Parker Hageman

Probably merits mentioning the notable adjustments Wiel has made over the last two years and how that has improved his power numbers ---> http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins-minor-leagues/take-note-of-zander-wiel-r5102

When we talk about the Twins' defensive improvements this year over last year, in addition to the overall upgrade of talent, I think we have to give some credit to the impact that several members of the coaching staff made. At this time last year, I wrote an essay for the 2016 Handbook titled "Above & Beyond: Creatively Improving Run Prevention" and at the core of it, was that the Twins needed to operate similarly to the Red Sox and Cubs who had hired a pitching specialist and a "defensive coordinator". The Twins somewhat followed this blueprint by hiring Jeff Pickler as a bench coach to focus on defense and Jeremy Hefner to focus on the pitching side. Here's what Paul Molitor had to say about Pickler in spring training: There are little things that may have changed behind the scenes that had ripple effects that led to more outs over the course of the season. No doubt last year's defensive improvements were driven by the players on the field but you have to tip your hat to the little things the front office did to buttress the support staff. More importantly, what I'm really driving at is: CONSIDER DOWNLOADING THE OFFSEASON HANDBOOK. Thank you.

This is almost exactly the type of hire I expected -- the non-name, guy-behind-the-guy. https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/921412255559929857 I am a bit surprised he wasn't someone from a more forward-thinking org (it sounds funny to say about the original Moneyball team but Oakland isn't at the forefront of pitching development). Frankly, I'm not sure what to expect out of him. There isn't a ton of information out there on his overall philosophy but we do have some clips of him talking about things like the implementation of weighted balls. For instance, in a BP article he said regarding weighted balls: “I’m not opposed to them, but I think there’s a time and place, and that’s in the off-season.” The Twins have guys like Ryan O'Rourke who was using weighted balls this past spring. Part of Kyle Gibson's new routine from the Baseball Ranch involved throwing weighted balls (albeit in a sack attached at his wrist). Guys like Chapman and Rivera use weighted balls to warm-up in the bullpen. "Not being opposed" and using them "in the off-season" is an interesting philosophical statement. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. Then there is his comments on velocity. “Everyone wants velocity but we won’t put it over movement or command, things that make you a complete pitcher,” Alston told BP. Now, on the surface, I like that. You have to have a complete pitcher. Those are three pillars of what makes a great pitcher. On the other hand, the Twins have been really bad at developing hard-throwing pitchers. https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/921475373468184580 Part of me wanted someone who prioritizes developing velocity. Then again, that doesn't have to necessarily be in a MLB pitching coach’s radar. A minor league pitching coordinator can have more influence over that product but an organization’s overall pitching philosophy can often stem from what the PC up top believes (such as Rick Anderson’s command and control emphasis). “[A]t the core of a good pitching staff, there is the ability to command your fastball, throw it where you need to, when you need to. It’s your most used pitch for the vast majority of guys in the big leagues,” was Derek Falvey told me before the season started. Neil Allen echoed those comments as well. “What you gotta do is you gotta be able to work the four quadrants of the plate with your fastball,” Allen said. “You gotta be able to go up-and-in, down-and-away, up-and-in, down-and-away.” Alston wants to continue down that path for improvement. “First,” he told reporters, “one of the biggest things I teach is commanding the zone with the fastball.” Truth is, opponents had success against the staff’s fastballs. According to BaseballSavant.com, teams posted a .363 wOBA against heaters. That was the 8th highest in MLB. (Oakland, Alston’s team, was worst, by the way.) But the question that I have is, was the Twins’ lack of success with the fastball more a product of poor command or lower velo? On one hand, they averaged 91.7 – one of the lowest in the game – but on the other hand, the Cubs had the lowest average fastball velocity and were one of the more successful teams when they used their fastball (and the Cubs threw their fastball more than any teams outside of the Brewers). What’s more is that some teams are going away from being fastball-first teams. In the end, the position is more about relationship building and communication over ideology. People can identify flaws, it’s being able to work with the pitchers to correct them that is important.

There is a significant difference between "not at the top of any lists" and "below average" by those lists at the position, IMO. I was happy to add some words. It felt like a glossed over section, not just here but in the conversations about Dozier in general. There are four advanced defensive stats that suggest he is below average and I believe that should be a part of the discussion when contemplating his defensive capabilities. I know a lot of people want to go by the eye test on defense -- and Dozier seems to do well there -- this is that additional layer to consider.

