jimbo92107

Two things: First, we have little reason to think JO Berrios would have done much better than Tyler Duffey did against the raging bats of Toronto. Which of those two would you rather have traumatized by that experienced, Duffey or Berrios? Second, Duffey clearly was about as nervous and adrenalized as a young guy could get without having a heart attack. His disastrous debut revealed almost nothing about his future career. Despite this one instance, Duffey is not known for hurling a heaping helping of homers.

Looks like you finally arrived at the place you started, but with a better understanding. Yogi Berra's line, "You wouldn't have won if we had beaten you," already contains within it the seed of the same sentiment you paraphrased. Yogi's team, the New York Yankees have a long history of indoctrinating their players with a presumption of not just superiority, but victory. We see it every time the Twins play them, and Minnesota Nice doesn't measure up. We even see it in former Yankees like Eduardo Nunez, who steps up to the plate against every pitcher like he owns the stadium. Of course, a presumption of superiority/victory looks pretty silly when the Twins are over-matched by a team like Toronto (or is it?), but against average teams, that level of inner confidence and expectation of success can help players apply pressure to the opponent, rather than feeling the pressure themselves. A perfect example was Tyler Duffey's debut. By the time he first toed the rubber, he was already defeated. Why? Because he could see his doom in the first six batters, each of whom he knew was capable of jacking a baseball into the second deck. That knowledge, amplified by the situation (professional debut, packed stadium) made it very unlikely that he would succeed. Duffey felt that pressure bearing down on him, and it completely threw him off his game. Suddenly he was yanking fastballs and falling off on curves, getting behind hitters, then piping a fastball over the middle. Duffey had 'lost it' even before they beat him. The only way to counter that pressure is with a heavy dose of presumption. You have to take that mound like you are friggin' Nolan Ryan, own that stadium like Babe Ruth. Doesn't matter if it's true or not; you have to buy into that illusion for the sake of competing. Obviously it can't be completely an illusion; Duffey is a big, strong, skilled pitcher whose stuff can in fact get guys out. But Toronto first six guys were able to convince him otherwise, before they even stepped up. Unfortunately, you can't maintain that attitude without making it a team policy to constantly reinforce it. That's why people find the Yankees so insufferable. They are arrogant because that's an integral part of their coaching. Yogi Berra may have had that attitude all along, but the Yankees also teach it, and it works.

You can't run while straddling a picket fence. Don't even try. It is kind of confusing that the Twins neither traded for talent nor called up guys from their own system, until you realize that it probably just didn't matter. The Twins opted for the future value of patient development, judging that it's better to allow minor league players to continue without big league pressure for a little longer. Wednesday we saw what pressure can do to a young pitcher. Tyler Duffey, probably the most mlb-ready arm in the system, got hammered by the most intimidating lineup in the majors. Clearly nervous, he was yanking his fastballs, falling away on his curves, stuff that's doubtless very unusual for him. He immediately got behind hitters, walked some, and then they punished him relentlessly. Toronto has so many power hitters now, you can't pitch around anybody. In this case (big old 20-20 hindsight) it would have been far better to give Trevor May a spot start. Hopefully Duffey woke up this morning, wiped the sweat off his face and said, "What an awful dream!" Probably he won't look so bad in his next start. Earlier we saw what too much pressure did to Danny Santana. Broke the kid down emotionally, and now he's trying to pick himself up in AAA. Same thing happened to Kennys Vargas and Oswaldo Arcia. The pressure to produce broke them down, and now they're trying to build themselves back up. Both Vargas and Arcia lost the confidence to bash balls over the fence, for fear of striking out. Maybe the hardest thing in pro baseball is learning to deal with failure in a constructive way. You can make the adjustments quickly, slowly, or not at all. The flip side of that argument puts the onus on management. The Minnesota Twins have been sending mixed messages to power hitters for quite a while now. Nearly drove David Ortiz crazy, and he was glad to escape to Boston, where they told him to go ahead and bash balls over the fence, and to hell with the K's. The Twins have always worried a lot about strikeouts, which can be ruinous to the mindset of young power hitters, who need to develop an aggressive approach where the green light is almost always on. You take away that aggression, guess what else goes away? The power. This is probably why it is futile to wish for Adam Brett Walker in a Twins uniform anytime soon. The way the Twins abhor strikeouts, why would they ever consider bringing up a guy that whiffs 40 percent of the time?? Problem is, that still leaves 60 percent of the time that something dramatic happens. Most power hitters are not careful card players; their game is high stakes poker, seven card stud. They get good at reading the tells, and they pounce when they see their pitch. You can't tell these guys to back off and play more carefully. It's not their game.

They refuse to call up the one man that can save them: Oswaldo Arcia. Lefty power bat behind Sano against a soft-tossing rightie pitcher. Boom boom boom boom.

