Parker Hageman

The befuddlement continues as Hendriks’ winless streak now reaches 17 starts and counting. Dating back to beginning of 2011, Hendriks has put up two stellar seasons in the minor leagues, posting a 2.86 ERA with a 193/49 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 245.2 innings split between New Britain and Rochester. In 2011, the Twins named him their Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Based on those figures and accolades, expectations were high for him. Naturally, that has not quite panned out so far at the major league level. Heading into last night’s game righties were hitting .381/.426/.702 in 143 plate appearances. That is a remarkable batting line considering the rest of the league’s right-handed pitchers have subdued their same-sided brethren to the tune of .252/.308/.398. The magnitude of those power numbers is unprecedented. Think about that: right-handed opponents’ slugging percentage (.702) off Hendriks is just five points lower than the league’s overall OPS (.707) during righty-on-righty action. What makes this case even more curious is that in the minors the past two seasons Hendriks handled righties just fine. According to MinorLeagueCentral.com’s splits, Hendriks limited right-handers to a .251/.288/.368 line over 518 match-ups since 2011. How is it that he managed to sidestep right-handers in AAA easy-peasy but is obliterated once he arrives to the majors? One explanation as to why Hendriks may have an easier time retiring lefties over righties may have to do with his unique delivery and the challenges it presents. Hendriks has a closed delivery - which is that his front foot lands more towards the third base side and he throws across his body. When facing left-handed batters, he will pepper the outer-half of the strike zone and (far too often this season) just off the plate to entice those hitters to swing at pitches away. Meanwhile, if he wants to pitch right-handers away (or lefties inside for that matter) he must throw across his entire body to reach the far side of the plate: http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Hendriks_Landing.png Because he is throwing across his body and trying to hit the pitcher’s glove side of the zone, he has seen his command wane when trying to hit the far side of the plate. In last night’s start against the Kansas City Royals, catcher Drew Butera would frequently set up on the pitcher’s glove side of the plate and present a target. The majority of those offerings did not wind up at the intended destination. For example, in their fifth inning showdown, with two strikes on him, Butera scheduled a fastball down and in on the left-handed hitting Alex Gordon. Rather than hitting this spot, his fastball went up and away. Fortunately Gordon was unable to hold up for strike three. When it comes to right-handed hitters, Hendriks’ intentions appear to be to pepper the outer-half of their zone similar to lefties. Only the above scenario plays out leaving his pitches in a far too favorable of a spot for right-handed hitters: http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Hendriks_fastballrighties.jpg While his fastball has been hit pretty hard overall (.362/.412/.553) it is his slider, his most used secondary pitch, that has been bombed back to the Stone Age (.333/.349/.857). Seven of his 12 home runs allowed have come on this pitch (there is plenty of visual evidence of that). This should be his swing-and-miss pitch and yet it is getting destroyed – and part of that is related to his inability to pitch inside effectively. Whether it is game-planned or not, Hendriks has simply not shown opponents that he will throw the ball inside regularly – particularly to righties. For Hendriks, who is a fastball/slider pitcher to righties, this should be a critical element of his game. If he demonstrates that he is able to place his fastball on the inner-half, hitters will be forced to open their hips to respect that pitch which should enhance his slider that runs away from right-handers. Last year, in addressing this very subject, former major league pitcher Ron Darling said “That’s what gets a hitter to speed up his thought process. When he’s thinking ‘quick,’ that’s when you can get him out away. And, more important for a pitcher, it enables you to get away with the occasional mistake away because you’ve disrupted his timing just enough.” Hendriks has made plenty of mistakes away to righties this year but because he is not locating inside, right-handed hitters do not have to respect that portion of the zone and wind up leaning over the plate. As Terry Ryan insinuated after yesterday’s ballgame, Hendriks still have a lot to prove before he is considered a part of the 2013 rotation. Pitching inside effectively may be a part of that.

