The Dakotan:
And now it's time for spring fever with the Twins with Neil Roberts from Fort Myers, Florida.
Neil Roberts:
Former Twins catcher Mitch Garver is now a Texas ranger. And in the meantime, the Twins have brought in Gary Sanchez, and the dominoes continue to fall, but definitely dominoes falling in the favor of catcher Ryan Jeffers. And Ryan joins us now. Ryan, what's your reaction when you hear a lot of the stuff going on that's really out of your control, but nevertheless, their guys, if also their position?
Ryan Jeffers:
Yeah, you know, it's exciting. It's an exciting time for me. I'm going to really miss Mitch, but I think it's a good situation for both of us. He's going to be that guy in Texas and hopefully I can play myself into being that guy here. They bring in Gary. And what he's going to do is he's going to push me to be a better version.
Neil Roberts:
Ok awesome now, you obviously impressed in the minors and in the big leagues defensively calling pitches. I talked to Bailey Ober earlier. He's got a lot of confidence that you must feel good to earn that stuff from the staff
Ryan Jeffers:
Absolutely., you know, that's what I work really hard at, is trying to develop those relationships and develop that trust between me and the pitcher. So to hear that, it's it's very nice. Yeah.
Neil Roberts:
All right. Hey, we'll talk about it when we come back.
The Dakotan:
You're listening to Spring Fever Baseball on the Minnesota Twins with Neil Roberts on the Dakotan Network.
Neil Roberts:
With Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers. And Ryan, you've also impressed some folks with your offensive production. 14 homeruns last year and 267 at bats. Got to be happy with your power production.
Ryan Jeffers:
You know, I spent a lot of time this offseason really trying to just be more consistent. You know, last year I've lacked consistency a little bit. And for me, if I can put that together more often, it's going to help me.
Neil Roberts:
What do you do in the batting cage or when you talk to the hitting coaches and staff, what's that next step for you? And all of that progression work?
Ryan Jeffers:
Yeah, for me, it's just really trying to stay inside the baseball and put the bat on the ball more often. When I was making contact the past couple of years, I'm hitting the ball harder than most people. So finding a way to do that more often, which I didn't last year, is going to be a huge key for me.
Neil Roberts:
How about goals for 2022.
Ryan Jeffers:
I want to go in some ball ballgames. I want to be a part of a winning, culture winning team, and I think we're building something good here that it's going to be exciting to watch.
Neil Roberts:
Thanks for your time. I really appreciate you'll have a great 2022.
Ryan Jeffers:
Absolutely. Thank you.
Neil Roberts:
Ryan Jeffers, everybody. That concludes this edition. And the next time, I'm Neil Roberts.
The Dakotan:
You're listening to the Dakota Network. Real, Honest, Local News.
