This Season, More Than Ever, Athlete Health Will Determine The Twins' Success

New Minnesota Twins’ starting pitcher Rich Hill had just wrapped up his first session of long toss when he realized that he was in a good spot.

“I’ve been fortunate that there weren't any issues from the onset,” Hill said regarding the quasi-experimental elbow surgery he underwent last fall to address a partially torn left UCL. “I would say probably right after the first time I played long toss I really felt like ‘Ok, this is something that I’m not really going to have too many issues with moving forward.’”

The Twins signed Hill this past offseason to a one-year, incentive-laden $3 million deal to bolster an already deep rotation featuring arguably three All-Star level arms in Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, and Kenta Maeda (who was teammates with Hill with the Los Angeles Dodgers). Hill wasn’t expected to be ready to pitch until mid-June or early July, but with the beginning of the season delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic he’ll be ready to go by season’s start.

In a similar fashion, center fielder Byron Buxton - who underwent surgery to address a torn labrum in his left shoulder last fall - is also ready to begin the season without any restrictions.

“[The delayed start to the season] gave me that time to fully get [my shoulder] healed and get it to where I wanted it to,” said Buxton. “I got no limits. So, I’m back to being myself and going out there and playing the game the right way.”

Athlete health is always a major contributor to a team’s overall success - the 2019 New York Yankees notwithstanding - and the 2020 season will be no exception. Now, more than ever, a team’s ability to keep their players off the injured list - non-COVID variety - will go a long way in determining their playoff chances.

The Twins are fortunate as they find themselves with one of the easiest schedules in all of baseball due to them only facing off against teams from the American League and National League Central Divisions. They are unfortunate, however, in that the baseball team in Cleveland - a team not only fighting with the Twins for the AL Central crown, but also the AL Wild Card spot - goes up against the same opponents. The deciding factor in who wins the division - and who potentially misses out on the playoffs entirely - may simply come down to who can keep their players on the field.

Hill and Buxton - who have combined for 15.3 WAR according to Baseball-Reference over the last five seasons, Buxton’s first - have struggled with injuries over the course of their careers. However, Buxton has only once not reached the 60 game mark due to injuries - that being his lost 2018 season - while Hill had thrown over 100 innings for three straight seasons prior to 2019. The Twins’ - and their individual - ability to maintain their physical health over the course of the 60 game season may very well push the Twins past Cleveland - and, hopefully, the likes of Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers.

According to Hill, the path is relatively straight forward; listen to your body, keep doing the little things, and keep preparing for the season. As for Buxton, he’s made adjustments - both mental and physical - to his defensive approach - perhaps the primary cause of his injury history. “I’ve had a little bit more time to figure out when to be aggressive and when to be a little more conservative. I worked a little bit more on jumping off of two feet, which keeps me a little bit more in control, especially towards the wall. That’s probably the biggest thing I worked on this offseason and over this break.”

While it may seem like a small change, jumping off of two feet versus one could have a rather large impact on Buxton’s health and at the same not not impact his ability to catch balls at the wall. For starters, jumping off of two feet produces essentially the same vertical height as jumping off of one. Additionally, jumping off of two feet functions to decrease Buxton’s velocity as he careens towards the wall. If you remember from high school physics, force is equal to mass multiplied by velocity; a decrease in velocity when approaching the wall is akin to a decrease in force when ramming into it.

It would be a bit of a surprise if the Twins missed out on the playoffs should Hill and Buxton - and the rest of the key members of the team - remain healthy and perform at high levels. However, in a 60 game season anything can happen. Keeping these two healthy should be a top priority for the Twins’ medical staff.

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