What happened to all that offense that showed up for the Cleveland series? Or pitching for that matter? After scoring 24 runs, averaging six per game against the Indians, the Will Smith and the Royals stop the Twins bats cold and Kansas City would, as Ron Gardenhire would say after the game, hit the fire out of the ball. The Twins offense was far from the productive group it has shown against Cleveland, and gave the Royals pitchers very little to sweat about. In the bottom of the fifth, down by four runs, the Twins mounted what would end up being their best assault on the Royals. With no one out, Darin Mastroianni and Eduardo Escobar drew back-to-back walks and put pressure on the rookie lefty Will Myers. Myers, to his credit, battled through the two free passes and struck out Pedro Florimon on a slider in the dirt. And then the Twins ran themselves out of opportunities. In the next at bat, Mastroianni broke for third only to be gunned down by Salvador Perez. Up until that point, Mastroianni had been successful in 19 of 21 attempts including eight-for-eight when swiping third – basically money in the bank. Perez, however, has a cannon of an arm behind the plate and had erased 10-of-28 would-be base stealers heading into Tuesday’s game. “You gotta make sure in those situations; you can’t get thrown out in those situations,” Gardenhire said after the game. The Twins manager would go on to rave about Perez’s handling of baserunners, noting the quick feet, quick release and sidearm style in which Perez throw out Mastroianni. Josh Willingham, who went 1-for-4 in Tuesday’s game, summarized what made the rookie Will Smith effective against the Twins lineup. “He didn’t walk too many, pitched ahead in the count, pitched to the corners and did all the good things a pitcher needs to do.” Meanwhile, Scott Diamond, who has now thrown a career high 148.1 innings, was roughed up a bit, leaving some pitches up and walking a season-high three batters. “He was OK,” Gardenhire remarked. “Got a lot of pitches up and didn’t bury the pitches like he normally does.” Diamond was dinged by some early defensive misplays by Josh Willingham in the second inning. Willingham, who took left field for the first time since September 1st, tentatively charged a looping fliner off the bat of Eric Hosmer which fell in for a single. One batter later, Lorenzo Cain got under one of Diamond’s change-ups high above the stadium’s light towers. Willingham immediately threw his hands up, acknowledging he did not see the fly ball. The ball landed ten feet behind him and allowed the two runners on to score and Cain to trot into third with a gimme triple. The Twins left fielder would shrug it off as a bad day at the office. “It’s frustrating when you can’t see the ball. I would like for that stuff not to happen.” Of course, the Royals would not need to assistance of a befuddled Twins defense all night. After all, the racked up another six extra base hits and would give the Target Field grounds crew the night off after they raked everywhere on the field. It would be the fifth time this year the Twins pitchers would allow 16 or more hits in a game – and the second time in the season the Royals would put up that many. Diamond would not blame the outing on the added time off between starts thanks to the expanded rotation. “I feel a little inconsistent right now,” Diamond said following his six inning, ten-hit, four-run outing. “I feel like my stuff is getting to where it needs to be but my fastball’s location is a little off; my command is just a little off. It’s something that you have to battle with.”

What happened to all that offense that showed up for the Cleveland series? Or pitching for that matter? After scoring 24 runs, averaging six per game against the Indians, the Will Smith and the Royals stop the Twins bats cold and Kansas City would, as Ron Gardenhire would say after the game, hit the fire out of the ball. The Twins offense was far from the productive group it has shown against Cleveland, and gave the Royals pitchers very little to sweat about. In the bottom of the fifth, down by four runs, the Twins mounted what would end up being their best assault on the Royals. With no one out, Darin Mastroianni and Eduardo Escobar drew back-to-back walks and put pressure on the rookie lefty Will Myers. Myers, to his credit, battled through the two free passes and struck out Pedro Florimon on a slider in the dirt. And then the Twins ran themselves out of opportunities. In the next at bat, Mastroianni broke for third only to be gunned down by Salvador Perez. Up until that point, Mastroianni had been successful in 19 of 21 attempts including eight-for-eight when swiping third – basically money in the bank. Perez, however, has a cannon of an arm behind the plate and had erased 10-of-28 would-be base stealers heading into Tuesday’s game. “You gotta make sure in those situations; you can’t get thrown out in those situations,” Gardenhire said after the game. The Twins manager would go on to rave about Perez’s handling of baserunners, noting the quick feet, quick release and sidearm style in which Perez throw out Mastroianni. Josh Willingham, who went 1-for-4 in Tuesday’s game, summarized what made the rookie Will Smith effective against the Twins lineup. “He