35 replies to this topic

[Number3]

Almost impossible to envision this team not playing in October. So it is very tempting to start considering what will need to be done to win series against Yankees, Red Sox and Astros and maybe a couple of other teams. Already done with Houston for the year and only 3 against Yankees at home and all 6 against Red Sox left including 3 this month. No one thinks they have enough pitching so grabbing an arm or two for the pen won't be easy but other than that if it ain't broke don't fix it. Dog days are approaching and Twins are in enviable position of being able to continue to juggle lineups and keep players fresh. Main thing...don't think ahead too far and just beat Seattle tomorrow.

Edited by Number3, 10 June 2019 - 07:58 AM.

[KFEY93]

 

Tyler Duffey needs to refine his command of his amped-up heater. He's a power pitcher now, with a great curve for finishing off hitters, if he can make them respect the heat. He needs those low corners to go with his high heat. 

 

The other thing Duffey should do is work on a straight change to go with his fast ball. If he can throw a change-up for strikes, then his 93- to 95 mph heat will have a chance to miss more bats. Doesn't even need to be a plus pitch, just something in the zone with 10 mph knocked off. Throw it once per at-bat, so they can't guess between just fast ball and curve. 

That 95mph heat will also look like 97-98 if he can throw a good change consistently. They compliment each other. 

[Blake]

I'm starting to think Odorizzi has gone into "until opposing players prove they can hit his fastball, he's going to keep throwing it" mode.

 

 

[Linus]

The launch angle phenomenon has been a huge blessing for Odorizzi a fastball

[JW24]

 

Tyler Duffey needs to refine his command of his amped-up heater. He's a power pitcher now, with a great curve for finishing off hitters, if he can make them respect the heat. He needs those low corners to go with his high heat. 

 

One of the things Odorizzi has done so well this year is pitch effectively up in the zone with his fastball. Elevating his fastball makes his curveball more effective because of the hump a curveball has prior to breaking; the fastball up helps disguise the curveball a little better. Watching Duffey pitch, and the shape of his curveball, I actually think he should look to elevate his fastball more to help his curveball look more similar to his fastball. At 96+ MPH, it is tough to catch up to an elevated fastball. 

[JLease]

Odorizzi just keeps on rolling. Except for one sequence where he kept gunning the fastball about a foot above the strike zone (except same spot in 5 pitches out of 7 or so) they made me go "what the hell happened to you?!?" he looked great. again.

 

Duffey looked pretty good, i thought. Maybe he's going to be that additional late-inning piece to go with Rogers, May, Harper, and Parker? (yes, I know Parker blew up the other night. No, I'm not terribly worried about him)

 

Of course, this is a win the Twin absolutely should have. Every spot in the lineup, we had a better hitter going: our worst hitter (Adrianza, a utility infielder) has a higher OPS than 2/3 of the Tigers lineup from yesterday. Detroit did have a single player with an OPS over .800 player yesterday, the Twins had EIGHT. And the bats spoke. Nearly half our hits were for extra bases, and I don't think anyone was surprised.

 

I was a little amused at how much Dick & Bert kept talking about the twins "going the other way" yesterday, though. It was like they missed getting to use that phrase from the Gardy days and were using it sorta like a tribute to Gardy since he was there and all. That said, it does say something about the Twins hitting approach this year, which seems to be based around some simple principles: 1. make hard contact with the ball. 2. be aggressive in swinging at a pitch you like. 3. lay off the pitches you can't make hard contact on.

[Alex Schieferdecker]

I'm still not sure that I trust Duffey, but he's moving into the "Sometimes Trust" category where I've got Parker and May. His curve is ridiculous, it's just his fastball that still seems to lack a little something, whether it's speed or movement. But it's far from a liability. There's a reason why he's got the best K/9 of the team's regular pitchers.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I'm still not sure that I trust Duffey, but he's moving into the "Sometimes Trust" category where I've got Parker and May. His curve is ridiculous, it's just his fastball that still seems to lack a little something, whether it's speed or movement. But it's far from a liability. There's a reason why he's got the best K/9 of the team's regular pitchers.

It will be quite some time before I truly trust Tyler Duffey.

[jorgenswest]

I was intrigued by Brandon Warne’s article in April about Duffey and tunneling.

https://zonecoverage...f-tyler-duffey/

The mix of his curve ball with a fastball up in the zone may be the recipe for success.

[yarnivek1972]

Odorizzi continues to astonish me. This is a Scott Erickson type run.

Let’s hope not.

[Steve Lein]

"Jake turned in another quality start and bolstered his case for being the AL starter in the All-Star Game as well as the front-runner for the AL Cy Young. His final line was: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. He lowered his season ERA to 1.91."

 

Jake's been awesome, but he's hurt by the fact he's averaging only 5.41 innings/start. Largely because he's striking a lot of guys out, but you look at Justin Verlander and he has him beat in WHIP (0.74 to 0.97), K rate (10.57 to 9.98), and batting average against (.151 to .186) and that's all while Verlander is pitching over an extra inning per start than Jake is (6.61 to 5.41).

 

Odo's definitely high in the conversation for both, but I don't think he's the front-runner (Not something I want to point out but I do think it's the reality).

[Alex Schieferdecker]

Entering this homestand, the Twins have played fewer home games than any other team in the league. Four home games fewer than Los Angeles, five fewer than Houston.

[SwainZag]

While it's fun to think about the postseason, let's slow down boys, it's June 10th.Let's enjoy this ride.A lot of years we are already down to 2-3 page game threads, prospect talk, and starting to talk about Vikings football.  

[singlesoverwalks]

If he were a Tiger, Buxton's 8 home runs would lead the team.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

It has been almost impossible to complain about player management this season. Baldelli is doing an outstanding job of making sure these players are in a position to succeed with the rest needed to get through a long season.

 

I wonder if the Twins analytics have discovered that managers actually do make a difference.

 

I'm still waiting on WAR for managers... it's coming some day... or at least it should.

[Linus]

I wonder if the Twins analytics have discovered that good bullpens make a difference. Scratch that since our has not been good for a long while