Parker Hageman

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4548[/ATTACH]What Clete Thomas experienced last year at the major league level was complete the oppositions’ complete ownership of the airspace in and around the strike zone. He was, as the internet kids say, pwned. In 29 plate appearances in 2012, he struck out 16 times and did not draw a walk. What the data tells us, but does not need to, in that small sampling is that Thomas was a complete free-swinger. Not only that, he was chasing after anything that moved in the general vicinity of the stadium. This resulted in a quick and much needed demotion to Rochester. The whiffing did not stop while playing in The Flower City (Author’s note: it’s a thing, look it up) either. He was thrown a chair a whopping 109 times in 426 plate appearances. After parting ways briefly in November, the Twins re-enlisted Thomas in December for outfield depth. He would be instructed to tone down his swing and improve his contact. The idea of retooling a players’ swing or pitching mechanics fascinates me – particularly for guys on the fringe. You know that thing you have complete muscle memory for and are comfortable with? Change it. If it doesn't work? Oh well, you may be out of baseball. Pat on the butt and best of luck. Plenty of struggling players are asked to rework this or tinker with that and the vast majority of them seem to stay at or near the level of production they had before the overhaul. That said, there are a few notable players who have turned their careers around by changing things up, like Roy Halladay or Jose Bautista. But Halladay and Bautista are the exception, not the rule. Locally, Twins hitters like Trevor Plouffe made improvements to his swing and that turned into one of the most potent 30-day power binges this state has ever seen. Although the third baseman has had trouble at third and staying healthy, he has shown signs of an ability to drive the ball better since his re-education. On the other hand, players like Delmon Young and Luke Hughes also made some adjustments that helped fuel brief hot stretches but never really made much progress long-term. On the recent FSN broadcasts, Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven lauded Thomas’s task of improving his contact rates helped to produce a fantastic start with Rochester in 2013. True, Thomas’s strikeout rate stayed the same with the Red Wings but it was not due to a wild swing. This edict not only incited changes in Thomas’s approach (i.e. plate discipline, pitch selection) but also in his mechanics to ensure a greater rate of contact. He improved his walk rate from 6% to 12% and with it came an increase in strikeouts looking. When he did put the bat on the ball, it packed punch. He raised his slugging percentage from .405 to .576 thanks to nine home runs in 36 games after hitting 12 in 109 last year. Thomas’s changes started with the set. In 2012 (right) he stood more upright, holding his hands higher and kept his front foot opened. Comparatively, this year, Thomas has brought the front leg inward, lowered his hand level and a more compacted stance. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4549[/ATTACH] The side-by-side differences are evident but how did it affect his swing? http://i.imgur.com/MU0bepq.gif Thomas has had a long, looping swing that has generated some power but far more empty swings – as evidence by his 23% strikeout rate in the minors and a 25% rate in the majors. With an opened and upright stance, Thomas exhibited a sizable load with his hands prior to bringing the bat through the zone. During his swing, his head would change planes, likely causing some hand-eye issues and resulting in the hefty in-zone swinging strike rates. Though many hitters have open-stances like pre-2013 Thomas has, those players typically have a toe-tap or timing mechanics (not unlike former Twin Jason Kubel) to keep their weight back and evenly distributed. In Thomas’s case, the front side is all drifting away from the plate leaving him susceptible to pitches away. http://i.imgur.com/Wrl1O56.gif?1 The most noticeable change is how muted his hand-load is. Instead of drawing back his hands as far as he did in 2012, he has a smaller loading point which quickens his hands and bat through the zone. With bat speed being one key to power, this alteration is part of the reason for the increase in power. Second, with the compacted stance, his head does not change planes as much which leads to added vision. If a hitter’s eye level is changed during the swing the hitter will have added difficulty squaring up on the ball. Last, with the more closed stance, his weight stays centered at the middle of the field rather than pulling open, giving him better plate coverage. Dating back to his tenure with the Detroit Tigers and within their minor league organization, Thomas always had high levels of whiffability but also displayed enough power and speed to continue to be a considered a fourth outfielder candidate to be stashed away in Triple-A. However, once at the major league level, pitchers would exploit his deficiencies and render him uses at the plate. His work ethic of being able to revamp his approach and swing has made him a useful component to the organization. Thomas’s stay with the Twins may be short-lived once Aaron Hicks proves ready to return, nevertheless, credit him for being willing and able to make adjustments late in his career to provide value.