I don't think this is quite the right assessment of Dozier's defensive contributions when it comes to the statistic side of it. The part about him converting plays on the ones he gets to is accurate but I think the defensive metrics paint him in a different light. I'll start by saying I do not have a complete trust in the advanced defensive metrics. Each of them have a different flaw while all of them have the flaw of sample size. That being said, when you look at them in aggregate, the picture painted is not one of a league average defender but rather a below-to-slightly below average one. 1. Dozier had -4 Defensive Runs Saved (one of the lowest among starting second basemen) with only Brad Miller, Neil Walker, Starlin Castro, Brandon Phillips, Scooter Gennett, Joe Panik and Daniel Murphy as starters with lower DRS. 2. Ultimate Zone Rating has him at -1.3 runs, or 13th among all second basemen with a minimum of 700 innings. 3. His Revised Zone Rating (how many balls in the second base zone he converts into outs) was .774, 8th. 4. Inside Edge metrics say he's great at the 100%-ers but OK at both the 50-90%-ers (79.3% conversion rate) and the 40-60%-ers (52.4% conversion rate). In terms of #2-#3 the amount of times Dozier shifts has an influence on where those numbers go. For instance, for RZR out-of-zone plays Dozier leads the league with 99 plays made but that doesn't take into account a defensive shift. Inside Edge's stats do which shows that he's not making those plays with his feet. I think Dozier does a lot of things right that don't get measured by these stats (makes some of the best forehand/backhand plays in the game) but, in sum, we need to accept that he's not great at getting to plays.

No one is limiting them, it's just the way this type of decision is made. With that logic, you would have to assign Molitor some of the blame for the previous 103-loss season.

I don't necessarily see this move as a referendum that Molitor is Falvey's guy, per se. I don't think Falvey makes this decision in a bubble. He would likely have to run the decision by Dave St Peter as well as Jim Pohlad. I do agree that it says the front office agrees that Molitor is good at his job, but I also believe there is an internal guy that Falvine view as the long-term option as a manager (Pickler) but who is too inexperienced at this juncture. Retaining Molitor allows him to learn on the job for a couple of years.

Yes and no. To certain hitters, yes. To other hitters, like Judge & Sanchez, you show them a fastball out of the zone and continue to pepper them with sliders. Neither have proven the ability to restrain themselves.

They rarely do: 84 plate appearances they have shifted. I would believe they would be encouraged into doing so for Castro (if they plan to attack with the slider).

So here we are, mere hours away from the first-pitch of a loser go home match-up at Yankee Stadium. No one can script what will happen in a one-game playoff – Nick Blackburn throwing 6.1 innings of one-run ball? Sure. Bobby Keppel and Alexi Casilla playing hero in extra innings? Why not. – the Twins will undoubtedly have a plan of attack in trying to stymie one of the most potent lineups in the smallest of slowpitch softball fields. Tonight’s game may come down to one critical factor: How well Ervin Santana can execute his slider.At 21.6 runs above average, Ervin Santana’s slider has been his best pitch on the season. Only Max Scherzer (30.0) and Jhoulys Chacin (22.4) derived more value out of the pitch on the year. It’s a stellar pitch and quite possibly his best weapon. Download attachment: trumedia_baseball_grid (2).png But here’s why it is going to used more tonight. In his most recent start against the Yankees on September 1st, Ervin Santana threw 70.8% sliders against the Yankees right-handers. Over the entire year, the next highest slider usage vs righties was 58% against Cleveland in his last start of the year (perhaps honing his craft for the one-game playoff). Most of Santana’s games that rate fell around the 50% mark (50% fastballs/50% sliders). It is clear that with the Yankees in New York, Santana throttled down on the pitch. This is big because if there is one pitch that the Yankees’ right-handed contingency has had trouble against it is sliders from right-handed pitchers. Perhaps no one more so than Aaron Judge. The Bronx superman has very few holes but sliders from righties gives him fits. He doesn't expand the strike zone much but he will swing through sliders on the outer-half. In the three plate appearances against each other this year, Santana threw 10 sliders on 14 total pitches. In their first match-up, Santana threw two straight fastballs, got a strike with a slider then, behind Judge 2-1 in the first inning, he tried to sneak a fastball past the hulking Yank to unfavorable results. Over their next two match-ups, Santana threw sliders nine of the next 10 pitches – striking him out once and inducing a long fly to Byron Buxton. Download attachment: trumedia_baseball_grid (1).png This just goes to show how little room for error there is with Judge. Gary Sanchez, meanwhile, is a little more adept at getting to the slider -- he's hitting .283 vs sliders from righties. The biggest soft spot in his swing vs sliders is burying the pitch down and away outside of the strike zone. He will chase but Santana has to avoid throwing it in the strike zone, even down-and-away. Santana threw Sanchez sliders on 8 of the 12 pitches in their three match-ups this year. Download attachment: trumedia_baseball_grid (3).png Starlin Castro has shown the ability to make contact on sliders, particularly those thrown down-and-away, and find some seams on the ground. The good news is that they are mostly singles on the ground, so a shift with Polanco to his right and Dozier covering the middle of the infield could keep Castro from doing damage. The danger comes from hanging Castro a slider inside where he has shown he is very capable for turning and elevating those pitches. Download attachment: trumedia_baseball_grid (4).png Santana has allowed seven home runs on his slider to righties this year, the most since his final season in Los Angeles (where he posted a 5.16 ERA). Unlike that season in LA, Santana has learned to throw it away from contact, locating the slider in non-competitive locations (areas that hitters can't touch it) and getting less contact. As you watch tonight, look for Ervin Santana to use his slider liberally to the right-handed bats. Click here to view the article

