What's Up w/ Perkins?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

One of the posters mention Plouffe and Dozier also. And I might include Mauer, from earlier in the year. I dont know if it's just me, but it seems the Twins have complained more this year about balls and strikes than I can ever remember. I don't know if that comes from the change in managers or not.

It's not just you, I've noticed that too.  I'd rather they showed their competitive fire in a way that wasn't so annoying, but I guess it's good to know they care.

[Mike Sixel]

 

It could be argued that if they would have traded Perk at the deadline last season they might not be where they are right now without his stellar first half.

 

I don't think anyone would argue that, if you assume they did nothing to add to the bullpen after dealing Perkins, right? But, I'd guess some other move would have been made.

 

What if Perkins gets you 2 minor league RP that turn out, or a catcher that is ready now? You can't just say "the team would have been worse", w/o acknowledging Ryan would have probably added at least one legit RP to replace him.

[SwainZag]

 

I don't think anyone would argue that, if you assume they did nothing to add to the bullpen after dealing Perkins, right? But, I'd guess some other move would have been made.

 

What if Perkins gets you 2 minor league RP that turn out, or a catcher that is ready now? You can't just say "the team would have been worse", w/o acknowledging Ryan would have probably added at least one legit RP to replace him.

 

While true, I just don't see them trading Perkins and his somewhat team friendly contract at the deadline, then going out and adding an arm for a similar price in free agency.  

[Squirrel]

 

I don't think anyone would argue that, if you assume they did nothing to add to the bullpen after dealing Perkins, right? But, I'd guess some other move would have been made.

 

What if Perkins gets you 2 minor league RP that turn out, or a catcher that is ready now? You can't just say "the team would have been worse", w/o acknowledging Ryan would have probably added at least one legit RP to replace him.

There's really no way to know either way. We can play the 'what if' game all day long. Whether or not they traded him for a piece that could have contributed just as much is an unknown. Likely? Yes? Maybe? Who knows for sure? But it is a fact that we are where we are now because of what Perkins gave us in the first half of the season. (Could possibly have been further if not for the second half, though.)

[jimbo92107]

Reality check: Glenn Perkins just had one cortisone shot in his neck, then another in his lower back, and you're wondering what's wrong with him? He's 32 years old and his body is falling apart, that's what's wrong. Throwing pitch after pitch at professional velocity damages your body, even if you do it right.

 

What I can't understand is why the Twins didn't shut Perkins down after the second cortisone shot. How are his back and neck supposed to recover if he keeps throwing baseballs? They must figure that he won't do much more harm if he finishes the season, and then he's got months to heal up...if he heals up.

 

We're watching a heroic bit of courage from a guy that's injured. He's trying to keep his team in a playoff hunt, and he's doing it with an iffy back. What else can go wrong? Well, if an ump doesn't call strikes on the corners, and then you pipeline one and it gets hammered over the fence. I'd chuckle about that, too.

[DrNeau]

 

Listening to Barreiro the last couple weeks...  Jack Morris  was on and heavily implied that Perkins was out of shape. Then last week when Barreiro asked LEN3 to comment on wha t Morris said, Neal didn't name names but did say that he had heard that concern before from some inside Twins sources.

 

What, no one is going to attempt to say Jack Morris is not qualified to speak on the topic of Glen Perkins' physical conditioning?

[Circus Boy]

 

Other than Jepsen and May, there aren't a whole lot of other options. Perk is going to be in some high leverage situations from here on out, and I have confidence he will do just fine.

 

He did pretty OK in the 8th a couple nights ago when Santana was gassed.

[sane]

What, no one is going to attempt to say Jack Morris is not qualified to speak on the topic of Glen Perkins' physical conditioning?

I would think that LEN3 has a more valid opinion on physical conditioning, from a long distance perspective.

[Craig Arko]

My nickel says the pitching and bullpen coaches would be the ones to ask about it . Okay, maybe not Eddie G. I wonder what he did for conditioning drills?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

The night before, he came into a one-run game with runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out and got out of it without allowing a run. He was pretty dominant.

Dominant?  The first batter Kipnis sac bunted on the first pitch, the next batter Lindor hit a fly ball to right that should have scored a run but they held the runner at third.  The final batter (Michael Martinez, a 33 year old career .186 AVG utility guy who replaced an injured Brantley) hit a grounder up the middle that Dozier made a nice backhand play on.  Perkins didn't throw a pitch for a ball all inning, but in total he threw 6 pitches and didn't miss a bat once (5 swings for contact and one called strike).

 

It was an effective appearance in terms of results, obviously, but it hardly seemed dominant.

[Seth Stohs]

OK, he effectively got the Twins out of a 1st and 2nd, nobody out situation without a run scoring. Tells me he's fine. I don't care who he was pitching against. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

OK, he effectively got the Twins out of a 1st and 2nd, nobody out situation without a run scoring. Tells me he's fine. I don't care who he was pitching against. 

The positive results of that appearance are about as meaningful as the negative results of the next one.  You've got to look at the process to really tell if he is "fine", and from my vantage point he still looks quite a bit less than 100%.  Could/should still be a key reliever for us down the stretch, but we're going to have to watch him carefully.

[DaveW]

 

 my vantage point he still looks quite a bit less than 100%. 

Nobody is saying that he is 100% currently..

[Boom Boom]

What, no one is going to attempt to say Jack Morris is not qualified to speak on the topic of Glen Perkins' physical conditioning?

Morris is closer to the team than any of us, and according to Neal this was not the first time someone around the organization said as such.