didn’t walk too many, pitched ahead in the count, pitched to the corners and did all the good things a pitcher needs to do.” Meanwhile, Scott Diamond, who has now thrown a career high 148.1 innings, was roughed up a bit, leaving some pitches up and walking a season-high three batters. “He was OK,” Gardenhire remarked. “Got a lot of pitches up and didn’t bury the pitches like he normally does.” Diamond was dinged by some early defensive misplays by Josh Willingham in the second inning. Willingham, who took left field for the first time since September 1st, tentatively charged a looping fliner off the bat of Eric Hosmer which fell in for a single. One batter later, Lorenzo Cain got under one of Diamond’s change-ups high above the stadium’s light towers. Willingham immediately threw his hands up, acknowledging he did not see the fly ball. The ball landed ten feet behind him and allowed the two runners on to score and Cain to trot into third with a gimme triple. The Twins left fielder would shrug it off as a bad day at the office. “It’s frustrating when you can’t see the ball. I would like for that stuff not to happen.” Of course, the Royals would not need to assistance of a befuddled Twins defense all night. After all, the racked up another six extra base hits and would give the Target Field grounds crew the night off after they raked everywhere on the field. It would be the fifth time this year the Twins pitchers would allow 16 or more hits in a game – and the second time in the season the Royals would put up that many. Diamond would not blame the outing on the added time off between starts thanks to the expanded rotation. “I feel a little inconsistent right now,” Diamond said following his six inning, ten-hit, four-run outing. “I feel like my stuff is getting to where it needs to be but my fastball’s location is a little off; my command is just a little off. It’s something that you have to battle with.”

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2327[/ATTACH]Heading into Tuesday’s game, Joe Mauer had played in 131 of the 141 games. That was quite a remarkable run considering the amount of time he missed just a year ago. Mauer, however, would not make it to game number 132 just yet as back spasms prior to the game would keep him unavailable. Said Mauer after the game: "As soon as I got on the field to stretch, it just started to come on. It seemed the more I did the worse it got. Right before my BP group, I was trying to get loose, and was going to take some swings in the cage and I couldn’t even get to the cage, it just kind of locked up. It’s calmed down from earlier today, so it’s feeling a little bit better.” Mauer had been surging as of late, going 14-for-34 (.412) with five extra base hits over his last ten games played heading into Tuesday night. He is uncertain for tomorrow’s contest.

What was interesting about Justin Morneau’s second home run of the game yesterday (and the walk-off winner which John Bonnes detailed here) is that it happened to be just his third home run he has hit which was thrown over 90 miles per hour this year. On his second homer of the year back on April 18, he turned on a 91.7 mile an hour Hiroki Kuroda fastball. On July 6, he redirected a 96-mile an hour Tanner Scheppers fastball into the Rangers Ballpark stands. Yesterday’s walk off that came on Vinnie Pestano’s 91 mile an hour fastball marked just the third time this year that he’s managed to put a 90+ fastball into the seats. In 2009, when Morneau was a sure-fire MVP candidate before missing the last month of the year, 14 of his 30 home runs came on fastballs over 90 miles an hour. In 2008, eight of his 23 came on fastballs over 90 miles an hour. Now, just three of his 19 home runs have touched that velocity. The tendency may be to associate this with his concussion, however, during the 2010 season Morneau hit just two of his 18 home runs on 90+ fastballs as well. Perhaps it is a byproduct of aging, or the injured wrist, shoulder or other ailment. Consider his hitting zone against the fastball in the first half compared to the second half of the year: [ATTACH=CONFIG]2315[/ATTACH] With the green-to-red colors representing the greater production, Morneau’s second-half performance (depicted on the right) shows that he has much better zone coverage against fastballs. Take note of the dramatic difference between his first-half production (left) when being thrown inside in comparison to the second-half (right), in which he was handling the inside fastball far better. Independent of what leaves the park, Morneau’s performance against fastballs overall has improved as the season has gone on.