Parker Hageman

What should supplement this piece in Sports Illustrated is this interview with former Twins pitcher Mike Marshall in Deadspin. Marshall, who received a doctorate in exercise physiology, has done some interesting studies in pitching mechanics.

Sports Illustrated's Tom Veriducci has a terrific piece asking whether the usage of the modern closer has led to more injuries: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/04/17/closers/index.html

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?440-Twins-win-7-3-shake-Yankee-Stadium-monkey-off-of-their-back

The 7-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Monday night was one that helped knock the collective monkey off of their backs for the Minnesota Twins. After all, Yankee Stadium – be it the original or this new theme park – has long given the Twins fits. Individually, too, Twins players shrugged off the load that had been weighing them down to lead to the third win of the season. Carl Pavano, who became a pariah in the five boroughs after his disabled tenure with the Yankees, proved that he’s advanced beyond simply being a punch line. Sure, he allowed two back-to-back home runs to start the game and quickly coughed up the 2-0 lead the Twins provided him, yet he remained calm and hit his spots – specifically that spot two-and-a-half inches off of the plate that umpire Gerry Davis was giving him. He worked in a devastating change-up that he buried on his opponents, getting them to miss on seven of the 26 he threw. After a series against Texas in which he went 1-for-12 with five strikeouts, people were starting to get restless about Justin Morneau’s recovery. Offensively, he looked overmatched and, as Nick Nelson examined, his plate discipline numbers were the truly worrisome part. A year ago, one of Morneau’s biggest problems was pulling open off the pitch and leaving the outer half of the plate wide open for opposing pitchers. Nevertheless, positioned at first base tonight, Morneau appeared much more dialed in following his first at bat. In his third trip to the plate, Morneau timed a Freddy Garcia “fastball” perfectly and launched a shot into the Yankees’ bullpen area. After the game, Morneau told FSN’s Robby Incmikoski that following his first plate appearance of the night, he told himself to consciously wait back. Coming into Monday night’s game, Joe Mauer was holding a ground ball rate over 60%. That tape measure shot he sent into the stands against the Angels seemed like a distance memory as the Rangers kept the Twins catcher from doing much elevating. He finished the last series going 2-for-10 while grounding into two double plays – bringing his season total of twin killings to MLB-leading four. Answering some of his critics, Mauer smacked a double to left in the first and followed that up with a double to right in the fifth inning. Danny Valencia, who had been chastised by his manager in 2011 for failing to take the ball the other way, came up in the eighth inning with the Twins holding a decent but never comfortable two-run lead in the Bronx. In addition to becoming too pull happy a year ago, Valencia’s weakness against right-handed pitching was also exposed. On the first pitch from the right-handed reliever Corey Wade – a slider running away from the zone, no less – Valencia stayed back and laced the ball into the right-center field gap, scoring Ryan Doumit from first and gave the Twins some more breathing room. All in all, it was certainly a confidence building win for the Minnesota Twins and has set a good tone for the rest of the four game series in New York.

The 7-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Monday night was one that helped knock the collective monkey off of their backs for the Minnesota Twins. After all, Yankee Stadium – be it the original or this new theme park – has long given the Twins fits. Individually, too, Twins players shrugged off the load that had been weighing them down to lead to the third win of the season. Carl Pavano, who became a pariah in the five boroughs after his disabled tenure with the Yankees, proved that he’s advanced beyond simply being a punch line. Sure, he allowed two back-to-back home runs to start the game and quickly coughed up the 2-0 lead the Twins provided him, yet he remained calm and hit his spots – specifically that spot two-and-a-half inches off of the plate that umpire Gerry Davis was giving him. He worked in a devastating change-up that he buried on his opponents, getting them to miss on seven of the 26 he threw. After a series against Texas in which he went 1-for-12 with five strikeouts, people were starting to get restless about Justin Morneau’s recovery. Offensively, he looked overmatched and, as Nick Nelson examined, his plate discipline numbers were the truly worrisome part. A year ago, one of Morneau’s biggest problems was pulling open off the pitch and leaving the outer half of the plate wide open for opposing pitchers. Nevertheless, positioned at first base tonight, Morneau appeared much more dialed in following his first at bat. In his third trip to the plate, Morneau timed a Freddy Garcia “fastball” perfectly and launched a shot into the Yankees’ bullpen area. After the game, Morneau told FSN’s Robby Incmikoski that following his first plate appearance of the night, he told himself to consciously wait back. Coming into Monday night’s game, Joe Mauer was holding a ground ball rate over 60%. That tape measure shot he sent into the stands against the Angels seemed like a distance memory as the Rangers kept the Twins catcher from doing much elevating. He finished the last series going 2-for-10 while grounding into two double plays – bringing his season total of twin killings to MLB-leading four. Answering some of his critics, Mauer smacked a double to left in the first and followed that up with a double to right in the fifth inning. Danny Valencia, who had been chastised by his manager in 2011 for failing to take the ball the other way, came up in the eighth inning with the Twins holding a decent but never comfortable two-run lead in the Bronx. In addition to becoming too pull happy a year ago, Valencia’s weakness against right-handed pitching was also exposed. On the first pitch from the right-handed reliever Corey Wade – a slider running away from the zone, no less – Valencia stayed back and laced the ball into the right-center field gap, scoring Ryan Doumit from first and gave the Twins some more breathing room. All in all, it was certainly a confidence building win for the Minnesota Twins and has set a good tone for the rest of the four game series in New York.

