Gleeman: Running to a rebound

From SABR member Aaron Gleeman at Baseball Prospectus on January 30, 2019:

Saturday night, I co-hosted the sixth annual “Winter Meltdown” event, where a bunch of Twins fans get together to talk baseball, drink beer, and take their minds off the January weather in Minnesota.

One of our guests was Twins special assistant to baseball operations Michael Cuddyer, a two-time All-Star outfielder who played 15 seasons in the majors for the Twins, Rockies, and Mets. He was a great guest, answering all of my questions thoughtfully and cracking the audience up several times during a 30-minute interview, and something Cuddyer said near the end of the chat intrigued me.

Coming off a disappointing 2018 season, the biggest local storyline surrounding the Twins is whether their core of young players will bounce back. I asked Cuddyer about that, and about which early signs could indicate the Twins are moving in the right direction. I was expecting him to name a specific player or two—Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, for instance—but instead he talked about a bigger-picture factor: Baserunning.

Read the full article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/46772/banjo-hitter-running-to-a-rebound/



Originally published: January 30, 2019. Last Updated: January 30, 2019.