Greetings from Target Field, where former Minnesota Twins manger Ron Gardenhire is gracing us with his presence.
He was his usual self: cracking one-liners, talking some trash, etc. All with a cigar in hand. There was no formal interview, that should take place later, but after he parted ways with the media, he shook hands and spoke briefly with Molitor.
He’s speaking with the Japanese media in that picture, many of whom are doing a story on Ichiro Suzuki.
It’s Ricky Nolasco (2-4, 4.93 ERA) vs. lefty Wei-Yin Chen (3-2, 4.25) today. Nolasco is going against his former team, the Miami (then Florida) Marlins. “He’s fairly steady,” said Molitor. “I think that almost anybody, though, has some type of feeling about competing against a team wearing a uniform that you once had a chance to don.
“It’s been a while since he’s been over there, but I’m sure it’s special for him, still, to pitch against the Marlins.”
Starting pitchers do not speak to the media before games, but we’ll get his opinion on facing the Marlins in the postgame.
Arcia in the lineup
Arcia hit 34 home runs in his first two seasons with the Twins, but has only hit six since. He was playing more regularly earlier in the season, but continues to struggle against lefties and has not benefited from the call-ups of Byron Buxton and Max Kepler, as well as Robbie Grossman’s emergence.
“It’s been a little bit unfortunate for him that as he’s gotten a chance to play, we’ve been getting a fairly steady diet of lefties, and I think it’s made it a little tough for him to get on track,” said Molitor.
“He’s still trying to settle in. I still think things are fast, and he’s trying to decide of how he fits and some of those things. Not untypical.
“But I kinda see it in his eyeballs sometimes where it gets a little gazey, and just gonna try to reaffirm him today when we’re out on the field about trusting the ability he has. Because, as we all know, there’s a lot of tools in there.”
Arcia has a career line of .230/.273/.337 with six home runs against lefties. He’s .245/.319/.792 with 34 home runs against righties. All four home runs he’s hit this season have come against righties.
“He’s had some good at-bats where he’s extended them, but then they throw him a 3-2 slider and he’s just had trouble finishing off the at-bats,” said Molitor.
“It would be nice if we got him a run of at-bats against some righties, but it just hasn’t been happening because of who we’ve been facing here.”
His performance against lefties tends to come and go, according to Molitor.
“He got a little bit more consistent time early, if you can call it that,” he said. “When he has had a chance to play, and I know it’s tough when it’s not very regularly, that it’s gonna be a little bit more challenging.
“You just hope that he mixes in that one or two good at-bats a game where he can do some damage, because you know that the strikeouts are gonna be there. We got a lot of guys in that bubble.”
Grossman remains hot
Grossman is hitting .339/.464/.679 (208 OPS+) in 17 games with the Twins. He started the year with the Indians, but never had a major league at-bat, and had previously played in three seasons with the Houston Astros.
He didn’t come out of nowhere, he was drafted in the sixth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he only hit .240/.327/.341 with 11 home runs in his three seasons with the Astros.
“The story we’ve talked about,” said Molitor, “He’s come over, got an opportunity, got in the lineup and has given me no reason to ponder taking him out.
“Having him be able to be up near the top,” he added, “because he’s getting on-base and taking good at-bats and mixing in his hits and a few homers. It’s just been very steady, and it’s been an asset for us as far as a good pickup.”
“I don’t know where it’s gonna go long-term, we’ve talked about that, but he’s playing really good baseball.”
Asked for a theory for as to why, Molitor pointed to his work ethic.
“He beats me here every day,” he said. “He’s usually sitting in the video room early, and gets down in the cage early. He’s just, he’s making sure he’s doing everything he can to keep on doing what he’s doing.”
Be sure to follow Brandon (@Brandon_Warne) and I (@tschreier3) for Twins coverage all season long.
