So, Can we talk about Nolasco now?!......

[twinsfanstreif]

We all loathed (myself included) his inclusion in the rotation and he's now made 3 starts and has been very effective. He's got a 15-4 K/BB ratio in 20.1 innings and a 2.66 ERA, His WHIP is a ridiculous 0.98. I know it's still a small sample size but man he's looking like the pitcher we thought we were getting when we signed him (probably a little better). Now those are nearly unsustainable numbers but man it would be great if we could keep getting this out of our 5th starter! I think if Berrios gets called up he will probably replace Malone at this point who's been largely terrible.

[Linus]

Well not everyone loathed his inclusion in the rotation this spring. He won it.

 

And at this point he ain't our #5 starter. Having said all that, he'll cool off soon enough

[Platoon]

The SSS is not going to make any other GM come knocking on the door just yet. But if and when one does, will we take this marvelous opportunity to unload him, or will we miss that boat and be simply amazed when he is either injured or regresses?

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Well not everyone loathed his inclusion in the rotation this spring. He won it.

Yeah, as much as I didn't want to see Nolasco in the rotation heading into ST, I begrudgingly admit he earned his spot... Half of that was due to Duffey's bad showing but still, Ricky did what he needed to do.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

The SSS is not going to make any other GM come knocking on the door just yet. But if and when one does, will we take this marvelous opportunity to unload him, or will we miss that boat and be simply amazed when he is either injured or regresses?

I think that entirely depends where the Twins sit in the standings in July. If the team is a fringe contender and Nolasco is fronting the rotation, he probably won't be traded... And I'm okay with that. I'm more interested in wins today than prospects tomorrow and I suspect Ryan feels the same way.

 

If the Twins are out of contention and Nolasco is performing, it's a no-brainer trade, IMO.

[bluechipper]

Well not everyone loathed his inclusion in the rotation this spring. He won it.

And at this point he ain't our #5 starter. Having said all that, he'll cool off soon enough

Well he backed into the spot, so yeah I guess he "won" it.

 

I hope he keeps up the good performance though.

[Vanimal46]

I will gladly eat crow for ripping on Nolasco in the off-season. Hope he can keep it up so there's a glimmer of hope for a trade partner in the upcoming months.  

[HitInAPinch]

Can we just be happy with a guy's success for a little bit ???

[Ultima Ratio]

 

Can we just be happy with a guy's success for a little bit ???

Who's not happy?  I'm f****** ecstatic!

[diehardtwinsfan]

he's been pretty good.  Not quite sure what to think.  Given the success that Meyer and Berrios are having in AAA, I'm hoping we ship off a guy, though at the moment, that guy is Milone. 

[Dantes929]

 

Well not everyone loathed his inclusion in the rotation this spring. He won it.

And at this point he ain't our #5 starter. Having said all that, he'll cool off soon enough

He had a 5.71 ERA in ST while the Twins wanted Duffey to work on a change up.   Duffey earned the spot by having a great minor league season last year and was the ace of the staff over the last month of a pennant race with the Twins.    You really shouldn't be "earning "  much in ST.     I don't loath anything but think it was wrong and still think that even though I am happy Ricky is pitching well.    At time Livan, Correia and Pelfrey pitched well also.   Milone on the other hand does not get much respect still.   He should have been pulled , IMO, before his last inning against the Angels and he pitched just fine his last time out but left with the bases loaded and two outs and the reliever let all 3 runs score.   He has pitched ok.   I expect the Twins to give everyone about 8 starts before considering moves but if Berrios comes in and Milone goes to long relief I am ok with that also.      I still think Duffey has actually earned the spot though.

[Halsey Hall]

Nolasco flat out earned the spot in the rotation. Spring training stats don't mean much when it comes to the pitchers. A lot of times the hitter knows exactly what pitch is coming, as the hurler works on certain pitches. These guys all pitched some at the minor league complex, so I was able to stand behind the catcher and see just what they threw warming up. Nolasco had by far the best movement on his balls and it translated into the games. If he can continue to have control with the breaking  pitches he's going to be tough to stand in against. Finally it's good to see him having success.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Nolasco flat out earned the spot in the rotation. Spring training stats don't mean much when it comes to the pitchers. A lot of times the hitter knows exactly what pitch is coming, as the hurler works on certain pitches. These guys all pitched some at the minor league complex, so I was able to stand behind the catcher and see just what they threw warming up. Nolasco had by far the best movement on his balls and it translated into the games. If he can continue to have control with the breaking  pitches he's going to be tough to stand in against. Finally it's good to see him having success.

Yes. