JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Rookie 3B Danny Valencia of the Minnesota Twins seems to have taken a detour.
Over the past 10 games, a period that saw his batting average drop from .338 to .318, the 25-year-old Florida native hit just .225 and had as many strikeouts as he did hits.
But this wasn’t your typical “slump”: five of Valencia’s nine hits were HRs, a noteworthy stat given that he hit just 2 HRs in his prior 237 at-bats. He also had 11 RBIs during the 10-game set.
This sudden power-burst raises some interesting questions for Valencia fans. Is this a fluke, or the way of the future? Would the Twins be better off with the “old” Valencia, or the “new” one? Does the change help his chances of being named A.L. Rookie of the Year, or hurt?
And perhaps most interesting of all: is the change happening naturally, or is Valencia willing himself to hit for power?
We don’t have a ton of data to go on. After all, this is Valencia’s first and only MLB season. We do know that while playing in the minors from 2007-09, he hit 14 to 17 HRs per year. So the 25-year-old has some power in his past.
As for the future? Only Valencia knows for sure.
###
