St. Paul Saints Pack Lineup With Power Hitters

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- It's one of a fan's favorite things...the home run.

One of the most exciting plays in baseball, and the St. Paul Saints hit an awful lot of them last season.

In fact, the Saints hit so many home runs last season, they set a team record. And here's the really exciting part -- their lineup is packed with even more power this year.

"This year it seems like we do have a few more guys who can hit the ball over the fence," Saints manager George Tsamis said.

"We know as a collective group, can't really chase numbers. We talk hitting, every single day. And just picking our brains from what the other person knows, and kind of applying it each to ourselves is what matriculates to each having so many home runs," infielder Tony Thomas said.

The trade-off there is they've got a little less speed on the basepaths. But of course, you don't need as much speed on the basepaths if you're just trotting around them.

"In the offseason, you just really go after the best available players and hope it's a good fit, and this year we probably don't have as much speed as we did last year, but maybe we have a couple more guys who can hit the ball over the fence," Tsamis said.

"It's almost like a psyche behind it. Like, we do have a bunch of guys that can drive the ball, so it's not too much pressure on ourself, to go out and like, OK, it's all on me to get this RBI or whatnot. If we don't get the job done, we trust the guy behind us to get the job done, and taking that lack of mental pressure off yourself allows our body to do the best we can," Thomas said.

Giving fans even more excitement this summer.