Article: Report From The Fort: Logan Morrison Is Staying Quiet (For Once)

[John Bonnes]

FT MYERS – Logan Morrison knows his secret. And he’s not telling it to you.

 

The Twins introduced their new designated hitter to the media on Wednesday, and boy can he talk. He talked about his teammates. He talked about the slow offseason. He gave his new manager a nickname. And he talked about all the things that led to his breakthrough year, without really talking about anything in particular that led to his breakthrough year.“There’s a lot of things, you know? I think having a daughter helped keep things in perspective,” says Morrison. “Being able to press the reset button. I remember early in my career taking 0-fers home. And then you take them home and they tend to kind of stay with you when you go to the field the next day. And you find yourself chasing pitches, prolonging slumps, things like that. For me, I think the ability to take every day as a new day has helped me out a lot. Baseball is just a game. Also, I have a theory about the JFK assassination.....”

 

OK, I made up that last sentence, but you get the idea.

 

Not that settling in as a family man isn’t something that can motivate. It does for many of us. But what we’re really asking about is something a little bit more concrete. I mean, if there isn’t a question with the words “launch angle” in this press conference, Parker could burst into blue flame. Fortunately for all of us (and most of all for Parker), there was.

 

“You know, I definitely have looked at it,” Morrison explained. “But it wasn’t something I just started. But it maybe clicked for me a little bit last year. You look at film. You see how they do it and then you go and try to apply that. But to find the feel that you want to is the main thing that a hitter looks for. And being able to find that feel consistently last year should help me this year.”

 

So he found the feel of launching balls to the moon? That’s the trick to hitting 38 home runs? That still doesn’t provide a high degree of confidence that his success will continue. Or that he knows why he had that success. Are we sure he does?

 

Twins Chief of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey is sure he does, because Morrison explained it to him quite clearly when asking him for a job. “Logan will be the first to tell you that he feels like he’s made some adjustments,” says Falvey. “And that sometimes you see a spike in a season, and you figure it may have come out of nowhere and you’re not sure of exactly why? Logan can articulate the things that he did, and felt like he made adjustments to allow him to tap into the power that he’s always had.”

 

In fact, Morrison's articulation was an important reason why the Twins signed him.

 

“That’s key,” says Falvey. “I think any time you go into a conversation with a player about a change or a big year, I’m always asking. And sometimes it goes the other way - when a guy struggled. What was it? Why? If you can articulate – and we can back it up with some scouting information, some data or otherwise - then we feel a lot better about the projection moving forward. I think in his case, that’s exactly where the conversation went. He knew the things he had done to change. Got a better feel for who he was as a hitter, and that helps for sure.”

 

Cool. So what were those adjustments?

 

“I’ll leave that to Logan, to the extent that he feels comfortable sharing whatever that is,” replies Falvey. “I think there’s always a competitive edge and advantage for him. But there’s a lot of things out there on fly balls and how things have changed., Every guy does it differently. I don’t think it’s one size fits all. He certainly made some some adjustments that really helped him.”

 

Looking at those stats, we see an increased launch angle, more home runs, more strikeouts and more walks. Is it as simple as just swinging for the fences? Maybe. He certainly is thinking of himself more as a power hitter these days.

 

“I never thought of myself as a power hitter,” says Morrison. “Being able to embrace that, I think, has helped me hit. I’m going to strikeout. I’m going to walk. I’m going to hit homers and do some damage and hopefully there’s guys on base.”

 

Indeed. Morrison has a chance to do some real damage being inserted into a Twins lineup that led the American League in runs after the All-Star break. But he isn’t going to tell us how.

 

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[h2oface]

I wonder if Joe Mauer has heard anything about "launch angle"? 

[Jacksson]

Hmmmm...  Morrison bats left, plays First and has a 2019 option.  Mauer's contract is up in 2018.  The Twins have leverage in their beyond 2018 contract talks with "play in MN or play nowhere" Mauer.  It will be interesting to see how each of these players perform in 2018.

[Twodogs]

Yeah, if he tells everyone then the pitchers know also. Might as well let them try and figure it out

[Comrade Bork]

  On 2/28/2018 at 11:06 PM, h2oface said:

I wonder if Joe Mauer has heard anything about "launch angle"?

 

 

He's got the sweetest swing on the block. It's just cause he's 6'5 and has no power that he gets dicked on.

[Doomtints]

One cool thing to do is announce your change so the opposition can find weaknesses in your approach.

Edited March 2, 2018 by Doomtints

[h2oface]

 

  On 3/1/2018 at 9:16 PM, Comrade Bork said:

He's got the sweetest swing on the block. It's just cause he's 6'5 and has no power that he gets dicked on.

 

Some evolve. Some don't. When you don't, there is a player now positioned where that sweet swing always hits the ball.

Edited March 4, 2018 by h2oface