Games » Minnesota Twins
Sep13How things are connected
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
One of the recurring themes on this website is how things are connected in ways that might not be apparent when looking at a box score. Tuesday night’s game had several excellent examples.
For instance: Starter Bruce Chen’s pitching made the Minnesota Twins’ coaches bring their infield in to cut off a run at the plate in the third inning.
Bringing the infield in is a semi-desperation move. It puts (I’ve read) about 100 points on the hitter’s average because the infielders have less range laterally (and if 100 points isn’t correct, it’s in the ballpark). By bringing the infielders in, the other team acknowledges it can’t afford to give up another run. Accordingly, the move often is reserved for late in a game.
The fact that Minnesota had its infield in when the Twins trailed by only two runs in the bottom of the third is a good indication of what the Twins’ coaches thought of Chen’s stuff. They weren’t sure the Twins could score three runs in the remaining six innings … and they were right. So infield in early can tell you how the opposition pitcher is throwing.
The fact that the Minnesota infield was in is also connected to the Royals’ reputation for running the bases. Back in April, first-base coach Doug Sisson told me this was part of the Royals’ plan to establish an identity as aggressive base runners. That would make opposing pitchers throw more fastballs and pitch out of the slide step and make opposing defenses pinch the middle infielders and rush throws. Melky Cabrera was on third base because of the last one.
Alex Gordon led off the third with a home run and after that Melky slapped the ball down the left-field line. Melky never hesitated rounding first, even though the ball was not going to get very deep into left. On the other hand, Joe Benson, the Twins’ left fielder, was going to field the ball going away from second base (one of the cues for advancing to the next base). Benson got in a rush and when that happens, the bottom half gets out in front of the top half and the release point gets messed up. Benson sailed the throw into short right field and Melky was on third. The Royals base running caused an E-7.
Here’s another connection: Billy Butler’s lack of foot speed cost Eric Hosmer a hit. With the Twins’ infield in, Minnesota starter Carl Pavano walked Billy. Now the Twins’ coaches decided to keep the corners in and put their shortstop and second baseman at double-play depth. (Which is kinda weird. They had nobody out, and playing for two up the middle is conceding the run at third. Maybe the Twins planned to let Billy chase a bad pitch, and when he wouldn’t, decided to go for two.) Hosmer hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Trevor Plouffe’s right, and Plouffe dived to knock it down. No way Plouffe gets Hosmer at first, so he went to second and forced out Billy. One player’s running speed hurts another player’s average.
And here’s one more: In the first inning, the Twins’ Ben Revere served a single into left and then took off for second. Catcher Salvador Perez gunned him down … but second baseman Johnny Giavotella dropped the ball. A second baseman’s glove makes a catcher’s arm look worse than it is.
Because things are connected.
Another connection
Giavotella, Hosmer and Carbrera all made outstanding plays on fly balls and made Bruce Chen look a little better than he was … but Chen still was really good.
Getting smarter
After the game, I walked up to Mike Moustakas and asked, “How does it feel to hit a ball 400 feet?” Moose pointed out that he actually hit the ball 410 feet, 6 inches. I told Moose that I couldn’t be happier for him and then asked how that home run changed his next at-bat.
“He started me off with a change-up,” Moose said. Right. In Moose’s first at-bat, Pavano threw four sinking fastballs, and the fourth one left the yard. Pavano has been around, so Mike was not getting another fastball until Pavano had set it up with another pitch. So in the next at bat, Pavano threw a change, a sinker and a splitter. See ya. Moose struck out.
I told Moose that when Clint Hurdle was the hitting coach for the Rockies, any Colorado player who hit a home run in batting practice had to hit the next pitch to the opposite field or get fined 50 cents. (I asked why the players would care about half a buck, and Clint said, “They’re competitive, they don’t like to lose.”) Moose said he might have to adopt the policy. If you go yard, don’t expect to see the same sequence in your next at-bat.
The atmosphere
If you watched this game on TV, you saw the team give Mike the silent treatment after he hit that home run. They pretended that they hadn’t noticed that Moose had just hit a moon shot. Once they thought he had had enough, they were all over him, pounding on him and congratulating him.
To me, that’s a big deal. This team is 63-86, fighting to stay out of last place in the division and they still are having fun playing baseball. I get the impression that they all think better times are coming and what’s going on now is temporary.
When I asked Mitch Maier if he wanted to come back to the Royals next season, despite the reduction in his playing time this season, he said, yes, absolutely. Mitch said he could see what was going on with this team and wanted to be here when it started winning consistently. Jeff Francoeur said pretty much the same thing to me. They all believe good times are around the corner and want to be here when they arrive.
