I don’t think anyone would deny that our Minnesota Twins are in a slump. They are not hitting, not playing defense and both their starting and relief pitching has been just fair during the month of April. Another problem as mentioned in last week’s column is that they are not thinking ahead, and are letting opportunities slip by because of lack of forethought.
In addition, they were beset by injuries. Two players, Jim Thome and Delmon Young, have sore rib muscles. Another starter, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, has a broken leg and Joe Mauer has bilateral leg weakness.
Now I certainly understand not playing with broken leg, but sore rib cage muscles? I don’t know about that, especially after both players mentioned put baseballs in the stands during batting practice. Now I know it’s really easy for me to sit on the sidelines and question their determination. And they may well be unable to play or play well and perhaps it is better to have a player with lesser skills out there on the field than an injured Thome or Young.
The Twin I’m most concerned about is Mauer. What’s wrong Joe? Here is a 28-year-old man who can’t play because of weak legs. Joe is a competitor and I’m sure he’d be out there if he could be. But obviously he’s not and as the time he’s been injured and on the disabled list stretches toward a month, one grows concerned. What’s wrong Joe?
Injuries have played a large role in the Twins’ slump. There is no question about that, but their continuing flubs have a person concerned also. A good friend who is a clinical psychologist has this to offer after reading last week’s column about the Twins’ problems. He felt that, "It has to be tough to live with the awareness that they were division champs last year and this year have fallen out of sight. Your comments that individual players are not prepared suggests that they not only weren’t concentrating, but there is a possibility that they were so depressed cognitively, they can’t problem solve in advance."
He went on to say that the players know they are not playing well and are thinking, "How am I going to mess up now?" He notes that kind of thinking is self-defeating. I have to agree and feel that he has stated the problem very well. An old baseball guy might say the problem is that they are pressing too hard. I think that’s true and my friend pointed out why.
Sometimes slumps by teams or individuals go on for a lengthy time and it’s possible that skills or techniques have eroded. From a psychological standpoint, it may be something fairly simple such as the realization that he or any one player, doesn’t have to win the game all by himself, that he doesn’t have to assume that burden. The worry and the dark cloud lightens, skills increase, the team gets a few breaks and starts winning once more.
As I write this Francisco Liriano has thrown his no-hitter and the Twins recently scored nine runs in a game. Who knows, that may start the Twins down the right road, but they will not be the Twins of old until Morneau, Cuddyer and Valencia start hitting and they get the core of the team back from injuries. C‚mon Joe, Delmon, Tsuyoshi and Jim, get well.
A piece of baseball wisdom could be that: "Slumps are self perpetuating until they are not." Kind of like Yogi Berra‚s old saying, "It‚s not over ‘til it’s over."
