Jeffers (2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 10 bases): ‘I knew this is what I had in me’
MINNEAPOLIS — Well performed, Jeffers.
The Twins put aside Saturday night to rejoice catching excellence by inducting Joe Mauer to the Twins Hall of Fame — and Minnesota’s backstop of the current day caught that fever, as Ryan Jeffers matched a membership document for a catcher with 10 complete bases on two homers and a double to steer an offensive onslaught with 4 RBIs in a 12-1 win over the D-backs.
“I knew this is what I had in me and the player I know I can be,” Jeffers stated. “It just took a little while to get there. Now, it’s just [staying] consistent. Stay consistent with the feel and with what I’m doing that’s working.”
The fourth-year catcher initially gave the Twins the lead with a two-run homer over the large wall in right-center off Arizona starter Ryne Nelson within the second inning, then added an RBI double down the left-field line within the third earlier than lining a solo blast within the fifth that simply cleared the wall into the left-field bleachers.
Michael A. Taylor and Max Kepler additionally went deep, whereas Jeffers, Kepler, Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner all posted three-hit video games because the Twins had their greatest offensive output since May 14, once they beat the Cubs, 16-3.
Besides Jeffers, solely 4 different catchers in Twins historical past have tallied 10 complete bases in a recreation: Jason Castro, Mitch Garver (twice), Tim Laudner and Earl Battey.
But just one has achieved what Jeffers has been on observe to do that season on the plate.
Jeffers’ huge evening introduced his slash line to .292/.392/.503, placing him on tempo to turn into the one catcher in Twins historical past apart from Mauer to put up an on-base share that prime in no less than 200 plate appearances. No different Twins catcher has ever posted an on-base share increased than .377.
Among catchers with no less than 190 plate appearances coming into Saturday, solely Atlanta star Sean Murphy has the next OPS, at .903, inches forward of Jeffers at .895.
“As my career goes on, obviously, I want to flip into the Salvador Perez, the J.T. Realmuto, where if I’m not catching, I’m finding my way into the lineup, one way or the other, because you don’t want to keep my bat out of the lineup,” Jeffers stated. “That’s kind of where I want to get to.”
Even as Jeffers struggled to a .210/.285/.390 efficiency throughout his first three seasons within the Majors, he adamantly insisted that he had what it took to be one of many recreation’s premier catchers on each offense and protection — however over these years, he might by no means fairly decide on timing or mechanics that made him totally snug on the plate.
In a quest to seek out that, he spent the offseason primarily rebuilding his swing from scratch, swinging time and again and over whereas sharing movies with hitting coach David Popkins, looking for one thing that felt snug.
“[Popkins] was actually sending me videos of him going into Spring Training multiple times, just talking about Ryan: ‘I think this is a really good move for him,’” supervisor Rocco Baldelli remembered. “And it’s worked.”
The greatest distinction is a bat tip that he makes use of at first of his swing, a timing mechanism that additionally helps him not get too lengthy in his swing. He initially removed the stride together with his entrance leg, trusting his pure energy to drive the ball as a substitute of forcing it.
But now, he mixes and matches totally different timing mechanisms relying on the matchup — and at last, after three years of tinkering, he feels snug within the foundations of his swing.
“I’ve kind of got a couple of different tools in the toolbox now, a couple of different swings,” Jeffers stated. “I’ve got a toe-tap. I’ve got a no-stride. I’ve got a modified no-stride. It’s kind of just, you build the tool chest of things that you can pull out in the game depending on the situation or what you’re looking for, and fine-tuning those to use them how you want to.”
Saturday evening’s efficiency pushed Jeffers as much as a .391/.455/.681 line in 21 video games courting again to June 20, and with Byron Buxton’s placement on the IL liberating up at-bats at designated hitter, Baldelli stated Jeffers is completely forcing his hand into extra taking part in time down the stretch.
“It’s been little tweaks here and there, but we’ve really found something mechanically that works for me,” Jeffers stated. “It kind of feels like me, finally.”
