power switch

Check today’s American League home run leaders. Four players with four bombs: Veteran sluggers Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista, Cuban rookie sensation Jose Abreu and … wait for it … Brian Dozier. The former Southern Miss star has just eight hits (in 44 at-bats) this season for Minnesota, but four of them have left the yard. He led off with a blast against Kansas City ace James Shields on Saturday, propelling the Twins to a 7-1 win. Dozier was not a power hitter at USM (16 homers in four years) or in the minors (16 in parts of four seasons). But the 5-foot-11, 190-pound second baseman found a power switch in Minnesota in 2013 and launched 18 homers. He has picked right up this spring. Including Saturday’s shot, Dozier has belted three homers in his last four games. “It is what it is,” he told mlb.com, adding that “my job is to get on base.” Circling them works pretty well, too.