Why is Punto in the Majors still?

[Quackaddict9]

Only reason I'd like Inge is that he hits more homeruns.

[Mudcutter]

and Punto can play SS and 2b. He really is pretty clutch. Inge is retro catcher who strikes out alot with the long ball. Give me Punto all around/bunts/ advancing runners compared to just about any utilty bench player. Jeter plays SS and is the best SS to play since Wagner. Jeter's #'s are sick.

[Big Tom]

Punto at .250+ I can live with cuz of the defense and the fact he's the number 9 hitter. Punto with a .228 was like too many years of watching Timmy Laudner flail and fail.

[greebs]

heard he did another one of his head first slides into 1b on thursday. have to give the guy credit for being a hard worker but don't get why he continues to do that and why gardy doesn't tell him to knock that [PoorWordUsage] off before he hurts himself. that could be a pretty ugly injury if he were to have a head first collision with a first baseman. besides that he's got to realize that he's not getting to the bag faster that way doesn't he? does anybody else in mlb do that?

[zepman]

It is stupid...my 10 and 12 year olds always ask if they can do that in their games to. GRRRRR!!

[harvey lee]

The dude has a great glove and pretty good speed. Problem is, no bat at all. Just another 180 hitter and we have enough of them.

[JBMasterAngler]

He was so feared at the plate tonight he was intentionally walked so they could face mauer instead!

[Esox_Magnum]

I thought that was good bringing in Mauer to hit after they walked Punto, great move Gardy.

[Big Dave2]

The dude has a great glove and pretty good speed. Problem is, no bat at all. Just another 180 hitter and we have enough of them.

He's doing pretty well then for a .180 hitter considering he is batting .259 and that is pretty close to his career average also.

Punto also has a better BA than Hardy, Thome and Kubel so far this year. Should the Twins get rid of those guys too? Brendan Harris is batting .226 should he be the regular 3rd baseman? If not then who do you folks recomend to play 3rd base for the Twins?

[mnwild]

of course Punto has a better average then those other guys you mentioned, he's only been to the plate 54 times with 14 hits (pretty pathetic in my mind). Only thing Punto is good for is his defense and that is it. I think the guy is junk too but there are many many players in Baseball who are known for their defense 1st and the bat 2nd. And yes I would take Hardy and Harris before Punto in the line-up.

[Big Dave2]

of course Punto has a better average then those other guys you mentioned, he's only been to the plate 54 times with 14 hits (pretty pathetic in my mind). Only thing Punto is good for is his defense and that is it. I think the guy is junk too but there are many many players in Baseball who are known for their defense 1st and the bat 2nd. And yes I would take Hardy and Harris before Punto in the line-up.

Harris has only 12 hits in 53 at bats for a .226 average and 4 RBI. Why would you take him over Punto?

What does the number of at bats have to do with batting average? It's an average. Butera only has 17 at bats, why is his average only .118? Kubel has 91 at bats yet only has an average of .209. Average has nothing to do with number of at bats.

[PierBridge]

They hate him personally IMO Dave and it wouldn't matter if he hit over .280 like he has in 2 of the last 4 seasons Or even if he hit .444 and had OBP of .583 in the PLAYOFFS...OH wait he did hit .444 and did have an OBP of .583 in the Playoffs last year...LOL!

Mr hustle Nick Punto!...

[mr_jman]

I'd take Punto simply because there are 2 sides to the game Offense and Defense. We can all sit on here and argue about Punto's offense but I haven't read one post saying Punto is a bad player defensively! Defense is half of the game and he is one of the better defensive players in the league (not only at 3rd base).

Yes, his offense is not going to blow anyone away and we can beat that to death, but overall I'd take Punto over Harris for his game as a whole, and I do like Harris as well! Offensively its hard not to give Harris the edge over Punto in power which makes him a fair option as a pinch hitter for Punto. Harris is a capable back-up (If Thome, Kubel, Young, etc are playing or unavailable) that will make the plays he should, but Punto is going to make plays the others wouldn't.

