A Positive Post About Our Favorite Team.

[jimmer]

I’d like to take a moment to identify some of the positive things currently going on with this club:

 

-Hunter has been hitting very well and at least some fans and players think his vibe has been instrumental in the Twins ability to perform in optimal situations.

-Molitor has also been credited, by many, with his ability to get the most out of the guys.
-Mauer has been hitting really well with RISP.

-Dozier continues to improve.

-Plouffe continues to improve.
-Hicks has been playing exceptional defense.
-Some of our young guys are getting valuable experience that will hopefully help us in the future and more seem to be getting close.
-Our pitching staff, as a whole, has been significantly better than they were the last four years.

 

And most importantly, as a whole, we are winning, which I think all Twins fans can say we are very happy about. It’s fun to watch a game and expect us to be competitive.

 

I’m sure I’ve just touched the tip of the iceberg, but there are some positive things to focus on.

 

Thoughts? 

 

BTW, these might be some positive things to write threads about?

[TheLeviathan]

I was a huge proponent of going with Molitor over Mientciewicz and some of that is coming out this year.  The team is really focused on the little things, they are using analytics like never before, and Molitor brings a borderline neurotic approach to the job.  

 

For whatever Gardy's strengths were they were almost exclusively "old school".  Molly is a nice blend of old school and new school and I really dig that.

 

I was also totally wrong about the value of bringing Hunter on.  He's been far better than anyone expected.

[Linus]

I would never have thought I would be saying this but.....HIcks might just be the key to this season.  With his vastly improved defense, all he has to do is get a hit / walk per game to contribute sufficiently at the plate.  We certainly should be able to find a left fielder from the group of Arcia, Rosario, Robinson and I guess I will include Schafer although he likely is DFAd.

 

Our meandering in the outfield desert of the last several years appears to be over and this doesn't even consider that Buxton is on the way (one year from today is my prediction)

[tobi0040]

 

I would never have thought I would be saying this but.....HIcks might just be the key to this season.  With his vastly improved defense, all he has to do is get a hit / walk per game to contribute sufficiently at the plate.  We certainly should be able to find a left fielder from the group of Arcia, Rosario, Robinson and I guess I will include Schafer although he likely is DFAd.

 

Our meandering in the outfield desert of the last several years appears to be over and this doesn't even consider that Buxton is on the way (one year from today is my prediction)

 

Yeah, I think Arcia out of the OF has helped a ton as well.

 

Ditto with Levi, it appears I was dead wrong about Torii.

 

Just seems like the dumb mistakes are evaporating as well.  In addition to better pitching and offense.

 

Also seems like we are being more opportunistic.  Two days ago the pitcher had a high leg kick with Hicks on first.  He saw it on the first pitch and took second on the second.  I think those are things Molitor stresses.

[drjim]

One observation from Patrick Reusse about Molitor that I like is that he uses his bullpen to win that day and then worry about tomorrow tomorrow. The example he cited (and there are others) was using Boyer in the 9th of a 7-2 game, when other pitchers hadn't had a lot of work in the games before.

 

The Twins have lost one game when they led after 6 innings this year. Considering the talent level of the bullpen outside of Perkins that is pretty amazing.

 

The upshot of this is that he is riding some of the guys, Thompson, Boyer and Fiem (before he got hurt), pretty hard. At this pace it is not clear they are going to make it through the season. On the one hand they might have diminished bullpen guys later, on the other hand they might not be all that great anyways so why not ride them while they are hot and worry about later in the year when they have to. By then, there might be some reinforcements on the way and some the younger guys (Pressly, Tonkin, Graham, possibly Meyer and Thielbar) in higher leverage roles.

[drjim]

I'll also second the thought that cleaning up the little mistakes, being more opportunistic, and overall better defense have made a huge difference this year. And those things should all be sustainable. Soon it will be about getting more of the talent percolating in the minors up and in important roles. 

[KScott]

A big positive I think should be added to this: Aaron Hicks (.259) is hitting better than the american league average (0.252). Both stats per ESPN.

 

In fact there are only 3 players in tonight's starting line up hitting below the league average: Suzuki, Santana and Escobar.

 

I think is that is pretty darn good.

[JB_Iowa]

Thank you for this post.  I was wrong about Molitor.  I was wrong about Hunter.

 

I wasn't vehemently opposed to either but I wasn't in favor of them either.

 

I liked the idea of Hunter as a mentor but his actual role has been a little different.  It seems like he has singlehandedly turned around the clubhouse chemistry.  And once that happened, the players began to feed off one another.

 

It also doesn't hurt that his numbers are better than many (any?) of us expected.  Maybe Ponce de Leon should have looked at Minnesota for the Fountain of Youth.

 

One more thing, from what I can see, I really like the coaching staff that Molitor assembled.  I like what we've seen from Neil Allen and he really does seem to have the confidence of the pitchers.  Moving Gene Glynn up from Rochester was a great move -- and classy professional that he is, Glynn showed no disappointment about not getting the manager's job himself.  Brunansky and Vavra give some continuity to the coaching staff.  Hernandez will provide a familiar face when some of the prospects get called up.  From what I've read, Guardado has been a great asset to the bullpen.  And Davis brings some needed diversity and a nice presence at 1st.  

[Craig Arko]

A big positive I think should be added to this: Aaron Hicks (.259) is hitting better than the american league average (0.252). Both stats per ESPN.

 

In fact there are only 3 players in tonight's starting line up hitting below the league average: Suzuki, Santana and Escobar.

 

I think is that is pretty darn good.

That's actually borderline amazing. One thing worth remembering, when assessing the strengths/weaknesses of a team, is how does the competition stack up.

 

We don't play in a vacuum. Except maybe for Hu-ver.

[Craig Arko]

@MillerStrib: Interesting to watch Paul Molitor sitting w/stopwatch in front of computer monitor, timing pitchers' windups on video. Scouting never stops.