| last updated: sometime in summer of 2003 Torii Hunter is currently the most popular player
on the Minnesota Twins. He is popular among younger fans (I was
surrounded by hundreds of screaming elementary school students at
the game on
May 28), and he is very popular with the nation as a whole. For
example, one of my supervisors at work here in Washington, DC, J.P.
Pritchett, often asks me for updates about Torii while never
mentioning anyone else on the team. Why? Basically, Torii Hunter has
become a human highlight reel making remarkable catches out in
centerfield. The last two seasons Torii has won a Gold Glove and he
is well on his way to earning one again in 2003.
However, his defense still could use a little improvement. The
biggest weakness that I noticed in the games I have watched (about
15 of them) is that he does not react well on balls hit in front of
him. He consistently freezes or takes a step back before sprinting
in front of him and often short-hopping ball. This is very dangerous
as evidenced by the inside-the-park homerun that occurred on such a
play in last year's playoffs against Oakland. Otherwise, Torii
displays incredible range to his left, to his right and back. I
forget just how great he is on defense when I'm out here in DC, but
it usually takes just one game for me to realize how much range he
really does have.
Offensively, Torii Hunter began 2002 on fire and had a very good
first half of the season. While he did not walk often, he hit for
average and power. Unfortunately, he was unable to maintain his pace
during the second half but he still finished with very respectable
stats. In the off-season he was rewarded with a four year, $32
million contract. Unfortunately, he seems overpaid now halfway into
2003. His offensive numbers are down again this season much like the
end of 2002. Out of his struggles, however, is one bright spot. This
season, Torii has become much more patient and made himself a better
hitter. He no longer will swing at every 0-2 slider in the dirt and
has become a much tougher out. This improvement is great, and leads
me to believe that his struggles this year have been sort of fluky.
Hopefully, his numbers will come back up before Torii abandons his
newfound plate discipline. I do not want to gloss over this quickly.
Instead, I want to stress that Torii's patience is the
single-biggest improvement that I noticed among all of the players
on the 2003 Twins. For more on Torii, I suggest you read this
entry by Aaron Gleeman.
Going forward, I realize that Torii needs to be a run producer in
the middle of the Twins lineup. For the amount of money he is being
paid, Torii cannot merely be an adequate offensive player. Instead,
he needs to be one of the top five centerfielders in baseball.
However, I am not too worried (yet). There is still time for Torii
to develop, but even I will admit that the clock is running out for
him to take another step forward offensively. The best thing that
could happen is for him to continue working the counts and laying
off of the sliders in the dirt because, ultimately, his patient will
finally reward him and his hits will start to fall. As long as he
can maintain his excellent defense in centerfield, he will be a joy
to watch and not too much of a burden on the team.
Why, you may ask, do I call him Torii Baby? Well, it just has a
ring to it. Plus, The Human Highlight Reel is overused. For what
it's worth, my girlfriend Laurie insists Torii is a female name, but
because of my Intro to Eastern Religions course, I know that a
torii
is a gateway to a Shinto temple and are commonly placed just off the
coast of Japan.
A torii off of the Japanese coast
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