Notes: Morneau working lefties
07/20/2006
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins have long believed that Justin Morneau could be the type of power hitter they've been lacking for nearly two decades. And with his numbers this season, he's certainly proving himself capable.
One of the biggest reasons behind the change in the first baseman's power numbers may be due to Morneau's improvement against left-handers.
Morneau has blasted nine homers off southpaws this season after recording just four last year. Some of those have come off impressive left-handers such as Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia and 22-year-old Devil Rays phenom Scott Kazmir on Tuesday. For Kazmir, it was only the third homer he has given up to a lefty over 341 career innings.
So what exactly has made the difference?
For Morneau, it seems to be a combination of getting more playing time facing lefties and changing his approach. Early in the year, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire would often take the first baseman out of the lineup with a tough lefty starter. But in May, that changed as Gardenhire began sticking with Morneau -- good performance or bad -- and it's appeared to pay off.
"Now, I come to the field knowing that I'm going to play," Morneau said. "Earlier in the year, I was looking over my shoulder a bit because you never know if you're going to get pinch-hit for, or what. It never happened, but when you are struggling and the team is not doing well, it's easy to try to make changes. Gardy stuck with me and kept putting me out there and letting me face them, so he showed confidence in me, too."
The result of keeping Morneau in against lefties has been an overall increase in his average from .201 against southpaws in 2005 to .281 through 88 games, heading into Thursday, this season.
"He's swinging the bat good and if they make a mistake, he puts a good swing on it," Gardenhire said of Morneau's changes. "He's not trying to do too much with it. He's been working very hard with [hitting coach] Joe Vavra, doing a lot of different things and it's all coming into play now. He's feeling very comfortable at the plate -- lefty, righty, it doesn't matter."
Morneau isn't the only batter doing well against left-handers, as the entire Twins squad has improved its numbers. The Twins are hitting .287 vs. left-handed pitchers, the third-highest average in baseball, compared to last season when they hit a Major League-low .247 vs. lefties.
It's something that teams used to be able to count on when facing the Twins with a left-handed starter, but that clearly has changed.
"Cleveland set up its rotation so that it could throw three lefties against us the last series," Morneau said. "That's how it used to be, you throw a lefty against us and it messed us up. But we're proving that the more you see them, the better chance you are going to have at having success."
Bring on the burns: The Twins have been a part of some pretty funny game promotions, but none may be more entertaining than the one the club recently announced.
The Twins, along with sponsoring partner Mall of America, will host "Joe Mauer Sideburn Night" on Thursday, Aug. 10 when the club plays the Toronto Blue Jays at 7:10 p.m. CT.
As part of the promotion and in honor of Mall of America's 14th birthday, the first 10,000 fans will receive replica Joe Mauer sideburns. The synthetic hair will include double-sided tape so that fans themselves can look like Mauer.
The night is just part of an onslaught of attention being directed at the 23-year-old catcher and his impressive season. But for Mauer, it's still a little bit surprising that it's his sideburns that have been the topic of so many questions, along with being the focus of one of the Twins' commercials.
"I don't know why everybody is so into my sideburns," Mauer said with a laugh. "It should be a funny day, though, to look in the stands and see people with blond and red hair wearing brown sideburns."
Sticking with what works: The initial plan for the Twins had not been to keep Rondell White as the everyday starter in left field upon his return to the club.
But with the way that White's been hitting since his callup -- going 8-for-14 with three home runs, six RBIS and five runs scored -- it's been almost impossible to take him away from the position.
Though White never blamed his offensive woes on changing to the designated hitter role, it's becoming clear that maybe the extra time in the outfield has helped his confidence a bit.
"With Rondell swinging like he's swinging out there and feeling comfortable, you're thinking that if this works out for him, and he's playing good defense, you're not going to change it," Gardenhire said. "You might mix it up every once in awhile, but I don't think you go and take a guy out when it appears that the outfield is helping the situation."
Twins tidbits: Both Shannon Stewart and Torii Hunter will not make the upcoming trip with the team due to their inability to really do any type of rehabilitation with their injuries. Hunter will head home to Dallas to work on some weights, upper body work and throwing, while staying off his injured foot. "By the time we get back, Torii should have three or four days to be ready and that should be plenty for him," Gardenhire said. ... Mauer got a day of rest from catching during Thursday's day game. He was slotted in the DH role in order to keep his bat in the lineup. ... The Twins' 36 wins in their first 47 home games set a new franchise record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The last time a team won at least 36 of their first 47 home games was in 1998 when the Yankees were 39-8, the Padres were 36-11, and both teams went to the World Series that season.
Down on the farm: Boof Bonser threw five innings, allowing three hits as Triple-A Rochester beat Syracuse, 1-0, on Wednesday. Andres Torres went 2-for-4 with an RBI. In Game 2 of the doubleheader, Pete Munro lasted 5 1/3 innings and gave up five hits and four runs as the Red Wings lost, 4-2. ... Third baseman Matt Moses went 2-for-5 with four RBIs to push Double-A New Britain over Reading, 8-7. ... The club's Class A affiliates -- Ft. Meyers and Beloit -- were off on Wednesday.
