Square it up, drop it down: Twins among league-leaders in bunt hits
As Minnesota trailed Tampa Bay in the third inning Sunday, shortstop Danny Santana came to the plate for his first at-bat of the game. The Twins were down a run against Rays starter Chris Archer, who was sharp early.
Trying to get something going and spark a rally from the No. 9 spot in the batting order, Santana laid down a perfect one-out bunt that rolled toward third base. Santana's speed made it easy for him to reach first base without a throw from Rays third baseman Evan Longoria.
"I love that," Santana said of bunting for base hits.
The rest of the Twins love it, too. In fact, as of Tuesday, Minnesota has bunted for seven base hits, tied for the second-most in the majors. Only Texas (8) has more bunt hits than the Twins, whose seven are tied with the White Sox.
By comparison, some big-league teams -- the Red Sox, Dodgers and Pirates -- have yet to bunt for a base hit in 2015. Others have done so sparingly, and few have bunted with the early rate of success the Twins have enjoyed.
Each year in spring training, the Twins are graced with the presence of Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who is regarded as one of the best bunters in the history of the game. First-year Twins manager Paul Molitor also could drop down a bunt or two during his Hall of Fame career and knows his current roster has guys who can do the same.
"We're big proponents of it," Molitor said about bunting for base hits. "Today's game, there's a lot of emphasis on getting on base. For guys that have the ability to run and steal bases and score runs, if you can find different means to start rallies or get things started, maybe sometimes even in the middle of a rally, it's important. . . . We've had some guys try. We're still working on guys becoming a little bit more efficient."
According to Baseball-Reference.com, Santana's three bunt hits are tied with Texas' Leonys Martin for the most in the American League. No National League hitter has more than three, either; Dexter Fowler, Dee Gordon and Wil Myers have all reached first base three times via the bunt.
Aside from Santana, the Twins have had four other players successfully bunt for a base hit. That list includes Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, Eduardo Nunez and Jordan Schafer. Though Dozier and Plouffe are also among Minnesota's top run producers -- they rank third and fourth on the team in RBI -- both players have shown the ability to handle the bat in bunting situations.
Now that Dozier is back in the leadoff spot after hitting cleanup for part of the year, bunting is more of a possibility. He had three bunt hits in his first season in the majors in 2012, but just two in 2013 and one last season. However, he's already matched his 2014 total just 37 games into 2015.
"(Molitor) loves for me to drop some down," Dozier said. "But there are certain times that dictate when to do that, for sure. I'm going to try to implement that more like I used to back in the day."
Plouffe, who has batted cleanup lately for the Twins and is routinely in the heart of the order, might not be called upon as frequently as guys like Santana or Dozier to bunt. Like Dozier, Plouffe has seven career bunt hits, including three back in 2011.
In a game against Detroit late last month, Plouffe was the beneficiary of two Twins bunt hits ahead of him. Santana and Dozier both reached base safely with bunt singles. After Joe Mauer had a single of the non-bunt variety to score Santana, Plouffe hit a three-run homer to give Minnesota a 7-3 lead.
"I know we put an emphasis on it in spring training. There are certain times where that could ignite a rally," Plouffe said of bunting. "If they're giving you a hit and you're leading off an inning and we need to get runners on base, it's a pretty logical thing to do. I've always liked to do it."
Minnesota's lineup doesn't have many mashers capable of hitting 30 or more home runs in a season, yet the Twins have still found a way to score the ninth-most runs in baseball so far this year. Sometimes a small-ball approach is the way to go -- and that can mean bunting for a hit.
After all, a bunt hit shows up in the box score just the same as any other single.
"There's a time when we want to see guys take advantage," Molitor said. "You tighten up the defense. You bring them in, you open up some holes. It's just a matter of having another weapon in your arsenal."
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