Kyle Gibson is elite...when it comes to ground ball pitchers. And that's a good thing. According to Baseball Nation, a ground ball pitcher is a type of pitcher that has a tendency to induce ground balls from opposing batters. The average ground ball pitcher has a ground ball rate of at least 50% with extreme ground ball pitchers maintaining a ground ball rate of around 55%. In his brief MLB career, Gibson has consistently proven he is a top 20 pitcher at inducing ground balls. Gibson had a
I love baseball. It's the one sport where a nerd, such as myself, can get lost in the numbers and think they know something others do not. What do I (think I) know? Well, if the Twins continue to over-achieve for one or two more weeks, and then merely regress to the team everyone thinks they are...they'll be right in the thick of the Wild Card race come September. I know, I know, I'm either WAY TOO OPTIMISTIC or I'm jinxing it. And if that's the case, I should shut up right now. But j
Conventional wisdom heading into the MLB season had the Twins' offense, which returned essentially all its key 2014 pieces plus Torii Hunter, leading the team to a slightly improved 2015, albeit in a difficult division. Beyond Hughes and Santana, the starting pitching and an "iffy" bullpen were perceived weaknesses. That script has been completely flipped as the Twins wrap up the first month of the season Thursday. After a horrendous opening series against the Tigers, Twins starters have poste
Mike Pelfrey's arm is feeling better. Last night he pitched 7 shutout innings against the Royals as he struck out four, walked two, and gave up five hits as the Twins cruised to a 3-0 victory. That's a good result, but it doesn't necessarily indicate Pelfrey's arm is feeling better. Well, how about this factoid? Pelfrey's sinker's average velocity of 93.5 mph in 2015 is the highest it's ever been, according to fangraphs PITCHf/x velocity data. His fastball's 93.1 mph average is also the
How about last night!? (Forgive my excitement, but we may need to celebrate smaller victories this season.) "Kyle Gibson pitched 6 2/3 innings of 1 run baseball and Oswaldo Arcia hit a 2-run homer to lead the Twins to a 3-1 victory over the undefeated Royals." Games like last night give glimpses of the future the Twins hope they are building. Let's hope we can read many more headlines with those names in the storyline. Now, onto the real point of this post... I know it's only been a week
Good news Twins fans, Joe Mauer had a very productive, "Joe Mauer-ish" day yesterday. Tell my dad who is obsessed with batting average and fairly representative of the old school baseball philosophy that 'Mauer had a good day' and he would probably ask, "Why? How many hits did he have?" Well, one. A single. "How many RBIs?" Just one. "Couldn't have been that good..." That's old school and it's wrong. Earl Weaver used to say, "On offense, your most precious possessions are your 27 out
I am not a follower of Donald Trump. I have participated in several no kings rallies and am disgusted with what he and his followers have done to our country and the world. I would like to know what most Brazilians feel about the United States now and about the folks our citizens have elected to represent us.
Just read your article on Twins defense this year and I couldn’t agree more. Pair poor defense with an over abundance of left handed hitters, players who have failed to show they can hit consistently, and a pitching staff lacking in quality starters (Ryan excepted) and we have the makings of a team that is going to lose90-100 games this year.
I read your article on Walker Jenkins. Derek Falvey’s player scouting and development operation has produced few, if any, long term starting position players who can field and hit well enough to be regulars over a nine year period. For this reason I am inclined to be skeptical about Jenkins until he proves otherwise. I hope I’m proven wrong but, given the Twins inability to find and develop position players who have the ability to hit and defend over any period of time, I fear I may be proven correct. We shall see.