Article: Twins Trying To Make Oswaldo Arcia A Complete Hitter

[Parker Hageman]

If it feels like I have dedicated a lot of words in this space to Oswaldo Arcia’s approach at the plate, it is because he remains a work-in-progress and the Minnesota Twins realize this. Arcia has impressed in stretches (like hitting seven home runs in August) but then regresses into a mess as pitchers tie him in knots.

 

With the focus shifting toward 2015, the Twins are doing all they can to mold Arcia into a complete hitter.Early in the season, Fox Sports North’s Roy Smalley pointed out that the Twins were attempting to get Arcia to adjust his hands during the swing to avoid being eaten up by fastballs up in the zone. That is still a project as Arcia has gone 3-for-45 on fastballs in the upper third or higher this year while missing on 48% of his cuts (compared to the 21% league average). More recently, prior to Wednesday’s game Fox Sports North has shown Twins hitting coach Tom Brunansky attempting to break Arcia from the habit of dropping his shoulder and remaining closed in order to handle being pitched away more. Once again, Arcia is hitting a paltry .182 on the outer-half (one of the lowest in the league) while pulling a significant number of those pitches.

 

These areas of his game need to improve.

 

The Twins are also trying to get him to understand how pitchers are attacking him. According to a tweet from the Star Tribune’s La Velle E Neal, manager Ron Gardenhire said the team is having Arcia watch more video to absorb what teams are doing with him. Heat maps from ESPN/TruMedia reveal the simple formula: Fastballs up in the zone, breaking stuff/offspeed down and away.

 

Download attachment: Arcia_Heat Maps.png

It is relatively easy to understand why opposing teams apply this treatment. Because he has such strength combined with a pull-happy tendency, Arcia has detonated pitches middle-in:

 

Download attachment: strike-zone (51).png

Another factor that is involved in his streaky hitting is his pitch selection. In terms of breaking and offspeed pitches, Arcia has chased 44% of those pitches out of the zone compared to the 33% MLB average.

 

The coaching staff obviously has the best insight on how to move forward with Arcia but it is possible that resurrecting a method from his past might help his future.

 

Watching him now, it may be easy to credit Arcia’s aggressive leg kick as a big source for his power generation. True, it does help cultivate power, but Arcia has been as strong as they come with or without that stage in his swing. The model that Arcia uses today had its inception in 2013 while with the Rochester Red Wings. Prior to that, he displayed the muted toe tap stride while in Double-A.

 

http://i.imgur.com/AoaBdR0.gif

Compare that to the current model:

 

http://i.imgur.com/4IOzAsG.gif

 

This is not an intent to discuss the merits of the toe tap versus the leg kick, but you can notice the difference in just the head movement when he strides. In 2012, his head stays on the plane whereas with the current version, the head has noticeable movement and changes planes. Beyond that, because of the timing mechanism in the leg lift, there is less time for pitch recognition before committing to swing, which may explain why he is so susceptible to slower and breaking stuff out of the zone.

 

To be sure, there is little difference in Arcia’s power numbers and strikeout/walk rates from 2012 to now. He had plenty of pop and struck out in a very high proportion of his at-bats in both Double-A and in the majors. Admittedly, major league pitchers are much better at locating their secondary pitches than their Double-A counterparts but Arcia’s previous swing seems to give him more balance, which could translate to handling being pitched away better, and greater opportunity for pitch recognition.

 

When Kennys Vargas came up to the Twins this year, he initially had a big leg kick that was quickly trashed for the muted toe tap. Despite the change, this has not seemed to have stymied Vargas’ power in the least while allowing him to better combat the assortment of secondary offerings of major league pitching. This might be a good opportunity to see if Arcia would be interested in trying the same.

 

The 23-year-old Venezuelan is plenty talented and gifted in the power department. With the team firmly out of any postseason contention, now is the time to make adjustments and improve for next year. There is no need to pull every pitch into the IDS, mostly because every pitch should not be pulled. As the season winds down, the goal is to reduce the number of pitches chased out of the zone and drive some of those away pitches back up the middle and the other way.

