Parker Hageman

When the New York Mets drafted Mike Pelfrey out of Wichita State with the ninth overall pick in 2005, their scouting department was obviously enamored by his big body, big fastball and big projectability. He would develop a breaking ball and become the ace Flushing had not seen in a while. Of course, the latter never happened for Pelfrey; instead he struggled to find a semblance of a swing-and-miss pitcher, became the embodied disappointment of Mets fans, had his elbow ligament snap and wound up in Minnesota. Quite the different career path than was envisioned for him eight years ago. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Now, a free agent coming off a middling season (5-13, 5.19 ERA), CBSsports.com’s Jon Heyman, who has a close relationship with agent Scott Boras, reports that the Twins have extended a multi-year offer: So… [slams laptop closed. Goes for a long walk.] This is all confusing. The Twins recognize they have a serious problem with their starting rotation - a rotation that has failed to miss bats at a historic rate in the modern era - but continue to pursue the same type of starting pitcher that has created the problem to begin with. As mentioned before, due to his lack of secondary offerings, even a fully healthy Mike Pelfrey fails to miss bats at even the league average rate. Over his career, he has a swinging strike rate of 5.9% while the rest of the game has been closer to 9%. I thought we had an understanding here. I thought Jack Goin, the Twins’ manager of Major League Administration and Baseball Research, had sat Terry Ryan down and explained that strikeouts were not only NOT fascist, they were good and that having a lot of them made your starting rotation better. So, why Pelfrey again? The objective should be to look at your 2013 starting rotation real closely then target all the pitchers whose skill sets are the exact opposite. Ok, that may be a large overcorrection but, still, why Pelfrey again? It is entirely possible that Pelfrey’s agent is using Heyman and the Twins to drum up additional interest in his client. After all, the Twins have not confirmed that there is a two-year offer out to Pelfrey right now. That being said, at the end of last year the Twins coaching staff and Terry Ryan lauded Pelfrey’s second-half improvements. Manager Ron Gardenhire said in September that he believed a lot of Pelfrey’s problems in the later part of the year, such has too many 3-2 counts and long delays between pitches, were easily fixable. The Twins said they liked seeing Pelfrey’s velocity increase, which it did from 91.9 in the first-half to 92.7 in the second-half. Gardenhire mentioned specifically that Pelfrey’s secondary pitches improved over the course of the year as his elbow healed, which was true in that opponents had a .700 OPS against his secondary pitches in the first-half while they had a .588 OPS in the second. The biggest thing that may be the key as to why the Twins would entertain the notion of bringing Pelfrey back is the huge swing in a statistic that hides behind paywalls called “well-hit average”. This statistic tries to add description to a pitcher’s (or hitter’s) batted balls that goes beyond just the line drive, ground ball and fly ball categories. Video scouts from various companies such as Inside Edge or BIS log whether that ground ball out was smoked to second or a harmless chopper. In theory, when used in conjunction with a regularly distributed stat like batting average on balls in play (BABIP), it should provide insight as to whether a pitcher’s inflated/deflated BABIP was truly unlucky or not. In Pelfrey’s case, consider the difference on balls in play between the first half of the year and the second half. During the first stretch, Pelfrey was banged around to the tune of .313/.359/.478 over 16 games. According to ESPN’s Stats & Info Department, he carried a well-hit average of .222 -- the highest among all starters with the exception of Joe Blanton (.235). That’s a straight-up beating by hitters. Taking the well-hit average into account, there is no risk of miscategorizing his first-half as “unlucky”. Several things played a factor in these results but a recovering rebuilt elbow was likely the most significant hindrance. Admittedly, Pelfrey lacks the necessary secondary offerings to be a truly effective top-of-the-rotation starter, but his strong assortment of fastballs lacked command post-surgery which should be an expected side effect in Tommy John recoveries. So, after 16 starts and a back strain that took him down for two weeks, Pelfrey actually rebounded quite well over the second half. Over his last 13 games, hitters posted a much improved .284/.356/.374 batting line that was built on a well-hit average of .134, one of the league’s best in the latter portion of the season. I know. That doesn’t feel right, right? I triple-checked to make sure I had the stats sorted correctly. Did hitters really not hit the ball as well off Pelfrey as they did against such pitching dignitaries as Ricky Nolasco (.137), Hasashi Iwakuma (.140) or Francisco Liriano (.143) in the second-half of the season, as the aforementioned well-hit statistic suggests? Several things to mention here: (1) Because this statistic resides mainly behind paywalls, the well-hit average has not been vetted thoroughly by sabr-minded people. This means studies have not been conducted to determine how the well-hit average fluctuates from year-to-year. Is Pelfrey’s second-half decrease a true indication that he was pitching better and that this performance will continue? (2) Even with the significantly improved well-hit average, the end product was an ugly 1-6 record with a rotund 4.76 ERA and a near .300 batting average in the second-half that contributed to the overall blah year. (3) Who knows if the Twins have examined him from this perspective. The organization clearly has access to these reports so they should put this into consideration if thinking about r-signing him. If they have broken it down to this level, I would be more accepting of an eventual Mike Pelfrey re-signing. In the end, going through this exercise reassured me that there is some small, faint glimmer of hope that the notion of bringing back Mike Pelfrey is not a completely bonehead move. If he signs for a two-year, $8M per deal similar to the average annual value of Jason Vargas, Pelfrey has proven in the past that he can be a mid-rotation guy (albeit one without the sexy strikeouts) and the second-half numbers could be indications that he will be that again in 2014. But that’s it, that’s the ceiling: a mid-rotation guy. The Twins rotation and fans need more than that.

Reports from Puerto Rico suggest that Twins prospect Eddie Rosario has tested positive for a banned substance and could cost him a 50-game suspension in 2014. While the reports are still unconfirmed, according to an article in Sport LivePR from November 18, Rosario had informed his winter league team that he tested positive in a recent MLB drug test. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]According to Frankie Thon, the general manager of the team Rosario plays for, Rosario reportedly took some pills during his arm rehabilitation that were on the banned list. Thon also said that Rosario would be allowed to play in the offseason league due to a new agreement between the MLB and the winter leagues. Here is the explanation from the article through Google translation: Rosario spoke with the Puerto Rican website elnuevodia.com and said he was informed of the failed test after playing in the Arizona Fall League. The article also stated that his lawyers are currently appealing the suspension but Rosario believed there is little chance that the decision will be overturned. Rosario also said that the pills he took were they same kind he had taken in 2011 after he was struck in the face with a line drive while in Class A Beloit. The Twins outfield/second base prospect, who was recently named as Baseball Prospectus’ seventh rated prospect in the system, his coming off a solid year in which he hit .302/.350/.460 with 10 home runs and 32 doubles split between New Britain and Fort Myers. There is no official word on Rosario’s status from the Minnesota Twins.

