Thursday,
March 18, 2010
Free
Pass?
Ben Revere got
off to a quick start this spring with some multi-hit games. He leads all Twins in
plate appearances this spring, in part, because of the lack of other true
center field options.
Like Revere, Juan Portes
was another non-roster invitee. He hit three home runs and a double in his
first 11 at bats. Was it an oversight that he was not in my most recent Top 50
Twins Prospect ranking? Probably. However, I still
wouldn’t put him in the top 40. But he has done exactly what you would want a
non-roster player to do, make an impression.
Luke Hughes didn’t
have a lot of opportunity early in camp, but in the last couple of days, he has
had a three-hit game and a walk-off double today. He has also played quite a
bit at second base and more than held his own.
Danny Valencia
came into camp hoping to be given a shot at winning the third base job.
Although he is just 4-18, he has two doubles and a home run. He has 18 at bats,
the same number as Brendan Harris and one more than
Matt Tolbert and Nick Punto.
Stats mean very little in
spring training. Valencia may be hitting .222 (4-18), but a 3-3 puts him a
.333. Portes’s batting average has fallen over .400
points over the last week.
But there is one set of
statistics that is worth watching. For both hitters and for pitchers, I like to
look at their number of walks to their number of strikeouts. I realize that not
every player has to be the same, but guys like Denard Span and Joe Mauer walk more than they strike out. For a power
hitter like Justin Morneau,
it is good just to see those numbers close. You want hitters who are patient and
willing to wait for a good pitch. So how
have these four players done in the walk to strikeout ratios?
·
Ben Revere –
32 at bats, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts. Not exactly the walk to strikeout rate you
want from a leadoff hitter. Yes, he’s hitting a solid .281, but his on-base
percentage is also .281. And that is a high strikeout rate for a contact
hitter. This doesn’t take anything away from Revere as a prospect, and is not meant
to do so. I just think that many are now of the impression that he is ready. He
will go to AA New Britain and let’s just let him play. This has been a good
experience for him, but he clearly needs much more development time.
·
Juan Portes – 21 at bats, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts. Portes has never been a real patient hitter. The strikeout
rate (1 in 3) is obviously too high. It’s one of those things where he is
hitting .381 and has shown the power, but it doesn’t mean he is ready. As I
look at potential rosters, I can’t see a scenario in which he isn’t playing in
AA again this year, and I think it will be a good thing for him. The thing that
I would like to see him do if he does repeat, is maintain the power stroke and
show more power.
·
Luke Hughes –
20 at bats, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts. One less at bat than Portes,
but basically the same story. No walks and too many strikeouts. I actually
compare Portes to Hughes quite a bit as they both do
not have a real strong defensive position. They both will advance based on
their bats. I expect that Hughes will spend the season in Rochester, playing 2B, 3B and the corner OF positions while DHing
too. I do think that he will debut with the Twins sometime during the season.
·
Danny Valencia
– 18 at bats, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts – One of the concerns on Valencia. After
moving up to Rochester, he had just eight walks to go with 269 at bats. Now, he
has always had a solid Isolated Discipline previous to that half-season, so I’m
not worried. But it does suggest that it isn’t a mistake by the Twins to let
him get a couple more months of AAA time under his belt.
Ideally, it would be nice to
start camp by taking some pitches, working counts, being patient and taking
good at bats. It should come as no surprise that some players with no big
league experience, who are trying to make a good impression on the big league
coaching staff, are probably a little too anxious and trying to do too much.
This is yet another example of the whole Small Sample Size phenomena. It is why
most decisions do not happen in spring training based on 20 to 40 plate
appearances. What happens over a couple of hundred at bats matters much more. All four of these players are worth watching in 2010.
I expect to see both Hughes and Valencia in a Twins uniform at some point this
season. Revere has shown some very positive things considering his age, but he
has also shown that he should not be rushed, even to AAA.
From a pitching standpoint,
there are a few things to note. First, Scott
Baker has one walk and nine strikeouts in nine innings. Kevin Slowey
has one walk and eight strikeouts in eight innings. It’s impressive that two
guys who are working more on throwing strikes and gaining arm strength still
have enough to get a strikeout an inning. How about Francisco Liriano? The lefty has one walk
and 12 strikeouts in just seven innings of work. Talk about the types of
numbers that create Ace discussions!
On Thursday, the Twins sent Rob Delaney back to minor league camp.
He wasn’t going to make the team, but I was hoping he might get a little longer
look. I know he had given up some hits (9 hits in 5.1 innings), but when I saw
his walk to strikeout rate, I was impressed. In 5.1 innings, he had 0 walks and
nine strikeouts. That bodes well for his 2010 season in Rochester. He needs to
find a way to miss more bats, but he does have tremendous control.
On the other end of the
spectrum, Jeff Manship
has five walks and four strikeouts in 5.2 innings. There is nothing in his minor
league track record to indicate any control problems, so I definitely attribute
this to a small sample size and early season. He has also allowed another nine
hits (including two home runs). But in his outing on Wednesday, he fell behind
Evan Longoria 3-1 in an at bat, and came back to strike him out on two sharp
curveballs. Those are the things that tell you that he will be just fine.
And I would think that the
Twins wanted Glen Perkins to have a
solid camp so they could trade him. He has written his ticket for Rochester,
unless some team saw something. In his six innings, he has five walks and 13
hits allowed. Ouch! He also has just two strikeouts.
Again, I have to reiterate
the small sample size nature of spring training numbers for both pitchers and
catchers. But I do think we can learn a little bit from walks and strikeouts.
If you have any thoughts, you can e-mail me, or feel free to leave your
comments here.