 

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[glunn]

I love these articles where the videos illustrate the analysis.  Well done.

[lightfoot789]

Good article.  I'd like to know if history shows Sano and Walker (2 of the better minor league sluggers)  having the same problems as they move thru the system.  If they do - How many guys on the team can you have with the same problem.  Or does that just make you more dangerous down the line up.  Thought process being somebody is going to drive in runs each night because everybody can't be off on the same day.  And when they are on ....................................................

[Boom Boom]

They've brought it up on the broadcast before, and you can see it in in the second clip, that Arcia has been starting with his hands at his shoulders and dropping them as the pitch is delivered.  It's not nearly as evident in the first clip.

[Willihammer]

In the Sept 3 game, Marnie talked about Arcia and Bruno hitting off a tee, trying to stay inside the pitch. He hit a double to left that game too, which was like his 9th hit to LF all year.

[gunnarthor]

Nice write up.

 

I don't know why but I'm really not worried about Arcia figuring this out. He's still young and has plenty of time to figure it out.  And while he's figuring it out, he sure can punish a mistake pitch.

[bird]

Thanks for another great article, Parker.

 

I've been wondering about the subject of why these types of seemingly detectable flaws are being "discovered" for the first time once they hit the big leagues, after having spent many years in the system. I'm thinking about Vargas being coached on footwork for a few hours by Tom Kelly as an extreme example of why I have this question in my head: Why the hell are these guys-Pinto, Arcia, Vargas, etc.- coming up here with purportedly correctable flaws? What have the instructors at the lower levels been up to?

 

Sure wish we could get someone to really grill Brad Steil or someone on this subject.

[Trov]

My main issue with Arcia is his apparent unwillingness to get away from flying open and thinking every pitch is a fastball inside.  Every left handed hitter should throw nothing but breaking balls away until he stops swinging at them.  Sure he is still young but this has been going on for awhile.  If he wants to be dead pull he needs to look for only inside pitches and leave the away pitches alone and take them.

[Linus]

Good thing he is giving Vargas hitting advice.......I like the potential that our lineup has and they have scored a lot of runs this year...however, they strike out way too much, which is one reason they tend to be inconsistent.  Arcia is the poster child for this problem and he, along with several of his teammates are going to have to figure it out.

[jay]

Hard to disagree with this. 

 

Also, not hard to see where this is going to turn into the cliche line that the Twins are trying to make him a singles hitter and sap his power.

[oldguy10]

Granted that the Twins were facing a lefthander Thursday night but with the team going nowhere in the standings Arcia should have been in the lineup, the more practice he gets against southpaws the better he will be.   Unless, of course, management only intends for Oswaldo to be a platoon player for his career.   Which to me would/will (?) be a huge mistake.  

 

Totally it is time to let ALL of the young kids play in September, why not?

[tobi0040]

I too hope that Arcia adjusts and he is very young.  The down side is he doesn't and becomes a platoon player that demolishes righties.  These do seem like relatively easy fixes and I find it encouraging that he has an OPS+ of 98 with these glaring holes.  So if he does adapt he should be a fine player.

 

He is hitting .218 right now.  If he can raise that to .250-.260, take another 15 BB's a year.  His slugging which is already pretty good would naturally rise.  That OPS likely starts with an 8.

Edited September 5, 2014 by tobi0040

[Rick Niedermann]

I hope I am wrong.  But he is looking more and more like a platoon guy. To bad, because the power he has is just what the Doctor ordered for Target Field.

[TheLeviathan]

Hard to disagree with this. 

 

Also, not hard to see where this is going to turn into the cliche line that the Twins are trying to make him a singles hitter and sap his power.

 

Congratulations, you're apparently the only one who feels that way.  

 

I love how the kid is still opening up to punish pitches.  The hands are just going to expand the zone in which he can do serious damage.  Awesome to see from the Twins' coaching staff.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Thanks for another great article, Parker.

