FORT MYERS, FLA. — At 8:30 a.m. EST Saturday, Ben Revere was out on a practice field with Jerry White and Rod Carew addressing the issue.
The issue is Revere not bunting for hits. It's a weapon someone as fast as Revere can use to get double-digit hits a year but something the Twins outfielder hasn't embraced.
Revere has said he is going to drop more bunts down this year, and first base coach White and Hall of Famer Carew worked with him Saturday on the proper technique.
At one point during the drill, White approved of Revere's work while yelling, "Oh, so you have been working on this!"
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was asked if it's encouraging to see Revere work on his bunting.
"It's not encouraging, it's imperative," Gardenhire said. "He has to do that. That's part of his game, he has to bunt, he has to drop bunts down, he has to work on it, get better at it. That's the natural progression here, as you grow as a player. I mean, we've got one of the best bunters in the game in Rod Carew standing right here, talking to him. Jerry White does a super job of teaching bunting, so he should learn to take advantage of it.
"If you can run like [Revere], all you have to do is deaden the ball and learn to deaden the ball. Who cares? If you put the ball down right, they ain't getting you. Superman might, Brooks Robinson might. I think Rod will tell you, he beat Brooks a couple times."
Improvement noticed Gardenhire said he has been pleased with how Twins players have gone about their business in camp and singled out third baseman Danny Valencia for making adjustments defensively that will help his range.
