It's probably time to relax just a little

[gunnarthor]

 

Hey, relaxing is NEVER a bad thing.
However, a lot of teams have played a lot of seasons since 1901. Not once have any of them ever started 0-7 and made the playoffs.
 

That's really not relevant.  We've added a lot more playoff spots in the last few years to make that stat basically meaningless.  I think when we were 0-6, ESPN noted only three teams started 0-6 and made the playoffs and two (if not all three) were after the playoff expansion.  The fact that we are 0-3 against Baltimore isn't really that important.  0-4 against the central is a bit more of a concern but they'll have all season to make that up.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

They're a pretty young team.

 

Average age is 28.0 years old, 7th youngest in baseball.

 

Oldest player is 33 years old, 2nd youngest in baseball.

I've heard or read in several places that "young guys are going to struggle." Granted I might be hearing this in the broadcasts and amplifying it in my head, but Jack Morris who is supposedly a straight shooter also said it on Barreiro yesterday.

 

It's only half true. What about the old guys who are struggling?

 

I'm really not too bothered by the slow start but the veterans are definitely getting a free pass in this. Again.

 

I mean, if it weren't for Mauer hitting lights out, this team would probably be 0-7.

 

oh wait

[Brock Beauchamp]

It's weird for an entire bullpen and lineup to struggle at the exact same time no matter the age. I don't think anyone is getting a pass, this entire situation is just bizarre.

[gunnarthor]

 

It's not a young team.......it's not.

 

The infield is all veterans. The pitching staff is older than that. 

 

It is not a young team.

How about inexperienced?  Rosario, Buxton, Sano and Park have a combined 1043 plate appearances.  That's fewer than Eduardo Escobar has.  Heck, even Murphy only has 292.  Those guys have talent and I think they figure it out sooner rather than later but I do think it's reasonable to say that they'll likely make the adjustments.

[Mike Sixel]

You listed 4 regulars, what about Mauer, Plouffe, Escobar, Suzuki, Dozier, are they young and inexperienced? I was pretty clear, the infield and the pitchers are not young at all. Nor are they inexperienced.

 

Yes, the OF is young, and they decided to sign a 29/30 year old "rookie", so he's inexperienced. I think I acknowledged that. But you can't call the whole team young, like many people are.

 

Why do we assume young guys are going to struggle if they are top 10 prospects? I don't see Bryant or Correia automatically being bad. Why assume the Twins' players are going to struggle, why not ever expect them to be good? 

[Comrade Bork]

It is

You listed 4 regulars, what about Mauer, Plouffe, Escobar, Suzuki, Dozier, are they young and inexperienced? I was pretty clear, the infield and the pitchers are not young at all. Nor are they inexperienced.

 

Yes, the OF is young, and they decided to sign a 29/30 year old "rookie", so he's inexperienced. I think I acknowledged that. But you can't call the whole team young, like many people are.

 

Why do we assume young guys are going to struggle if they are top 10 prospects? I don't see Bryant or Correia automatically being bad. Why assume the Twins' players are going to struggle, why not ever expect them to be good?

 

It is disappointing to see what Button has done so far compared to other young top prospects

[gunnarthor]

 

You listed 4 regulars, what about Mauer, Plouffe, Escobar, Suzuki, Dozier, are they young and inexperienced? I was pretty clear, the infield and the pitchers are not young at all. Nor are they inexperienced.

 

Yes, the OF is young, and they decided to sign a 29/30 year old "rookie", so he's inexperienced. I think I acknowledged that. But you can't call the whole team young, like many people are.

 

Why do we assume young guys are going to struggle if they are top 10 prospects? I don't see Bryant or Correia automatically being bad. Why assume the Twins' players are going to struggle, why not ever expect them to be good? 

Yes, about half of the starting 9 are inexperienced and they happen to be at three of the most important offensive positions.  I guess I just don't get surprise.  I think the optimists and pessimists both thought that there would be a learning curve for Buxton and Park.  That Rosario would have to improve on his OBP and that Sano would have to make adjustments to the league that is adjusting to him.  It's not surprising that they are struggling a bit.  I think it will be surprising if they are struggling in July.  

 

 

[TheLeviathan]

I'm not surprised there is an adjustment period, but it's for that reason that the 90 win stuff was pretty unlikely.  These adjustment losses do count too.

[Mike Sixel]

Well, they just got younger! One positive, I guess.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I'll say it a different way, for anybody with an engineering background: endpoints have a defining impact on a solution.

That's a cool way to look at it, thanks!  I knew I was wrong somehow...

[cjj td]

 

Sure, because you have to poke around in the stats to find a correct combination of 7 games that gives you the 3-4 you want. Those combinations are far less rare than 0-7, but by doing so one has still corrupted the random-data assumption that underlies a statistical approach.

 

OK, I'll buy your premise to a point, BUT if you are saying our baseline performance has now been defined after 7 games (.000 win percentage), and in general the team was expected to perform at about a .500 wp... your baseline is basically garbage, because no one in their right mind could expect them to end up closer to their newly defined baseline wp than their preseason expected win percent. (.250 being the midpoint and .375 being absolutely worst case scenario... i hope).

 

[Rosterman]

 

They're a pretty young team.

 

Average age is 28.0 years old, 7th youngest in baseball.

 

Oldest player is 33 years old, 2nd youngest in baseball.

 

The three teams directly in front of the Twins in average age are in full-blown rebuild mode (or at least should be): Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Cincinnati.

 

They're a young team.

They are still putting a competitive team on the field. But still rebuilding (othersise, we'd have seen Quinton and Wheeler up here, and a vet bullpen guy signed). 

 

By 2018 our rotation will be really young. When we move on from our catcher and a couple of bullpen arms, we are really young. The only old guys will be Perk and Mauer. Unlikely to still see Nunez and Plouffe here in 2017. 

 

Decisions will be made this season. If we continue to develop players and have some placesetters, which could make next season a true rebuilding year. Remember, all these young arms won't necessarily get called up this year or start the 2017 seasons. They all will (probably) start the 2018 season.

 

Even if the Twins do compete this year (in what is supposed to be a tight division) does anyone see them trading real prospects for vets or rentals? Yes, there are a few prospects that won't be able to be 40-manned come next offseason, and the Twins have to trade from areas of dept (bullpen arms and shortstop for example) if they want an aging veteran...but still don't see it.

 

We still have 155 games to go.

 

[dxpavelka]

 

Actually all the playoff teams played more games.

Not during  the regular season.