Here's a link to my latest article I wrote while living in the DR. Trying to give people a sense of what it's like to be down here and what the baseball situation is like as well. Thanks for reading- leave comments if you have any!
Here's a link to my latest article I wrote while living in the DR. Trying to give people a sense of what it's like to be down here and what the baseball situation is like as well. Thanks for reading- leave comments if you have any!
Looking to kill a few minutes? Have a look at this peculiar project a ten-year old some knucklehead enterprising person took the time to construct via a series of posts in 2011-12.
http://burncardburn.com
Follow it through to the end, and in total there's about five pages of images and videos of captioned baseball cards, defaced baseball cards, intentionally damaged baseball cards, burnt baseball cards, and, ..., well, more captioned and defaced and damaged and burnt baseball cards. PS: hope you like mustaches.
Contact the owner of that site, not me, if you want your ten minutes back. Personally, it spoke to my inner ten-year old youthful knucklehead soul.
Take a look at an article I wrote on the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network! I think a all of what I wrote could also be applied to the Polanco situation as well, except for the Hall of Fame stuff I suppose...
Take a look at an article I wrote on the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network! I think a all of what I wrote could also be applied to the Polanco situation as well, except for the Hall of Fame stuff I suppose...
Take a look at an article I wrote on the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network! I think a all of what I wrote could also be applied to the Polanco situation as well, except for the Hall of Fame stuff I suppose...
Take a look at an article I wrote on the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network! I think a all of what I wrote could also be applied to the Polanco situation as well, except for the Hall of Fame stuff I suppose...
Take a look at an article I wrote on the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network! I think a all of what I wrote could also be applied to the Polanco situation as well, except for the Hall of Fame stuff I suppose...
Take a look at an article I wrote on the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network! I think a all of what I wrote could also be applied to the Polanco situation as well, except for the Hall of Fame stuff I suppose...
Miguel Sano is one of the Minnesota Twins most prolific hitters, and right now, he's also one of their worst. Through 17 games in the 2018 season, he's had 75 plate appearances and owns a .191/.253/.426 slash line. What's positive is that there's a very clear path to righting the ship. The downside is that the path is one that doesn't come easily for players toting power bats.
Thus far, Sano has struck out 32 times while drawing just eight walks. Extrapolating those numbers over a full 162 game season gives us a 305/57 K/BB ratio. Both of those numbers would be a career high, the strikeouts would be an MLB record, and it would be nearly a doubling of his 178 whiffs in 2016. To be transparent, I have no real problem with a three true outcomes type of hitter, but right now, Sano has to right the ship in order to produce more of the two positive outcomes.
Let's start with some good news. Sano owns an 18.2% swinging strike rate. That number is tied for 3rd worst in all of baseball, but it's directly in line with how he finished 2017. It's also in the same company as players like J.D. Martinez, Javier Baez, and Yoenis Cespedes. If you aren't a fan of swinging and missing, a more encouraging number is Sano's contact rate (63.3%) and his contact rate on pitches in the strike zone (78%). The former is a slight improvement from 2017, while the latter represents a new career high. To summarize, it's not as if Sano is missing hittable pitches, and he's got a very similar approach to what he's always done.
Here's where things get off track however. The Twins third-basemen owns a career worst 33.2% chase rate. That number is up four percent from a year ago, and expanding the strike zone doesn't allow for him to truly harness his power. We see that evidenced by his hard hit rate as well, which at 35.1% is the lowest mark of his career. After owning the 4th best hard hit rate in baseball last season, Sano's current total puts him barely inside the top 100 among qualified hitters this year. Given the fluctuations in contact quality, it also matters how Sano is putting the ball in play. While the goal should always be to elevate the baseball, doing so with hard contact is a must. Right now, Sano has a career high 51.4% fly ball ratio, but he's dropped his line drive rate to a career worst 10.8%. With his HR/FB number dipping to 21.1% after 27.5% in 2017, we can see a perfect storm of negative events. Miguel is currently hitting the ball weaker, more up than on a line, and fewer baseballs are leaving the yard. For a guy looking to walk or homer nearly as often as he strikes out, the process has become a bit busted.
