The Minnesota Twins' ace hasn't quite been ace-like this season. He's shown flashes of being his dominant self, but there have been too many tough innings, leading to some uneven outings. What's wrong?
For the entire duration of Rocco Baldelli's tenure, the Minnesota Twins have focused on elevating the ball. Traditionally, the most available way to measure that emphasis is to break batted balls up into ground balls, line drives, and fly balls.
Let's break with tradition.
Every year, we get excited about pitchers who are throwing harder than before. How much on-field impact does that extra velocity (real or perceived) make? Does it make up for increased injury risk?
Spring training is full of little victories. For Chris Paddack, making a pitch move three inches to the left made him very happy, and now, he gets the chance to convert that into the bigger victories that come in the regular season.