{"id":87944,"date":"2024-10-21T19:32:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T23:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=87944"},"modified":"2024-10-21T19:32:37","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T23:32:37","slug":"twins-new-hitting-coach-matt-borgschulte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/21\/twins-new-hitting-coach-matt-borgschulte\/","title":{"rendered":"Twins Bring on New Hitting Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/02\/minnesota-twins-dimiss-multiple-coaches\/\" target=\"_self\">parting with several coaches<\/a>, the Minnesota Twins have found their new hitting coach in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/11\/orioles-part-with-three-coaches\/\" target=\"_self\">Baltimore Orioles<\/a> coach Matt Borgschulte.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Twins Bring On Matt Borgschulte as Hitting Coach<\/h2>\n<h3>A Familiar Face<\/h3>\n<p>Borgschulte brings a familiar face to the Twins. He was the batting coach for the Twins&#8217; Triple-A affiliate, the St. Paul Saints, as recently as the 2021 season. The Twins have appointed Borgschulte as their new hitting coach, having spent the past three seasons as the co-hitting coach for the Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n<p>Getting to work with talented players <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rutscad01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adley Rutschman<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hendegu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gunnar Henderson<\/a>, and the highly touted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hollija01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jackson Holliday<\/a>, Borgschulte brings a successful track record of experience with young players. The Twins organization, which has several areas that need improvement, welcomes this new outlook on hitting.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Source:<\/p>\n<p>The <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MNTwins?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#MNTwins<\/a> are bringing Matt Borgschulte back as a big-league hitting coach.<\/p>\n<p>He spent 2022-24 on the big-league staff with the Orioles, and had been with the Twins in minor-league hitting coach roles between 2018-21.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brandon Warne (@brandon_warne) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brandon_warne\/status\/1845899082247627185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 14, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Team Batting Average<\/h3>\n<p>Many critical players for the Twins struggled to hit for a respectable average, with a few starters hitting under .250. Having low averages from starters such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lewisro02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Royce Lewis<\/a> (.223) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jeffery01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Jeffers<\/a> (.226) is a microcosm of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/15\/twins-strategies-from-postseason-teams\/\" target=\"_self\">struggles<\/a> the team had behind the plate this year.<\/p>\n<p>Working with the Orioles, Borgschulte had a more consistent lineup to work with, with key players hitting above .250. Gunnar Henderson (.281), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mountry01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Mountcastle<\/a> (.271), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/u\/uriasra01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas<\/a> (.254) all offered better production for their team.<\/p>\n<h3>Increase Power Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>The Twins did have some pop in their lineup with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/buxtoby01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Byron Buxton<\/a> (18 HR, .524 SLG) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/correca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Correa<\/a> (14 HR, .517 SLG), but others in the lineup failed to produce such power numbers. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/keplema01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Max Kepler<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/miranjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jos\u00e9 Miranda<\/a> were more the norm, with each only attaining eight home runs this past season.<\/p>\n<p>The Orioles had stronger power numbers with Henderson (37 HR, .529 SLG), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/santaan02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Santander<\/a> (44 HR), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cowseco01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colton Cowser<\/a> (24 HR). As evidenced by total bases with the Twins having 2,256 compared to the Orioles\u2019 2,424, a more balanced approach to power in the lineup is exactly what the Twins need to inject more production into their lineup.<\/p>\n<h3>Limit Strikeouts<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Twins had several players with high strikeout numbers. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/castrwi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Willi Castro<\/a> had 150 strikeouts, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/julieed01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-21_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edouard Julien<\/a> had 102 (in just 90 games), which hurt Minnesota&#8217;s offense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2024 Orioles weren\u2019t perfect themselves when it came to strikeouts. In fact, as a team, the Twins had fewer strikeouts. Limiting strikeouts must be a point of emphasis for Borgschulte to bring more consistent hitting to the Twins\u2019 lineup.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Twins clearly need more consistent hitting. Focusing on pitch selection and situational hitting should help reduce strikeouts and improve batting averages across the board.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Kim Klement-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After parting with several coaches, the Minnesota Twins have found their new hitting coach in Baltimore Orioles coach Matt Borgschulte. Twins Bring On Matt Borgschulte as Hitting Coach A Familiar Face Borgschulte brings a familiar face to the Twins. He was the batting coach for the Twins&#8217; Triple-A affiliate, the St. Paul Saints, as recently [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5352,"featured_media":87985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1071,35],"tags":[68,660,716,1296,4265,5964],"class_list":["post-87944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-twins","category-mlb","category-news","tag-baseball","tag-byron-buxton","tag-carlos-correa","tag-royce-lewis","tag-ryan-jeffers","tag-willi-castro"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}