Employment is not difficult to find if you are a moderately successfully and young starting pitcher in major league baseball. As an example, Ricky Nolasco has several four-year offers in discussion and, as Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal pointed out this morning, the Twins are making a strong push for his services. In a conversation last week his agent, Matt Sosnick, said Nolasco is seeking a five-year deal. While multiple teams are offering four-year deals it may be the team which submits a fifth year option that lands the free agent. “I look at options more about breaking a stalemate at the end of negotiation,” Sosnick said. “We’re talking to a lot of teams and we’re hoping to get five years on Nolasco. We’re talking with a lot of teams about a deal in the four-year range and what ends up happening is that if no one is willing to go to five year, people will use a club option for a fifth year.” The option year, Sosnick said, basically gives the pitcher some extra money in the form of a buyout but also provides the team an option to retain that pitcher’s services if they so desire. Based on reports that the Twins are making a “strong push” for Nolasco, it would be reasonable to assume the two sides are looking at the four-year plus option deal. Nolasco, who will be 31 in 2014, has been decisively average over his career but is coming off perhaps his best season since his age-25 season in 2008. Over his career, Nolasco’s actual numbers have performed worse than his projected numbers. His career ERA of 4.37 is significantly higher than what his 3.75 expected Fielding Independent rates would suggest. While his peripherals have been strong, his ability to strand runners once they reach base has been sub-par: His 69.2% left-on-base rate has been the sixth-lowest among starters since 2010 (minimum 500 innings pitched); part of the reason behind this is that, with runners on, Nolasco has a .288 average against (10th highest). To his credit, Nolasco’s seen a steady decline in his home run rate in each of the last three years, resulting in a career-low of 0.77 HR/9 this last season. One of the biggest changes in 2013 that may have played a role in this decrease was going inside with his fastball more often. In general Nolasco eschews the fastball (just 47% vs 50% league average frequency) for his secondary offerings, mostly his slider. The slider has been a very good pitch for him despite some scouts suggesting it has not been as sharp as it had been earlier in his career. This past season, he was able to induce more swing-and-misses on it but, judging by the drop in chases out of the zone, does not have the same bite it once did. Durability-wise, he is almost as stalwart as they come. Dating back to 2008, Nolasco has accumulated 1,151.1 innings – the 24th most in baseball over that time – placing him alongside other workhorses. In that stretch, he has no arms issues whatsoever, but a tear in his meniscus (knee) took him out for 46 days in 2010. Naturally, the argument could be made that all that was before he turned thirty and the mileage accumulated early in his career could eventually catch up to him on the wrong side of 30. As Twins general manager Terry Ryan said of signing thirty-year-old pitchers last month: “I’d be very careful. I’d be careful”, he said, reflecting on the free agent market, “Because you know what happens with 30-year-olds.” Ryan’s concern is merited, both because of injury and increasing ineffectiveness. Nolasco’s contract would extend him in Minnesota from his age-31 to age-35 season and while he has not shown any signs of arm problems, there are plenty of examples of breakdown from even the biggest workhorses in the stable. The Twins recently requested Johan Santana’s medical records but Santana, who had been a perennial 200-inning hurler, started to suffer a multitude of ailments at age 32 which kept his innings total from his age-32 to age-34 seasons to just 117 innings. Likewise, effectiveness wanes noticeably as starting pitchers begin to approach their mid-life crisis. According to research produced by Fangraph.com’s Bill Petti and Jeff Zimmerman, a starting pitcher’s skills begin diminishing after the age of thirty and continue to regress from that point forward: To be clear, this not meant as an indictment of a potential Nolasco signing, simply a warning of the price of doing business in the free agent market. As Ryan mentioned before, his ideal process of team building would be to avoid the aging talent for the younger arms. “In our position I’d rather go after an Alex Meyer, because we are more than one ace away,” Ryan said recently. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. You give me a No. 1 starting pitcher I’ll take him, but we finished 27 games behind the Tigers.” Obviously Nolasco does not project as an ‘ace’ or a number one starter (well, outside of the Twins rotation anyway) but he does provide the team with a valuable upgrade who can be filled in around moving forward. Alex Meyer, who has impressed during his time in Arizona this fall, could develop into the front-of-the-rotation type. With progress, Kyle Gibson has the potential of being a two or three in the rotation. A rotation of Meyer-Gibson-Nolasco plus others in 2015 does not sound too bad. Like Ryan said, the Twins have work to do and beginning with Nolasco is a decent start.

The Twins surprised everyone yesterday but announcing that Joe Mauer has made the decision to relocate to first base after spending his career as one of the game’s best two-way catchers. Comments from Twins general manager Terry Ryan in October made it clear that the team was not totally anticipating Mauer’s move as they entered the planning season for 2014. In his address to the media yesterday, Mauer mentioned that there were occasions that he would take a foul tip and it extremely difficult for him to perform, even mentioning at one point that he had troubles feeling his hands gripping the bat after suffering his concussion. The move early in the offseason will allow the front office to address the issues that arise, namely finding another catcher. On MLBNetwork Radio’s Power Alley yesterday manager Ron Gardenhire shared his thoughts on the decision. In regards to how the decision was made: On how Joe Mauer was handling this: On Mauer’s ability to play first base: On who will replace Mauer behind the plate:

The Minnesota Twins' Dustin Morse announced via Twitter that the Twins will officially move Joe Mauer from catcher to first base for the 2014 season. In October, general manager Terry Ryan told Twins Daily in his offseason interview that the team was not planning for Mauer to move away from behind the plate and the transition from catching to first was ultimately Mauer's decision. "I'm not preparing for anything different than we prepared for last year," Ryan said. "That decision's still coming down to whether or not he wants to catch for sure. The good thing is he's, I would say, he's 95 percent right now, which is good. That's a decision that's going to come down on whether or not he wants to stay back there, and how much he wants to stay back there, and how much he wants to stay back there. But right now I'm preparing for him to be back there." The move obviously opens up questions as to the team's plans for catcher in 2014. Veteran Ryan Doumit also suffered a concussion that removed him from the position at the end of the year and Josmil Pinto, while promising in September, is still learning. Although Pinto's character and coachability have been lauded, there still is work defensively, said Ryan. "There were days that I was a little concerned. With any kid that comes up, you're not going to have a polished product," Ryan noted. In addition to Doumit and Pinto, Ryan mentioned minor leaguer Eric Fryer as a player who contributed positively in 2013 (albeit at the minor league level) and there are several free agent catching options available on the market. The team's official press release cites that while Mauer is symptom free from the concussion suffered late 2013, the increasingly inherent dangers of the position necessitated the move.

