Target Field, home runs and the Derby

The format may not matter
to Yoenis Cepedes. In Home Run
Derby, he's in it to win it.

My interest in the Home Run Derby is seldom very high, and once Brian Dozier and Justin Morneau were eliminated this year the "competition" became background noise while I worked on a Facebook photo album from our vacation/minor league trip.

Still, I picked up via Twitter a sense that the new, supposedly quicker, format for the Derby was unsatisfying. Part of the disgruntlement, I suspect, is that the biggest power stars in the competition, Joey Batista and Giancarlo Stanton, lost out in the semifinals. Part of it, I suspect, is that Target Field is not an easy home run touch, so we got some 1-0 scores in swingoffs and matchups. And part of it, to be sure, is that my Twitter feed is heavy on the kind of serious fans who are at their core a little embarrassed that they care about the spectacle that is the Derby.

Still, Yoenis Cepedes won for the second straight year, so I'm not inclined to think the format resulted in an undeserving champion. Cepedes, it appears, is a batting practice monster, and Home Run Derby is glorified batting practice.

I was intrigued earlier in the day by a SportsCenter segment on why Target Field is a difficult home run part. Their "Sports Science" report noted that the posted dimensions of the yard are actually a little shorter than the major league average, but the stadium has proven over its four-plus seasons of use to be one of the more difficult home run parks in the majors.

Their analysis focused on the wind. It concludes that the summer wind generally comes in from right field -- through the Twins Plaza opening into the stadium. The wind is funneled into the Plaza by the tall buildings surrounding the park, and turns into mini-cyclones when it clears the seating area and reaches the lower field. This helps knock fly balls to right down.

The vagaries of the wind is a more reasonable explanation for how the park plays than the settling concrete theory occasionally espoused on the FSN telecasts. It has been my observation over time that the flags above the left field seats and the flags in right field seldom are flying in the same direction, which I interpret as showing that the wind swirls inside the park. The wide gap in the plaza area is an easy point for the wind to enter and exit, but elsewhere there is concrete and stone in the way

Notes, quotes and comment

The MRI on Ricky Nolasco's ailing elbow found no structural damage:

Nolasco's ligament is sound. Had some flexor pronator stiffness on opposite side of elbow . #MNTwins
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) July 8, 2014

So the Twins have put him on the disabled list and called up Chris Herrmann, catcher-outfielder. This gives them an extra bench player for the weekend series in Colorado, where there will be no DH (National League rules). It also thins out the pitching staff for a series in Colorado, where pitchers are known to struggle.

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The debate over whether Nolasco should have told the Twins his elbow hurt or if the team should somehow have been more proactive reminded me of 1988, when Bert Blyleven had a miserable year (10-17, 5.38) and finally went on the disabled list in late July.

The vacationing Blyleven referenced that year, I think, in this tweet:

Sorry to read about Nolasco put on the 15-day DL. I know 1st hand it's not easy to pitch with a sore elbow. Good luck Ricky. Heal quickly!
— Bert Blyleven (@BertBlyleven28) July 8, 2014

I remember thinking in '88 that Blyleven wasn't helping the team by hiding the injury. But, at least from this distance, I'm not sure the alternatives on hand would have been any improvement. The Twins that year got career years from Frank Viola and Allan Anderson; every other starter, including Blyleven, was pretty awful.

This year, the Twins have a very good rotation working in Triple A. The alternatives are better than in '88. And the upside of Nolasco is not comparable to the upside of Blyleven.

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Brian Dozier was named to the AL squad for the Home Run Derby, to be held Monday at Target Field. There's no requirement that a home team guy be in the derby, but you may remember how Robinson Cano was booed a couple years ago in Kansas City for not selecting a Royal (specifically Billy Butler).

Anyway, Dozier will be taking part, and apparently he had already recruited his brother, who pitched in college, to throw to him. I don't know; if by some stroke of luck one of my brothers were in the Derby and asked me to pitch to him, I'd probably accept just to knock him down. But my sibling dynamics may not be normal.

There's one more participant for each league to be named, and the word is that Justin Morneau has told NL captain (and Colorado teammate) Troy Tulowitzki that he won't accept unless he makes the NL All-star team. Right now, he's one of the Final Five candidates, and was reported on Tuesday to be in the lead.

If Morneau is in the Derby, he might get a bigger hand from the Target Field crowd than Dozier.

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In the immediate wake of Miguel Sano's Tommy John surgery, there was speculation that he might be able to DH in the minors in August. That has been ruled out.

Miguel Sano has been ruled out from games until December. Will be in "controlled environment" until then, per Rob Antony.
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) July 8, 2014

So no minor league play for Sano, no Arizona Fall League, maybe winter ball in the Dominican. It's a conservative approach; it may be a wise approach; it is, definitely, a patience-testing approach.

Home Run Derby

I'm satisfied with Joltin' Joe Mauer's performance Monday in the Home Run Derby. He didn't get goose-egged, a la a certain Detroit Tiger, and by getting eliminated without going to the second round, he probably didn't overexert himself on a theoretical night off.

I'm not inclined to get too wound up about the supposed dangers of the Derby — that players wear themselves out for the season and/or screw up their swings trying to hit three dozen long balls. Justin Morneau's September slump last year may be been because he was weary, but that can hardly be blamed on one night in July. That was months in the making.

Still, Mauer is a catcher, and fatigue is always a factor at that position. Plus his batting has fallen off in the last week or so. So a short night is a plus for him.

I'm writing this while the Derby is still going on — truth is, I stopped watching after Mauer was eliminated in the swing-off. A little of that ESPN crew goes a long, long way with me these days, and I'd seen all I needed.

News, notes and comment

Item: Jonathan Sanchez of the Giants no-hit the San Diego Padres on Friday.

Comment: Sanchez (right) is one of the good young power arms the Giants have accumulated over the past few years, but unlike Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain, he's never quite figured it out.

This game left him with 331 strikeouts in 328 2/3 career innings — and a career ERA of 5.07.

And let's face it: It was the Padres. Team batting average: .232. Sooner or later, somebody was going to no-hit them.

Item: Joe Mauer is going to compete in the Home Run Derby on Monday.

Comment: The National League has four first basemen with big power reps entered: Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez, Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols — career total 805 home runs and three home run titles. The AL at this point has Mauer and Brandon Inge committed — 174 HRs total.

Advantage, NL.

We get this every so often — a great hitter without a home run rep entered in the Derby. (Mauer's the great hitter I'm talking about; Inge is something less.) Ichiro and Edgar Martinez come to mind. Generally they come in with their manager talking about the power show they put on in batting practice and leave having lived up to their real-life reputation.

Item: One of the Chicago beat writers was struck hours before game time Friday by the sight of eight Twins taking early bunting practice. Then the Twins used late-inning bunts to score the tie-breaking run in the seventh (Denard Span moving Nick Punto into scoring position in front of Mauer's single) and an insurance run in the eighth (Carlos Gomez with a two-out bunt single to drive in Matt Tolbert).

Comment: Kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?