In 2006 Justin Morneau, the American League MVP, led the major leagues in hitting from June 8 on with a .362 average. The left-handed hitting slugger produced 34 home runs, 130 RBI and a .321 average. Although success against left-handed pitchers can be troublesome for many left-handed hitters, it wasn’t for Morneau who hit .315 against lefties.
Results have been dramatically different this season against lefties. Morneau is hitting .229 against left-handers (.287 overall). August hasn’t been a Morneau-friendly month. He’s hitting .237 in August and hasn’t homered since July 23.
On a team desperate for run production, it’s a no brainer that Morneau’s production decline against left-handed pitching is big trouble for the Twins as they desperately try to stay in the playoff chase. With 54 runs during August, the Twins rank last in the major leagues for the month.
While some may suggest scouts and pitchers have figured out how to more effectively pitch to Morneau, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire offered Sports Headliners his views last weekend.
“Well, it’s just a matter of staying on the ball,” he said. “There’s a lot of good lefties in this league. Sometimes you’re seeing it real good out of their hand. I think for most of our offensive guys it’s been a situation where they are trying too hard. Everybody is trying to hit homeruns instead of putting good swings on the ball and taking what they give you. When you get into trouble offensively in this league is when you’re trying to do too much instead of staying within yourself, and guys do that. Everybody wants to be a hero. And that’s what happened with a lot of our guys including Justin.
“Justin can hit left-handed pitching. He’s proved that over the course of his career. It’s just a matter of a little mechanical thing of staying on the ball a little longer and using the whole field (rather than trying to pull the ball).
“Justin is a great teammate. I don’t know if anybody cares as much about winning here as he does. …It’s not an individual thing with him. He takes a lot of pride in what he’s doing. …”