Article: Will Mike Pelfrey be ready by opening day?

Or perhaps the Pelfrey is saying the same optimistic things every athlete coming off major surgery says, "ahead of schedule" "no setbacks" "feeling great" "ready for opening day" and the Twins plan on letting him put his money where his mouth is, seeing as he's only on a one year deal. Gibson you baby, 2008 Liriano you baby, but a rental player? Obviously the Twins are willing to throw caution to the wind, they wrote this season off long ago. What does it really cost them if he has arm issues or is ineffective due to an early return? Had they insisted on an option year perhaps things would be different, but they didn't and they aren't.

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What does it really cost them if he has arm issues or is ineffective due to an early return?

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Several wins and possibly some trade value.

But, overall, not much. It's a valid point.

Here are some post-session quotes/items from Pelfrey today:

"Pelfrey added he's been more aggressive than others in coming back from TJ surgery but Dr. James Andrews has signed off on everything." -- @RhettBollinger

"I‘m going to be ready," Mike Pelfrey said. "I feel great. There’s not a doubt in my mind Opening Day I’m going to be on the team." -- @MikeBerardino

For how large Pelfrey is and his decent velocity, I think many of us are disappointed with his poor K numbers. As unlikely as it would seem, perhaps those numbers take a jump his first year back. Sure he's moving into the dreaded AL, but he has always had pretty decent control. Perhaps he will be somewhat effectively wild this year. Not to the extent of Liriano who was ineffectively wild, but perhpas a bit of location instability will cause batters to not be able to dig in against this already imposing mountain of a man.

Those Pelfrey quotes reported by Berardino and Bollinger? Nothing but Twins PR. Right, mike wants wins?

We're a handful of days into camp, for God's sake. There's no bad news to report! Hell, today is the first day of live batting practice, so yes, mike, I call you cynical, my brother.

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Originally Posted by mike wants wins

When beat writers or tv reporters say something other than PR work for the twins this spring, I will pay attention. Until then, I doubt I will believe anything they write. Call me cynical, but this spring is all PR from reporters so far.

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You don't really understand the job of beat reporter do you?

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Originally Posted by drjim

You don't really understand the job of beat reporter do you?

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Are you suggesting that a beat reporter should be nothing more than an organizational shill?

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Originally Posted by snepp

Are you suggesting that a beat reporter should be nothing more than an organizational shill?

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A Beat Regurgitater? :-)

If their role is PR, why read it?

http://thebeetreporter.blog.com/

The beet reporter...

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Originally Posted by snepp

Are you suggesting that a beat reporter should be nothing more than an organizational shill?

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Well, their job is to report what's happening and what people are saying, which they appear to have done. People can (and should) scrutinize the content of quotes but I think it's pretty harsh to imply that the reporters have something wrong by relaying them to their readers.

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Originally Posted by Nick Nelson

Well, their job is to report what's happening and what people are saying, which they appear to have done. People can (and should) scrutinize the content of quotes but I think it's pretty harsh to imply that the reporters have something wrong by relaying them to their readers.

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Generally, there's a distinction between a reporter and a columnist; isn't there?

IMO, the local media's credibility is easy to questions because the columinists aren't very good.

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Originally Posted by PseudoSABR

Generally, there's a distinction between a reporter and a columnist; isn't there?

IMO, the local media's credibility is easy to questions because the columinists aren't very good.

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Yes. A reporter's job is to objectively relay facts and quotes. The really good ones will maybe take an extra step to provide context or balancing viewpoints, but there are only so many really good ones out there. A columnist's job is to editorialize.

As for the latter part of your post... well, that's why sites like this exist :D

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Originally Posted by Nick Nelson

Yes. A reporter's job is to objectively relay facts and quotes. The really good ones will maybe take an extra step to provide context or balancing viewpoints, but there are only so many really good ones out there. A columnist's job is to editorialize.

As for the latter part of your post... well, that's why sites like this exist :D

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Right. I think it's fine take what you read from beat-reporters with a grain of salt, especially if the context is opaque, but to somehow equate that cynicism with a critique of the beat-reporter's job performance is poor form.

It should also be important to note that part of a reporter's job depends on their 'access,' so they're not going to want to jeopardize that by editorializing or even negatively framing what they might be reporting. Just saying.

It wouldn't surprise me if Pelfrey bounced back to 2010 form this year. Granted, the 2010 version of Pelfrey wasn't very good at throwing any pitch besides a fastball, so the time it will take to get comfortable with his breaking pitches and splitter will affect him less.

Good news? Bad news? Who knows.

You guys ran with my point on the role of the beat writer. They report news and gather quotes, not offer constant opinions. They can provide some context in their stories but have to limit the editorizing.

If you don't like that I'm sure the papers will miss you. I can only imagine the amount of money that you invest in papers. They are a business, part of what they have to sell is interest in the team so people will buy papers and continue to follow the team. Doesn't mean they have to be lapdogs but constant negativity wouldn't be all that successful of a model.

Based on recent reports from Fort Myers seems that Pelfrey will be ready. The magic words were said by Andy after his first bullpen: "The ball came out of his hand good" (sic); whereas Diamond will not be because he "did not like the way the ball came out of his hand".

I kinda followed Pelfrey's career for a while (mainly because I like to listen to Sports Radio and the one available here is WFAN 660 out of NYC) and I think that he is one of those guys who pitch better than his peripherals and also one of those guys who had a hard time performing in NY and never really reached his potential. Will be interesting to see what he can do with the Twins in a zero pressure situation. I think that it was a very good signing for the Twins.

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Originally Posted by Nick Nelson

Yes. A reporter's job is to objectively relay facts and quotes. The really good ones will maybe take an extra step to provide context or balancing viewpoints, but there are only so many really good ones out there. A columnist's job is to editorialize.

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But this requires pretty intimate knowledge of baseball :) Frankly, other than the 2 beat reporters in the biggest Twin Cities daily, the other beat reporters are either learning (and some of them in an admirably good pace - e.g the two of the 2 certain TV networks) or are thrown in even though they are football people and cannot tell a slider from a screwball (e.g. the two of a certain radio station.) Frankly, for these guys is a job and for the ones who are good, it does not end when they go home (like everyone who is good with their jobs no matter what that job is.)

An update from the newest beat reporter, Pi Press' Mike Beradino:

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The smile on Mike Pelfrey's face said it all.


His words were pretty strong, too.


"I'm going to be ready," the veteran right-hander said Monday, Feb. 18, after facing hitters for the first time this spring. "I feel great. There's not a doubt in my mind. Opening Day, I'm going to be on the team."

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http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_...od-after-first

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Originally Posted by John Bonnes

An update from the newest beat reporter, Pi Press' Mike Beradino:



www.twincities.com/sports/ci_22615042/minnesota-twins-mike-pelfrey-feels-good-after-first

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This is really interesting. And I am glad that it looks really good. This is really encouraging :)

On another note, just adding to what I said earlier about the baseball experience of most of the Twins' beat writers these days, here is this quote from the article:

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His slider was a little rusty, but Pelfrey broke off a few curveballs and was able to keep his sinker and split-finger changeup down in the zone.

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Clearly, this must have been some sort of circulating rumor among the press, which contadicts the following image (also in the same article) of Pelfrey throwing BP today :


http://extras.mnginteractive.com/liv...ikepelfrey.jpg

I'd love to hear more about Pelfrey's four-seamer (which is the pitch he is throwing in the picture, btw ;) )