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2295[/ATTACH]When the Twins front office begins to renovate this mess of a house in the winter, at the top of the list the highest priority has to be fixing the starting rotation. It is the home’s crumbling foundation and that needs the most attention. Afterwards, item number two could be repairing the all-important middle infield position. Offensively, over the past two seasons the Twins shortstops have hit a combined .241/.303/.326. It was this kind of hitting that had forced the 2009 team into acquiring Orlando Cabrera and the 2010 team to land JJ Hardy. In terms of OPS, just three other American League teams have extracted less production out of the position since the end of the 2010 season: the Mariners, Rays and Athletics. The difference is, while those teams’ shortstops struggled at the dish, they were all good with the glove providing them with some value. What’s more is that two of those three teams either changed direction or will likely change in the near future. In the past two seasons, outside of a geriatric doctor in Sarasota performing physicals, nobody in this country picked up more balls than Seattle’s Brendan Ryan, so it is easy to exchange offense for his defense. Meanwhile, Elliot Johnson in Tampa has been solid, doing more on defense in 2010 over 2011, but he will likely give way to one of the two defensive stalwarts in Tim Beckham or Hak-Ju Lee in the coming future. Over in Oakland, Chad Pennington has been average in the field however his lack of offense encouraged the A’s to grab the equally struggling Stephen Drew, who has yet to rebound after leaving the hitting-haven of Arizona’s Chase Field. In theory, the Twins thought they were getting a strong defensive player in Tsuyoshi Nishioka but realized that the bar for a Gold Glove in Japan was apparently set ridiculously low. For their part, recognizing the lack of depth at the upper levels, the Twins have nabbed a few additional shortstops including Pedro Florimon and Eduardo Escobar to go with the in-house Brian Dozier. Florimon, who has been up with the team for all of 19 games, comes equipped with plenty of range but an error-prone resume. We’ve seen some slick fielding plays thanks to his speed. Consider with a grain of salt based on the sample size yet according to Baseball Info Solution’s data in 158.1 innings he has made 11 out-of-zone plays at short. Compare that to Jamey Carroll - who had 150 more innings than him at short – and made just 18 out-of-zone plays. However, he’s been unable to make the plays within the standard zone. He’s had 42 balls hit into his zone and made just 27 plays (.643 revised zone rating). While Carroll could not touch Florimon’s speed, Carroll compensated by making the vast majority of plays that were hit near him (85 of 105 for a .810 revised zone rating). And although he has turned a corner and has made just 16 errors so far this year, the fewest E’s the 25-year-old shortstop has commitment was 21 in the low-A Sally League. If he does not find a way to harness all of his physical talent and smooth out his glove work, his minor league track record suggests will not contribute much offensively judging by his .249/.321/.354 batting line in just under 3,000 plate appearances. Escobar has proven to be a much more sure-handed individual over his development but does not necessarily project as a starting shortstop – more likely a second baseman or utility infielder. Even though the White Sox used him at third base, there is nothing in his minor league batting line of .267/.312/.348 that would be indicative of someone capable of hitting like a third baseman. Before they decided against recalling him in September, the accept belief was that Brian Dozier would be the frontrunner for the position in 2013 among all the internal options. For most of the year Dozier played decisively average defense. Compared to the rest of the league’s starting shortstops according to BIS, he made a less than average amount of plays in a shortstop’s zone. Some of that was blamed on lack of awareness of his competition. Upon his demotion, Ron Gardenhire questioned some of his positioning that allowed speedier guys like Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis and Kansas City’s Jarrod Dyson to reach on grounders. Improving his defense would require preparation and ability to position in the field to handle those types of situations. Then again, there are plenty of baseball minds who have believed Dozier to be more of a second baseman than a shortstop. And, offensively, he degraded into a Danny Valencia-like mess at the plate, chasing sliders out of the zone and putting a very high amount of those kinds of pitches in play (74% out of zone contact). To be sure, the gaggle of shortstops has improved the defense a smidge over the 2011 group. Last year the team had a .268 batting average on ground balls in play, well above the league average of .240. This year, that number has dropped to .258. Still on the high-side but an increase of grounders converted to outs, nonetheless. Based on what we know today, it would seem that none of these three players are close to becoming fixtures in the middle infield. They certainly all have skills and plenty of upside, although it is hard to envision a team interested in competing for a division title next year to roll forward with any of these three at the vital position. The point is, when the Twins brass sits down when the season ends on October 3, they should think critically about their plans for shortstop next year. Any one of these players may be able to get a team through a season and it is possible that one of these existing candidates figures things out either defensively or offensively. On the other hand, based on their prior experience, it is more likely that they do not and will leave the organization, once again, hunting for an answer at shortstop.