Joe Mauer shows what Hosmer’s worth
The Twins’ Joe Mauer was playing first base and failed to handle a throw in the dirt. He juggled the ball and finally dropped it and stuck his shortstop with an E-6. I’ve gotten so used to Eric Hosmer handling those throws that it was kind of shocking to see one butchered. But it was a good reminder of what Hosmer is worth.
A whole bunch of those outstanding plays that Hosmer has listed under his player profile would have been errors without his ability to scoop bad throws. (Sisson says Hosmer is a shortstop who happens to play first base.)
It’s a technicality
After Melky Cabrera hit that double in the third inning, there was an announcement in the press box that it was the first time in baseball history that all three outfielders on one team had hit 40 doubles in a season. Later, they announced that technically it wasn’t true: Melky hit one of his doubles while serving as a designated hitter.
Well, technically I don’t care. It’s still pretty amazing. I told Frenchy about the technicality and he said, “He’ll get another one.” So don’t be surprised if you see another dugout celebration when it happens.
Chen
Gordon
Giavotella
Either last year or the year before, someone else was given the silent treatment... Don't remember who. Made me laugh then and made me laugh last night when I saw it on Crown Vision.
The team's treatment of Moose after his homer made me LOL. After the silence EVERYBODY ran over to him and started pounding him. It looks like a bunch of 10-year olds having a lot of fun, and that's a good thing especially this late in a season.
I think the catcher gets shafted the most because of connections. Pitcher doesn't hold runner on base and steals a base, it goes against catcher. Pitcher is slow to plate and runner steals, it goes against catcher. Pitcher crosses up catcher and throw wrong pitch or wrong location and catcher gets charged with pass ball. Can you tell I have sympathy for the catchers.
Did you happen to ask Yost why he brought the infield in in the fifth inning of the Sept. 5 game? Harden was close to 100 pitches, so the Royals were going to get to see a couple of innings of middle relief.
The fact these guys are still having fun seems significant to me. At this point in the season you'll often hear some version of, "Two weeks from now, I get to choose my own friends."
It's a baseball way of saying I'm ready for this to be over. I assume everybody's tired (I know I am), but these guys seem to like each other and have fun playing together.
To me that's a good sign for the future.
Larry: You might be right about the catcher. When you actually watch the games it becomes clear that the stats generated are helpful in understanding what a player has accomplished, but aren't totally accurate or complete.
Blair: That question was on my list, but I didn't get to it. The best time to ask Yost about something like that is before the game.
After the game everybody's on deadline and people just want their quotes about that night's game.
Yesterday, I was talking to Doug Sisson during Ned's pre-game press conference. Maybe I'll get to it today.
The atmosphere around the Royals is positive as everyone says, but the next step back towards the top of the division is finding starting pitching. We could do worse than resigning Chen who could help the young pitchers see what you can do with guile rather than just trying to overpower everyone. Teaching our potentially young staff to "pitch" rather than just "throw" could speed the Royals ascent to the top.
Joel: After the game Ned Yost talked about Chen's influence on the younger pitchers. Ned said he came across Bruce and Everett Teaford going over video of hitters in Seattle.
Chen has figured out how to stay in the big leagues for a long time and young pitchers could learn a lot from him.
This has been a really rough summer for me personally, and I can honestly say that watching this team this season has consistently been a bright spot in some pretty bleak days. Reading this: "They all believe good times are around the corner and want to be here when they arrive," brought actual tears to my eyes, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! For a long time, this team wasn't just lacking talent and consistency at key positions, it seemed to be lacking in basic teamwork and players' genuine affection for each other and the game itself. That's clearly not the case anymore and it is fantastic to see.
This column and the insights the players and the coaches have so generously shared with you Lee have been such an amazing gift for those of us who have been watching along for a while, but not really seeing the game and its players. Many, many thanks to you and the team who made this all possible.
Kelly: Thanks, readers like you are why this website exists.
Lee: I had the privilege to go to spring training this year. It had been a coouple of years since I had been there. I told my wife that this team was different. They were the same then as now. Having fun, hard working people, keep in mind these were the rookies that would be taking their jobs from them. The sense of team was something I had not seen before in Arizona. Real special bunch of people.
Lee: I had the privilege to go to spring training this year. It had been a coouple of years since I had been there. I told my wife that this team was different. They were the same then as now. Having fun, hard working people, keep in mind these were the rookies that would be taking their jobs from them. The sense of team was something I had not seen before in Arizona. Real special bunch of people.
left out a sentence. Should read Having fun, hard working people. The guys who we thought would make the team were woring with the rookies to improve their game. Then keep in mind these were the rookies that would be taking their jobs from them.
Larry: You often see what you're describing: Chris Getz working with Johnny Giavotella or Brayan Pena working with Salvador Perez.