Source: http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins have long believed that Justin Morneau could be the type of power hitter they've been lacking for nearly two decades. And with his numbers this season, he's certainly proving himself capable.
One of the biggest reasons behind the change in the first baseman's power numbers may be due to Morneau's improvement against left-handers.
Morneau has blasted nine homers off southpaws this season after recording just four last year. Some of those have come off impressive left-handers such as Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia and 22-year-old Devil Rays phenom Scott Kazmir on Tuesday. For Kazmir, it was only the third homer he has given up to a lefty over 341 career innings.
So what exactly has made the difference?
For Morneau, it seems to be a combination of getting more playing time facing lefties and changing his approach. Early in the year, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire would often take the first baseman out of the lineup with a tough lefty starter. But in May, that changed as Gardenhire began sticking with Morneau -- good performance or bad -- and it's appeared to pay off.
"Now, I come to the field knowing that I'm going to play," Morneau said. "Earlier in the year, I was looking over my shoulder a bit because you never know if you're going to get pinch-hit for, or what. It never happened, but when you are struggling and the team is not doing well, it's easy to try to make changes. Gardy stuck with me and kept putting me out there and letting me face them, so he showed confidence in me, too."
The result of keeping Morneau in against lefties has been an overall increase in his average from .201 against southpaws in 2005 to .281 through 88 games, heading into Thursday, this season.
"He's swinging the bat good and if they make a mistake, he puts a good swing on it," Gardenhire said of Morneau's changes. "He's not trying to do too much with it. He's been working very hard with [hitting coach] Joe Vavra, doing a lot of different things and it's all coming into play now. He's feeling very comfortable at the plate -- lefty, righty, it doesn't matter."
Morneau isn't the only batter doing well against left-handers, as the entire Twins squad has improved its numbers. The Twins are hitting .287 vs. left-handed pitchers, the third-highest average in baseball, compared to last season when they hit a Major League-low .247 vs. lefties.
It's something that teams used to be able to count on when facing the Twins with a left-handed starter, but that clearly has changed.
"Cleveland set up its rotation so that it could throw three lefties against us the last series," Morneau said. "That's how it used to be, you throw a lefty against us and it messed us up. But we're proving that the more you see them, the better chance you are going to have at having success."
Bring on the burns: The Twins have been a part of some pretty funny game promotions, but none may be more entertaining than the one the club recently announced.
The Twins, along with sponsoring partner Mall of America, will host "Joe Mauer Sideburn Night" on Thursday, Aug. 10 when the club plays the Toronto Blue Jays at 7:10 p.m. CT.
As part of the promotion and in honor of Mall of America's 14th birthday, the first 10,000 fans will receive replica Joe Mauer sideburns. The synthetic hair will include double-sided tape so that fans themselves can look like Mauer.
The night is just part of an onslaught of attention being directed at the 23-year-old catcher and his impressive season. But for Mauer, it's still a little bit surprising that it's his sideburns that have been the topic of so many questions, along with being the focus of one of the Twins' commercials.
"I don't know why everybody is so into my sideburns," Mauer said with a laugh. "It should be a funny day, though, to look in the stands and see people with blond and red hair wearing brown sideburns."
Sticking with what works: The initial plan for the Twins had not been to keep Rondell White as the everyday starter in left field upon his return to the club.
But with the way that White's been hitting since his callup -- going 8-for-14 with three home runs, six RBIS and five runs scored -- it's been almost impossible to take him away from the position.
Though White never blamed his offensive woes on changing to the designated hitter role, it's becoming clear that maybe the extra time in the outfield has helped his confidence a bit.
"With Rondell swinging like he's swinging out there and feeling comfortable, you're thinking that if this works out for him, and he's playing good defense, you're not going to change it," Gardenhire said. "You might mix it up every once in awhile, but I don't think you go and take a guy out when it appears that the outfield is helping the situation."
Twins tidbits: Both Shannon Stewart and Torii Hunter will not make the upcoming trip with the team due to their inability to really do any type of rehabilitation with their injuries. Hunter will head home to Dallas to work on some weights, upper body work and throwing, while staying off his injured foot. "By the time we get back, Torii should have three or four days to be ready and that should be plenty for him," Gardenhire said. ... Mauer got a day of rest from catching during Thursday's day game. He was slotted in the DH role in order to keep his bat in the lineup. ... The Twins' 36 wins in their first 47 home games set a new franchise record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The last time a team won at least 36 of their first 47 home games was in 1998 when the Yankees were 39-8, the Padres were 36-11, and both teams went to the World Series that season.
Down on the farm: Boof Bonser threw five innings, allowing three hits as Triple-A Rochester beat Syracuse, 1-0, on Wednesday. Andres Torres went 2-for-4 with an RBI. In Game 2 of the doubleheader, Pete Munro lasted 5 1/3 innings and gave up five hits and four runs as the Red Wings lost, 4-2. ... Third baseman Matt Moses went 2-for-5 with four RBIs to push Double-A New Britain over Reading, 8-7. ... The club's Class A affiliates -- Ft. Meyers and Beloit -- were off on Wednesday.
Source: http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/
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