Baseball agent Matt Sosnick speaks strongly of loyalty, honesty and trust in his industry. His agency, Sosnick Cobbe Sports, was grown from scratch in the hills above the San Francisco Bay and relies on building relationships, sticking with clients regardless of on-field performance and adheres to principles such as automatically dropping players who engage in detrimental activity like domestic violence. He discusses his clients as friends rather than means to a paycheck. Character above all. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It probably should come as no surprise then that he holds the Minnesota Twins operations in high regard for similar reasons. When asked his perception of the organization, Sosnick raved. “First of all, I love the Twins,” he admitted. “I obviously have had lots of players who have run through there the past few years. I have [Josh] Willingham and [Ryan] Doumit. I have a very close relationship with both [assistant GM] Rob Antony and [vice president of player development] Mike Radcliff and there’s no GM that I respect more than Terry Ryan.” That may seem like an odd response from a person whose livelihood is tied to how much a team is willing pay for one of his clients and, so far, the Twins have not been exactly a blank check. In fact, Willingham’s 2012 contract has been the richest free agent contract the team has distributed to date. What is interesting is that had Willingham’s home been further west, he may never have been a Twin to begin with. When fans wonder why their team didn’t sign a particular free agent, there are factors that go beyond just the dollars and cents. As a free agent after the 2011 season, Sosnick fielded an offer from a West Coast team that was superior to that of the Twins. But Willingham, who calls Alabama home, opted to sign with Minnesota because it was in closer proximity to his family and turned down more money in the process. Willingham’s reign as the team’s highest compensated free agent may come to an end this winter and one of Sosnick’s other clients could be the one to dethrone him. Among the Sosnick Cobbe client list are Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco and Randy Messenger -- three pitchers in who the Twins have had varying degrees of interest. Under different circumstances, Johnson could have been the headliner of the offseason. At just 30 years old, Johnson has battled both shoulder inflammation (2011) and elbow issues (2013) that have curbed his innings over the past three seasons. More importantly, it has curbed teams’ appetite for doling out a large contract.. “He’s probably got the highest upside of any free agent pitcher,” says Sosnick, “but when you factor in the amount of games he started the last few years and the amount of different injuries he’s had you realize, in our case, our choice was to take a shot at a two or three-year deal or take a shot a one-year where we rebuild his value. There’s no question that we are going to go after a one-year and try to rebuild his value because he’s going to be treated as an injury liability -- even though I think he’s totally healthy right now -- but I understand that mindset.” While Johnson could profile as a top of the rotation arm, does a pitcher with his injury history make sense for the organization? Mike Radcliff does not seem to think so. According to the Pioneer Press’s Mike Berardino, Radcliff said that if Johnson’s asking price is $10 million or more, the club would likely pass. That said, the Twins severely lack an ace and Johnson could be that guy. As an agent, would Sosnick ever try to convince a team that Johnson, who is coming off a bad conventional season but demonstrated decent peripherals that may indicate a positive future, is the right fit for them? “I find that too presumptuous on my part. Am I really going to convince Mike Radcliff that his scouting analyses of a player are off because I tell him something -- given the fact that I’ve never scouted a player in my life and Mike’s done it professionally his whole life? I find the thought distasteful and if I put myself in the reverse situation I would be insulted. That’s not what I do.” Perhaps more conducive to the team’s long term vision is Sosnick’s other former Marlins pitcher, Nolasco. “[Nolasco’s] probably is the most sure thing in the marketplace and that comes without a qualifying offer. That’s a huge thing for a team to sign a guy who you can pencil in for 200 innings a year, never gets hurt and you don’t have to give up a draft pick for him.” Not having to surrender a draft pick means a lot to teams that, unlike the Twins, have unprotected first round picks which could make him more desirable. Sosnick says he and Nolasco are seeking a five-year deal, but currently are speaking with numerous teams about four years. During his interview for the Twins Daily Offseason Handbook, Ryan flinched at the thought of signing 30-year-old pitchers, stating that those over that age have a tendency to break down. With Nolasco seeking up to five years, his contract length may cause the team to balk. Still, as Sosnick hinted to Berardino, the Twins have expressed interest in the right-hander. And as Sosnick said there could be the possibility of using a club option in the contract to bridge the gap and protect the team in the event of an injury. The last notable free agent pitcher in the Sosnick Cobbe stable is Randy Messenger, who is coming off a strong stint in Japan. “Outside of [Masahiro Tanaka] who needs to get posted, Messenger’s a free agent in the States this year and he led the Japanese league last year in strikeouts, innings pitched and games started. He has really strong peripherals and ERA the last two years in Japan and was a totally dominant guy this year. He’s not a Tanaka but he’s the next best thing.” The Twins flirted with Messenger a bit last offseason but Messenger ultimately returned to Japan and had another strong season which could be emphasized since that Japanese league switched to a new baseball which increased the offensive production. Did Messenger notice the difference? “He did say that he felt like pitching to an ERA in the 2.00’s this year was more challenging than the two years before that. He felt like ERA-wise, it affected the ERA by a quarter of a point. So a 2.90 was about the equivalent of 2.65 in the past.” Messenger could turn into a Colby Lewis who refined his style in Japan before returning to the Texas Rangers and putting up impressive numbers. Maybe more importantly to a team not looking spend as much on one starting pitcher, Messenger should not command as much as Nolasco in dollars or years. When it comes to discussing contracts with the Twins, the front office avoids lengthy contracts with free agent pitchers. Still, Sosnick respects them all the same. “The Twins are run by the three guys I know -- Terry [Ryan], Rob [Antony] and Mike Radcliff -- and all three of them would be great GMs anywhere right now. They are great evaluators of talent, nice people, easy to do business with and honest. You won’t find three more honest guys then those three guys. The Twins are not as easy to do business with financially as the Yankees or Dodgers, they don’t have the same deep pockets, but we keep sending our guys to the Twins because they are honest, honorable people. The front office represents baseball as well as anybody does.” Sosnick’s relationship with the Twins organization goes beyond just his major league clients. In 2009, the Walnut Creek-based agency was representing who some scouts considered to be the best player to come from Europe in 16-year-old Max Kepler. There was plenty of interest in the toolsy, six-foot-four outfielder who was just a few months removed from growing his first facial hair. “When Max Kepler was out there,” Sosnick reminisced, “we had an offer that was higher than what the Twins’ final offer was and we had him go to the Twins because we really believed in their player development and a lot of that had to do with our relationship with Mike at the time.” Kepler has advanced slowly in the minor league system. At 20 years old he finished his first season at low-A (albeit injury-abbreviated) and has performed well in the Arizona Fall League despite unattractive numbers. As Baseball America’s John Manuel noted a few weeks ago the Twins expect to see the large statured Kepler add some power to his repertoire through additional conditioning this offseason resulting in more over-the-fence distance in 2014. In just a few seasons, Kepler could be patrolling a corner outfield spot in a Twins uniform and, reflecting back, Sosnick is happy with their decision to sign with Minnesota. “Kepler went to Minnesota because we like their player development,” he said, “we felt like they would do the best job of assimilating a 16-year-old from Germany. We made the right choice. He went to high school during the day and played in the afternoon and the Twins bent over backwards to make him as comfortable as possible. And it just reinforced the decision that we made.” Sosnick’s opinion of the Twins’ organization may or may not be shared throughout his industry. Then again, Sosnick’s approach does not seems shared by the rest of his industry. He and his agency remain committed to doing the best for the clients and place them in ideal situations -- like Willingham’s desire to remain closer to his family or considering Kepler’s comfort level -- rather than the ones that garner the most dollars.