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4471[/ATTACH]Stop me if you have heard this already but Bryon Buxton is doing stupid good stuff on the baseball field. Already Buxton has proven that he is far and above the competition level in the Midwest League. He is leading the league in on-base percentage (.431), slugging (.561), runs scored (65) and weighted on-base average (.422). More conventionally, he is second in batting average (.344) and triples (8), and third in walks (40). That does not even begin to scratch the surface of his defense capabilities and baserunning prowess. Buxton is having the best performance by an outfielder in Iowa since Shoeless Joe Jackson came waltzing through the cornfield (or at least since Mike Trout anyways). During Fox Sports North’s road trip to Cedar Rapids last week, the televisions in the big city were able to tune in and see what amounts to one of the at any level this year. In case the video clip does not allow you to fully appreciate the difficulty of this catch, please follow along Buxton’s route in order to kill what was most assuredly an extra base hit coming off the bat. From mid-center field, Buxton races to gap, hooking at the end of the route, and makes a leaping dive just before the warning track to send the hitter back to the dugout shaking his head in dismay. This play would have netted him 15,000 UZRs in my book. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4472[/ATTACH] In fact, thanks to his performance, Buxton has put Cedar Rapids back on the map since, well, since the time someone actually penciled Cedar Rapids on a map. Buxton has more speed than the entire Fast & Furious franchise. He has more tools than Home Depot. His future is so bright that we will excuse him when he wears sunglasses indoors even though that is the douchiest move ever. The Twins and scouts will tell you that they knew this would his path from day one. From the moment they laid eyes on kicking up dust rounding the bases in the Georgia clay they knew he was special. When it comes to drafting players, Terry Ryan said that the scouts will be looking for the skills rather than the results. Buxton, said Ryan, had all the skills. Not some: All the skills. It would only be a matter of time before this kid turns into a full-blown super-duper-star. Of course, that’s not the case. It takes plenty of conditioning throughout the minor leagues to develop any player into major-league ready contributor. Rarely can a player simply advance without the necessary prep time. While Buxton came to the Twins organization teeming with talent, there are some adjustments the 19-year-old has made – particularly to his approach at the plate. Prior to his draft Buxton was on the radars of all the prospect hounds. In this , we see Buxton, a few months away from his national selection, putting on a display in front of scouts: [ATTACH=CONFIG]4486[/ATTACH] Look at the length of that stride. With an upright and open stance, Buxton has a significant leg lift and then brings it in. This generates power but leaves him susceptible to more polished pitching. Now, compare that approach to his current model, a little over a year later in this clip supplied by Heinitz Photography: [ATTACH=CONFIG]4487[/ATTACH] Buxton now exhibits a widened base with little stride in his swing. Mechanically speaking, this reduces the potential head movement and should improve contact -- which is very important for someone with his speed. He will soon be the Florida State League’s problem – whose pitchers are just recovering from the destruction left behind by Hurricane Sano – but Buxton’s ability to make large scale adjustments to improve his long-term effectiveness bodes well. While the scouts get a lot of adulation for finding and signing Buxton, credit goes to the Twins instructors and coaches as well for refining what could be a once-in-a-lifetime-type talent.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4428[/ATTACH]On Tuesday night the Minnesota Twins were mounting an assault in the eighth inning on Phillies reliever Mike Adams. Having just relinquished the tying run the half-inning prior, the Twins had runners on the corners and one out. The Outfield’s “Your Love” blasted over Target Field’s sound system indicating that Josh Willingham would be arriving to the plate. Adams, however, was able to get Willingham to pop out in foul territory for the inning’s second out. This brought Justin Morneau to the plate with two down. The Phillies countered with the left-handed Antonio Bastardo. Morneau fouled off four tough pitches before he laced a line drive to center to score Jamey Carroll, giving the Twins the lead which would later be preserved by Glen Perkins in the ninth. In a nutshell, this is the major difference between the team’s two more prominent bats in the middle of the lineup. Willingham, who leads the team with 10 home runs, has seen his overall batting average slip to .214 and has hit .212 in 65 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. Morneau, who has not homered since April 28, has been able to find other ways to drive in runs when needed and has provided a .359 batting average in his 78 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. Willingham’s power has still been a major factor for the lineup but his inability to keep the ball on the playing surface and reach safely has decreased his potency. His pop out to third base on Tuesday was a prime example of his struggles. Equipped with a significant upper-cut swing which helped him take to the skies and jack 35 home runs last year, this same method has been a detriment to him this year. According to Fangraphs.com, Willingham has hit 70 fly balls and 17 of those have not left the infield. That 24.3% infield fly ball rate is second in all of baseball -- behind only