Twins' Danny Valencia finds his power stroke

Twins rookie third baseman Danny Valencia, hitting .424 at Target Field this season and .332 overall, builds a one-inch knob with black tape on the handle of his bats, then leaves his left pinky off and below the handle with his grip.

"Is that the secret?" he was asked.

"Luck is the secret," he said.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said hard work is the secret. Valencia, who turned 26 on Sunday, performed well in spring training.

"He had a really good spring, but we sent him out early because it was a roster thing, and he wasn't going to make our team out of spring training," Gardenhire said. "We wanted to get a good look at him. Once he got going during the year, we expected him to go down (to the minor leagues) and drive the ball and get up here."

But, Gardenhire said, Valencia didn't drive the ball at Class AAA Rochester.

"Not at all," he said. "Look at his power numbers — he didn't have any. And that's the one thing that kind of stood out down there — he wasn't driving the ball. He was hitting all right."

In 49 games and 185 at-bats at Rochester, Valencia had 15 doubles but no triples or home runs. He hit .292.

In 75 games and 259 at-bats with the Twins, Valencia has 17 doubles, one triple and five homers.

"Once he got up here, and (hitting coach Joe) Vavra got a hold of him, and he watched some of these other hitters, he started using his legs a little better and got his balance a little better, and the ball’s starting to come off his bat like we saw from him a couple of years ago." Gardenhire said.

A couple of years ago, Gardenhire predicted Valencia someday would hit a lot of home runs.

"I believe that," Gardenhire said. "I believe this kid's got a chance to be a home run hitter. He has the balance and the strength and the bat speed to be a home run hitter."

Gardenhire said Valencia also had to improve his defense at third base.

"And he has — he has worked really hard at it," he said. "His defense has been fantastic."

At the end of last season, Gardenhire was told by the Twins' front office that Valencia was not ready to come to the big leagues.

"He's ready now," Gardenhire said.



(twincities.com)