Someone did it for them and they're passing it along.
I'm telling you, I feel like singing kumbaya after watching these guys play. The have to be having the most fun out of any team that's 20 games under .500. And I'm all for it. Hopefully they're just too young to realize that they should accept losing like this. It's also real good that they are all young "together". It's not like one rookie trying to fit in. To me, seems like incredible team chemistry. Here's to making me NOT look like a buffon living in NJ, and being a die hard Royal fan.
Vinnie: I'm only in the clubhouse once in a while, but I don't get the sense that they're accepting losing. It's pretty quiet in there after a loss.
They do seem to shake the losses off and come back ready to play the next day, though.
Ned Yost made the point that a lot of the young guys won together in the minors and expect to win here.
In the clubhouse Frenchy is giving a hard time to Mitch over his new shoes. Mike Moustakas is worried that the veterans will make him wear a clown costume on the last road trip (dressing the rookies up in ridiculous outfits is a tradition) because he hates clowns. Hosmer gives a live TV interview and gets pelted with gum by Melky.
Then the game starts and Moose dumps the Twins pivot man on a double play. They seem to get the 'play hard/have fun' formula.
You could do a lot worse than being a fan of this team.
I'm with you guys. This team has been a breath of fresh air in spite of their record. I have been a Royal fan since their inception, so I've been through the good, bad and really, really, really bad. However, this franchise began it's turn around IMO on May 30,2006 with the hiring of Dayton Moore. David Glass found a solid, professional baseball man to run his club and he has allowed him to do so. People continue to bash Mr Glass for being tightfisted. Well, until DMGM came along, he did run the team like Walmart because that's what he thought would work. Didn't and he reloaded and brought on Dayton. Yes, GMDM made some questionable FA signings. But his vision was the future, not the then or now. Here's what I wrote to friend of mine who lives in Buffalo. We've never met face-to-face as we became friends through a Fantasy baseball League on-line. But we talk every week at least once and he has mentioned several times how much buzz the Royals have created around the east coast among his friends.
"I'm excited for what we might be building Royals wise (finally). I really felt when we hired Dayton Moore, that would be a big key. Some fans around here are down on him for past FA signings, but he was right in rebuilding the farm system & infrastructure of the org. The FA signings to me, were just a way to buy time to get to where we are headed. David Glass is spending the money to get it done (tho again, fans around here are down big time on him cause his was so tightfisted early in his ownership. Well, he needed a baseball guy to lead; to take charge, run the team, He didn't know any better) GMDM has done just that. We'll see how it pans out."
I believe in this organization, The Glass family, and Dayton Moore. I really believe in these kids and I think they believe in themselves w/o any doubts. The signing of Frenchy & Melky was a perfect blend of talent, energy & chemistry. I just saw a few minutes ago that this outfield is the first to have all three starters with 40 doubles in a season. Well, almost. Melky had one as a DH so not quite official but it'll happen. This is the team. Find a solid #1/#2 starter, along with Chen, Hoch & Crow(?), Teaford (?). I really believe we're on the brink of something special here. Vinnie, you're not a buffoon. Hang in there friend. And I tip my hat to you for remaining loyal back in Jersey. Sorry for the ramble Lee, but this team really, really excites me. Now, if only the rest of the region would began to see the forest from the trees...
I love how much fun Frenchy seems to be having, he can't wipe the smile off his face. After the great plays in Oakland and Seattle, after watching Melky make the great catch last night. He looks like he got caught swiping his kid brother's Halloween candy.
Dave: Most of the people I talk to (and they're people who don't always see eye-to-eye with the orgainzation) seem to think the team is on the verge of something special.
Jeff: Frenchy could get excited at the opening of a candy bar. That kind of energy and enthusiasm rubs off on teammates.
And I need to spell 'organization' right in at least one of the last two posts.
"That kind of energy and enthusiasm rubs off on teammates."
Is it my imagination or is Hosmer starting to look and act like Frenchy's kid brother? He's showing the same type of exuberant aggressiveness and unbridled joy in playing the game that the Handsome Frenchman does. Alex Gordon even looks like he's caught the virus, this year may be the first time I've ever seen him smile.
Jim: I think they're all getting into it and looking forward to next year.
Lee and fellow readers - Why is Sal throwing out fewer than 10% of base stealers so far? He is clearly (in my mind at least) exceeding expectations in calling the game and hitting so far, though I know we have a small sample size. He lets some balls get past him, so I would not rate him as outstanding on that part at the major league level just yet. But why is he, so far, throwing out base runners at a worse rate than any of our guys for years, when he threw them out at over a 40% rate in the minors, and was said to have an incredible, almost unheard of, throwing time?
Steve: As I understand it, the main reason is pitchers being slow to the plate.