Concerns over Joe Mauer’s defense has grown exponentially as the number of opposing kleptomaniacs have continued to accumulate more and more bases. A one-time Florida State quarterback recruit, earlier in his career Mauer had thwarted over 30% of would-be base-stealers but has seen that number drop to league average as injuries and age have taken a toll on him. This year, however, that rate has dropped to a league-worst six percent – stopping just three runners with his own arm. What’s more is that the opposition’s appetite to motor on the basepaths has increased significantly too. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/MauerRunningGame.jpg Prior to yesterday afternoon’s matinee against the Mariners, Associated Press reporter Jon Krawczynski relayed on Twitter that manager Ron Gardenhire said that Mauer’s caught stealing decline had nothing to do with his arm, rather the source of his struggles had to do with his slow slidestep when positioning for a throw down to second. Meanwhile 1500ESPN.com’s Phil Mackey provided further details of what the manager was seeing in his All Star catcher: Reviewing the limited MLB.com archive video clips available of Mauer throwing down to second, there definitely is evidence of what Ron Gardenhire was speaking towards Mauer’s mechanics. The first clip is over Mauer attempting to throw out Maicer Izturis of the Angels. Liriano’s fastball is up in the zone and gives Mauer a good chance at nailing the trailing running in the double steal but the throw skips into center field when Alexi Casilla cannot handle the hop. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Mauer_4_12_12.gif The next clip is Mauer throwing out Detroit’s Brennan Boesch – one of three times he has done so in 2012. Now, Boesch is not much of a base-stealing threat so it is possible that Mauer was caught flat-footed because of that but, just like in the clip above, Mauer is on his heels and stands straight up then pivots his feet. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Mauer_7_2012.gif Now compare Mauer’s current form against a couple of examples from his past. This first clip is from 2010 in which Mauer nails the Royals’ Chris Getz in his attempted thievery. Note how he starts to slide his backside out before receiving the pitch, getting his body into the throwing position. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Mauer_9_6_10.gif Similarly, in this 2008 matchup between the Twins and Padres, Mauer nabs Jody Gerut at second and slides his backfoot/backside into a position while receiving the ball rather than waiting on the ball to come to him before getting into the throwing position. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Mauer_2008.gif Essentially, Mauer’s footwork is costing him valuable nanoseconds and, quite likely, some mustard on his throws down to two as well. And opposing teams and their stopwatches and scouts are clearly picking up on this – which is why they are averaging nearly a stolen base attempt in each of his games behind the plate. That is a huge increase from his younger days. With no clear-cut explanation for why he has been tardy with his footwork, it is hard to determine how this affects this Twins. Obviously, the injury to his knee -- which may have played a role in a slow start at the plate this season -- may still be lingering. In that case, it could be a financial disaster for the Twins who are paying him to be an elite up-the-middle defender in addition to his offensive contributions. Then again, it could simply be the rust of having not played catcher as regularly. Either way, as Gardenhire said, it will be almost impossible to get this repaired in-season.

Concerns over Joe Mauer’s defense has grown exponentially as the number of opposing kleptomaniacs have continued to accumulate more and more bases. A one-time Florida State quarterback recruit, earlier in his career Mauer had thwarted over 30% of would-be base-stealers but has seen that number drop to league average as injuries and age have taken a toll on him. This year, however, that rate has dropped to a league-worst six percent – stopping just three runners with his own arm. What’s more is that the opposition’s appetite to motor on the basepaths has increased significantly too. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/MauerRunningGame.jpg Prior to yesterday afternoon’s matinee against the Mariners, Associated Press reporter Jon Krawczynski relayed on Twitter that manager Ron Gardenhire said that Mauer’s caught stealing decline had nothing to do with his arm, rather the source of his struggles had to do with his slow slidestep when positioning for a throw down to second. Meanwhile 1500ESPN.com’s Phil Mackey provided further details of what the manager was seeing in his All Star catcher: Reviewing the limited MLB.com archive video clips available of Mauer throwing down to second, there definitely is evidence of what Ron Gardenhire was speaking towards Mauer’s mechanics. The first clip is over Mauer attempting to throw out Maicer Izturis of the Angels. Liriano’s fastball is up in the zone and gives Mauer a good chance at nailing the trailing running in the double steal but the throw skips into center field when Alexi Casilla cannot handle the hop. