s late in the game. Your team needs a couple runs to get back in this thing but the opportunities are wearing thin. What’s next? He’s got a mid-90s fastball that he can waste over the zone and change your eye level but he also has a decent slide piece that can cut down-and-in. Of course, you cannot forget a possible repeat performance of the changeup - he throws it great deal when he has a kill shot. You dig back into the batter’s box while requesting time and go through the possibilities. All in all, it feels like a guess. Look for the hard stuff up or in while trying to fight off the soft stuff down in the zone. Protect. You put your hand down, give the bat a few firm shakes towards the pitcher, raise the bat back up to your shoulder, exhale and settle in. *** Always keep hitters guessing. Play the mind game. “I never get too predictable,” Burton admits, repeating what pitching coaches have preached to him for more than a decade. “I like to be confident on all pitches but primarily everything works off my fastball command. I concentrate on that first in the bullpen, get my fastball command down and make sure I am getting out front with my release point and my off-speeds work off of that.” Predictability can be a pitcher’s worst enemy. A changeup is called a changeup because it is supposed to be a change from the fastball. What’s more, too many non-fastballs help hitters read the spin and the break. A solid fastball is needed in order to make the change work properly. Burton throws his changeup a lot but recognizes the need to mix in other offerings like his two fastballs -- a four-seam and two-seam – as well as his slider. Burton’s control of his fastball has not been was it was a year ago. According to PitchF/X data, in 2012 he threw his fastball in the zone 58 percent of the time. This year the fastball has been in the zone just 46 percent of the time, one of the reasons he has walked a few more batters than he would have liked. That, in addition to a slight groin tweak, may have played a role in his work in the month of June and his subsequent demotion in the bullpen’s hierarchy. In June, he entered 10 games, worked 9.2 innings and allowed 14 hits with 6 walks that led to 9 runs. Opponents went 14-for-43 (.326) with seven extra base hits, including two home runs. Burton earned three losses in that stretch and fell out of favor for use in the eighth inning. Burton did not blame the tweaked groin or any mechanical changes or arm ailments. He also did not rush out for answers by examining video or seeking assistance from outside sources for his disappointing month. “It’s just a part of the game, really,” he says. “It’s a little harder to get over the ones where you feel you are executing but not getting results, but you just have to ride it out. You can’t ride the peaks and valleys, you have to stay right in the middle. You have to know that 70-75 games that if you stick with your stuff, it is going to work out.” That, in essence, is the fundamental reasoning in the sabermetric theory of Fielding Independent Pitching or FIP. Over the course of a season, a pitcher who strikes out hitters at a high rate, does not walk many and allows few home runs should be the benefactor of decent mainstream statistics like ERA over the course of a season. Continuing to do the basics like get strikeouts while limiting walks and home runs, should bring the totals back down following rough patches like Burton experienced in June. Burton has clearly stuck with his stuff. Since June ended, he has made 15 appearances, striking out 13, walking just two while not allowing a home run. As such, his overall numbers have rebounded nicely and his ERA dropped from 3.57 to 3.19. *** It is consistency and trust in his stuff that has gotten Burton where he is today. Sure, he has made some changes to his training regimen that he feels has improved his game. Following his second shoulder surgery while with Cincinnati, Burton took up swimming. He feels his performance benefited from this routine so he continues to incorporate the workout, both during and after the season. Outside of that, it is business as usually for Burton. Establish the fastball, deploy the change and mentally prepare for the peaks and valleys.
  22. Parker Hageman
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]5128[/ATTACH]The ball explodes out of the pitcher’s hand. You immediately pick up the spin and conclude it is close enough to a fastball that he must be trying to go upstairs with a low-90s four-seamer. However, in the middle of your stride, you recall the hitting coach’s scouting report that says the pitcher has a tendency to turn to the changeup at any point. Suddenly, the spin doesn’t quite look like that four-seamer and you realize: Oh god, it’s not the fastball. In a fraction of a nanosecond, you try to adjust to the speed differential. The message is sent from your brain to your extremities but it’s too late. With all of your momentum going towards the pitcher, it is like trying to stop a runaway train. Your hips are already driving forward but the pitch, like Delta airlines, is slightly delayed on its arrival. It’s at this point when you confirm that the ball is tailing away and the bottom is falling out. You keep your hands back in efforts to react to the off-speed pitch. You realize that there’s no way you can do anything of use with this pitch. It’s quickly fading down and away. At best, you can flick it over the heads of the left-side infielders or maybe foul it off into the seats and live to fight another pitch but, either way, you are committed. You can feel your hands depart and bring your bat around to swish its way through the swing zone. With your weight all on the front leg, you make a last ditch effort to punch the ball. By this point, the ball is at the southern-most portion of the strike zone and still falling. The bat makes an empty woosh as it clears the plate. *** Over 20 percent of all swings on Jared Burton’s changeup conclude like that – without any contact. “I’ve been throwing it since college, really,” Burton says in his Carolina drawl. “It’s always been just a grip but comes out of my hand much harder than a changeup.” Normal changeups, it is said, require about nine miles an hour of difference from the fastball. Rays closer Fernando Rodney, who is credited with having one of the best in the game today, has 12 miles per hour separating his mid-90s fastball from his low-to-mid-80s change. By comparison, Burton typically has just five. And yes, it does come out much harder than the average changeup. Burton’s 87.6 mile-per-hour