Twins embrace aggressive mindset on the bases in teamwide effort

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Twins stole 23 bases in August, the most they have swiped in one month since 2014, and they led the American League with 10 in September entering Monday.

It’s part of a plan that Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was skeptical of at first.

“Jayce [Tingler, Baldelli’s bench coach] said: ‘Let’s give everyone the green light. Every player, every at-bat,’ “ Baldelli said of a conversation in August. “I said: ‘I don’t know. I don’t know about that.’ “

But he eventually embraced the idea and informed his team later that day.

“I said I want everyone working the entire day, the entire game, to watch, learn, pick up, anticipate and steal bases, everybody here. I don’t care who you are, I want you to be aggressive,” Baldelli said. “I put it to them: ‘I want you to pick up cues. I want you prepared when you go out there and work the entire game to get that bag.’ And they have.”

They have. Austin Martin stole six bases in August (in nine attempts, a ratio Baldelli wants to see him improve upon) to lead the team, while Byron Buxton went 4-for-4. Nine players stole at least one base — including 6-foot-4 slugger Matt Wallner, who went 3-for-3 in August.

“It’s something I’ve always been bad at, so it’s a really good learning experience for me. I’m paying a lot more attention to that now,” Wallner said. “It’s something that I want to learn now, when it doesn’t matter as much, [and] get better at it. And then next year, when hopefully it matters a lot more, I want to be able to do it occasionally to maybe put us in a better position to win.”

“He got some treatment, went outside and couldn’t run the way we wanted him to. Couldn’t accelerate like he [normally] does,” Baldelli said after writing out a lineup that didn’t include the All-Star center fielder for the Twins’ game against the Los Angeles Angels late Monday. “We’re going to get him inside, get him some more treatment, and hopefully the discomfort and a little bit of swelling will go down.”

Buxton was hit on the left kneecap during Sunday’s victory at Kansas City and was removed an inning later. He was still in some pain on the flight to California, but “the fact that he’s out there trying to run today tells you something,” Baldelli said. “We’ll test it out every day and see how he is.”

Justin Topa took off his shoes and walked barefoot on the Angel Stadium grass Monday, just checking one last time that his knee is OK.

He’s pretty sure it is. In fact, the pain that knocked him off the Kauffman Stadium mound in the ninth inning Sunday “was already gone by the time I got to the clubhouse,” Topa said. “The doctor examined me, trying to find a problem, and couldn’t. I guess I’m lucky.”

Didn’t seem like it at the time. Topa was doubled over behind the mound, as much out of panic, as he called it, as pain.

But it hasn’t occurred again and no injury list stint will be needed, Baldelli said. “He’s not going to pitch [Monday], but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” the manager said. “It looks like he’s doing OK.”

Jen Pawol, who made history last month by becoming the first woman to umpire an MLB game, worked first base in the Twins-Angels game Monday night and will be behind the plate Tuesday night.

“It’s very cool,” Baldelli said.

The Twins manager has been ejected four times this season and 20 over his seven-year managerial career. Would he try to avoid a confrontation with Pawol?