Atlanta’s BJ Upton (who is currently impressing his new team with a .161 average) -- and well above his career rate of 13%. This is the main reason his batting average on balls in play has dropped to a career-low .258. Willingham recently told the Star Tribune’s Sid Hartman that: Judging by his splits, Willingham is actually performing better in counts in which he is ahead in the count this year in comparison to last year. This year, he’s batting .273/.500/.545 compared to .244/.473/.494. Where he is experiencing the most decline is in even counts (first pitch, 1-1, 2-2). In 2011, he hit a robust .284/.308/.607 with 17 of his 35 home runs. This year it’s down to .227/.292/.485 and 5 dingers. A cursory search at TexasLeaguers.com’s PitchF/X tool shows that Willingham has seen some of the cherry pitches disappear from a year ago as opponents adjust. In the 1-1 count last year, Willingham saw 40% fastballs. It is down to 30% this year. In 2-2 counts, his slider percentage when up from 20% to 28%. This shows that teams are approaching Willingham slightly different and may be the cause of his high percentage of infield flies. While Willingham is having problems lofting fly balls out of the infield, Morneau is unable to lose them over the fence. Like Willingham, Morneau has also hit 70 fly balls this season yet only two have had enough distance to them so he could jog around all the bases. Morneau’s home runs-to-fly balls rate is at a career-low 2.9%. To put that into context, the 2.9% rate is the 11th-lowest in the majors, squeezing the one-time slugger in between such power threats as Juan Pierre (2.3%) and Marco Scutero (3.3%). Morneau seems flummoxed by this development. In his conversation with Star Tribune’s Jim Souhan Morneau said that he’s doing everything he had in past years but the results are not showing. But will they turn into homers? There could be dozens of factors playing into Morneau’s lack of home runs. Mechanics, injury and age could all be contributors. Mechanically, he’s flying open more than he had in past seasons, which may limit his able to drive the ball down in the zone that he once had demolished regularly. Take a look as his home runs by location since 2008: [ATTACH=CONFIG]4429[/ATTACH] He was able to launch plenty of home runs on pitches right down the middle and middle-low. If a hitter is flying open, that pitch becomes increasingly difficult to drive. Now, the only two home runs he has hit this year have come on pitches inside and out of the zone – a spot easier to drive if a hitter is flying open: [ATTACH=CONFIG]4430[/ATTACH] Beyond that, Morneau’s average distance on his fly balls are down considerably too. According to BaseballHeatMaps.com, from 2010 to 2012, he averaged 278 feet per fly ball. That’s down to 260 this year. Additionally, the speed in which the ball leaves his bat is also down. The extremely small sample size notwithstanding, HitTrackerOnline.com says Morneau’s two home runs averaged an exit speed of 101.4 miles per hour whereas it was 104.4 in 2012, 102.4 in 2011 and 104.9 in 2010. At this rate, if the average speed off of the bat decline is any indication, it seems difficult to believe that Morneau is “just missing” and that there is something else behind his power outage. The Twins tandem in the heart of the order are both having down years for separate reasons. Both, too, are potential trade candidates at the deadline. However, at this pace, the return for either would be quite underwhelming unless they are able to increase their production soon.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4406[/ATTACH]With the exception of one seasons in the early 1980s, Dick Bremer’s rich, jovial voice has been the definite sound of summer for Minnesota Twins fans in the Upper Midwest since 1983. His professionalism, knowledge and ability to entertain a wide audience for many years are the reason the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame recently selected him for induction. This honor, without question, was well deserved. It is interesting to think how people watch and understand the game of baseball has changed radically from his first days on the job. Back then the bulk of statistical analysis was being done covertly using computers the size and weight of a Kenmore dishwasher (and presumably in mom’s basement). In the same year Bremer began his Twins broadcasts, Bill James released the 1983 Baseball Abstract. In it he summarized the understanding of the game by writing that the walk was greatly undervalued as an offensive weapon and that it was viewed as a “random result of being at bat when a pitcher is stricken with control trouble” rather than a skill. In that same book, James wondered why baseball fans at that time focused too much on the results. Like wins and losses for pitchers, the RBI instead of the men who got on base to create the opportunity, and so on. “If the food is good,” wrote James, “you tip the waitress. Sabermetricians are an odd lot. We always want to know what the recipe was.” That’s the best definition I have ever heard for statistical analysis. Statistical analysis of baseball is wanting to know the recipe. Since then the publication of Moneyball and the rise of websites like Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs have given a broader appeal and understanding to baseball fans regarding the concepts that influence the game, like the importance of walks and beyond. The knowledge of what goes in the recipe has grown tenfold as well as the access to those ingredients too. On the mainstream side, thirty years have passed and baseball’s broadcasters are still wrestling with