Earlier I noted that the blueprint for a fix is there however, and that remains true. As a right handed batter, pitchers have decided their best opportunity to work around Sano is to attack the zone low and away. The graph shown allows us to see that Miguel has helped out his opponents far too often this season. When he's offered at pitches, nearly 10% of the time he's doing so with little opportunity of making anything positive happen. Unless he waits back significantly and drives the low and outside pitch to right field, it's hard to get any lift or power generated on a ball you're reaching for. Over the course of his career, Sano has shown an ability to go to all fields. While his spray chart skews home runs more to the pull side, the opposite fences aren't ignored. There's plenty of scatted doubles to be had the other way, and three of his four career triples have been sent to right field. The goal isn't necessarily to make Sano a hitter determined to use all fields as much as it is to impress upon him that dictating plate appearances is something that a batter of his caliber should be doing. Given the opposing pitcher is aware that mistakes will put them a run down, Sano must be more choosy in regards to the times he takes the bat off of his shoulder.
It's still early in the year, and there's plenty of opportunity for the ship to be righted. This isn't the blistering start that the Dominican native got off to a year ago, but it's hardly a death sentence either. If Sano is really going to be a three true outcomes hitter that's fine, but the process has to be one conducive to productive results.
For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz
They say you should write your dreams down right when you wake up in order to remember them clearly. After returning from a dreamlike day and a half in San Juan, I’m feeling like the exercise will be helpful for me as well. Luckily, I don’t have the deadline many local writers had after the 16 inning marathon of game two.
The seed for the idea was planted months ago, when I mentioned to my Dad that it would be fun to meet up for the Puerto Rico series. Fast forward a few months, and with tickets booked from both Minnesota and the Dominican Republic, an AirBnb reserved, and seats for the games themselves, we were ready.
We landed, dropped off our stuff, and headed straight for Hiram Bithorn Stadium. After raining all morning, it had gotten hot and muggy (even more than I’m used to in the Dominican Republic). The atmosphere outside the stadium was great, with music, games and beer (but no bottles of water to be found). After standing in line for 20 minuets in the heat without water, the water came in the form of a sudden downpour.
As water was coming off the stadium roof like waterfalls, we experienced the first of many examples of locals showing kindness and hospitality. The family behind us quickly opened up an umbrella and invited us under it with them. We walked together toward the gate as I translated for my father and the family.
Inside the stadium concourse the scene was similar to many stadiums around the world: concessions, games and giveaways. One thing that was different was the appearance of a some players on the concourse pregame. Both Jose Berrios and Eddie Rosario came out of the clubhouse and caused a bit of a mob scene taking pictures and greeting fans. It was really cool to see the reaction of the fans, who were ecstatic to see their heroes in person, and also the players, who were obviously excited to interact with their compatriots.
The other celebrity sighting was on the other side of the concourse, where we were asked to move out of the way by security, only to see Terry Fancona getting driven through the crowd toward his clubhouse. He looked noticeably less excited to be out on the concourse with the crowds.
Once we got to our seats we realized that the Twins BP was cut short by the rain, but we did get to see Cleveland hit before the game.
Once they hit, the starting lineups were introduced. There certainly seemed to be more Cleveland fans than Minnesota, and the biggest ovations throughout the series came for Fransisco Lindor. The great majority of jerseys in the stands were Lindor jerseys, especially from the locals. There were a great many locals with the shirt or jersey of one team and the hat from another, which I think is a great example of the attitudes of most of these fans. They cheered hard for their own, Lindor being the most notable. During the second game, I sat next to an older gentleman who had to ask if Rosario and Berrios were from Puerto Rico, but was adamant that Lindor was the best shortstop in the majors.
This isn’t to say that the locals are misinformed or “bad fans,” on the contrary, they seemed to be more informed about the game than fans in the Dominican Republic or even the US. They hung on every pitch and at bat, and cheered for good baseball, whoever happened to be at the center of the play. I talked to a few different fans in depth about particular non-Puerto Rican players, and the conversations were as good, or better informed than ones I’ve had with fans in the US. Many people were in awe of Sano’s size and power, predicting home runs on every one of his at-bats. I was also told that Joe Mauer is under appreciated, and one of the best players of the last 10 years (I bet you won’t hear that in the stands at Target Field anytime soon, or maybe you will if he keeps hitting .370).
The locals also didn’t hold back their opinions and trash talk. I was told multiple times that I was cheering for the wrong team, but always with a friendly smile or laugh. It was great to see a baseball game where seemingly everyone was there to watch and experience baseball, not necessarily just to hang out outside and chat with friends over overpriced beer and food.
By the end of the first game, the stadium was fully on Cleveland's side. Seeing Lindor’s home run was a really special once in a lifetime experience, for the fans and the player. After seeing man winter league games in the DR, I was surprised at hearing him apologize for how he acted during and after his home run. This is how players play here, and what fans expect. To me, anyone who asking him to contain himself might as well ask him not to speak Spanish, or change how he plays the game entirely. Good for him for coming through during one of the most important games of his career (although I was completely unimpressed with his performance through the rest of the series).