As plain as the nose on your face, the Twins could clearly see that a sizeable portion of their 2013 troubles was a direct result of the team’s rotation. “Not missing bats and big impact” could have been a mantra of the starting five, or at least a bestselling bumper sticker for a select number of the fan base, which thrives on the pessimism. The evidence of the staff’s lack of strikeouts is clear to anyone who does a cursory search of Fangraphs or Baseball-Reference. However, one telling stat that does not show up on the regular sites is the “well-hit average” which ESPNtrumedia carries. This statistic measures how well-struck a ball was and is an indication of whether a pitcher is able to keep hitters from shooting rockets all over the field. In 2013, major league pitchers carried a well-hit average of .164 while the league’s best staff in this category, the Pittsburgh Pirates, maintained a season low of .141. On the opposite end of the spectrum was the Minnesota Twins, who carried a girthy .194 well-hit average. One reason behind this obliteration could involve the staff’s approach. It should come as no surprise to those who watched any of the Twins pitchers last year and kept an eye on the radar gun readings that the speed numbers did not impress anyone. The Twins starters averaged 90 on their fastball. Just a tick below them was the Atlanta Braves’ staff that averaged 89.9 with the cheese. Yet, unlike the Twins, the Braves’ staff held a pristine .150 well-hit average – the fifth-best in the game last year. So the pitching woes cannot be entirely explained simply by lack of velocity – but it could possibly be explained by the lack of velocity in critical locations. Graham Goldbeck, a data analyst from Sportsvision (the company that runs the F/X systems – Pitch, Hit and Field), has culled through the 600,000-odd ball-in-play results captured by the Hit F/X technology and shared some of his findings with the SABR conference this past March. What Goldbeck found was that the vast majority of home run contact is produced out in front of the plate. Intuitively, Goldbeck’s findings found that fastball contact occurs later in the zone while off-speed contact happens further in front. Strategically, pitchers typically locate their off-speed and breaking balls most often on the lower-half or outside of the strike zone to avoid the type of contact that would result in souvenirs (save for the occasional get-me-over curves). Be it because they were attempting to pump strikes or simply because they failed to spot their secondary offerings (as seemed the case with Scott Diamond and Vance Worley) the Minnesota Twins allowed a league-high .461 slugging percentage on “soft” pitches (those that average 81-mph). Below is the velocity heat map for the entire major leagues, the well-hit average-leading Pittsburgh Pirates and, finally, the Twins, with the worst well-hit average in the game. (MLB) (Pittsburgh Pirates) (Minnesota Twins) What you see with the Twins’ velocity heat map is that a high percentage of the “slow” offerings (curves, changes, etc as indicated by the green coloring), are falling in the middle of the zone. This, when considered in conjunction with Goldbeck’s findings, is some dangerous living. One metric that examines, at a glance, how frequently a pitcher is in or out of the zone with a pitch is ESPNtrumedia’s “Paint” statistic. Basically, paint will measure the shortest distance in inches from a pitch to the edge of the strike zone (in any direction). On average, MLB pitchers keep their “slow” offerings approximately one inch outside of the zone. Pittsburgh’s staff – led by breaking ball enthusiasts in AJ Burnett and Francisco Liriano – threw their soft pitches an inch-and-a-half away from the zone (-1.6). Meanwhile the Twins starters threw their soft offerings less than an inch away (-0.9). This means that a significant portion of these pitches were located in a very hittable region. As the Twins attempt to fix the rotation this winter, a key component of that could be identifying talent which has different approach than last year’s staff had. Namely, pitchers able to keep their “soft” pitches out of the middle of the zone. Those available include the likes of Ervin Santana and Scott Kazmir – both of whom attack the strike zone with their fastball and supplement it with below-the-zone breaking pitches. On the other hand, pitchers like Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes tend to allow their “soft” offerings to hang up in the zone, leading to above-average well-hit averages in 2013.

With tickets and Homer Hankies sold out for days, Minnesota Twins fans were more than ready for the main event to start. However the World Series did not start off in the Twins’ favor. Not immediately anyway. The Cardinals clung to a one-nothing lead through the first three innings. Jim Lindeman, a former roommate of Kirby Puckett’s at Bradley University, reached on a double after his old roomie misjudged what should have been a caught popup to shallow center and later scored on an RBI groundout by Tony Pena. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Shortstop Greg Gagne, who fielded the Pena bouncer that allowed Lindeman to score, drew criticism from ABC’s analyst Tim McCarver for the play. McCarver’s analysis, as the Star Tribune’s Bob Lundgaard pointed out, was wrong -- which is surprising considering the color man’s usually spot-on takes. As it turns out, the run proved to be as harmless as a minnow bite. Although the left-handed Joe Magrane, a former Minnesota resident himself, had kept the potent Twins hitless through the first three innings, the Twins offense came alive in the fourth inning. Gary Gaetti, the American League Championship Series MVP, led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. Prior to the game, Gaetti had chatted with reporters in the clubhouse about the Twins’ chances of winning the Series. After Gaetti’s single, Don Baylor did the same. Ditto for Tom Brunansky. Kent Hrbek followed suit with a chopper up the middle and drove in the team’s first two runs of the Series. People worried about Hrbek. After all, he had gone 1-for-20 in the ALCS against Detroit. The single, even if it was just a chopper, helped reassure fans he was OK. Later, he talked about that at-bat to the Star Tribune’s Tony Moton. When Steve Lombardozzi walked, the fifth consecutive Twins hitter to reach base, Whitey Herzog emerged to tell Magrane his night was over. Magrane exited to a chorus of “Happy Trails” by Twins fans. Herzog called on veteran Bob Forsch. Catcher Tim Launder promptly started the singles parade again to score another run and reload the bases. That's when outfielder Dan Gladden came to the plate. During the regular season, the mulleted Gladden had seven plate appearances with the bases loaded. He had managed just a single in those at-bats. Earlier in the game Gladden had grounded into a fielder’s choice, eliminating Tim Laudner, who had walked in front of him, at second. With one out, Magrane decided to pay extra attention to the Twins’ outfielder, throwing over to first nine consecutive times reported one Star Tribune blurb. (Nevertheless, on the next batter, Gladden promptly stole second.) Magrane admitted after the game he focused too much on Gladden, wrote Star Tribune staff writer Jon Roe. Now, with the bases loaded and Magrane out of the game, Gladden launched a 1-2 Forsch offering over the left field plexiglass for the first grand slam in a World Series game since 1970 and put the Twins squarely ahead 7 to 1. The noise at the Dome registered 118 decibels -- the same as a jet taking off -- when the ball cleared the fence. Twins shortstop Greg Gagne said afterwards that the volume of the crowd was unbelievable at that moment. Sid Hartman later talked to then-Twins general manager Andy McPhail regarding the process of acquiring Gladden late in spring training that year. After the game Steve Lombardozzi, who would be the recipient of a Gladden punch a season later, raved about the outfielder’s contributions to reporter Dennis Brackin. The Twins’ starting pitcher Frank Viola, who had to forgo being the best man at his brother’s wedding, was unsolvable for the majority of the game. Having a 10-1 lead didn’t hurt either. Outside of the Puckett misplay that led to the Cardinals’ only run, his results were virtually flawless. Prior to being pulled after eight innings, he retired 12 of the last 14 batters he faced and did not