how – of even if – they should communicate these findings to their audience. While there are some markets who have included some of the principles in their broadcasts, Minnesota has not been one of them. The Twins’ radio broadcaster Cory Provus suggested that his medium is not designed to be able to properly inform without the visuals to drive it home. How about television? Dick Bremer shares his thoughts: How do you see advanced stats as it relates to broadcast today? “Stats have mushroomed into a completely different stratosphere. They call it “broadcasting” because you have to include as many people as you can. I think the new math in baseball tends to exclude a lot of people because a lot of people don’t comprehend it…yet. As we move forward, it will become more and more a part of the lexicon of baseball and it will be incorporated more into the broadcast.” Should broadcasters discuss some of the statistical analysis and advanced metrics most teams use in some capacity for roster-building? “I think it is getting to that point, I don’t know if it is quite there yet because I don’t know if our average viewer knows what WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is. When it gets to that point, then I think that our broadcast and other broadcasts will find it more mainstream subject matter to talk about. I just don’t think it is there yet. If we came on with Batting Average On Balls In Play, for instance, I think our audience – a significant portion of it – still would be, well, what’s that mean as opposed to batting average? Batting average is easy to explain though it is not the ideal stat to determine a hitter’s value in a lineup, but that’s something that everyone can comprehend. We still are in the business of trying to include people and not exclude them." How have the numbers, stats and analysis changed in over your career in the broadcast booth? “When I started this each team produced one sheet, front and back, for their press box. Now it’s five and you get the stat pack which is twenty-some pages and that doesn’t even begin to tell you the numbers you are speaking of, you know, what a player’s Wins Above Replacement is. That doesn’t even touch that and that is still so much more numerical information then we can give in a broadcast.” Television is a medium that gives the opportunity to put visuals of stats on the screen. “When we started giving more and more on the screen, the internal debate among play-by-play guys was now do we still need to give the count? Or do we mention that there are two outs? Or can people see the two dots on the screen? I think the consensus among most play-by-play guys is that we still need to do it because people are doing other things and they’re not locked in on the screen studying everything like some people are but most people are not so you still have to do the basics. Now, if information is given on the screen, the question is maybe the announcer should give other information then what we have to watch for is it becoming a mass of numbers. Even before sabermetricians became more common in baseball that was our great concern: What are we doing on television? We can do some things on TV that they cannot do radio. But are we giving people too many numbers? If you put up a screen full of numbers then you need to leave it on the screen so people can go ‘Ok, alright, ok I get it, this is what they are trying to say’ well then you are not watching the game.” Len Kasper and the Chicago Cubs WGN broadcasts do a regular Stats Sunday feature to discuss the concepts to the fans. Could you see FSN doing something similar? “Absolutely, to educate people, which is what we try to do and is one of our functions - to educate people about how the game is played and how decisions are made by people in the front office – absolutely I can see that happening. It hasn’t happened yet and maybe it is something that, to Len’s point, we should be adapting to or including in our broadcast. Anything that adds to or enhances the enjoyment of the game, that’s our job.” You’ve been broadcasting with the Twins since before the Moneyball area. Have you noticed many changes in the game? “Since then, you’ve seen it everywhere; you’ve seen it in the Twins organization. People are far more aggressive in analyzing the game mathematically. I think most baseball executives still need the new math to pass the eye test – what they see on the field. Are there numbers that support this? One thing that I saw years ago was that Wins Above Replacement was suggesting that Alexi Casilla was a really good middle infielder. I don’t know if anyone who saw him play the game believed that but yet you can find numbers out there that supported that. There’s been a change in that direction, there’s no question, and where it will lead I don’t know, but you still need scouts’ eyes and general managers’ eyes to see what the numbers might support." How about having an analyst dedicated to talking about the statistical side of the game in the broadcast? “If baseball’s new math becomes more mainstream, yeah, and it might very well be heading in that direction. What we have to do as broadcasters though is not talk over the heads of too many people and to the extent that most of our audience does not want to or can’t comprehend baseball’s new math, how much time would we spend trying to educate them over the course of an evening’s broadcast? What is Wins Above Replacement? I hate to keep using that one but that’s actually one of the more elementary ones in terms of explaining what it means. We’re still wondering once or twice a year if we should explain the Infield Fly Rule.”