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Mauer_4_12_12.gif The next clip is Mauer throwing out Detroit’s Brennan Boesch – one of three times he has done so in 2012. Now, Boesch is not much of a base-stealing threat so it is possible that Mauer was caught flat-footed because of that but, just like in the clip above, Mauer is on his heels and stands straight up then pivots his feet. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Mauer_7_2012.gif Now compare Mauer’s current form against a couple of examples from his past. This first clip is from 2010 in which Mauer nails the Royals’ Chris Getz in his attempted thievery. Note how he starts to slide his backside out before receiving the pitch, getting his body into the throwing position. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Mauer_9_6_10.gif Similarly, in this 2008 matchup between the Twins and Padres, Mauer nabs Jody Gerut at second and slides his backfoot/backside into a position while receiving the ball rather than waiting on the ball to come to him before getting into the throwing position. http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/Mauer_2008.gif Essentially, Mauer’s footwork is costing him valuable nanoseconds and, quite likely, some mustard on his throws down to two as well. And opposing teams and their stopwatches and scouts are clearly picking up on this – which is why they are averaging nearly a stolen base attempt in each of his games behind the plate. That is a huge increase from his younger days. With no clear-cut explanation for why he has been tardy with his footwork, it is hard to determine how this affects this Twins. Obviously, the injury to his knee -- which may have played a role in a slow start at the plate this season -- may still be lingering. In that case, it could be a financial disaster for the Twins who are paying him to be an elite up-the-middle defender in addition to his offensive contributions. Then again, it could simply be the rust of having not played catcher as regularly. Either way, as Gardenhire said, it will be almost impossible to get this repaired in-season.

Great stuff Willihammer.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2182[/ATTACH]It was not more than a month or so ago that third baseman Trevor Plouffe was the hottest thing in the Twin Cities. Essentially, he was “Call Me Maybe” personified. Prior to taking a Luke Hochaver offering on the right thumb back on July 20, Plouffe was compiling decent number – including otherworldly stats in the power department such as 11 home runs in 26 games. However, since his return on August 20 he is now just 8-for-56 (.142) and has yet to hit for extra bases. The depressed performance has spurred a debate regarding Plouffe’s long-term starting viability and Twins GM Terry Ryan ‘challenged’ him to step up and win the starting third base job heading towards the season’s final month. Although his performance as of late has been lackluster, there are signs that this is just a temporary lull brought on by the extended time off and the injury to his thumb. For starters, his batted ball numbers have completely rearranged themselves since his hiatus. Since returning from the disabled list, the hitter who was once making it rain with fly balls at an over 50 percent as recently as the end of June, Plouffe has not elevated the ball recently and has seen his fly ball rate drop to 35 percent in August. While a reduction in flies has a tendency to whittle away one’s power numbers, the good news is that he’s actually hitting a higher percentage of line drives. Of course, the bad news is that those liners just are not becoming hits (as evidenced by his .142 average on the month). Then there is the fact that he’s seemed unbalanced when it comes to his pitch selection. Last night, after whiffing on Seattle Mariner Josh Kinney’s 79 mile per hour slurve, FSN analyst Roy Smalley remarked that “[He’s] out in front – badly – on a breaking ball. That’s an ‘I’m concerned about being beat on the fastball and I swing at the first thing I see.’” Though he is not necessarily getting beat outright on the slow stuff, Plouffe is swinging at more off-speed offerings since his return. For instance, heading into last night’s game Plouffe had swung at 13 of the 16 changeups (81%) he had seen. Before his injury, he was swinging at 41 of 82 (50%). This more or less speaks to Smalley’s critique and smacks of a hitter struggling with pitch recognition and leaving him with a swing that out in front of the pitch only to result in a weak grounder or infield pop-up (hence the decline in long fly balls). In theory, this will take some time getting re-acclimated to the competition. Finally, mechanically speaking, Plouffe is not turning his hips in the same violent manner in which he did while pulling the tar out of the ball in June and July. With the exception of the swing he put on Felix Hernandez’s fastball on Monday night, Plouffe’s swing system appears off-kilter -- likely due symptom of both timing and pitch recognition issues. Without the timely torque from his core, he has not been pulling the ball with as much vigor as he did pre-thumb injury. Ryan admitted that he may hold some blame for the numbers decline by not sending Plouffe out on a longer rehab assignment. After all, he only was granted two games and nine plate appearances in order to get by in the swing of things after missing time because of the bruised thumb. Ryan is correct in acknowledging that the Twins missed an opportunity to give Plouffe additional time to recalibrate