In 2012, Upton's timing was off for much of the year, and he was popping up a lot of pitches on the inner half that the year before he would have driven to the left-center gap or out of the park. Much of this probably was tied to a thumb injury he suffered in the third game of the season but never addressed with time off. Hand injuries of any sort tend to sap power by reducing a hitter's ability to make hard contact, and that was a major issue for Upton all year.

 

Pulled this out of Keith Law's writeup on Justin Upton (Breaking down the Justin Upton trade from Diamondbacks to the Braves -- MLB - ESPN, it's behind the paywall), and thought it was interesting context for Plouffe. It makes me a little more confident we should see more of the "good Trevor" this year.

I'm hopeful too. Anyone who's struck a fastball on the trademark can imagine how a thumb injury would put a damper on your swing. As long as he's healed...

Pulled this out of Keith Law's writeup on Justin Upton (Breaking down the Justin Upton trade from Diamondbacks to the Braves -- MLB - ESPN, it's behind the paywall), and thought it was interesting context for Plouffe. It makes me a little more confident we should see more of the "good Trevor" this year.

 

Can't read the link...not an insider

I see him as Joe Crede numbers, lots of homeruns but .250-260 BA. More important is him to learn to field the hot corner like Crede.

Can't read the link...not an insider

 

Sorry, I tried to note that was the case, and really the part I quoted was the only relevant stuff anyway, regarding how thumb/hand injuries affect hitters. Just trying to be polite and include link to source material, even though the relevant stuff was already noted.

First of all, it was a thumb injury (to a nerve to be specific). Second, it was almost a month that was lost. And third, his defensive woes in the field were due to throwing from SS more than anything. At third he was actually pretty good. He had a few stretches of incompetence, but he passes the eye test from my perspective. Plus, if he can hit who cares if he is below average defensively? Another little fact about 2012 is he was extremely unlucky with BA, he had a nice line-drive rate, and his FB to HR ratio was pretty high. I expect .250 avg with 25-30 HR's.

 

His range was a problem last year. He solve his throwing woes which seemed isolated to playing SS. The more he plays at third, the more he'll learn to anticipate where the ball will end up. He's got good reaction time, just not very comfortable yet. I'm confident he will learn to play the position. He's an excellent athlete, moves well defensively, better than Valencia in my opinion.

I'm hopeful too. Anyone who's struck a fastball on the trademark can imagine how a thumb injury would put a damper on your swing. As long as he's healed...

 

In my baseball career I could have lacked opposable thumbs and it wouldn't have made any difference.

Sorry, I tried to note that was the case, and really the part I quoted was the only relevant stuff anyway, regarding how thumb/hand injuries affect hitters. Just trying to be polite and include link to source material, even though the relevant stuff was already noted.

 

I wasn't complaining, just saying I couldn't read it. For those who could, awesome :-)

His range was a problem last year. He solve his throwing woes which seemed isolated to playing SS. The more he plays at third, the more he'll learn to anticipate where the ball will end up. He's got good reaction time, just not very comfortable yet. I'm confident he will learn to play the position. He's an excellent athlete, moves well defensively, better than Valencia in my opinion.

 

Range is meh for a 3b. His range was affected by not making some plays he had to move for, which I think will be improved on. He also made some outstandingly rangy plays last season going to all directions. His consistancy is the key, which has been beaten to a pulp in this thread already. At the least, I think the Twins have a guy who will help the team more than hurt them and allow them to focus on other positions going forward. This is the least, at the best he could be an all-star. Normal guys don't just go on tears and hit homeruns like that. I'm hoping for the best.