allow a baserunner past first from the fourth inning on. If things had gone differently and the Twins were inclined to shop Viola during the lean years, he may have been in the other dugout, wrote the Star Tribune’s Steve Aschburner. The action off the field was just as intense, particularly for the wife of one Cardinal player. Booker was also three months pregnant at the time and was deemed by the hospital to be in fair condition afterward. Her husband, Rod, was actually a former Twins draft pick who had spent three seasons in the organization, reaching AAA in 1982, but was purchased by the Cardinals shortly after the 1983 season began. Booker was left off the World Series roster in 1987. A few sections away from Booker’s knockout, Chip and Wendy Lantz had donned a tuxedo and a white dress. The Anoka couple had wed just hours before the first pitch and found themselves with tickets to the biggest game of the year. It almost didn’t happen -- the game, not the wedding. The bride had a ticket, the groom did not. She told columnist Jim Klobuchar she was ready to go the game -- on her wedding night -- minus the new hubby. That is, until her two brothers gave them a surprise wedding gift. The newlyweds’ good fortune finding a pair of tickets was not the norm around the area. That morning, the Twins placed 11,200 tickets for games 6 and 7 and the seats could only be ordered by phone from Dayton’s. The rush of calls overwhelmed the phone grid, Northwestern Bell’s agents told the Star Tribune’s Mary Jane Smetanka, knocking out service as far west as Bismarck, North Dakota as well as parts of South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin. While the inconvenience lasted just a few hours, it was enough to irk some residents of the state. Oh. I'm sure watching Joe Magrane throw over to first nine times in a row to keep Dan Gladden close didn't help the pace. **** More Revisiting October: October 12, 1987: Twins Top Tigers October 16, 1987: Twins Mania Grips Minnesota

Beneath the fold of the October 17 edition of the Star Tribune was a story that may have grabbed larger headlines anywhere outside of this market. On the morning of October 14, an eighteen-month-old little girl by the name of Jessica had horrifically fallen 22 feet into a well in the backyard of a Midland home in West Texas. Improbably, she lasted two days and change without food and water while rescuers dug through bedrock to reach her. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] When she was lifted out of the narrow hole on October 16, she was caked in dirt but retrived without a scratch. It was nothing short of miraculous. On a far less life-threatening level, Minnesota baseball fans had witnessed their own miracle and the citizens reacted with the same jubilation and exuberance. Pitted against a Detroit Tigers’ team which had won more games than anyone in baseball while scoring nearly six runs per game -- a team which had won 8 of 12 and outscored them 83-to-58 -- the Twins had somehow emerged victorious. On October 16, World Series fever had a full-out stranglehold on the Twin Cities. It would be, after all, the first World Series played in Minnesota in 22 years. This Minneapolis-St Paul was completely different from the sleepy town that hosted its first Series in 1965. When the Dodgers came to Minnesota that year, the rivalry between the Twin Cities was still going strong to the point where a disagreement on daylight savings time resulted in an hour difference between the two metropolitan cities divided by a river. The area’s population had exploded in the 1980s and the new inhabitants were elated to be on baseball’s grand stage. Nothing else mattered. The night before, the NBA made a preseason appearance at the Met Center. The Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Seattle SuperSonics in front of a crowd of 5,350 -- a lowly number even by preseason standards. Met Center officials admitted they were anticipating 7,500 to 9,500 but when the World Series forced the University of Minnesota to reschedule their football game from Saturday, October 16 to Friday, October 15 it creating a head-to-head with the exhibition game. But David Shama, the Met Center’s marketing director, told the Star Tribune’s Tom Moton that the real reason for the sparse crowd was the Twins mania that had swept the area since clinching the American League pennant in Detroit. Nicollet Mall was freshened up with 150 new banners inscribed with “How ‘bout Them Twins?” Northwest Airlines reported that the four daily nonstop flights between Minneapolis and St. Louis with 422 seats were sold out for the impending games in St. Louis. Juan Berenguer, Tony Oliva Les Straker and Al Newman took to Prince’s Chanhassen studio to record “The Berenguer Boogie”, an anthem and video created in what seemed to be 15 minutes to capture the flame-thrower’s patented move. Street vendors had flooded the downtown areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul, peddling their fresh World Series wears that people happily snapped up quickly. On the popular culture front, the Kirby Puckett haircut was suddenly (and inexplicably) a thing. The Star Tribune, who had created and distributed the Homer Hanky, announced that they were completed sold out even before to the biggest game of the decade. On the front page, Tom Culligan, the paper’s Vice President of Marketing, informed readers that there were “four factories working around the clock producing hankies” but there would be a limited number of the wildly popular handkerchief available at the Star Tribune’s headquarters that afternoon. Columnist Jim Klobuchar documented the scene. Everyone wanted one. Those who were unable to get one at the Star Tribune headquarters that day were forced to wait weeks for mail order delivery. The main event, Game One, was just a day away. ABC, who covered the World Series in odd-number years, had the privilege of broadcasting the series between two teams from fly-over land. The network would be pulling out all the stops when it comes to coverage by using 12 cameras. This is quaint compared by modern standards. In 2012, Fox employed 38 cameras total including five new slo-mo high speed cameras. But that would be for those who were not fortunate enough to score tickets to the actual game. And there were plenty who did not. Even Twins owner Carl Pohlad was not immuned to the mania gripping the fanbase - his phone wouldn’t stop ringing with ticket requests from long-lost acquaintances he told staff writers Rob Hotskainen and Randy Furst. In preparation for next day’s game, focus shifted towards the two men who would climb the mound. For Minnesota, that would be the left-handed Frank Viola. The 27-year-old Viola had finished the year 17-10 with a solid 2.90 ERA (a career-best 159 ERA+) but was facing a significant off-field ordeal: His younger brother had scheduled his wedding for October 17 and Frank was supposed to be the best man. Naturally, as much as it pained him, Frank was not going to cancel his first World Series visit for his brother’s wedding, writes Steve Aschburner. As for the match-up on the field, it was the cliched power versus speed. The Twins had slugged 196 home runs in the season while the Cardinals finished last with 97. First baseman Kent Hrbek had led the Twins with 34 home runs and could out-mash anybody on the Cards’ roster, save for the injured Jack Clark (35), but would be hard-pressed to beat any of them in a foot race around the bases with a five minute head start. The Cardinals, meanwhile, excelled in the National League thanks to strong on-base presence (.340 OBP - 4th in MLB) then robbing the next base (248 steals). They also had a stalwart pitching who allowed just 4.4 runs per game compared to the Twins’ 5 runs. Doug Grow summarized the clubs. The 1987 World Series would mark the first time baseball would play the game under a roof. The game’s purists lambasted the notion. before the Series, Peter Gammons, then with Sports Illustrated, wrote that “There’s the matter of taking any team seriously that makes its living in the Metrodome. Humpball is the name of the game played there.” Jay Weiner, who would later go on to pen Stadium Boondoggles after his coverage of the Twins’ stadium plea in the late 1990s, defended the Dome’s honor and pointed out that purists hated all changes about the game and the transition to indoor ball was a natural evolution. No one will blame Weiner for his miss on that one.