 

Appatently Perkins isn't much of a gym rat, and there has been some concern that a lack of conditioning has led to Perk's late season swoons.

 

Maybe he needs to lay off the fried walleye and pheasant and prairie dog and whatever he eats, and have a salad. Just saying.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Nobody is saying that he is 100% currently..

Well, Seth said he was "dominant" Tuesday night and that "he's fine" based on that outing.  I don't know if that means 100% but it sure sounds like Seth is assuming Perk is closer to normal than would be suggested by his performance and health record since July.

[nicksaviking]

 

I would think that LEN3 has a more valid opinion on physical conditioning, from a long distance perspective.

 

Well one of them was a world class athlete (even if he was a pitcher) while the other guy looks like an athlete the way a league bowler looks like an athlete.

 

All of my concerns with Perkins boil down to his age, as it does with nearly every pitcher.  However, his velocity is higher than when he went on the shelf, which if anything, is encouraging to me.  He's not using his slider enough, and he's not locating.  Unlike velocity, those typically aren't uncorrectable issues that occur with age; he probably just needs repetition.

 

Of course, this is not the ideal time for remedial fastball location and slider control work.  He should be good to go next year though, barring another injury.

[rghrbek]

 

Well one of them was a world class athlete (even if he was a pitcher) while the other guy looks like an athlete the way a league bowler looks like an athlete.

 

All of my concerns with Perkins boil down to his age, as it does with nearly every pitcher.  However, his velocity is higher than when he went on the shelf, which if anything, is encouraging to me.  He's not using his slider enough, and he's not locating.  Unlike velocity, those typically aren't uncorrectable issues that occur with age; he probably just needs repetition.

 

Of course, this is not the ideal time for remedial fastball location and slider control work.  He should be good to go next year though, barring another injury.

 

The slider and the batters' fear of the slider, is the pitch that most hitters are weary of.   If he is afraid, or unable to throw the slider effectively, he simply is not the same pitcher.   Health related or not.

[Craig Arko]

Hmmm, the use of the term 'world-class athlete' mad me curious about how that term is defined these days. The track and field people seemed like a decent source. I would imagine these rules-of-thumb being applicable to skiers, dancers and martial artists as well as ballplayers, since they're actually pretty generic.

 

http://trackandfieldathletesassociation.org/site/a-world-class-athlete-what-are-the-key-attributes/

 

 

I like this part:

 

"We all tend to focus too much on strength development.  There are certain minimum thresholds of strength necessary to be a world-class athlete.  Instead of focusing on maximum efforts, focus on training the appropriate energy systems relevant to your sport."

[DaveW]

Instead of everyone playing Sports Docter and bashing Perkins and his nutrition/work ethic etc with no real basis, maybe the more likely scenario is that injuries happen? Especially to pitchers, especially to pitchers over 30?

 

Holland was just lost for the season, do you think Royals fans are trying to blame him for it?

[Thrylos]

 

Instead of everyone playing Sports Docter and bashing Perkins and his nutrition/work ethic etc with no real basis, maybe the more likely scenario is that injuries happen? Especially to pitchers, especially to pitchers over 30?

 

Holland was just lost for the season, do you think Royals fans are trying to blame him for it?

 

The Royals have indicated that they have officially replaced him as a closer before he officially got hurt and I suspect that they do not count on him for 2016.

I will have no issue with the Twins if they do the same.  Will they?

[SwainZag]

 

The Royals have indicated that they have officially replaced him as a closer before he officially got hurt and I suspect that they do not count on him for 2016.

I will have no issue with the Twins if they do the same.  Will they?

Holland supposedly has a pretty significant UCL tear which usually results in Tommy John surgery.  I think it's a little bit of a different situation than Perkin's injuries.

[HitInAPinch]

At this time of the year, 151games, no baseball player is at 100%.

[Circus Boy]

 

At this time of the year, 151games, no baseball player is at 100%.

 

Heck, none of the rest of us are 100 percent at this point, either.

[HitInAPinch]

 

Heck, none of the rest of us are 100 percent at this point, either.

 

Excuse me while I scratch my Buddha - belly.....

[Brock Beauchamp]

*groan*

 

Perkins is struggling because he used to be a 95mph pitcher who now sits at 93mph much of the time.

 

Is part of that due to injury? Age? I don't know but I doubt he's struggling because he can't "man up", whatever the hell that means anyway.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

Heck, none of the rest of us are 100 percent at this point, either.

he's day to day

 

but aren't we all

[ashbury]

 

Not sure what being in shape really matters for a pitcher, especially a relief pitcher.

 

http://multimedia.mmc.com.do/multimedia/cdn_uploads/2015/06/Bartolo-Col%C3%B3n.jpg

LOL. He's got more chins than a ch-... iiiimpanzee has bananas.

 

Not just pitchers, either. John Kruk had that quote. "I'm not an athlete. I am a major league baseball player."

[DrNeau]

Glen has ruined yet another game tonight (9/25/15). This game was the most critical yet. Please allow us to discuss without modifying our posts. He is destroying this team right now. 

[Squirrel]

 

Who is the moderator on duty? 

You play by play posts were moved to the game thread where they were better suited.

[Squirrel]

 

Glen has ruined yet another game tonight (9/25/15). This game was the most critical yet. Please allow us to discuss without modifying our posts. He is destroying this team right now. 

If you have questions about moderation, please PM a moderator or bring it up in the MinnCentric forum. Your posts here tonight were not discussion posts, but rather play by play type of comments, blowing off steam, which is why I moved them to the game thread where they were better suited.