velocity on his change registers higher than everyone but St. Louis’s Trevor Rosenthal (88). Burton says his particular grip gives him bit more movement than the standard changeups. “It’s basically a circle-change grip but I hold it out on the tip of my fingers more and choke it. It’s much harder and it’s got late down movement. It’s been a good pitch for me.” Over the past two years, it certainly has been a very good pitch for him. According to Fangraphs.com, his Pitch Value on his changeup has been worth 10.4 runs above average, the third-highest among relievers trailing just Tyler Clippard and the aforementioned Rodney. And, just this year alone, opponents are hitting just .152 off of it, one of the lowest marks in the game. The action earned it different description than just a changeup. After all, calling it a “changeup” would be a disservice to how impressive of a specimen the pitch actually is. “I throw it like changeup but it’s much harder with splitter movement hence the ‘splangeup’ - splitter action.” “I can throw it any time, righty or lefty,” Burton boasts. “It’s more of a swing-and-miss pitch but I can throw it for a strike a good bit. I can kind of throw it more where it fades in the zone or where it has more downward movement.” For the most part, pitchers tend to shy away from throwing their changeups to same-sided opponents. Teammate Brian Duensing acknowledges that he refrained from using his changeup on lefties because he felt the movement went into their swings. Burton does not share that hesitation because of the variation he has on it, that being able to drop it down or make it run. Over the past two seasons, he’s thrown 642 changeups – 315 to lefties and 327 to righties. It is confidence in the pitch that helped earn Burton a two-year deal with the Minnesota Twins. *** Now down 1-2 in the count, you step out of the box to clear your mind and regroup. That last pitch was all types of nasty. Over 30,000 people in the stadium and a million more watching from the comforts of their homes saw you look foolish. It’s late in the game. Your team needs a couple of runs to get back in this thing but the opportunities are wearing thin. What’s next? He’s got a mid-90s fastball that he can waste over the zone and change your eye level but he also has a decent slide piece that can cut down-and-in. Of course, you cannot forget a possible repeat performance of the changeup - he throws it great deal when he has a kill shot. You dig back into the batter’s box while requesting time and go through the possibilities. All in all, it feels like a guess. Look for the hard stuff up or in while trying to fight off the soft stuff down in the zone. Protect. You put your hand down, give the bat a few firm shakes towards the pitcher, raise the bat back up to your shoulder, exhale and settle in. *** Always keep hitters guessing. Play the mind game. “I never get too predictable,” Burton admits, repeating what pitching coaches have expounded upon him for more than a decade. “I like to be confident on all pitches but primarily everything works off my fastball command. I concentrate on that first in the bullpen, get my fastball command down and make sure I am getting out front with my release point and my off-speed work off of that.” Predictability can be a pitcher’s worst enemy. A changeup is called a changeup because it is supposed to be a change from the fastball. What’s more is that too many non-fastballs help hitters read the spin and the break. A solid fastball is needed in order to make the change work properly. Burton throws his changeup a lot but recognizes the need to mix in other offerings like his two fastballs -- a four-seam and two-seam – as well as his slider. Burton’s control of his fastball has not been was it was a year ago. According to PitchF/X data, in 2012 he threw his fastball in the zone 58 percent of the time. This year the fastball has been in the zone just 46 percent of the time, ultimately one of the reasons he has walked a few more batters than he would have liked. That, in addition to a slight groin tweak, may have played a role in his month of June and his demotion in the bullpen’s hierarchy. In June, he entered 10 games, worked 9.2 innings and allowed 14 hits with 6 walks that led to 9 runs. Opponents had gone 14-for-43 (.326) with seven extra base hits, including two home runs. Burton earned three losses in that stretch and fell out of favor for use in the eighth inning work. Burton did not blame the tweaked groin or any mechanical changes or ailments to his arm. He did not rush out for answers either by examining video or seeking assistance from other outside sources for his disappointing month. “It’s just a part of the game, really,” he says. “It’s a little harder to get over the ones where you feel you are executing but not getting results, but you just have to ride it out. You can’t ride the peaks and valleys, you have to stay right in the middle. You have to know that 70-75 games that if you stick with your stuff, it is going to work out.” That, in essence, is the fundamentals in the sabermetric theory of Fielding Independent Pitching or FIP. Over the course of a season, a pitcher who strikeouts hitters at a high rate, does not walk many and allows few home runs should be the benefactor of decent mainstream statistics like ERA over the course of a season. Continuing to do the basics like get strikeouts while limiting walks and home runs, should bring the totals back down following rough patches like Burton experienced in June. Burton has clearly stuck with his stuff. Since June ended, he has made 15 appearances while striking out 13, walking just two while not allowing a home run. As such, his overall numbers have rebounded nicely and his ERA dropped from 3.57 to 3.19. *** It is consistency and trust in his stuff that has gotten Burton where he is today. Sure, he has made some changes to his training regimen that he feels has improved his game. Following his second shoulder surgery while with Cincinnati, Burton took up swimming. He felt his performance benefited from this routine so he continues to incorporate the workout, both during and after the season. Outside of that, it is business as usually for Burton. Establish the fastball, deploy the change and mentally prepare for the peaks and valleys.
  23. Parker Hageman
  24. Parker Hageman
    Better phrasing would have been, "ready to step in next year".
  25. Parker Hageman
    You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2194-Baseball-America-announces-Best-Tools
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