Not long ago, we had to sell my grandmother’s house. As part of the purging process, a box filled with newspapers from the Minnesota Twins’ championship seasons in 1987 and 1991 were discovered. The newspapers, still reeking of the stale cigarette smoke that saturated her entire dwelling, are pure gold.(1) As the resident family baseball-phile, the archive was entrusted to me. Without much to do with the box, other than keep it away from fire - paper’s worst enemy - the only other thing I could think about doing with them is sharing the important snippets. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Today we go back to the happenings of October 12, 1987, as reported from the October 13, 1987 Star Tribune. **** When closer Jeff Readon corralled the Matt Nokes comebacker and ran it towards the looming Kent Hrbek before flipping him the ball and then following his throw into his first baseman’s arms, the Twins were poised to return to baseball’s biggest stage 22 years after being beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the Twins clubhouse at Tiger Stadium, Star Tribune staff writer Doug Grow followed the team’s alcohol-soaked celebration. Gaetti would finish the championship series 6-for-20 (.300) but have two home runs in the first game of the series(2). Those two were collected off Detroit’s starter and big mid-season acquisition, Doyle Alexander, who cost the Tigers one John Smoltz. Following the game, staff writers Mark Vancil and Dennis Brackin got Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek’s feelings on being one step away from being the best in baseball: The disbelief in a team that had squeaked out an 85-77 season - one that had gone 29-52 away from the covered stadium - and had somehow conquered the 98-win Tigers, on their turf no less, permeated everywhere. Columnist Jim Klobuchar summarized the thoughts on this ragtag bunch nicely: Neat. Outdated fat jokes. As for Gaetti, yes, he had one of his worst offensive months of the season in September, finishing the final month with a .243/.287/.393 slash after hitting .260/.307/.505 prior to that. Certainly, the Twins stunned plenty of people including former sports columnist turned radio host Dan Barreiro. This Barreiro had been incredibly incredulous that this assortment could withstand the onslaught of the favored Tigers - specifically because of the Twins’ tendency of being “domesick” when away from the home confines. Barreiro lists twenty reasons why this series victory was improbable including: Barreiro, always the instigator, would also point out that manager Tom Kelly’s gamble to move starter Bert Blyleven up to Game 5 rather than go with Joe Niekro or Les Straker paid off. Had it backfired and the Tigers come away with a win, Kelly would have been forced to use either Niekro or Straker in Game 6 and have Frank Viola as the insurance policy in the event of Game 7, rather than just set his rotation for a more conventional Blyleven/Viola combination for the series’ last two games. The moral of the story? Tom Kelly has balls. Another one of Barreiro’s reasons for the improbable win was the pick-off of the Tigers’ veteran Darrell Evans at third during the sixth inning of Game 4 (the Tigers would lose 5-3). The sports page’s most tenured columnist, Sid Hartman, wrote a lot of notes(4), including one that had quoted (for some reason, I guess) legendary Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler who defended the Tigers’ Darrell Evans’ play. Gaetti explained how the play went down to Hartman: But what about the celebration back in the Twin Cities? Everyone knows that the Twins returned home from Detroit to a Metrodome that was filled to the brim with rabid fans, eager to cheer on the hometown team. Star Tribune reporters Norman Draper and Kurt Chandler documented the pandamonium. The Twins landed at the airport at 10:05 PM and were police escorted downtown to the stadium. The team’s postseason coordinator Jaime Lowe, said that they anticipated 4,000 to 6,000 people when they started planning the event - and there was even a bit of concern there would be no one to greet them. How wrong they were. Prior to letting the gates open, a crush of fans descended to the gates and the raucous mob waved Homer Hankies and screamed while a Dixieland Band played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Officials allowed people in an hour earlier than expected to allow an estimated 55,000 fans stream in. Elsewhere, at Champp’s Sports Cafe(5) in Richfield, where the venue was overflowing with fans watching the clinching game and enjoying what is assumed to be adult beverages. The interviews with patrons reveal some of the enduring Minnesota mindset that has plagued citizens of the states through the ages. Yup. Loserville. What was the scene like inside the bar when the Twins got that final out in Detroit? For the impending World Series, whose National League challenger had yet to be determined, fans lit up the Twins ticket office to get their hands on the state’s most sought after seats since 1965. Employees, however, had to inform the callers that they would need to go to Dayton’s department store in order to procure tickets.(6) This sales process is unfathomable to the younger generation. Think about it. Instead of being able to log into the team’s website from the comfort of your own home (let alone pay over the phone), you had to physically go to a building and wait in line. With other people. Germs and awkward conversation. The horror. That night, the temperature dropped to a crisp 35-degrees as fans camped out in front of one of seven area Dayton’s locations. In play, reports Jon Jeter and Norman Draper, were tickets mainly for upper deck outfield and a few lower level locations. $20 or $30? Twenty-six years later, SeatGeek.com says you can purchased hypothetical Detroit Tigers World Series tickets for a small fee of $300. Times have a-changed. **** (1) The discovery of the box also made me realize that when I am forced out of my home or go tits-up and my kids and grandkids come to clean the clutter, no one will find any newspapers. At best? Tons of crappy DVDs which I haven’t figured out how to get rid of and the sight of which makes me furious for being so frivolous with my money. Who the hell needs to own two copies of American Pie 2? (2) It was somewhat of an odd decision to choose Gaetti considering the numbers Brunansky had put up. Bruno matched The Rat’s home run total (2) but had driven in nine to Gaetti’s five and gone 7-for-17 (.412). Star Tribune staff writer Dennis Brackin would point to Gaetti’s intangibles, including the call for the Darrell Evans pick-off in Game 4 and acting as a sparkplug for initiating the scoring in Game 1 by homering in his first two series at-bats. Still, while he got to drink out of the same trophy, Bruno missed out on the added $25,000 bonus Gaetti received for winning the award. (3) The left-handed Dan Schatzeder, who the Twins had acquired in June for Tom Schwarz and Danny Clay, had been atrocious in Minnesota. In 43.2 innings, he allowed 64 hits and 37 runs. The reason why his four and a third scoreless ball was so remarkable is that in his 30 appearances for the Twins, he only had 13 clean innings. Oh, and left-handed hitters had hit .353/.405/.515 off of him in that time as well making people question why Anderson was afraid to turn to his lefty bench bats. (4) Another one of Hartman’s notes included the Twins desire to bring back impending free agents in reliever Juan Berenguer and designated hitter Don Baylor. Hartman pointed out that Berenguer took a “$200,000” pay cut to sign with the Twins while GM Andy McPhail was quoted as wanting to pursue Baylor but admitted the team wouldn’t be able to match his $850,000 salary in 1988. In the end, the Twins re-signed Berenguer to a three-year, $1.875M contract while Baylor walked, later signing with Oakland for $495,000. Berenger pitched in 164 games during that contract and had a 3.61 ERA. Baylor would hit just .220/.332/.326 with the A’s in 92 games (he would get hit by a pitch 12 times at the plate). (5) Ask John Bonnes about their special dipping sauce and watch his face light up like it is effin’ Christmas morning. (6) Kids, once upon a time Macy’s was once called Dayton’s.