Jermaine Palacios (Spanish for "pertinent palace") sounds like his body is as thin as his bat. Somebody give that kid a sandwich! I still think Der Kid should get hitter of the month. Come on, AA is a lot tougher pitching than that Gulf Coast kiddie pool! Still, it's good that Pertinent Palace looks like a top prospect. Infielders that can hit, can you believe it?

It's the right team for Valencia. Now he can pump iron and try to jack every pitch out of the park, just like when he was with the Twins. And he's probably no worse a 3rd baseman than the one they've got...

LaTroy Hawkins, still throwing 96 friggin' miles per hour. Incredible. I wonder if that guy could rare back and hit 100mph. Wouldn't surprise me.

O'Rourke is fun to watch. He has really good tilt to his curve.

Sad news today. The ballboy hit by the bat died. http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/nine-year-old-kansas-batboy-critically-injured-by-blow-to-head/ Watch it when you swing a baseball bat. Very dangerous.

You can see why they've been playing Der Kid at 1B as well as the outfield. With Eddie Rosario and Aaron Hicks both hitting now, and Byron Buxton coming back to CF, there's no regular spot for Max Kepler in the outfield. He's too much like another Rosario, which is actually a good thing, but we already have one. Fact is, Joe Mauer's bat doesn't fit a power position like 1st base. Kepler's not a big home run hitter either at the moment, but his numbers keep getting better, and it's looking like his power will continue to develop. With all those triples, we know Kepler's got serious speed, too. Sounds like an offensive upgrade, unless/until Kennys Vargas starts really mashing the ball in AA. Having good young prospects is always a positive sign, even if it means pushing aside former superstars like Mauer. The game has always belonged to the 20-somethings, with just a few grizzled 30-somethings to provide mentoring and leadership. Mauer can still play, but right now I don't see how Kepler wouldn't be an improvement at 1st base.

Last year I observed Hicks doing what I called "The French Mistake," h/t to Blazing Saddles, where he'd push his butt away from the plate prior to bringing his hands forward to hit the ball. This ensures that your lower half cannot contribute to the force of your swing, making Hicks an arm hitter. Turning your butt towards the pitcher is the secret of hitting a baseball really hard. It compresses the spring of your legs and allows you to create more propeller rotation of the bat, which needs to be more than 360 degrees to get the ball moving over about 100 mph. Watch the swing of Bryce Harper or Prince Fielder. You see more of their back as they lean into the pitch, which means they're turning their butt farther than Hicks, even the Hicks of today. Their bats go through a propeller rotation well over 360 degrees, sending the ball off their bats at over 105 mph. The extra velocity drives more grounders through the infield and more fly balls over the fence, increasing their batting average, just as it does for Hicks. Point is, Hicks can do this more, too. It starts with turning the butt more, which allows more shoulder turn. No more French Mistake for Hicks. He's finally learning to throw the bat, without quite letting go. This is no fluke; these improvements are here to stay. Aaron Hicks has learned how to swing a baseball bat!

Perkins is having trouble not flying open on his finish. I wonder why. Good ending.

The DP grounder. Patron saint of all pitchers.

Eddie Rosario will have a lot more chances to hit the cycle. Just not tonight.

Yeah, he's had his chances. No more missing baseballs. For shame!

Well, at least Joe didn't hit a dribbler to second.

Hicks now batting lefty... only .248... Damn, he stung that ball, but foul... Beautiful change up. Hat tip. Hicks is swinging the bat so much better these days.

Damn, that guy is flirting with disaster throwing the ball there. Better to walk Dozier than throw it up and in to that particular guy.

Nice at-bat for Polanco. Walks to bring up the Doz.

Esco, yeah! Scores Eddie!!

Get him in, Esco!

Ha! It's like Eddie was listening to 'em in the booth. Rip that triple, you little bastard!

Mlb.com needs to buy a new washing machine, or whatever they're using to push their junk over the net.

See that swing by Jorge Polanco? Much better hands than Danny Santana. Punches his hands through the zone almost the way Rosario does, not quite as much outward snap as Eddie, but a nice, flat drive. With that swing, Polanco will get a lot of hits. The barrel stays in the zone really well. Santana's got a quicker, more sudden swing, but his barrel pulls off the line of the ball far too soon, so he doesn't barrel it up as much as Rosario, and not as much as I predict Polanco will, either.

I was watching a slo-mo of Ryan Zimmerman's swing earlier, and I noticed that Aaron Hicks is swinging the bat almost exactly the way Zimmerman does. The slow leg lift, the bat wave, the whole thing. Seems to work. I should mention the slo-mo was of Zim's home run to left, almost the same spot Hicks just hit one.