Although the Twins didn’t look very good in game 1, it was still a great time. A big part of that for me had to do with the twinsdaily community. Before going to Puerto Rico, I talked with another community member about meeting up there, and sure enough I met and sat with Ben for the whole 1st game. It was great getting to know and share such a cool experience with another twinsdaily fan!
Speaking of gringo fans like ourselves, there were plenty at the game, but it’s hard to say which team had more there. If I had to say, I’d lean towards Cleveland edging out the Twins in that department. Just like my experience with the local fans, everyone was really nice and didn’t hesitate to stop and chat whenever there was a chance. During the day before the 2nd game, my Dad and I took the chance to check out San Juan. During our day of sight seeing in the historic Old San Juan, we learned that the power had gone down island wide. This coincided with the sound of gasoline generators powering up, with the noise filling the 400 year old streets throughout the day.
This is when I truly felt the meaning of this series for the Puerto Rican people. Many that we talked to during that second day seemed to take the outage in stride, continuing to go about their business as best they could. I was still able to get a cold beer and people around me were still served their lunches at the local bar. The bartender said that these outages happened every once in awhile, and never lasted as long as predicted (he was right, this one lasted 6 hours and not the 24-48 predicted). There were still plenty of signs of damage from Maria around town; many buildings with tarps on their roofs and trees uprooted in parks. Traffic lights were intermittent at best, with cars jockeying for position to sneak across. With daily life still in disarray, people seemed genuinely proud to be able to go to a game and cheer for Lindor and Berrios. Not only were they the pride of the island, the game was something that the locals could do to forget about the power outages and other continuing issues for three (or six) hours.
After stopping at the beach and a local beer garden to sample some local craft brews, we headed to game two. This one turned out to be one of the more amazing games I’ve ever seen live. I myself was nervous for Berrios as he stepped to the mound, and after the somewhat rocky first (for his standards anyway), I was worried he might have let his nerves get the better of him. Boy, was I wrong. Watching Berrios duel another great pitcher in Corrasco for seven great innings was a sight to behold. I was actually somewhat disappointed the crowd wasn’t behind Berrios even more than they were, as he was really dealing. I was also disappointed Molitor didn’t at least send him out to get one out in the 8th and get the ovation he deserved from his home crowd.
After taking out Berrios, it seemed that the futility of both teams at the plate was the theme for the rest of the game. Seeing both teams squander chances inning after inning became frustrating, especially because I had an early flight the next morning to get back to work in the DR. But I certainly didn’t complain when Sano blasted the ball to left to tie it up in the 14th, and I didn’t complain when the Twins got out of a jam in the 15th. The walk-off in the 16th provided the perfect who’s who in a wild night of baseball. First, of course, Rosario deserved to be the winning run after being the perfect ambassador for our team in his home country and for his country in our hometown. Second, we got to see Logan Morrison, who didn’t get on base in the 6 previous attempts and who was hitting sub .070 get on base on a fluky play. Finally, we got to see a guy in Ryan LaMarre who has been overlooked year after year and who didn’t even start the game get his first walkoff hit.
By the end of the game, I think most fans were just hoping one of the teams could score and get it over with. I was impressed with how many people stayed for the whole thing, it being past midnight by the time the game was over, but the stadium may have been a third full by the end. Regardless, seeing Eddie get to jump around the field after the walkoff made it all worth it.
And even if the Twins would have lost that game, it would have been worth it. Worth it to add another stadium and city to my passport, to try a few new beers, and to hang out with my Dad for a couple days. But most of all to see that baseball can still be a force for good and positivity for people going through tough times, wherever they are.
Luke Albrecht got a reaction from MN_ExPat for a blog entry, Locked Out: The Reality of Baseball in Santiago
Luke Albrecht got a reaction from Oldgoat_MN for a blog entry, Locked Out: The Reality of Baseball in Santiago.thumb.jpg.48552c72210992c8af51c0f0b81fd8ec.jpg)
Luke Albrecht got a reaction from Steven Buhr for a blog entry, Robinson Cano, Excuses, and the Dominican Republic
Luke Albrecht got a reaction from Squirrel for a blog entry, Robinson Cano, Excuses, and the Dominican Republic
Luke Albrecht got a reaction from Sssuperdave for a blog entry, Robinson Cano, Excuses, and the Dominican Republic
Luke Albrecht got a reaction from TiberTwins for a blog entry, Robinson Cano, Excuses, and the Dominican Republic
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