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Rocco Baldelli sat in the Twins ‘Zoom Room’ on a beautiful, yet dreary night in Cleveland following his team’s fourth consecutive loss and ninth in ten games. Baldelli acknowledged the struggle and pain that the team has faced since plummeting to 7-15 after a 5-2 start.
Yet what stood out most was a particular quote:
“We haven’t played particularly well, it’s no secret. But I can’t be upset with the effort we’re getting from our guys or anything like that. And that’s the only thing that we can control right now. We can’t control our results, we can’t control any of that. We can control what we put into it, and we’ve done that.”
https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR/status/1387223941396279297
Rocco is spot on with his analysis. The only things that one can control in sport are effort, focus, and attitude. The Twins could go out and play their absolute best and still lose a baseball game because the opposing team, frankly, played better. Sports Psychology 101.
And while playing excellent baseball correlates with strong effort, a positive attitude, and premium focus, the latter doesn’t always correlate with winning — hence the 2021 Minnesota Twins thus far.
Insert pressure.
This isn’t a piece on lack of bullpen outs, dry at-bats, or underperforming starting pitchers. It’s about one of the biggest symptoms that may be a cause of the lackluster product on the field.
High Hopes
While it’s no secret that the White Sox carried the clout of national media coverage in the Central this past offseason, the Twins knew that there was/is potential for the '21 ball club to be damn good. The Twins did and still do have every expectation to compete for an AL Central title and a deep run in the postseason.
That’s a wonderful thing. Yet with it comes pressure, and lots of it. Twins fans know the team is supposed to be good, other teams know it as well, and yes, the Twins roster knows they have the talent to produce one of the best teams in franchise history. And when the team underperforms the way that it has the noises from critics only become amplified.
Pressure is a privilege. And while it shows that teams have high expectations, pressure can cause athletes to play tight, make mistakes they typically wouldn’t, and lose focus. A combination of any of those three leads to a lack of consistency, something that has plagued the '21 Twins so far. There have indeed been moments of success sprinkled amongst the cloud of darkness that has covered the Twins season, but they’ve been few and far between.
The Solution
Despite criticism from some fans, Baldelli is taking the right approach towards getting his team out of this slump. He’s right in the fact that the team can truly only focus on what they can control. Dwelling on past losses, poor performance, and outside noise does absolutely nothing to solve the problem.
Absolutely, I think that Rocco can make some moves in the bullpen that will not only benefit the team as a whole, but the confidence of individual players. Alex Colomé has proven he can be successful but clearly is struggling with his confidence. Putting him in true low-leverage situations will give him a chance to prove to himself that his cutter can be effective at a high level, just without the additional pressure of a close game.
At the end of the day, it isn’t going to be major roster moves or acquisitions that will bring the Twins out of this rut. Playing loose, not worrying about results, and manufacturing some consistency will.
I’m not a sports psychologist. Call me crazy if you want. But whether it’s high school tennis or Major League Baseball, the ability to play calm and free under pressure is what makes athletes great. So instead of criticizing coaching moves, blasting players for performance, or whining about where the club ‘should’ be, focus on small increments of improvement.
Believe me, the Twins know the frustration that people are feeling. It’s ten times worse for them than it is for you. We can’t change the past, and complaining about it won’t do much. The 2019 Nationals pulled themselves out of an early-season slump, why not the 2021 Minnesota Twins?
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