This is now the third edition of the year-end mishmash that is the Twins at a statistical glace: It was the Year of the Strikeout for pitchers in baseball and more than any team the Twins hitters were their greatest victims. The offense saw strike three 1,430 times – a new franchise record. That 1,430 finish represents the third-highest team total since 1961. Only the 2013 Houston Astros (1,535) and the 2010 Diamondbacks (1,529) have finished with more strikeouts than the 2013 Twins. When the Twins did get runners on base, they managed to bring that runner in [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]just 12% of the time – tying them for the worst baserunner scored percentage (shared with Seattle, Miami and Chicago Cubs). The obvious reason for the lack of production was the lineup’s inability to gather hits with runners in scoring position. The Twins .225 batting average with runners in scoring position was the lowest in the American League and the second-lowest in baseball. They also led the league in strikeouts with runners in scoring position (407). For the first time in his career, Joe Mauer was Average Joe when it came to his strikeout rate. After many years of finishing well below the norm, Mauer finished 2013 (albeit prematurely) with a strikeout once every five at-bats (MLB average 5.0). Joe Mauer had the third-highest line drive rate at 27.7%. Trevor Plouffe wasn’t far behind at 24.7%. One difference between the two is while Mauer finished with a .717 batting average on his liners, well above the league average of .657, while Plouffe held a .667 batting average on his liners. A bigger difference was that Mauer hit .238 on his fly balls in play while Plouffe hit just .066. The Twins did not run much on the bases this year, attempting just 85 stolen bases. It was for the best that they didn’t try for more as their 61% stolen base success rate (52 for 85) represented the second-lowest total in the game. Only the Arizona Diamondbacks (60%) were worse at base thievery. Both were well below the league average of 73%. Pedro Florimon finished the year with 15 swipes to lead the team. That was the lowest team-leading total since Kirby Puckett took 14 bases to lead the 1984 club in steals. Oswaldo Arcia led all American League rookies with 14 home runs. With a .339 second-half slugging percentage, Trevor Plouffe finished in the bottom-25 in slugging among qualified hitters in the second-half. Brian Dozier hit 18 home runs on the year, giving him the Twins’ second base home run title after he surpassed notable sluggers like Rod Carew (14, 1975) and Tim Tuefel (14, 1984). Splitsville, man. Dozier also was a manimal against left-handed pitching. His weighted On-Base Average against lefties was .421, the eighth-highest in the game. Of course, Dozier’s .288 wOBA against righties was the 11th lowest in the game. Aaron Hicks’ rookie season was one of the poorest performances by a center fielder in Twins history. Ranking by weighted On-Base Average, Hicks’ .266 wOBA was just slightly better than former Twin Ted Uhlaender’s .256 wOBA season in 1966. Oh, and Hicks’ eventual replacement, Clete Thomas, fared no better as he was the team’s third-worst offensive performer in center with a .270 wOBA. The Twins were very good at avoiding hitting into double plays. In 1,149 double play opportunities, they banged into the two-for-one just 103 times. That 9 percent rate was the lowest in baseball. The Twins outfield was tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for most outfield assists (44). Aaron Hicks led the team with nine while Clete Thomas and Chris Parmelee had six each. While the fielding percentage was one of the game’s best at .991, Baseball Info Solution’s Plus/Minus statistic says the outfield unit at minus 53 runs was the worst group in baseball. If you ascribe to the theory that 10 runs equals one win, the outfield could have cost the team a little over five wins. The Twins shored up the shortstop position defensively as they finished second among all teams in the Plus/Minus statistic at plus 19. Pedro Florimon was third in baseball at plus 12 just behind Pittsburgh’s Clint Barmes (plus 13) and Atlanta’s Andrelton Simmons (plus 37!!!). After his abysmal 2012 campaign at third, Trevor Plouffe actually completed the year in the black according to Plus/Minus: plus 1. In an era of unbridled strikeout totals, the Twins pitching staff broke the mold. The league’s 36,710 strikeouts were the most in baseball history. Yet the Twins eschewed that and rang up just 985 – the only staff in the league to not crack 1,000 strikeouts. That strikeout mark was 24% below the league average. Isolating just the starting rotation, the Twins front five were exceptionally bad at being able to miss bats. Their 477 strikeouts were the fourth lowest total in the past 10 years. Only the Royals (470 in ’05 and 463 in ’06) and the Tigers (422 in ’03) completed their seasons with fewer K’s. There’s a running joke on Twitter that involving Glen Perkins and Bruce Springsteen’s description of a fastball as a “speedball” (see: #speedball). Unlike the Boss’s description, the Twins do not have many pitchers who can “throw that speedball by you” but Perkins, however, has been one example of a Twins guy who does have a speedball that he can throw by you. According to Fangraphs.com’s Pitch Value metric, Perkins’ fastball has been worth 16.7 runs above average on the year – the second-highest among all relievers. (Perkins also holds the third-highest average fastball velocity among all qualified left-handed relievers. At 94.9, Perk will need to add some MPHs to catch up to the Reds’ hard-throwing southpaw Aroldis Chapman, who pumps heat at 98.3.) Just a few spots below Perkins in the fastball pitch value is bullpen buddy Anthony Swarzak. This Sasquatch loving right-hander’s heater is 12.4 runs above the average (9th highest). Perhaps nobody noticed because of the team’s overall record, but Swarzak’s second-half was outstanding (37.2 innings, 1.91 ERA, 5 extra base hits and a decent 28-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio) compared to his first-half output (58.1 innings, 3.55 ERA, 16 extra base hits and a 41-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio). Swarzak’s 96 innings pitched was the most in baseball among relievers. It was the most innings thrown by a reliever since Scott Proctor threw 102.1 with the Yankees in 2006. That was also the most among Twins relievers since Juan Berenguer’s 100.1 innings in 1990. ** Thanks to Fangraphs and Baseball Reference for the numbers.

