OAKLAND, CALIF. – Strikeouts are up across baseball. Some attribute the rise to hitters not cutting down on their swings with two strikes, the explosion of cut fastballs or other secondary pitches, or the specialization of bullpens.
Strikeouts are up across the Twins roster. There might be no explanation for it other than the Twins specialize in striking out.
The Twins entered Friday second in baseball in strikeouts with 1,310, trailing only the Houston Astros, a team that's near the bottom in most categories. The Twins already have obliterated their previous club record of 1,121, set in 1997, and could cross the 1,400 barrier by the end of the season. The Twins struck out 10 times on Thursday during a 8-6 loss to the Athletics.
That 1997 Twins team had two players with more than 100 strikeouts, Rich Becker (130) and Terry Steinbach (106). The 2013 Twins already have five players with more than 100 strikeouts — Josh Willingham (118), Oswaldo Arcia (110), Pedro Florimon (108), Brian Dozier (107) and Trevor Plouffe (105). Joe Mauer is at as career-high 89 despite missing the past month.
"There are a lot of things you can label us," Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said, "but we have never been a strikeout team … up until this year."
The walk has become more of a weapon in the game and more batters aren't afraid to run counts deep and try to wear pitchers down. The Twins don't mind that approach but have told their hitters to swing away if it's a strike and they like the pitch.
What they have noticed is that their hitters are taking too many borderline pitches for strikes, especially with two strikes.
"We take a lot of called strikes," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That ball may be a little outside, but the old saying is that you have to protect the plate when you get two strikes. We have to do a better job at that. It is one of those things we have to do a lot better as we move along here and that will be something that will be talked about over the course of the winter. We can get better."
