In Byron’s case, like yeah you throw him heaters in A-ball, he’s gonna kill you, right? It’s like, we all knew the slider was his boo boo, you know, [it] was his kryptonite. For example, I put him in the three hole one night in A-ball and [the Twins] were like, ‘you can’t do that’. I’m like, ‘well why not?’ And they’re like, ‘well we want him to lead off’. I said ‘well, what’s his number one problem, it’s off speed pitches’. I said, ‘you think he’s gonna get [offspeed pitches] in the one hole? Like, if we put him in the three hole and he sees more sliders throughout his career before he gets to the big leagues, he’s gonna be better in the big leagues because of this.
[The Twins were] like, ‘well his numbers will suffer now’. I’m like, ‘no one gives a flying poop what your A-ball average is 3-4 years from now’. They’re not gonna be like, ‘wow, Byron’s an All Star but man he hit .227 in the Florida State League’. No one cares about that. Sometimes these guys wrap their heads around they wanna get minor league numbers, and we all did. But at the same token, the more sliders he sees in the minors, the better off he’s gonna be and the quicker he’s gonna make adjustments at the major level.”
