Danny Valencia promises to improve defensively next season

CHICAGO - A day after absorbing more criticism from his manager, Twins third baseman Danny Valencia vowed to be a better defensive player next season.

"I've always been an offense-minded player, but this past offseason I took my defense seriously - and this year it will be even more so," he said. "I want to be good on both sides. I want to be a very good hitter and a very good defensive player, and I take pride in that. I want to be the best player I possibly can be."

Valencia has played a team-high 130 games and is tied with Michael Cuddyer for the team RBI lead with 61. But his defense has been a consistent irritant to Ron Gardenhire, who has worked hard to correct what he sees as a hitch in Valencia's mechanics.

He also has at times criticized Valencia for lacking focus in the field.

After Monday's 3-0 loss to the White Sox, the manager singled out Valencia for failing to stop a hot grounder that led to a run, and went on at length about the third baseman's tendency to straighten up when balls are hit to him. On Tuesday, he gave Valencia the day off.

Though Valencia declined to fall on the sword Monday, he acknowledged Tuesday that, in his first full major league season, there are still flaws in his game.

"The things I feel like I can take out of this year are two things: My first-step quickness has to get better, second thing is I need to get with a long toss program," he said. "I have a strong arm, but I have not done long loss as much as I need to. Those are the two things that I'm really going to emphasize going into this offseason and carrying into next season."


(foxsports.com)