I wrote about “the new and improved Delmon Young” a month ago, examining changes he’d made to finally start living up to his potential … and since then he’s hit .350 with five homers, 11 doubles, and a .564 slugging percentage in 30 games.
The new-found patience he showed early this season has vanished, with Young drawing a grand total of one non-intentional walk in 123 plate appearances during that stretch, but hitting .350 makes that seem kind of trivial.
Hitting coach Joe Vavra had some interesting quotes about Young’s swing changes:
He doesn’t have the head-shoulder drop any more. His head is not moving, he’s [keeping] a firm front side. So he’s kind of putting it all together, which is a good thing to see. He came into spring training on a mission. He had that weight drop, and he was on a mission to clean up some things that he needed to do, and he did.
We go out in that cage every day, and we try to solve issues and problems that come up. He listens real well, he tries different things, but he’s his own guy. He gets out there and does what he thinks is going to help himself to be successful, and he takes what we do in the cage and it’s all on him then.
Young is up to .322/.354/.528 with 13 homers and 28 doubles in 92 games overall this season, which is good for an .882 OPS that ranks as the highest from any Twins outfielder who played enough to qualify for the batting title since Kirby Puckett in 1995. And after batting sixth or lower in the Twins’ lineup in 74 of his 83 starts Young is hitting cleanup tonight (against Zack Greinke) for the first time all season.