I should mention that those numbers, since making the change, are sort of skewed -- what with the bulk of the runs allowed coming in a start against the Mariners at home (8 ER in 3.2 IP). That being said, there's no doubt he's allowed plenty of extra base hits and a bulk of those have come while he's been throwing from the windup, even after the change. There no question he has been much better out of the stretch all season. That's one of the reasons the Twins made the adjustment to the modified stretch for his windup. When pitchers or hitters implement changes and have success right away, others take time to adapt to the new methods. While Mejia hasn't quite reach the level of success the FSN broadcast would lead one to believe, he's made improvements in the right away. Bigger picture, whenever I read about pitchers making mechanical adjustments, I'm reminded of this Jake Arrieta quote about concern over mechanics.

This spring, the Twins front office were very impressed by Garver's receiving skills. Their Trackman data showed that he had come leaps and bounds from previous season. I have no idea how he stacks up this season but he's more defensively sound than a lot of people think. http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/report-from-the-fort-saturday-in-the-park-r5397

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Twins Daily. We have a rundown on last night’s game, an introduction to Dillon Gee, some minor league action (with a play from Mitch Garver that you have to see), Jorge Polanco’s struggles, and breaking down Adalberto Mejia’s mechanics. Get a cup of coffee or Red Bull, settle in and let me take you for a tour around today’s reads.First: Tom Froemming has the game breakdown. Heading into this game, on paper, the Twins seemed like favorites. For starters, on fastballs under 90 MPH, they had the second highest average at .430 (only the Nationals did better versus weak sauce). So it stands to reason that Texas starter, AJ Griffin, who averages 87.7 MPH, would be meat the entire night, right? Wrong, because here is the other thing: The Twins offense is reeaaaallly bad against big, slow curveballs. As a unit they are hitting .212 against breaking balls that were 80 MPH or under -- the second lowest in MLB. Naturally, Griffin kept them at bay by flipping lollypop spinners and made his 88 mile poo hour fastball appear that much quicker. Dillon Gee made his Twins debut in mopping up for Adalberto Mejia after Mejia threw way, way, way too many pitches (in four different at-bats, Mejia threw seven pitches). Sure, there were some plays his defense could have made behind him but Majia fired too many unnecessary bullets (more on Mejia below). Watching Gee, there was something I liked about his approach and the reaction the hitters had to his pitches. Gee was barely breaking 90 and yet hitters were over and under his offerings for the night. So I had to check on the data. What’s the answer? Spin. According to StatCast data, Gee is throwing his fastball at 88.7 MPH on average. This ranks him at 581st among all pitchers this season. However, his fastball’s spin rate (the number of times it rotates on the way to the plate) is at 2406 RPM -- 74th among all pitchers. The higher the spin rate, the harder it is for hitters to square the ball. Second: Eric Pleiss has the minor league report. Lots of tasty nuggets in there including solid pitching performances from Hector Santiago (9 K's in 5.2 innings), Felix Jorge, and there was even a Glen Perkins cameo. Dietrich Enns, who the Twins received in the Jaime Garcia trade, will get his first start in the system in tomorrow’s doubleheader with Rochester. This play happened on Wednesday night but for those who have not seen it, you should take a gander. In the top of the fourth with Rochester trailing the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 3-0 and a runner on third, Lehigh Valley’s Herlis Rodriguez flies out to Wings’ left fielder Daniel Palka. Palka unloads a rainbow of a throw from the mid-left field as Lehigh Valley’s Brock Stassi tags, then Palka and turns away, presumably in disgust, not wanting to watch Stassi score. The throw has an arc, to be sure, but it lands neatly in Mitch Garver’s mitt in time for him to slap on a tag on the late sliding Stassi. The other thing to mention is how Garver quickly blocks the plate with his left foot/leg once he receives the ball. It is a quick turn and suddenly Stassi doesn’t have a plate to touch, just Garver’s giant leg. Third: Not since Jorge Polanco was a 17-year-old in the Gulf Coast League when he hit .250 has the Dominican shortstop had a batting average this low in a professional season. The previous low after that was a respectable .276 in Rochester. While his power and on-base abilities may ebb and flow over the years, Polanco’s batting average has always been robust. Which is what makes this season so confounding. Ted Schwerzler homes in on the issues and finds that he is struggling to match his launch angles and exit velocity from the previous years. An interesting addendum: One of things that StatCast shows is that Polanco isn’t getting the base hits on balls that have the optimal exit velocity (over 85 mph) and launch angle (between 10 and 30 degrees) that he had in 2016. Home: Be sure to sign up today at the Twins Daily Thank You Giveaway. Extra Innings: LET’S TALK ABOUT ADALBERTO MEJIA. In early June, the Twins and Mejia went about tinkering with his mechanics, particularly from the windup. The intent was to quiet his movement and redirected him to more of a north-south delivery. PRE-CHANGE (April 14, 2017): http://i.imgur.com/TnvB54G.gif POST-CHANGE (July 23, 2017): http://i.imgur.com/IES96zt.gif Rather than stepping toward third base into the conventional windup, Mejia is now doing the modified stretch windup, simply making a slight inward turn and going home. Also, instead of raising his hands to eye level and then breaking at his chest, Mejia keeps the ball just above the belt where he breaks his hands. All very quiet and all very smooth. It certainly LOOKS better but how have the results been since the changes? Download attachment: Mejia.PNG While the runs allowed and ERA are messy, Mejia has allowed fewer hits, fewer walks, and fewer home runs in the windup. Not to mention, more strikeouts and fewer well-hit balls. Mejia is a work in progress but he clearly has talent and the pitches to potentially make this thing work. Random: You should read this Deadspin story about the kid who didn’t die at Riverfront Stadium. Click here to view the article

