Glen Perkins had a successful four season at the bottom of the Minnesota Twins bullpen. From 2012-2015, the St. Louis-born southpaw Paul was credited with 12 wins and 118 saves while posting a 2.93 ERA over 254 appearances spanning 251 2/3 innings. In addition, he was an All-Star in three of those campaigns. A starter of mixed results early in his career, Perkins ended up finishing with a 35-25 winning record, 120 saves, and a 3.88 ERA over 624 1/3 frames while pitching exclusively with the Twins from 2006-2017.
He now serves as one of the team’s commentators, providing an insight worthy of the reputation he had during his playing days. Perkins has rightly been considered one of the trendiest pitchers in game analysis.
How well does the lefty remember his matchups with big league hitters? Let’s just say Perkins’ memory is impressive. He proved as much when he sat down recently to prepare for the eighth episode of the Challenging Career Quiz, a series that has so far featured Geoff Blum, David Cone, Mark Grant, Mark Gubicza, Jeff Montgomery, Dan Petry, and Steve Sparks. (Links to those pieces can be found on their player pages.)
I started by asking Perkins to whom he had dedicated his hits. His first two guesses, Miguel Cabrera (seven hits) and Carlos Santana (eight) were both wrong. Then he named Paul Konerko, who was 11. What does the southpaw remember about the former Chicago White Sox slugger?
“I had two different jobs,” Perkins replied. “I was the first player and I gave up a lot of hits, then I relaxed and I didn’t throw in nearly as many. Pauly probably got me a lot when I started, although I think I did well against him when he was nearing his prime. I remember that last year when he played. [2014] he mainly hits singles. He had a short swing and just punched the ball. He did no harm, but he has abused me.”
Perkins was familiar with his memories. Konerko had five hits in six trips to the plate against him that year. He had previously gone 6-for-24 with a pair of doubles and a home run.
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The hitter who did the damage to Perkins was Santana. Still active, the 40-year-old hit 8-for-13 with two doubles and four home runs. Perkins quickly named him when asked who was driving him the most.
“I remember the first time I met her,” he said of Santana. “He hit a popup that was misplayed by both of our center fielders and our center fielder, and it landed in one. One time, he hit a ball off the left field wall at Target Field for only one. We didn’t have exit velos back then, but it was probably the hardest ball I ever gave up.
Perkins continued: “One of my hitters was in Cleveland. “We were leading by two or three runs and two outs. I hadn’t thrown a change in a few years. Kurt Suzuki was hosting. He called a fastball. I thought, ‘I can’t get him out. Hell with it, I’ll throw in the change.’ I did, and he beat me.”
The closer has fond memories of his battles against the long slugger.
“The last time I faced him, I hit him on a high fastball,” he recalled. “Over the edge of his helmet, the mark is high. And he didn’t rush. I couldn’t get him to swing on a breaking ball in the dirt. For some reason, he swung. He probably saw 10 or 11 pitches in that at-bat, and maybe that was part of it.
“I had a conversation with him sometime later in my career and I asked him, ‘What do I have to do to get you out?'” added Perkins. “He told me that he just saw the ball better than me. And the funniest thing about Carlos is that Brian Duensing, I think he would agree that he was a younger version of me – we were both left-handed, he threw it slow, his breaking ball wasn’t sharp – his owner. Carlos Santana went something like 2-for-30 against him. [It was actually 2-for-32.] Some guys see certain pitchers better. The three guys that I felt like I struggled the most in my career – I don’t know if the numbers back this up – were Santana, Victor Martinez. [7-for-19 with three doubles and a home run]and Carlos Guillén [5-for-10 with two doubles and a home run]. They were all switch-hitters who were better on the left side, and for some reason I had no hope against them.”
Does the batter hit more times?
“Miguel Cabrera,” Perkins said confidently. When I told him that another player was tied for that distinction, he gave a firm response, “Oh man, Adam Dunn!”
Dunn not only struck out eight times against Perkins, he did so while going 0-for-11 in one outing.
“Adam Dunn couldn’t hit my fastball,” the southpaw explained. “He was one of the few big-name lefties I could go out with. I didn’t have good numbers against lefties, because for the most part, teams, late in games, would hit a little bit against the young players. So, if I was facing a lefty, it was usually Adrián González or David Ortiz. Guys like that. But Adam Dunn was just a tough thing, I wouldn’t say anything … or six pitches, but he would hit fastballs I didn’t throw to him breaking balls.
Then there’s Cabrera, whose eight strikeouts versus Perkins were part of a 7-for-25 line that also included one double, one home run, six walks, and one RBI.
“Miggy is the guy who made me believe that I will be a good pitcher in the league,” said Perkins. “I remember facing him after I came back to reliever work – at first I was coming in as a relief – and I was hitting him. I was putting heaters, heaters, heaters in. The inning ends, I go back to the dugout, which was on the first side, and I drink water. He comes out to play his base and he pointed at my face. The hand, like the pitch was inside and he didn’t like it there, ‘If he doesn’t like me throwing fastballs to him, no player the one who strikes with the right hand will do that.’
“I don’t know why he attacked me,” Perkins continued. “He didn’t hit a ton. But I was able to get him to look at fastballs, and I was getting him to swing fastballs up and down the middle. I got him to swing breaking balls. His injury to me was when he was a freshman. The home run he hit was a game changer in the Metrodome. This is Glen Perkins’ two career: No-hit starter against Heert.”
My next question was a stumper. But while Perkins couldn’t name the hitter who went 8-for-14 with a triple, two walks, and a no-hitter, he had a good story about him.
“Okay, Bobby Abreu; that makes sense,” he said when he got the answer. “He hit a line drive off my leg when he was with the Angels. I ended up pitching eight innings in that game, but he smoked a line drive… and it ended up being out. There’s a 1-5-3 in the scorebook from that ball that Bobby Abreu took off my leg. He was a great underclassman. Good hitter. Average power, leadoff man, would play second. He was a smart second baseman. Easy base.”
Asked which batter he faced the most times, Perkins incorrectly guessed Alex Gordon (28 plate game), then correctly named Alexei Ramirez (35) on his second attempt.
“What I remember about him is that he was someone who would go up to the top of the box and hit twice,” said Perkins talking to the White Sox shortstop. “He wouldn’t do it while he was pitching, but rather after I was sitting on the mound. I could see him moving forward. He would be looking for the breaking ball, wanting to catch it before it went off. There was a time at Target Field when he did that, and at that moment I thought, ‘Throw this as hard as you can.’ I did, and it was one of two spots that registered at 98 mph on the Target Field radar gun. Kurt Suzuki’s glove hit when he started swinging. I got his one right.”