[Big Dave2]

heard he did another one of his head first slides into 1b on thursday. have to give the guy credit for being a hard worker but don't get why he continues to do that and why gardy doesn't tell him to knock that [PoorWordUsage] off before he hurts himself. that could be a pretty ugly injury if he were to have a head first collision with a first baseman. besides that he's got to realize that he's not getting to the bag faster that way doesn't he? does anybody else in mlb do that?

Diving into 1st base

Published February 28, 2009 Twins

Minnesota Twins shortstop Nick Punto takes a lot of guff for diving into 1st base on a close play. Many people say it slows him down, but he thinks it gets him there faster. I believe he is right, even though I still question the wisdom of taking that much risk just for first base.

I’ll start with a couple of points. First, Punto is not sliding headfirst into first, as I think most people believe. He is aiming his dive to touch the bag with his hand at or before the point when his body lands. Second, although I’m not taking it to the tenth decimal place, I believe my math is correct. If anyone disagrees with my math, I’d love to hear your reasoning.

A baseball player getting from home to first in 4 seconds (a very fast time) will average 15 mph. This includes the time it takes him to get started. So lets say he is moving at 20 mph when he arrives at 1st. That equates to 22 feet per second.

Measuring Nick’s speed, we use his center of gravity, which would be approximately at his navel, between the navel and spine. If we measure his speed this way, the runner’s center of gravity is nearly directly above the feet, and crosses the bag within microsends of the foot that steps on the base.

As noted above, when Punto dives, he aims to have his hand hit the bag when or before his body hits the ground. This is an important point, because it means there will be no drag from ground friction delaying his trip to 1st base. Diving actually increases his effective speed. Changing his body into a dive does not change the speed of his center of gravity appreciably. But doing so moves his hands more than 3 feet ahead of the center of gravity. This effectively adds 2.0 mph over the last second of travel. Therefore, he gets there a split-second quicker. That split-second can make the difference in a close play at first.

Should he do this? According to Jim Souhan in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (2/25/2009), Punto’s arms “bear the telltale scars of abuse.” Souhan quotes Punto saying “I started when I was 8 years old.” Maybe when he’s 38, he’ll wake up to the insanity of it – but in the meantime, we know he’s willing to risk scars and nerve damage to get there quicker, and earned a couple of base hits because of it.

[PierBridge]

There's no doubt he gets there faster! He's one of the few that actually do.

But the problem is the chance of injury is greatly enhanced and the umpires have a tough time with that play as they don't see it very often at first base so on occasion he'll be called out when he actually gets there.

I'm against it for those reasons but he ain't gonna change and thats fine by me.

[hcmpls1]

Originally Posted By: harvey lee

The dude has a great glove and pretty good speed. Problem is, no bat at all. Just another 180 hitter and we have enough of them.

He's doing pretty well then for a .180 hitter considering he is batting .259 and that is pretty close to his career average also.

Punto also has a better BA than Hardy, Thome and Kubel so far this year. Should the Twins get rid of those guys too? Brendan Harris is batting .226 should he be the regular 3rd baseman? If not then who do you folks recomend to play 3rd base for the Twins?

Um, you need to take in account OBP... Punto is dead LAST with anyone over 50 AB. Not good... Thome is 3rd on the team in OBP w/ .395, Kubel is 6th on the team in OBP with .333 (so is Harris) and Hardy is holding the bottom down with Punto. Hardy, however, even though he has a crappy OBP, has had a few clutch hits this season. Punto... not really.

And who do I recommend play third? Ramos.

[Juneau4]

The question was: (Why is Punto in the Majors still) The answer is simple even for the complicated. He is one of the best if not the best for what his role is on a Major League Ball Club....

[PierBridge]

The question was: (Why is Punto in the Majors still) The answer is simple even for the complicated. He is one of the best if not the best for what his role is on a Major League Ball Club....

That's the perfect answer! Nice!

Ramos? LMAO!

[Cicada]

Ramos at third base. Never, but close. His value is in the fact that he is a much better than average catcher. He will go back to the minors and, hopefully, hone those skills to a higher level. Then he might become trade bait for a third baseman, only if, there is a third baseman that is of equal value in terms of ability and readiness to play at the major league level.

