Hitting coach also suffers when Twins aren't producing

Joe Vavra still is working hard with players, but injuries and opponents' strategies have hampered offensive output.

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: September 26, 2007 - 12:07 AM

DETROIT - If a hitting coach is measured by his players' production, the Twins' Joe Vavra set the bar pretty high as a rookie.

The Twins scored 801 runs last year and led the majors with a .287 batting average.

In Vavra's second year, the offense has sputtered. After Tuesday's 8-0 loss to Detroit, the Twins have 700 runs and rank 18th in the majors with a .265 average.

Among the individual dropoffs:

• Nick Punto dropped from .290 last year to .213.

• Joe Mauer dropped from .347 to .287.

• Justin Morneau dropped from .321 to .273.

• Jason Bartlett dropped from .309 to .266.

That's a 228-point drop from those four alone.

But when incoming General Manager Bill Smith said this past weekend that the entire coaching staff would return for next season, it signaled how much faith the organization has in them.

Vavra said he wasn't overly concerned about losing his job.

"If I'm the hitting coach, I'm accountable for the offense to have some productivity," he said. "And if you fall off your productivity, obviously you don't feel real comfortable.

"I still feel like I can do more. You're not a good coach if you don't. I can go to sleep at night feeling I gave a good effort, but I'm never satisfied."

Vavra offered a few theories on why the Twins offense sputtered: injuries, tougher pitching matchups and adjustments other teams made to the hitters.

"In a lineup like we have, where we don't have a lot of power, it's essential that they feed off each other," he said. "That was a pretty incredible feeling we had throughout the lineup last year. But if any part of the puzzle either has an injury or isn't going that well, then you kind of break the chain, and other players put pressure on themselves to pick up the slack.

"In some lineups it works, and in some it doesn't."

The focus now is on finding what will work for 2008.

Some signs have been encouraging:

• Jason Kubel is batting .298 since the All-Star break.

• Bartlett, who has played through neck and shoulder pain, is batting .279 since the break.

• After a five-month struggle, Punto was batting .322 for September.

Manager Ron Gardenhire continues to view Punto as a key component.

"I don't know if people realize, you can't just go out and fill four or five holes on the free agent market," Gardenhire said. "Some people who are here are going to have to step up and do the job and maybe you add a couple players.

"[Punto is] one of the guys who are probably going to have to step up, whether in a utility role or second base role or whatever and do the job next year."

No matter who returns, Vavra will be there, logging long hours at the batting cage.

"I continue to look at the big picture," he said, "and I continue to think that with this nucleus of players, we're going to win a World Series."

Joe Christensen • jchristensen@startribune.com

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