The potential no-hitter aside, I couldn't help but think in a year or two, when Berrios learns how to pitch, is going to be really dangerous. Like Corey Kluber dangerous.

But they didn't blow the lead.

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Twins Daily. Minnesota Twins continue their West Coast woes. On the plus side, it wasn’t a bullpen implosion this time. This time they just could not score runs.First: Can’t win games if you don’t score. A wise, old person said that once. Sure, there were positives. For instance, Jose Berrios took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning. And it was fast -- game over in 2 hours and 33 minutes. Ok. That’s about it. That’s the positive. If you didn’t stay up late to take it in, Tom Froemming has the rundown of the night’s events. . Second: Speaking of lack of offense, Nick Nelson writes about the team’s desperate need to get the sticks going. The Twins lineup has been borderline putrid since mid-July. Since the start of the second half, they have scored just 66 runs. Only Cincinnati, Milwaukee and the White Sox have scored fewer runs. Part of it is not hitting overall, but the other part is not capitalizing when you have men on base. For example, the Twins have struck out in 25 percent of their plate appearances with runners in scoring position. Only Miami (at a whopping 29 percent) has K’d more in those situations. Third: On the minor league side, Zack Littell, one of the prospects the Twins received in the Jaime Garcia trade, made his debut for Chattanooga. How did he fare? Steve Lein recaps the farm system’s action. Home: Be sure to sign up today at the Twins Daily Thank You Giveaway. Today’s prize is Out Of The Park 2018, one of the best baseball simulator games around. Sign up. It’s super easy and it’s free. FREE-FREE. Extra Innings: If you need something to listen to to get you through the day, Gleeman & The Geek dropped a new episode yesterday, breaking down the trade deadline and what it means for the Minnesota Twins going forward. Random: In the 7th inning, Eduardo Escobar, hitting from the left side, sent a screamer down the right field foul line. The Padres had a ball girl stationed on a stool who jumped up and snagged the rocket. Judging from his reaction, Escobar was impressed. Click here to view the article

Statistically, when it comes to calling balls and strikes, he's only better this year than Eddings and Miller.