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4379[/ATTACH]The Minnesota Twins made a significant move today in the farm system, moving third base prospect Miguel Sano from Fort Myers (A+) to New Britain (AA) reported CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman and was confirmed by 1500ESPN’s Darren Wolfson. Sano was posting remarkable numbers in the Florida State League. Prior to today’s Miracle game – in which Sano belted his 15th and 16th home runs of the year – Sano’s .629 slugging percentage was leading the league. That power output looks even better in comparison to the rest of the FSL, a notoriously pitcher-friendly league, where the average slugging percentage is .378. Over the last few seasons, Sano had made some progress at the plate and has quieted his pre-swing movement resulting in his best season to date in his professional career. Insiders have made comments saying that Sano is not necessarily a candidate for relocation away from third. After a season with 42 errors, Sano has trimmed that down to a more manageable 11 gaffs so far this year. Miracle manager told 1500 that he would be hesitant to moving him from the position and also said that roving instructor Paul Molitor has been working hard with improving his defense. What can Sano expect from Double-A? At 20 years old, Sano will join just two other hitters in the Eastern League (Jose Ramirez and Xander Bogaerts) who cannot legally purchase beer. Competition and strategy increases significantly over the lower levels as well. The talent is greater and the pitching is more polished. Sano is now one level closer to making good on his promise to reach the major leagues this season. If he is able to rip apart Eastern League pitching like he did to the Florida State League, it would be difficult to keep him down.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4366[/ATTACH]Since 2010 the Minnesota Twins starting rotation has averaged a velocity of 90 miles per hour, which has been the lowest velocity in the American League. In that time, they have struck out the fewest amount of hitters (14.8%), had the third-highest ERA (4.76) and second-highest contact rate (83.6%). In efforts to improve in these areas the Twins selected Kohl Stewart, a fireballer out of a Houston prep school whose skill set are projected to eventually help the rotation out of the lowly doldrums. Armed with a mid-90s fastball that touches 97, Stewart, a Texas A&M recruited quarterback, has mowed down Texas hitters for several years and has jumped up on scouts’ radars as of late. With a decent frame to grow into, the 18-year-old right-hander grabbed the Twins’ attention enough to make him their fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft. Stewart knows that his mid-90s fastball is his centerpiece in his burgeoning repertoire. All pitchers know that they need to key everything off of their fastballs. Some have better fastballs than others. Stewart, however, is not the others. His fastball reaches 97 miles per hour – a velocity only a few arms are ever blessed with reaching. For the Twins, that’s just Glen Perkins who is capable of reaching that speed. “There are days where you’re not going to have that pitch, but my fastball is a very comfortable pitch for me,” Stewart told reporters on his post-draft conference call. “I like to use both sides of the plate and work off my fastball. My slider is probably my second best pitch, with my curveball and changeup. I’m really comfortable throwing any pitch at any count.” Of course, velocity means nothing without movement or location but Stewart is working on that. Although Stewart says he feels comfortable throwing his fastball regularly and in any situation, it is the success of his secondary pitches that will help him become a starter in the major leagues. After all, two-pitch pitchers wind up in the bullpen – not the intended destination of a fourth overall selection. A starter needs three or more offerings in order to thrive. Currently, Stewart is a two pitch pitcher. Stewart has his plus-plus fastball and his plus-slider but he has also worked on developing a slower curve as well as a change-up. He has also tinkered with a sinker, something that keeps right-handers off-balanced. “My slider is more effective right now, just ‘cause I started throwing my curveball just this year. My changeup has definitely come around. I’ve thrown that a lot more in the last year. And, I even have a little bit of a sinker just to give me something else to go hard in on righties. The sinker has kind of come to fruition, just in the last couple of weeks -- just throwing bullpens and messing around with some things.” Overall, Stewart has clean and effortless mechanics. He does not possess any herky-jerky movement or any red flags like an inverted W arm action or any wasted lower-half motion that would put added stress on his suddenly valuable appendage. The mechanics, velocity and make-up are things that can be built upon. Stewart, however, admits that there is plenty he needs to work on in order to become a successful major league starter. His slider, for one, is an area of his game he would like to improve upon. Scouts have called it a “wipeout” slider – one that has a ton of glove-side run for him – but ultimately does not look that appetizing to right-handed hitters as it disappears over the left-handed batter’s box. “There’s a lot of things I need to develop. I need to work on throwing my slider inside to righties. Sometimes I let it get away, throw it too hard and it will go away to righties.” No doubt that Stewart has a ton of promise but the fact he is a high school arm does mean he will produce the kind of return on investment like the collegiate counterparts like Mark Appel and Jonathan Gray do. A 2010 study in the Wall Street Journal found that high school pitchers taken in the first round tended to command more of a bonus than the college brethren, who were also able to realize their potential much swiftly. That doesn’t mean Stewart has anymore likelihood of becoming Todd Van Poppel or Dylan Bundy as it does anymore than a found quarter on the ground coming up heads over tails. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan made it clear what they are looking for when they make a selection, and it has little to do with the current status or statistics. The scouts are looking for the skills, tools, body, competitiveness and attention that will project well for the draftee when they are 22 or 23 years old. The scouting department loves Stewart’s makeup and his athleticism. Those two qualities mean more long-term than his current talent alone. The Twins are investing in the long-term future with their number one pick. Stewart can potentially give them a front of the rotation arm that can miss bats which has been desperately needed in Minnesota for a long time. http://apps.startribune.com/most_popular/?cmd=inc&type=view&section=/sports/twins/blogs&story_id=210525781

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4314[/ATTACH]With the fourth overall pick waiting for them on Thursday night, the Minnesota Twins are poised to choose from one of several high profile picks. Rich with talent in the lower levels of the farm system, the organization has another chance at the fourth overall pick to backfill the minors with another highly-skilled player and continue to construct a solid future. Among the experts’ predictions for what could be available for the Twins at number four pick include pitchers Mark Appel, Jonathan Gray and Kohl Stewart as well as infielder/outfielder Kris Bryant. Of course, simply having a high pick does not ensure can’t miss talent. Equipped with a scouting background which dates back to 1980 with the New York Mets, Twins general manager Terry Ryan knows this time of year well. As a general manager, he is aware of the effects missed opportunities in the draft can have on team-building. After all, the mid-1990s picks provided very little return in later years, one reason for the team’s late decade decline. Not long ago, Ryan took the time to answer a few of our questions regarding the scouting process and his role in the identification of the upcoming fourth overall pick in the amateur draft. Terry Ryan on understanding the limitations of the capacity of the general manager in scouting draft pick: “Over the years I’ve realized that the less you do that, the more dangerous you are. If you are involved in that daily, you can slot guys very easily and put ‘em where they belong. If you just dabble in that thing …it’s not a good thing. I learned that when I became one of those special assignment guys. You shouldn’t get too wrapped up in the good days/bad days but you certainly don’t have a good flavor for what’s nationwide. We got plenty of people out there and if they want me to see a guy I probably will. But I don’t see it as a necessity as a General Manager to see them.” Ryan on letting his scouting staff do their jobs: “If I go see a guy and we got seven guys that are all over this guy and I go in and I don’t like him, what am I going to do? Overrule seven other guys? I don’t see it as a necessity to see the guys but if they want me to, I will.” Ryan on the difficulty of projecting Byron Buxton, who played a low-level of competition in Georgia: “Not at all. Especially a guy like [buxton] because there is no doubt he can throw – in fact, I saw him pitch, which wasn’t exactly what I had in mind – but you know he can run and you know he has range, ‘cause he’ll show you that when he goes to get a ball. The other things when you see a guy in a situation like Buxton in southern rural Georgia, I was fortunate enough to see him play against a good ballclub from Atlanta and that was a plus. Regardless of the competition, we’re still looking at skills and tools and body and competitiveness and attention and urgency. All that stuff.” Ryan on cross-checkers and seeing guys: “Now days players get seen so much more than we use to be able to back in the 1980’s. In Chicago, for instance, or Minnesota you might see a high school guy one game you got to make a decision. If you are a cross-checker – I’m not talking about an area guy – if you are a cross-checker and you get one look at a guy – and you’re probably fortunate – you make a decision, you put a number on him and then you move on to the next guy. That’s what cross-checkers are paid to do and it is a difficult job but it can be done.”

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4255[/ATTACH]Who IS This Guy? The legend of the power of six-foot-five, 215-pound Kris Bryant has increased rapidly over his career at the University of San Diego, reaching He-Man-esque proportions in his senior year after he launched 30 bombs. It was not just the volume that drew scouts’ attention; it was the distance that helped him ascended up teams’ draft boards. Reportedly, the corner infielder hit a blast that was estimated over 500 feet when it cleared an 80-foot tall light tower at his university’s home stadium. Some suggest those estimates were low. No matter, the 21-year-old Bryant has smacked 54 dingers in his three-year collegiate career and has mashed his way into one of the top draft choices in the nation. Who Could He Be? An offensive monster, that’s for sure. The right-handed hitting Bryant employs a wide base, a stance that seems to have developed in his more recent collegiate years. He has a minimal swing, keeping his head and lower half still during his weight transfer but creates a substantial amount of torque with his hips and a strong front side. Bryant’s swing was constructed, he said, by his father, a former Boston Red Sox draftee. Citing Ted Williams’ method from his book, The Science of Hitting, Bryant incorporated the upward swing to counter the downward flight of the ball, attempting to