 

I've been wondering about the subject of why these types of seemingly detectable flaws are being "discovered" for the first time once they hit the big leagues, after having spent many years in the system. I'm thinking about Vargas being coached on footwork for a few hours by Tom Kelly as an extreme example of why I have this question in my head: Why the hell are these guys-Pinto, Arcia, Vargas, etc.- coming up here with purportedly correctable flaws? What have the instructors at the lower levels been up to?

 

Sure wish we could get someone to really grill Brad Steil or someone on this subject.

 

There's probably a ton of reasons for this ranging from poor coaching to the fact baseball is a continual game of adjustments, and that continues into the majors to the fact that they are probably working on other things as well. The other issue as I see it is that the players are already having success at AAA, which makes it more difficult to work on that aspect for no other reason than that they don't see the need. It's one thing to tell them they need to work on something, but when they are destroying AAA pitching, it's harder (I think at least) to develop those better habits b/c their flaws aren't being exposed regularly.

 

Also of note, Arcia and Vargas are pretty young and have been moved through the system quicker... When that happens, you can expect less finished products as they are relying more on their raw talent than on the things they can correct.

[Bill]

My amateur batting coaching....

 

I think the biggest issue is the location of the hands when they start forward.  Lots of guys have big leg kicks and move their hands around before the swing.  But when the hands start to move forward they are around shoulder level.  

 

Arcia's are very low when they start forward.

 

Check out David Ortiz in the video link below.  He has a huge leg kick and drops his hands.  But when the hands start forward, they are back up at shoulder level.  Look at the 9 second mark of this video:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q29688HqdQ8

 

Look at the 26 second mark of this old video of Arcia from Fort Myers.  Hands are much lower when they start to go forward:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh_Ka3TkyHY

 

Arcia is still doing that, but he has added a big leg kick.

 

Bautista is another big leg kicker but his hands are again much higher when they start to come forward. Look at the 15 second mark of this video: 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm7GFYVubSE

 

Arcia's low hand position is going to make it very tough for him to hit pitches that are not low.

[Parker Hageman]

Arcia's low hand position is going to make it very tough for him to hit pitches that are not low.

 

 

Yeah, that is an on-going problem that the Twins have been trying to fix. 

 

http://twinsdaily.com/articles.html/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/oswaldo-arcia-is-very-good-but-hes-not-quite-there-yet-r2724

[Bill]

Yeah, that is an on-going problem that the Twins have been trying to fix. 

 

http://twinsdaily.com/articles.html/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/oswaldo-arcia-is-very-good-but-hes-not-quite-there-yet-r2724

 

Yes, I read that one some time back...  

 

I think one additional point is that Arcia drops his hands but does not bring them back up to start his hands forward.  If you look at the 6 second mark of the Ortiz video I linked, it shows Ortiz in almost the same position as Arcia in the still photo from your earlier article.  The big difference is that Ortiz gets his hands back up, but Arcia does not.

[tobi0040]

When I was about 8, our baseball coach would stand behind the backshop and use an orange construction cone, flipped around like a megaphone. 

 

As the pitcher started the wind up, he would yell "coil", as the pitch came he would yell "uncoil".

 

The Twins should just do that.

[bird]

 

 

There's probably a ton of reasons for this ranging from poor coaching to the fact baseball is a continual game of adjustments, and that continues into the majors to the fact that they are probably working on other things as well. The other issue as I see it is that the players are already having success at AAA, which makes it more difficult to work on that aspect for no other reason than that they don't see the need. It's one thing to tell them they need to work on something, but when they are destroying AAA pitching, it's harder (I think at least) to develop those better habits b/c their flaws aren't being exposed regularly.

 

Also of note, Arcia and Vargas are pretty young and have been moved through the system quicker... When that happens, you can expect less finished products as they are relying more on their raw talent than on the things they can correct.

This makes sense. Although I remain skeptical that a significant part of the problem might stem from not being forceful enough in requiring guys to make adjustments in advance. And I noticed the announcement today that Bill Springman, roving minor league batting coach, has been let go. I also wonder if another factor is too few Latin American coaches in the system. Just a wild guess here that maybe we're seeing some signs that the Twins are going to be more open to some turnover in the future. Maybe just wishful thinking as well.

