Jeffers (2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 10 bases): ‘I knew that is what I had in me’

MINNEAPOLIS — Well performed, Jeffers.

The Twins put aside Saturday night to have a good time catching excellence by inducting Joe Mauer to the Twins Hall of Fame — and Minnesota’s backstop of the current day caught that fever, as Ryan Jeffers matched a membership file for a catcher with 10 complete bases on two homers and a double to guide an offensive onslaught with 4 RBIs in a 12-1 win over the D-backs.

“I knew this is what I had in me and the player I know I can be,” Jeffers mentioned. “It just took a little while to get there. Now, it’s just [staying] consistent. Stay consistent with the feel and with what I’m doing that’s working.”

The fourth-year catcher initially gave the Twins the lead with a two-run homer over the large wall in right-center off Arizona starter Ryne Nelson within the second inning, then added an RBI double down the left-field line within the third earlier than lining a solo blast within the fifth that simply cleared the wall into the left-field bleachers.

Michael A. Taylor and Max Kepler additionally went deep, whereas Jeffers, Kepler, Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner all posted three-hit video games because the Twins had their greatest offensive output since May 14, once they beat the Cubs, 16-3.

Besides Jeffers, solely 4 different catchers in Twins historical past have tallied 10 complete bases in a recreation: Jason Castro, Mitch Garver (twice), Tim Laudner and Earl Battey.

But just one has completed what Jeffers has been on monitor to do that season on the plate.

Jeffers’ huge night time introduced his slash line to .292/.392/.503, placing him on tempo to grow to be the one catcher in Twins historical past apart from Mauer to submit an on-base share that prime in at the least 200 plate appearances. No different Twins catcher has ever posted an on-base share larger than .377.

Among catchers with at the least 190 plate appearances coming into Saturday, solely Atlanta star Sean Murphy has a better OPS, at .903, inches forward of Jeffers at .895.

“As my career goes on, obviously, I want to flip into the Salvador Perez, the J.T. Realmuto, where if I’m not catching, I’m finding my way into the lineup, one way or the other, because you don’t want to keep my bat out of the lineup,” Jeffers mentioned. “That’s kind of where I want to get to.”

Even as Jeffers struggled to a .210/.285/.390 efficiency throughout his first three seasons within the Majors, he adamantly insisted that he had what it took to be one of many recreation’s premier catchers on each offense and protection — however over these years, he may by no means fairly decide on timing or mechanics that made him absolutely snug on the plate.

In a quest to search out that, he spent the offseason primarily rebuilding his swing from scratch, swinging time and again and over whereas sharing movies with hitting coach David Popkins, looking for one thing that felt snug.

“[Popkins] was actually sending me videos of him going into Spring Training multiple times, just talking about Ryan: ‘I think this is a really good move for him,’” supervisor Rocco Baldelli remembered. “And it’s worked.”

The greatest distinction is a bat tip that he makes use of at first of his swing, a timing mechanism that additionally helps him not get too lengthy in his swing. He initially removed the stride together with his entrance leg, trusting his pure energy to drive the ball as an alternative of forcing it.

But now, he mixes and matches totally different timing mechanisms relying on the matchup — and at last, after three years of tinkering, he feels snug within the foundations of his swing.

“I’ve kind of got a couple of different tools in the toolbox now, a couple of different swings,” Jeffers mentioned. “I’ve got a toe-tap. I’ve got a no-stride. I’ve got a modified no-stride. It’s kind of just, you build the tool chest of things that you can pull out in the game depending on the situation or what you’re looking for, and fine-tuning those to use them how you want to.”

Saturday night time’s efficiency pushed Jeffers as much as a .391/.455/.681 line in 21 video games relationship again to June 20, and with Byron Buxton’s placement on the IL releasing up at-bats at designated hitter, Baldelli mentioned Jeffers is totally forcing his hand into extra enjoying time down the stretch.

“It’s been little tweaks here and there, but we’ve really found something mechanically that works for me,” Jeffers mentioned. “It kind of feels like me, finally.”