It should also be noted that LaVelle's write-up says that the MRI "confirmed the issue." It sounds like they already know the extent of the damage but have not released it to the media.

Right. He had inflammation of his forearm/elbow area and they took an MRI. We'll let that slip by since it was on the Twitters and not in one of his articles.

MLB.com's Twins beat writer Rhett Bollinger reports that Glen Perkins will not travel with the team to New York as he remained in the Twin Cities to receive an MRI for left forearm inflammation. Perkins was coming off two outings in which his command of his fastball and slider were seriously lacking despite fairly good velocity -- a common sign that there may be issues within the elbow. The Twins bullpen is already gruel thin as it is however now they may be without one of baseball's best relief arms in 2011. If Perkins is placed on the DL, what moves do you think the Twins should make?

MLB.com's Twins beat writer Rhett Bollinger reports that Glen Perkins will not travel with the team to New York as he remained in the Twin Cities to receive an MRI for left forearm inflammation. Perkins was coming off two outings in which his command of his fastball and slider were seriously lacking despite fairly good velocity -- a common sign that there may be issues within the elbow. The Twins bullpen is already gruel thin as it is however now they may be without one of baseball's best relief arms in 2011. If Perkins is placed on the DL, what moves do you think the Twins should make?

This past offseason, Baseball America rated Target Field as one of the worst venues for left handed power hitters. The Pioneer Press's Ben Goessling sat down with MPR's chief meteorologist, Paul Huttner, who provided some interesting nuggets and offered some scientific insight as to why Joe Mauer can't hit home runs anymore (in a roundabout way): This is much more plausible than the previous "concrete drying" theory that Bert Blyleven offered in 2010.

I went to St Cloud State. We couldn't afford red cups, we'd just get the clear ones. The red fancy ones were reserved for those rich St John's kids.

Wow. Your lack of music knowledge is frightening! Plouffe's walk up music is . Completely bad ass.

On nice days, I prefer Darby's deck just outside the left field gate. It is far more spacious and less crowded than any of the First Avenue options. On less favorable days, you'll find me at the Depot a lot of times (halfway between my usual parking spot and the ballpark).

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?429-Willingham-proving-the-Twins-hired-the-right-muscle