[iTwins]

 

 

There's probably a ton of reasons for this ranging from poor coaching to the fact baseball is a continual game of adjustments, and that continues into the majors to the fact that they are probably working on other things as well. The other issue as I see it is that the players are already having success at AAA, which makes it more difficult to work on that aspect for no other reason than that they don't see the need. It's one thing to tell them they need to work on something, but when they are destroying AAA pitching, it's harder (I think at least) to develop those better habits b/c their flaws aren't being exposed regularly.

 

Also of note, Arcia and Vargas are pretty young and have been moved through the system quicker... When that happens, you can expect less finished products as they are relying more on their raw talent than on the things they can correct.

 

Agreed on both counts. If a player is destorying lower level pitching, it's easy to fall into "if it ain't broke" line of thinking. Either that means coaches don't notice the issue(s) because the results are still good or (more likely) the players don't really see a need to change UNTIL they find their old tricks don't work.

 

The age of Vargas and Arcia (and their rapid climb to the bigs in their final minor league years) could have a lot to do with it as well. Either they haven't had a lot of time to spend with the lower level coaches or they have just been thrust onto a big stage and reverted towards their old habits.

 

Either way, I'm not at all concerned about Arcia. He's young and he has talent. With time and practice, he'll improve.

[Halsey Hall]

That's like the Mauer "Quick Swing" that the family sold.  I tried it with Kenny Mauer feeding the ball.  Instead of coil and uncoil, he said "cock" and "fire".  After a few tries, boy did it work.  Sure wish I'd of had that thought when I was a kid. 

[oldguy10]

I do not know about the fact that the Twins let Springman go as being a problem and/or solution.  I doubt that very many young players today in any organization listen to anyone as far as trying to improve their games in any aspect of MLB.   Part of being young, how many of us have truly listened to our mentors and teachers over the years?   Hicks is one prime example of this.   He has decided in the past to decline playing Winter ball, has any other Twins' minor leaguer done so as well?   To me that should be part and parcel of their employment.   In fact anything the MLB club desires of a player should be carried out to the fullest extent.   Elementary in my mind.

[Monkeypaws]

Good read.

 

I'd add Santana as another guy who generates surprising power with almost no leg kick to speak of.

[TheLeviathan]

How is this materially different than the previous pull-happy hitters that the Twins have tried to teach to take outside pitches up the middle or the other way?  You don't see how this could be used as another example of that?

 

I think the perception among some fans of turning power hitters into slap hitters is ridiculous, but it certainly exists.

 

So rather than discuss the thread you decided to pick a fight with a scarecrow.

[Parker Hageman]

The Star Tribune's LaVelle Neal has a story on the Twins working with Oswaldo Arcia and it has some interesting quotes from the coaching staff:

 

Manager Ron Gardenhire --

 

“We tell everybody we want them to hit the ball the other way and use the entire field? Are you crazy?” Gardenhire said. “Do you think I don’t want a guy to hit home runs? Are they nuts when they say that? I love to see the ball go in the seats. It’s the easiest thing to manage.

 

“I want them to take a nice swing, and I want it to go 8,000 miles.”

 

{SNIP}

 

“We all said that when he doesn’t try to kill the ball, everything seems to work out better,” Gardenhire said. “He really stayed on that ball and put a nice swing on it. He realizes that. He says it to himself all the time and he will tell you that he was too amped up. As long as he understands what to do and feels it when he overswings, that’s half the battle.”

 

 From hitting coach Tom Brunansky --

 

“What we were doing initially was to eliminate how low his hands got when he gets in his hitting position,” Brunansky said, “so we tried to get him to keep his hands up. So that led to an endless amount of drills in the cage. Just so he could feel his hands and make sure he knew where they are at.

 

“Then we went from there to trying to keep his head still, instead of drifting and going forward. [between] the combination of his hands going here and his head going forward, there was a lot of pitches [missed].”