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Twins Daily. Over the weekend the Twins rid themselves of one starting pitcher and potential have more on the trading block. The trade deadline is coming fast and furious. What is the team going to look like on Tuesday morning? Also, will the bullpen ever work again?First: What was your favorite Jaime Garcia moment? Was it his one start in a Minnesota Twins uniform? In Oakland? That’s probably it. In fact, we made a sweet memorial video dedicated to him at our Facebook page. Yesterday’s Garcia trade’s return (and any potential incoming players at the deadline) reflects on the new front office’s philosophies. Nick Nelson takes a look at that direction when it comes to the recent acquisition of minor league pitchers. Second: Twins GM Thad Levine joined MLB Network Radio on Sunday to discuss the Garcia trade as well as the team’s status as the deadline approaches. Most reports have Ervin Santana, Brandon Kintzler, Matt Belise and Brian Dozier as players on the table. Here’s what he had to say... Extra Innings: More free stuff! If you sign up at the Twins Daily Thank You Giveaway, you could win batting stance t-shirts of the 1987 or 1991 Twins lineups from Pick & Shovel. Random: BACK TO PHIL CUZZI. I’m at a personal crossroads about ROBOT UMPIRES. On one hand, I’m a big fan of getting the calls right. A strike should be a strike and a ball should be a ball. Nothing more frustrating than slapping a solid two-seamer through the outer-half of the zone when an umpire takes it away because your catcher was set up somewhere else. On the other hand, I also love getting mad at umpires. It’s my jam. It’s everyone’s jam. In the history of baseball, no one has not blamed an umpire for something. It feels so good to blame the blue. I’m conflicted about how I feel about the notion of the balls-and-strikes being taken out of a human’s hands. I’m 85% confident that if we as humans hand over the rights to call balls-and-strikes to umpires, the whole plot to Terminator will happen. The again, I look at charts like this and I think we are crazy to have humans making the calls. Get a gander at the difference between two umpire’s strike zones on either end of the spectrum. One is Cuzzi’s, whose 2017 strike zone is only more gracious than Doug Eddings and Bill Miller, and the other is Mark Wegner, who has the most shrunken strike zone to date. Download attachment: Webp.net-gifmaker.gif Download attachment: Webp.net-gifmaker (1).gif During Sunday’s game, ESPN/TruMedia’s data showed that Cuzzi called five pitches out of the strike zone as strikes. Four of those happened against the Twins. Three of those were called strike three (Brian Dozier twice, Miguel Sano once). A common response people give to that situation is that you got to swing because it is close. That’s just a dumb explanation. The other way to say it is “swing because someone is bad at their job”. Phil Cuzzi has proven to be bad at his job this year*. To be sure, the Twins did not lose because of Cuzzi. That would be an easy out. They stopped hitting and they stopped shutting opponents down with the bullpen. * All years. Click here to view the article

Littell has a very nice curveball in his repertoire: https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/891671501354790913 According to multiple sources, Enns' best pitch is his changeup. Has a four-pitch mix. https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/891675921169747968

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Twins Daily. FINALLY the Minnesota Twins get back into the win column. Unfortunately, Cleveland and Kansas City won as well keeping them from gaining any ground. Jaime Garcia looked good in his first start in a Twins uniform while Byron Buxton did some things on a baseball field as well. Also, does Friday's win mean the team will reconsider their trade deadline position or have they already committed to the purge?First: Was this Jaime Garcia’s first and last start with the Minnesota Twins? If it was, it was pretty good. Seth Stohs walks you through the rest of the details from Friday’s win over the Oakland A’s. Second: Heading into the Dodgers series earlier in the week the Twins said they were not going to have Byron Buxton take a rehab assignment. After he showed up with migraine headaches and needing to sit out several games in a row, they changed their minds sent Buxton to Rochester. The Red Wings had him lead off on Friday and the game’s first pitch he deposited over the field fence. There is plenty more minor league action across the organization and Tom Froemming has you covered. Third: Let’s just say the Twins are indeed sellers after the weekend. Who stays? Who goes? Seth Stohs tries to handicap that action. Home: I am super amused by the hero town ball umpire who decided to walk away from a tie game in the 10th inning rather than take any more guff from the players and fans. Robot umpires wouldn’t walk away from games. Extra Innings: Twins Daily community member darin617 raises a good discussion in the forums -- the Twins only have 38 people committed to the 40-man roster. Could the last two slots come from outside the organization or are there two internal candidates ready for those? Random: Heading into the bottom of the 7th inning of last night’s game, FSN flashed a graphic showing the day’s better performances around the league. One of the three blurbs was former Twin Kurt Suzuki who had launched his 11th home run of the season. Both Dick Bremer and Roy Smalley were bemused by Suzuki’s recent power binge. Bremer noted that Suzuki has had a phenomenal July -- hitting seven home runs in the month -- and said that contending teams may be taking an interest in the catcher as a trade target. “I think he wants to stay in that bandbox in Atlanta,” added Smalley. For the record, only two of his 11 home runs have come in the Braves new ballpark. He is also hitting . 250/.318/,382 at home while posting a .288/.376/.685 line on the road. So yeah, I think he’ll be fine leaving the bandbox in Atlanta. Click here to view the article