Tag: Michael Brantley

Swing and a miss……..

Willians Astudillo swung and missed only 8.3% of the time in 2018.

Putting the ball in play is important but it seems like it is less important in today’s version of baseball than it was in the past. As I watched Twins batters flail away the last few years I realized how much I valued players that could put wood on the ball versus those that struck out a high percentage of the time. A home run is nice now and then but for me there is a lot more to baseball than just the home run.

The other day I ran across a tweet that stated that Micheal Brantley saw 1,008 pitched and swung and missed 92 times. So naturally that got me to think about the how Twins hitters did. It this case I looked at Twins hitters that saw at least 100 pitches during the 2018 season and here are the results from Statcast Search. Any surprises here?

 

2018 Twins info.pdf

200 hits in a season

Jose AltuveLast Wednesday Houston Astros 2B Jose Altuve went two for five in the Astros 5-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. His single in the seventh inning was his 200th hit of the season. As of today, Altuve, a 2014 All-Star has 206 hits and the hitter closest to him in hits is Indians outfielder Michael Brantley with 180 hits. The 24 year-old five foot six inch second sacker who is in his fourth season with the Astro’s is showing everyone that he is a real good baseball player. In the last 10 seasons MLB hitters have had 200 or more hits on 36 occasions but last year there were none and this season Altuve may well be the only one. Is pitching taking over baseball?

So when was the last time the Minnesota Twins had a hitter with 200 or more hits in a season? Can’t remember? Maybe that is because it hasn’t happened for many a year. The last Twins hitter to have 200 or more hits in a season was 39 year-old DH Paul Molitor back in 1996. The amazing Kirby Puckett did it a total of five times including four in a row from 1986-1989 and he came up just short in 1985 with 199 hits. The Twins now in their 54th season have had only 13 hitters that have gotten 200 or more hits in a single season. The Twins have never had more than one hitter in a season get 200 or more hits but in 1977 Rod Carew had 239 hits and Lyman Bostock came up just short with 199 hits.

Twins hitters with 200 or more hits in a season

Kirby Puckett

Rk Player H Year ? Age G AB R HR RBI BA OPS Pos
1 Paul Molitor 225 1996 39 161 660 99 9 113 .341 .858 *D3/H
2 Kirby Puckett 210 1992 32 160 639 104 19 110 .329 .864 *8/DH45
3 Kirby Puckett 215 1989 29 159 635 75 9 85 .339 .843 *8/HD
4 Kirby Puckett 234 1988 28 158 657 109 24 121 .356 .920 *8/H
5 Kirby Puckett 207 1987 27 157 624 96 28 99 .332 .900 *8/DH
6 Kirby Puckett 223 1986 26 161 680 119 31 96 .328 .903 *8/H
7 Rod Carew 239 1977 31 155 616 128 14 100 .388 1.019 *3/H4D
8 Rod Carew 200 1976 30 156 605 97 9 90 .331 .858 *3/4H
9 Rod Carew 218 1974 28 153 599 86 3 55 .364 .879 *4/H
10 Rod Carew 203 1973 27 149 580 98 6 62 .350 .881 *4/H
11 Cesar Tovar 204 1971 30 157 657 94 1 45 .311 .725 *798/5H4
12 Tony Oliva 204 1970 31 157 628 96 23 107 .325 .878 *9/8H
13 Tony Oliva 217 1964 25 161 672 109 32 94 .323 .916 *9/8H7
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/15/2014.

 

According to Elias

Twins generate power from unlikely spots –

Brian Dozier, Oswaldo Arcia, Clete Thomas, and Eduardo Escobar provided unlikely power in the Twins’ 8-4 win over the White Sox at Target Field. It was the first time in team history that Minnesota players homered from the first, seventh, eighth, and ninth slots in the batting order in the same game.

There was one other such game this season. On April 30, the Indians homered from the 1, 7, 8, and 9 slots (Michael Brantley, Lonnie Chisenhall, Ryan Raburn, and Drew Stubbs). But prior to that, it hadn’t happened in the majors since 2005.