Just two seasons into Target Field’s existence and already the ballpark’s environment had drawn as much consternation from hitters as an expanded strike zone or moving the mound ten feet closer to the plate. Departing Twins took shots at the venue as they left the team, suggesting that the way the field plays makes players alter their swings to avoid long fly outs to the gaps. Rather than continuing to jam square pegs into a round hole, the Twins made an offseason signing that is proving early on that if you select the right talent, Target Field can be porous. With a sampling of two seasons, the home run chart at Target Field showed that the easiest way to leave the field of play was to yank one down the left field line - and that’s where Josh Willingham comes in. Because of his high pull tendencies and Target Field’s favorable environment to right-handed pull hitters, this winter’s acquisition had all the signs that it could be successful. Just three games into the first homestand of the year, Willingham has reminded fans why the team named the third deck section of left field the “Home Run Porch” by pulverizing the Rawlings deep into the stands and narrowly missing a fourth by several feet on Monday. In concert with Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, both of whom homered on Thursday, the Twins now have five home runs at home. That is downright a derby contest compared to last season in which fans had to wait until the twelfth home game of the season to be treated to the fifth Twins home run. Let’s take a closer look as to why Willingham has been such a solid power source. As I wrote back in December, what makes him such a dangerous hitter is that he “draws his power from a stiff front leg which helps with leverage and keeps his hands inside as his back arm stays close to his body at a little over a 90 degree angle – otherwise known as the “Power L” position. This combination, plus his natural strength, has led to a home run every 18.6 at bats since 2009.” Here is an example of this in his home run off of Jared Weaver on Wednesday night. What I failed to mention back then, is the explosive hip action he has when he uncorks. Take note of the stiff front leg and the way his trailing arm stays tucked in. Notice, also, that the point of impact is well out in front of his body resulting in him pulling the ball: [ATTACH=CONFIG]610[/ATTACH] Next is an almost identical position for his home run off of Kevin Jepsen. Observe the same front leg, arm tucked in and the impact made out in front of his body: [ATTACH=CONFIG]611[/ATTACH] Because of this approach, Willingham has had great success when being pitched middle-in: [ATTACH=CONFIG]612[/ATTACH]Due to his early season success, one has to believe that the Rangers advanced scouts are filing reports that say “PITCH HIM AWAY! AWAY! AWAY!” in big bold letters and underlined. After all, Texas can neutralize him in this weekend’s series by forcing him to use the large part of the park rather than directing the ball towards the porch in left. It is impossible to think that his pace will continue throughout the season, but pitchers do make mistakes – like Jepsen did when he tried to hit the outer-half the zone on Thursday only to have it stay over the middle – and Willingham appears to be a hitter who takes advantage of such mistakes. While this season still needs to play out, as of right now, it appears that the Twins front office has made one home run of a signing.

I don't know I would describe that particular hit as "catchable" -- it was certainly within reach and would have required some skill to catch that ball while crashing into the wall (it's not like it was dying at the wall like the Doumit play in the first game). Overall, tough play (seen here: http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?tcid=mm_ana_vid&c_id=ana). Would someone like Revere have caught that with his speed and athleticism? Possibly, but I won't hang that on Willingham. If anything, he should have tried to play the bounce instead of attempting to make that play. More over, his play in the fourth inning in which Albert Pujols singled to left and Howie Kendrick scored is what chapped me. If you watch the replay (http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?tcid=mm_ana_vid&c_id=ana), the ball is getting to Willingham right before Kendrick gets to third base. However, Willingham is not aggressively pursuing the ball but rather coming up to it flat-footed. As such, when he realizes he has to throw home, he isn't it the best position to make a strong throw. His throw comes up just short of catching Kendrick and had he charged the ball and been in a ready position, he likely would have thrown him out.

LOOGY = Left-handed One Out GuY.

According the presser, it sounds like the Twins will go forward with either Liam Hendriks or Anthony Swarzak as internal options. Likely no moves to be made from outside of the organization. Nevertheless, who would you replace Baker with going forward this season? Stay put or spend money or prospects on bringing someone in?

I have not been able to get to the BDP yet. I hear terrific things. One place I forgot to mention was King's in Miesville, outstanding cow patty.

For the longest while, I used to say it was either (in no particular order): (1) The Gold Nugget in Minnetonka, (2) Matt's Bar in Minneapolis or (3) The Nook in St Paul. Now, I think it goes to Shamrocks (run by the owners of the Nook) in St Paul. What say you, what's the best burger in Twins Territory?

The Sioux Falls Pheasants signed former Twins farm hand Ben Tootle. Minnesota's third round draft pick in 2009, Tootle struggled with his command in low-A Beloit, walking 42 in 54.1 innings while throwing 14 wild pitches.

Blackburn has been able to do this well to left-handed opponents -- starting his two-seamer off at their hip and having it run back over in the inside half of the plate. However, to right-handers, as you can see from the 2011 heat map of his fastball, he wasn't pounding the ball in as much as he probably should have. If he maintains what he did in his first start - keeping the ball in on righties - over the course of the season, he should have a good year pending, as you mentioned, his health.