Drilling the Twins

The Twins instituted new drills to improve outfield defense in 2017:

The Twins’ first workout Sunday included a handful of new drills, designed to help tighten the outfield defense, something that manager Paul Molitor has put new coach Jeff Pickler in charge of. There’s a first-step drill to help speed reactions toward the ball, and a footwork drill to help improve accuracy of throws.

Like this year’s new sessions to help catchers practice pitch framing, the idea, Molitor said, is that “it would be foolish not to have at least some increased focus on areas that were problematic last year.”

It’s not only the drills that are new. Molitor wants his coaches to schedule more small-group or one-on-one sessions before each morning’s regular workouts.

I would think that after nearly 150 years of professional baseball, these drills would be automatic for players. Good for the Twins that they are trying to address deficiencies, but maybe they should not have let the deficiencies develop in the first place.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2lCICo2