Questions And Optimism Surround Nolasco And Twins This Spring

Nolasco looks to bounce back in 2015

As we near spring training, questions and optimism are endless around Major League Baseball. No different in Fort Meyers, FL where the Minnesota Twins are looking to right the ship after four consecutive 92-plus loss seasons. It’s a new era for the Twins under Paul Molitor and the long list of second or third year players who are ready to make a real impact in the lineup. As for the pitching staff, new Pitching Coach Neil Allen seems to have inherited a staff that’s moving in the right direction.

Phil Hughes had his best season in the big leagues in 2014, Ervin Santana is the big offseason signee, and if Kyle Gibson can find consistency, the Twins might have a quite formidable 1-2-3 punch on the frontlines. Then we get to that fourth rotation spot and last year’s big offseason signee, Ricky Nolasco.

In 2013 while splitting time between the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers, Nolasco went 13-11 with a 3.70 ERA while throwing 199.1 innings. He was rewarded with a 4-year $49 million dollar contract from the Twins. A welcome sight for Twins fans, but ultimately looked like an offer from a desperate team that said ‘hey congrats kid, you have a date for the prom, unfortunately it’s your cousin.’

Well four months and 18 terrible starts later, Nolasco revealed he was pitching with elbow pain and was shut down immediately. So what can we expect from Nolasco in year two of his Twins journey? He’s healthy, he’s more familiar with his team and being in the American League. Those points can’t hurt, but it ultimately comes down to regaining his velocity and control.

2014 saw Nolasco’s velocity drop on all of his pitches (fastball, 2-seamer, splitter, slider, cutter) except his changeup. His strike percentage was also down in all but his fastball, which is due to falling behind in counts and not trusting his breaking stuff to get over the plate, thus relying on the fastball too often. Opposing teams saw this and teed off. Nolasco gave up three homeruns off his fastball in 2013, he gave up seven last season despite throwing the pitch 67 less times.

Partial reason for the Twins giving Nolasco the contract they did was due to his durability as he had pitched at least 185 innings in five prior seasons to 2014. Perhaps the wear and tear of 2013 caught up with him. His curveball and slider accounted for almost 45% of pitches thrown in 2013, he threw his slider more than any other pitch. They accounted for just under 40% in 2014, nothing drastic but perhaps a minor detail that contributed to the injury. He is a major leaguer, but no matter your age throwing pitches that twist and torque your arm consistently will cause some degree of damage over time.

Heading into spring 2015 Nolasco has added a sinker to his repertoire, and if Phil Hughes’ opinion means anything to you, it’s going to be nasty. "He was throwing some two-seamers that were just falling off," Hughes said."It was one of the best sinkers I've seen.”

Nolasco’s first season in a Twins uniform was a disaster, but if you can take anything positive from 2014, it would be in September where he pitched five games and saw his numbers in nearly every statistical category improve, most notably his ERA which was 2.93.

Heading into 2015 the questions are plentiful for all teams, the Twins are no different, and neither is Ricky Nolasco. Optimism is high, and the optimism surrounding Nolasco is that he has a year under his belt in the DH driven American League, he’s healthy, and the addition of Santana and continued growth of Gibson will help take some of the load off his shoulders.

A new voice in pitching coach Neil Allen to go with the addition of a sinker and expectation that Nolasco will regain his confidence, control, and velocity could give the Twins a chance to have a nice 1-2-3-4 punch in their rotation. That would be one of the great turn around stories in baseball not just for the Twins as a team, but for Ricky Nolasco as an individual.