[First Ice-Mike]

Whoever mentioned Ramos as an option at 3rd base is obviously not a great baseball mind.

FI

[InTheNorthwoods]

The question was: (Why is Punto in the Majors still) The answer is simple even for the complicated. He is one of the best if not the best for what his role is on a Major League Ball Club....

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!

Punto is the Twins' starting 3rd basemen, and that is a problem. He is no where near the best 3rd basemen in the league, nor is he anywhere near the top half of 3rd basemen.

If Punto was a utility infielder, played sparingly by spelling the regular starters and as a defensive substitution, and made 1 million a year instead of 4 million, I could see where you are coming from. Punto's defense is generally good... but his offense is atrocious. It is not hard to find someone who can adequately field the 3rd base position in the majors, but a 3rd basemen should provide your team with some offensive spark and not just be a waste of a slot in the batting order.

[hcmpls1]

I forget. What position did Morneau play before 1st base?

[bobbymalone]

IMHO the Twins should dump all players that don't bat over 300, have less than 25 HR a year, and that have ever made a fielding error. Then I wouldn't have to come online and complain about the twins having a bunch of average players on the team.

[greebs]

Originally Posted By: greebs

heard he did another one of his head first slides into 1b on thursday. have to give the guy credit for being a hard worker but don't get why he continues to do that and why gardy doesn't tell him to knock that [PoorWordUsage] off before he hurts himself. that could be a pretty ugly injury if he were to have a head first collision with a first baseman. besides that he's got to realize that he's not getting to the bag faster that way doesn't he? does anybody else in mlb do that?

Diving into 1st base

Published February 28, 2009 Twins

Minnesota Twins shortstop Nick Punto takes a lot of guff for diving into 1st base on a close play. Many people say it slows him down, but he thinks it gets him there faster. I believe he is right, even though I still question the wisdom of taking that much risk just for first base.

I’ll start with a couple of points. First, Punto is not sliding headfirst into first, as I think most people believe. He is aiming his dive to touch the bag with his hand at or before the point when his body lands. Second, although I’m not taking it to the tenth decimal place, I believe my math is correct. If anyone disagrees with my math, I’d love to hear your reasoning.

A baseball player getting from home to first in 4 seconds (a very fast time) will average 15 mph. This includes the time it takes him to get started. So lets say he is moving at 20 mph when he arrives at 1st. That equates to 22 feet per second.

Measuring Nick’s speed, we use his center of gravity, which would be approximately at his navel, between the navel and spine. If we measure his speed this way, the runner’s center of gravity is nearly directly above the feet, and crosses the bag within microsends of the foot that steps on the base.

As noted above, when Punto dives, he aims to have his hand hit the bag when or before his body hits the ground. This is an important point, because it means there will be no drag from ground friction delaying his trip to 1st base. Diving actually increases his effective speed. Changing his body into a dive does not change the speed of his center of gravity appreciably. But doing so moves his hands more than 3 feet ahead of the center of gravity. This effectively adds 2.0 mph over the last second of travel. Therefore, he gets there a split-second quicker. That split-second can make the difference in a close play at first.

Should he do this? According to Jim Souhan in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (2/25/2009), Punto’s arms “bear the telltale scars of abuse.” Souhan quotes Punto saying “I started when I was 8 years old.” Maybe when he’s 38, he’ll wake up to the insanity of it – but in the meantime, we know he’s willing to risk scars and nerve damage to get there quicker, and earned a couple of base hits because of it.

what's your source for this story? it doesn't sound like it's coming from a scientist or physicist. if it's from a blogger or sportswriter, then it's simply an opinion and if you ask people for their opinion, I know from seeing other forums and talking with other people that watch the game that the majority do not believe the head first dives into first get him there any quicker than if he'd simply run through the bag like other players do.

[PierBridge]

All you have to do is watch him to know he gets there quicker. No scientist needed at all.

That's why he does it because he knows he gets to fist quicker than running through with his short choppy stride and those tiny legs of his.

Not for everybody and most don't get to 1st quicker. Throw in all the variables mentioned above and it's nothing you would ever teach or want your players doing.

On a Side note..276 and zero Error's this year...