April 30, 201214 yr You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?491-The-Hammer-Has-Landed
April 30, 201214 yr He has just been a beast. It would have been awesome to see him hit for the cycle on the first game from paternity leave!
April 30, 201214 yr I think he can avoid the slumps if he gets some form of protection from Morneau and Mauer. At least I hope.
April 30, 201214 yr Nice post Nick. So much negativity to start the season. It will be interesting to see if he can keep the average up while still hitting for power.
April 30, 201214 yr I know that I (and many others) said that the Twins got the best player in free agency (between Willingham, Cuddyer and Kubel) based on historical, but he's been beyond expectations. I mean, we all know he's going to end up hitting .260 and striking out a ton, but to this point, I have been incredibly impressed by his offensive game.
April 30, 201214 yr Yes. Very impressive and $3M a season less than what Cuddyer cost. At this point, there is no comparison. I am sure that Twins' scribes are missing Cudduyer because he was a talking head and always had a quote, and Willingham is more reserved, but so far all more than good
April 30, 201214 yr Last sentence of the 3rd paragraph is the money quote: "making him an ideal fit between Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau." Happy he's finally slotted in there rather than batting 5th behind Morneau. It's nice to turn LH relievers back into the LOOGYs they should be, instead of having them rack up too many outs against the M&M boys.
April 30, 201214 yr Againts my norm, rather quickly I felt pretty strongly that The Hammer was a "mistake killer." I haven't changed my mind yet. He just crushes mistake pitches and he hasnt' missed many so far. As pointed out, naturally his average is going to fall to earth (I don't think the 0.395 BABIP is quite sustainable!). But I was surprised to see how much he walks (a little over league average throughout his career), so that helps get him on base when he doesn't get that mistake to send screaming against or over a wall. He reminds me of a mini-Thome a little...lower average (probably directly related to the big power swing), fair amount of walks with a good eye for strike zone, lots of strikeouts (again, that big power swing), and obvious strength when he hits one on the screws. All to slightly less extremes than Thome.
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