achieve a more flush point of contact. The slight uppercut swing – along with a minimalist weight transfer and extremely well-leveraged front side – has created a ton of big fly balls for the University of San Diego infielder. This year, he has jacked 30 in the regular season – a USD school record in addition to the NCAA Division I leader. In fact, the next closest total to Bryant’s was 19. Bryant’s home run power is not a mess created by the TING! of the aluminum bat either. College baseball has switched to composite bats which has muted some of the speed at impact – not nearly as much as a wood bat but the change has certainly has quelled the home run totals as of late. Judging from his big bop potential, it is not surprising that he had an abundance of walks. The 57 he drew were tied for the NCAA lead in that category as well. Most of those were not necessarily a product of patience but simply that teams refused to pitch to him. Seeing a pitch in the strike zone was such an infrequently occurrence through the first 33 games of the season, that the Rich Hill, USD’s manager, moved him to the lead-off spot in order to get a few more pitches to hit. That said, Bryant’s plate coverage is also supposed to be thing of beauty. According to an LA Times story, during Bryant’s freshman year, the University of San Francisco’s coach ordered his pitcher to throw out of the zone to the San Diego slugger. After a majestic home run, the coach scolded his pitcher on throwing the ball over the plate. San Francisco’s catcher came to his pitcher’s defense, saying the pitch was at least two-and-a-half balls off of the plate. How Soon Could He Be Playing In Target Field? As a college draftee, Bryant is expected to move up the ranks quickly. You could easily envision him tearing apart Appalachian League pitching so his starting point following the draft is likely at A ball – either Cedar Rapids or Fort Myers. The downside to his development will be the switch to wood bats and facing tougher competition. While with USD, teams did not challenge him, which led to a high number of walks. In the minors, he’ll start seeing hard-throwing, big-bending and precision-guided pitching as he moves up the ladder. If The Twins Draft This Guy, They Messed Up Because… The list is short: He’s not a pitcher. And the Twins need more top-tiered pitching. Outside of that, there is not much else that would constitute a good reason for not selecting Bryant at number four. Additionally, massive power in college does not necessarily translate to massive major league success. Look at former collegiate slugger Pete Incaviglia. Inky hit 49 home runs in 75 games with Oklahoma State in 1985, setting the college record for home runs in a single season. While he displayed 25-30 home runs power for the Rangers in the mid-to-late 1980s, his inability to make consistent contact led to his move to a role-player position. Bryant obviously has more tools than Incaviglia, including speed and defensive prowess, but there is always the chance his hitting never translates. If The Twins Draft This Guy, They Nailed It Because… Bryant is not supposed to be around at the fourth pick. The consensus among the draft experts is that he will be off-the-board by the third pick. If, for some divine reason, the three teams ahead of the Twins (Astros, Cubs and Rockies) decide to go another direction, the organization should be thankful to have a talent like Bryant entire the system. Miguel Sano may be the third baseman for the foreseeable future, but Bryant is skilled enough – and definitely has the power stroke for -- to a move to a corner outfield position. --- Twins Daily MLB Draft Player Profiles: Monday, May 20-- Sean Manaea, SP Tuesday, May 21-- Austin Meadows, OF Wednesday, May 22-- Trey Ball, OF Thursday, May 23-- Ryan Stanek, RHP Friday, May 24-- Clint Frazier, OF Tuesday, May 28-- Reese McGuire, C Wednesday, May 29—Braden Shipley, RHP Thursday, May 30 -- Kohl Stewart, RHP For MLB Draft Day Coverage, make sure you follow @TwinsDaily on Twitter!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4211[/ATTACH]With the advancement of statistical analysis playing a prominent role in major league front offices, some teams have begun to gear their broadcast teams towards being able to move the dialogue forward with their fan base over the airwaves. The Houston Astros hired Robert Ford and former major league knuckler Steve Sparks to push the needle for the revamped front office, which includes plenty of brain power making decisions based on sciences rather than guts, instincts and chew spit. Yet, for every progressive pair like Ford and Sparks, there’s the standard Hawk Harrelson in the White Sox booth who denounced the intellects at every turn. In fact, when asked if advanced stats would be something viewers would like in broadcasts during an MLB Network show, Harrelson scoffed. “It’s not ready yet,” the White Sox broadcaster said. “Down the road, 40 or 50 years, when you can put some of those categories, you get your OBPS and all that, your VORPs, when you put in TWTW [“The Will To Win”], and interface those numbers with TWTW, that category, then you might have something cooking.” Beefing up the numbers in a broadcast is a hard pill to swallow for some teams. After all, the concepts, stats and acronyms are still foreign to a significant portion of the fans. There is likely a percentage of listeners who fully believe The Will To Win trumps any number alive. Advanced statistics and sabermetrics are often thought of as a niche. Locally, the Twins hired Chicago-area native Cory Provus away from the Milwaukee Brewers before the 2012 season. Provus was kind enough to offer his insights about the broadcast industry and the challenges it presents in discussing and promoting some of those concepts on the radio: How do you feel about advanced stats and their role in the game today – particularly in your broadcasts? The