prior to returning to the major league roster. What’s more is that this current output should not be entirely unexpected of Plouffe either. When he was sidelined throughout the majority of spring training he started the season extremely slow. In mid-May, he was hitting .133/.288/.217 and Ryan – at that time – went to the media to encourage his third baseman to step up. Plouffe responded and hit .296/.344/.618 with 18 home runs over his next 52 games. Plouffe has certainly not proven that he’s capable of providing sustained production for an entire season and that is cause of concern. Then again injuries have buttressed his season explaining why his offensive stats have been bookended by terrible numbers. Look for Plouffe to regain traction in September and reclaim his rightful place as the Twins starting third baseman in 2013.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2113[/ATTACH]On Thursday night, Denard Span played in his first game in 10 days since injuring his clavicle on a Jeff Keppinger line drive on August 12. Span’s absence triggered yet another debate amongst Twins fans and pundits alike who questioned the team’s inability to properly handle their disabled. Rather than place Span on the DL a day or two after the injury appeared to be more than simply a day-to-day situation and keep the dugout stocked with healthy bodies, the Twins allowed the situation to drag on for over a week – culminating in an MRI attempt that never happened because of Span’s claustrophobia. Of course, Span is not the Twins’ first encounter with a prolonged injury this year either. Prior to Span’s ordeal, it was Trevor Plouffe who had the extended time off. On July 20, Plouffe bruised his thumb on his throwing hand and left the game against the Royals early. The prognosis at the time was that it was originally thought of as day-to-day. It took seven days before he was placed on the DL only to finally return on August 13. Before Plouffe it was Justin Morneau who, at the end of April, re-injured his surgically repaired wrist. Morneau missed three games in May in addition to five calendar days before the Twins ultimately made the move to put him on the DL. At some point, these missed games add up. Clearly, I’m not a doctor. I diagnose most injuries regardless of the severity with Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) and a few (dozen) Grain Belt Premiums. The Twins, on the other hand, have (presumably) a well-paid, well-educated medical staff that should, by most accounts, identify and set out a clear path of recovery. Yet, somehow, these injuries and ailments – no matter how seemingly minor – continue to drag out and leave the team short-handed for extended periods of time. Truthfully, I have no idea on how the internal decision process is made to DL or not to DL but it appears that the team puts the onus on the players on these ostensibly innocuous injuries. It harkens back to 1993’s The Program, in which James Caan’s character asked one of his football players if he was hurt or injured; the difference being, if he was hurt, he could still play. In Span, Plouffe and Morneau’s case, the players communicated to the medical and coaching staff that they were simply hurt and that they could play in no time. The response from each was “I’ll be fine in a day or two.” For instance, the Star Tribune’s LaVelle Neal wrote that the team was counting on Span to let them know if or when he’s able to suit back up: Like Span, Plouffe told reporters and coaches that he would expect to miss “a day” at that time. Ron Gardenhire told reporters after the game that “We've all done that as a hitter -- you get a deep bone bruise right in there and it's pretty painful. So we'll give him a day or two with a little ice and treatment, and he should be back in there." Similarly, after the decision was made to send Morneau to the disabled list, then acting manager Scott Ullger told reporters that “It’s up to him to let us know when he can play.” This has become a crappy policy. After two seasons, it is obvious that the players cannot be counted on to do this kind of determination. They have machismo and often millions at stake. They certainly WANT to play, there’s no question there. To be fair, the players are the ones actually playing and feeling the pain so they should have an open dialogue with the coaching staff but, ultimately, should they be the influential factor when contemplating the well-being of the roster? Again, I’m not a doctor – if you needed the reminder. I am a baseball analyst who relies on statistics and data and I have little to no baseline to judge or rate the Twins organization’s methods against another. There is no Wins Above Replacement Level For Guys Your Just DL’ed found on Fangraphs.com. A measuring stick does not exist (it should and some enterprising researcher needs to take up the cause). What does seem obvious is that playing short-handed hinders the team to some degree. Now, whether or not summoning someone like Clete Thomas or Chris Parmelee would have changed the outcome is certainly debatable but it would seem that continuing down this path regularly puts a team in a deficit. Had this been a contending team, a few games lost because of the disabled list indecision could have cost them vital ground in the standings. The policy in the Twins clubhouse regarding injuries needs to be re-examined and return rehabilitated in 2013.