“He just needs to eat the ball,” Gardenhire said of the errant throw.

Make sure that nothing gets lost in translaion, Ron.

It is frustrating seeing Nishioka struggle this much on defense and it points to a problem with Twins scouting. Nishioka had a reputation as a good fielder and a decent bat. Nobody thought he would be a fantastic hitter in the majors but supposedly his glove was top notch. Instead he's had many fundamental issues with his fielding, enough that a year in AAA makes sense. Who looked at this guy and said he was a major league caliber infielder?

I don't think they really scouted him. He was really an after thought, so they watched some film of him during the offseason and thought he looked decent enough. I imagine it's extra hard to scout defense on film, especially in league you haven't really scouted befor so you don't really have a baseline to compare against. He was a gold glover in Japan and won a batting title and he wasn't too expensive. At the price, he was a decent bet even if he was below average. As it turns out, he's not even below average.

Twins still waiting for Nishioka to show if he’s a big leaguer

Hasn't he already shown he's not?

At the price, he was a decent bet even if he was below average. As it turns out, he's not even below average.

Au contraire, he is well below average ;-)

Who looked at this guy and said he was a major league caliber infielder?

Don't they use different size balls there? That might affect his fielding.

Didn't he also play SS in Japan? I know that 2B is a step down the spectrum, but I could still see how it would be a nightmare transition for some players.

He was really an after thought

They said goodbye to Orlando Hudson and signed Nishioka to a 3 year deal as an afterthought?

Nishioka played SS and 2B in Japan. His problems aren't with cleanly fielding the ball, they're with positioning, footwork, backhanding the ball, turning the pivot, etc. Did Kaz Matsui have this much trouble adjusting to MLB defensively?

Make sure that nothing gets lost in translaion, Ron.

"Nope! Fair is... well, it wasn't exactly fair. But since it wasn't expressly forbidden... tough titties! Wow... I never realized how much we rely on idioms."

Did Kaz Matsui have this much trouble adjusting to MLB defensively?

There were certainly this many complaints about him at the time, if not more.

One strong difference with infielding is apparently in Japan they don't backhand the ball. In MLB they teach infielders to backhand the ball in order to reduce the time it takes to get it to 1B but in Japan it is always taught to get in front of the ball, then make your throw. I'm sure turf vs grass is one reason for the split.

Another difference is the way players approach the takeout slide:

Bobby Valentine, the former big-league skipper who spent seven seasons managing in Japan’s Pacific League, said Japanese infielders come to the U.S. somewhat unprepared for the often dangerous slides common around the bag. … In Japan, meanwhile, baserunners are taught to slide low, making contact with the infielder’s instep or ankle, not wanting to injure their fellow competitors. Nishioka had barely been exposed to the type of slide that will cost him at least the next month.

Source: http://blog.japaneseballplayers.com/2011/06/japanese-infielders-with-injuries-by-base-runners/

So you've got a guy learning 2B on the job, where you take the throw with your back to the runner, and having to deal with a different and more dangerous style of play at the same time.

Not a good combination.

The scouting reports all indicated he didn't have enough arm for SS in the big leagues which means if he can't hack it at 2B he's not a big leaguer. Couple that with the vast number of available options at 2B and in hindsight it's a terrible contract.

They said goodbye to Orlando Hudson and signed Nishioka to a 3 year deal as an afterthought?

Yes, and Punto and traded Hardy. FWIW, they did offer Hudson arbitration. As I recall, Bill Smith was talking to an agent after the season about wanting to get faster in the middle infield, and the agent said "I've got this client in Japan named Nishioka who we are posting. He's a gold glover and batting champ." Before that, the Twins really weren't thinking about him. My guess it thar they looked at some footage and decided if he was cheap enough, they'd give him a shot, since really no one else on the market that was reasonably quick, much less had any sort of plausible upside. Which is probably why Hudson declined arbitration....he thought he'd really get paid in that market. It was a terrible infield market: Jeter, Hudson, Peralta, Nishioka, Renteria, Counsell, Izturis, and Punto got major league deals. I guess plan B for speed might have been Izturis, who was even worse than Nishioka.

Perhaps Bill Smith is simply an idiot and just insisted on somebody Japanese.

Don't they use different size balls there? That might affect his fielding.

No - the size and weight of the ball in NPB is the same as in MLB.

Bill Smith is simply an idiot

Well, we knew that after the JJ Hardy trade, if not sooner.

Nope! Fair is... well, it wasn't exactly fair. But since it wasn't expressly forbidden... tough titties! Wow... I never realized how much we rely on idioms.

They literally, figuratively scoured the globe for a second baseman at no small expense to themselves.

No - the size and weight of the ball in NPB is the same as in MLB.

Wait a second. I thought I heard stories of Darvish specifically practicing this offseason with balls from MLB because the Japanes ball is smaller.

Wait a second. I thought I heard stories of Darvish specifically practicing this offseason with balls from MLB because the Japanes ball is smaller.

No, the specifications are the same, taking into account that the NPB rules are metric and the MLB rules are, um, whatever metric isn't called. The Japanese rules are:

The ball must be between 141.7 and 148.8 grams.
The ball must be between 22.9 to 23.5 cm in circumference.

That converts to 4.9983 to 5.2488 ounces, and 9.01575 to 9.25197 inches. The MLB rules are:

It shall weigh not less than five nor more than 5-1/4 ounces avoirdupois and measure not less than nine nor more than 9-1/4 inches in circumference.

So, if anything, the NPB one is very, very, very slightly larger.

There's been a huge change in the Japanese ball over the last couple of years. Up until last year, there was no standard ball used in NPB games. All were within the regulations, but they were made by nine different manufacturers, and teams could choose to use whichever manufacturer's ball they wanted, even using different balls by different manufacturers in different games. The balls, naturally, felt different, and had different elasticity. NPB went to a standard ball, made by Mizuno, last season, and it turned out to be a dead ball - offense was drastically down throughout NPB.

The MLB ball does feel different from the NPB ball. Many pitchers say that the seams are higher on the Japanese ball, making breaking pitches easier to throw. This is probably what Darvish was working on, not the actual size of the ball.

...the MLB rules are, um, whatever metric isn't called.

It's called the British imperial system.

It shall weigh not less than five nor more than 5-1/4 ounces avoirdupois and measure not less than nine nor more than 9-1/4 inches in circumference.

We need to preserve the Imperial system just to keep "avoirdupois" in the language. What a cool word.

I'm shocked there's such a big range in specs. They're allowing variances of almost 5% on weight!

It's called the British imperial system.

Thanks - being British, I should know that... :-)

if anything, the NPB one is very, very, very slightly larger

There's a lot of slop in that spec. I wouldn't be surprised if NPB balls were at the low end of spec and MLB at the high end of spec. That would make a noticeable difference.

Was at a game where someone in the stands called this baseball player a MF.

Just want to let everyone know it wasn't me who called this baseball player a MF. Wasn't even sitting next to the guy who called this baseball player a MF. Wasn't even sitting next to the guy sitting next to the guy who called this baseball player a MF.

Would like to know one thing though...







Who called this MF a baseball player?

Who called this MF a baseball player?

Yeah, MF is clearly a football position...