more baseball I am around now, I think it is imperative to at least pay attention to the metrics that are in the game today. They are a prominent part of the game and they’re becoming vital to the way rosters are being assembled – and I’m not just talking about the 25-man, but I think throughout your system. At the same time you have to remember the medium, particularly the medium I work in, how often you use numbers – in the medium of radio – where you just don’t have the capability through numbers on the screen and let people digest that. For example, this is just me, but I process things visually so if you are trying to explain to me – or anybody – if I had a question about balls in play…I had a question for [Glen] Perkins about that in Detroit last week about the average that players and pitchers try to shoot for. Only he was explaining it to me and I was trying to process it and then I remembered the visual of it and it starts to sink in. So maybe I take that selfish approach to the broadcast and I am always conscious of the medium we work that we don’t have the ability to throw a graphic on the screen and let people visualize it and then digest it. Do you think you can convey the concepts of advanced metrics doing the broadcasts? I think that you can, not so much metrics, but for example, I went on Fangraphs.com for a while this morning and I wanted to compare John Lackey in 2007 – that great year he had and won 19 games and finished like third in the Cy Young balloting that year – and looking at Fangraphs and what he was throwing, the average speeds he was throwing, to what he was throwing. Now, the sample is a lot smaller now because of the injury aspect, but I was somewhat surprised that the fastball velocity is pretty constant, pretty consistent with what he did in ’07 compared to what he’s throwing now, he’s average is about 91 with his fastball which is exactly what he was throwing in ’07. However what I find interesting is the differences between ’07 and today is he is throwing more sliders now and less curveballs. And that’s I think probably because of the injury. I remember [Milwaukee Brewers’ radio broadcaster] Bob Uecker told me one time…I thought the slider was the most dangerous pitch on your shoulder on your arm on your elbow, and he always told me the curveball puts more strain, even though you throw it with less velocity, the tighter grip and the more torque you’re putting on it. So that makes sense when you look at the injuries [Lackey] is coming back and what he is throwing now and what he was throwing in the past. I found that very interesting. Do you use any other sites in preparation for your broadcasts? I look at BrooksBaseball.net just for my own knowledge. I’ll take a look at that from time to time. I am aware that there is a demographic of the audience that loves that stuff and thrives on that stuff and it is important. But also remember that I think my primary job is to tell a story. And I would rather tell stories based on person to person contact, based on what I found out that day from talking to the players and coaches. While I think stats are important, I also think stats are a crutch. I think that it goes back to the way I was brought up in baseball broadcasting where dead air isn’t the worst thing in the world. In baseball it is good to let game breathe; Let people hear the sounds, let people hear the emotions of the crowd, the vendors hawking programs and hot dogs, hearing the PA guy, hearing the crack of the bat. I would rather do that then get into stat after stat after stat. Are there any stats you prefer over others? I think on-base percentage is a stat I do rely on. I think too many times I go back and listen to my own stuff and I think, man I keep bringing up batting average. Danny [Dan Gladden] and I both think on-base percentage should trump batting average. We are of that belief that, maybe we should be better at a team to hammer that stat across more than batting average. Stats are important, they’re a vital part of the game but I think that often times, they are used as a crutch. And I would always rather tell a story than give a stat. Do you feel it to be part of your job to educate the listeners on understanding these stats and their context? Part of our job is to education as well. Educate about strategy, Educate about rules, and this day and age now, educate about metrics and the way they are applied to a current game and to the ways teams are being built. You worked with the legendary Bob Uecker in Milwaukee prior to working with the Twins. Is there anything different about the way that broadcast was approached? Was there any advanced stats discussions? Bob and I were telling stories and having fun. Trying to inform and education but keeping people entertained. That’s what we tried to do every night. I don’t think we got into sabermetrics in any way, shape or form. If it does not fit well in the broadcast, where do you see the conversation being had about statistical analysis on the air? I think it’s a good conversation during a rain delay. I think if we have time to kill during a rain delay, it’s not a bad thing to approach but I go back to how many people are really going to understand it with the medium of radio? Are we going to be throwing so many names and so many numbers across without the benefit of the visual, is everybody really going to get it? I don’t know. I would think that some people would be confused by it, because I would be confused by it. Summarize your approach to the broadcast. It’s fun. It’s a game. It’s baseball. It’s not rocket science; it’s not trying to solve the financial crisis around the world here. We’re trying to give people a break from their lives for three-and-a-half hours. Let them kind of laugh, let them learn, let them have fun, let them hear something that maybe brings them back to their childhood. That’s what I try to do each and every day.