With Joe Mauer’s season cut short due to brain trauma, now more than ever there is discussion of moving the franchise player out from behind the plate to a “safer” position in the infield. TwinsDaily.com’s Nick Nelson shared his thoughts and explained in detail why the move makes sense for 2014. The crux of Nelson’s argument is to protect the team’s best offensive player from missing extended time from additional concussions that have been plaguing backstops this year. What makes this transition easier to accept has been the emergence of catcher Josmil Pinto, whose September performance has been tantalizing to say the least. One aspect of his game that has been impressive is his ability to use the entire field -- particularly driving the ball the other way in big situations. On Monday night, he shot a game-winning, walk-off single into right field. On Thursday, he drove a Chris Perez offering into the seats in the overhang in right to bring the Twins within one run of the Indians. Following the extra inning win against Detroit, manager Ron Gardenhire raved about Pinto’s short swing which allows him to wait back on off-speed pitches as well as keep us with the league’s harder throwers. “He got himself in a little bit of a hole, but he took a nice, short swing, didn't try to do too much with it and shot it the other way,” Gardenhire told reporters this week. “That's kind of ahead of your time. You don't see many young hitters being able to do those things. He's been able to do that stuff. It's been fun to watch.” Pinto is not quite at the Joe Mauer level when it comes to exploiting the opposite field but his tendencies to go that direction demonstrate a hitter with great plate coverage and comprehension of what he should do with a pitch. In some cases, young hitters tend to become too pull heavy and are often overmatched when pitchers begin to pitch away. In discussing Chris Colabello’s opposite field leaning, Twins general manager noted that many hitting instructors value a young player’s ability to go the other way since it is a skill that is difficult to master once a hitter is set in their ways. A source for Pinto’s pop has been the strong lower-half drive created by his pronounced leg kick. This action has been often cited as a reason why some hitters will struggle. The idea is that they have a tendency to move their weight forward early and can be fooled by offspeed stuff. So far, Pinto has not shown this weakness. Speaking to his evolution as a hitter, Pinto had showcased a more significant kick during his 2012 season with the New Britain Rock Cats. Here we see that he brought the apex of his kick almost to his waist. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/theeight_1380305322_Pinto_Minors.gif Since then, Pinto has muted that movement somewhat and is not raising his front leg as high. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/theeight_1380305231_Pinto_MLB.gif This may have been a change instilled by a coach, instructor or possibly Pinto himself as he ascended the minor league chain and competition grew stronger and better equipped to dismantle a hitter. Either way, so far into his career, it has been working well for him. The question is, will it be something opponents can exploit? Locally, we know Kirby Puckett was very successful with his trademark high leg kick. Puckett, however, seemed more the exception than the rule. Other players have had varying degrees of success with an over-exaggerated stride. As RJ Anderson pointed out at BaseballProspectus.com (subscription required) in July, the Athletics’ Josh Donaldson, who is garnering MVP consideration, struggled with the leg kick because it created a timing issue for him. Only once he was able to set his trigger properly was he able to produce at his current high level. In regard to the methods' overall acceptance, Anderson also recounts hitting instructor Bobby Tewkbury’s thoughts on why a high leg kick is not as much of a hinderance if implemented properly: “While some people might think the bigger leg kick is too much movement, when you use it properly it actually offers a great deal of control. You obviously shouldn’t just be lunging forward, but the leg kick into the creep forward allows the hitter to be balanced on the back leg during pitch recognition. This is where I see hitters establishing good adjustability to the pitch they are facing.” Pinto does not display the traits of someone lunging forward. Even with the high leg kick, he keeps his weight back extremely well and uses the short swing to get the bat to the ball quickly in the hitting zone. Because of his early success against off-speed pitches, one has to assume he is recognizing pitches very well. There will still be questions regarding Pinto’s full season abilities because his initial major league success comes in a small sample size; however, he has a strong foundation that should provide above-average production from the catcher’s spot in the future. Rest up Joe. Josmil’s got you covered.

When the Twins signed Kevin Correia this offseason, they knew his ceiling was not high as, say, Francisco Liriano’s would be. They also figured that Correia’s floor would not be as low as Liriano’s either. Their goal was to acquire some semblance of consistency that was grossly lacking in 2012. To their credit, the Twins got just that – a pitcher who made every start and, after tonight’s outing, will have accumulated almost 200 innings. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Sure, the win/loss record and ERA were reflective of a slightly below average starter but when it comes to value, his innings total help offset that gap. According to Fangraphs.com’s valuation metrics Correia has been “worth” 1.1 wins above replacement equaling $5.5 million in value – or a surplus of $1.5 million compared to his $4.5 million actual contract for 2013. With the exception of Anibel Sanchez and the aforementioned Liriano, no other starting pitching free agent was able to provide as much value as Correia has. With one year remaining on his two-year deal, Correia will likely be one of the few carry-overs to the 2014 rotation. He recently answered a few questions from TwinsDaily.com: Correia on his approach after switching from the National League to the American League: No, it comes down to trying to get batters out one at a time. In the National League obvious there are different situations, like there’s a pitcher involved and you are going to have more bunting situations and you are going to be taken out of the game maybe a little earlier because your spot is coming up to bat, but as far as when you are out on the mound I got what I got. I’m gonna try to attack you with what I got that day, with the best stuff that I have. It doesn’t really change league to league. It’s more of just learning the hitters a bit, their approaches and just going from there. On being able to limit stolen base attempts: I think I’m just quick to home plate. I’m comfortable slide-stepping and getting the ball quickly to home plate. Some guys like a big leg-kick and it is harder for them to slide-step and I’m comfortable with it. It’s hard to run on a slide-step. Not to mention Joe Mauer’s been there most of the time and if you want to go on the slide-step, he’s probably gonna throw you out. So it’s tough. On his best pitch: For me it’s any given day it can change. That’s how I pitch. I don’t have one pitch that if they know it’s coming, I might be able to get it by them. I work on being able to throw four different pitches for strikes at any point in the count. So it really changes thorough out the game. On making changes to his approach: I’ve changed my whole career. I came up as a hard-throwing four-seam guy with a circle-change and a slider. Now I throw more two-seam fastballs, a curveball and a split. I mean, you are constantly changing. I think if you are going to play as long as I have you have to make adjustments and I have done so when I needed too. On throwing his changeups to same-sided hitters: I mix it into righties, I mean, not as often as I do to lefties but like James Shields, he’s got an incredible changeup and he can throw it all day to righties. I just think I am forced to throw all my pitches. I throw a split and a circle-change. I think my split is more like a changeup and my circle-change is more like a split. I don’t know why it’s been like that, but I try to use them both and whatever one feels better that day. On stats: I barely look at my ERA or anything like that. I think I was kind of before that stuff started so I never really factored that stuff in. On game preparation: I look at video a lot. I know my stuff isn’t moving a ton. I face these guys four times this year and I’ll watch pretty much…I’ll get the lineup and I’ll watch how I faced all these guys before. I don’t really look at…a lot of guys like to look at a pitcher who kind of compares to them and how they pitched them but I kind of like how I’ve done in the past because it gives me and idea of what they might be looking for or whatever they’ve been successful off of. I go with feel a lot. I like getting in a game and feeling how it is going.