When Twins bench coach Jayce Tingler first brought the idea to manager Rocco Baldelli, it set off a long conversation between the two filled with plenty of questions.
The general concept is simple enough: The Twins want to be more aggressive on the base paths. But could they actually do this? What would it look like?
Over the past week or so, players have been more empowered to make their own decisions on the bases rather than waiting for signs from the coaching staff. The Twins are not a particularly fast team — they have ranked near the bottom of the league in sprint speed and stolen bases in recent years — but that doesn’t mean they can’t run the bases smartly and aggressively, taking extra bases when they see chances to.
“You’re not going to begin that process unless you just simply do it one day — you just wake up and do it,” Baldelli said. “As a group, we want to go first to third as many times as we can. We’re going to have more guys with the green light going forward, and we’re going to be making a lot of decisions out there on the field using our vision and our awareness.”
Baldelli first mentioned the concept to the team’s group of position players before the Twins’ Aug. 20 game against the Athletics and has seen an immediate response since then.
It’s also come with more outs on the bases, which is to be expected. The Tampa Bay Rays, a team Baldelli has pointed to as an example, had run into more outs on the bases than anybody as of Thursday morning. They also lead the league in stolen bases by a wide margin — at 172 stolen bases, they have stolen exactly 100 more bags than the Twins — and are near the top of the league in other metrics that measure baserunning aggression.
“Along with some of the extra bases we get, there could be some outs, as well. But I’d rather play aggressive than passively,” Baldelli said.
The new shift has been well-received from the team’s position players.
Kody Clemens, for example, cited the Milwaukee Brewers — the team that has the best record in the majors — and how hard it was to play against them because they were “running everywhere.”
“I do think it’s a plus to have that attribute as a team, to have some good baserunning, first to third and stuff like that,” Clemens said. “It can open a lot of doors.”
Utilityman Austin Martin said he now feels like he has “more free range,” to be himself and “just use more of my instincts.” Martin, who stole two of the Twins’ five bases in their 9-8 loss to Toronto on Wednesday, was one of the players Baldelli said he was hoping could take advantage of this type of opportunity, citing his aptitude and instincts for the game.
Before, Martin said, he would get the green light to steal in certain situations but it could be taken off the very next pitch. Now, it’s more about players being smart and reading the game, he said.
“I think being able to put ourselves in those situations helps long term in terms of learning and understanding the game better,” Martin said. “When’s the right time to run? When’s the wrong time to be too aggressive? I think we can err on the side of being aggressive, but also err on the side of being a lot smarter at the end of it, too.”
And while there may be some growing pains, Baldelli has also said he is encouraged by what he has seen as the Twins try to transform this aspect of their game, a move they believe will benefit them both now and in the future.
“Giving our players responsibility to watch and learn and react and use their awareness, instincts, and show us their ability to play the game … really puts a lot of the onus on them,” Baldelli said. “And I think they want that. I think they actually feel good about it, and it gives them chances to just play, to just show what they can do on the field, show their ability. .. And that’s what we’ve seen.”
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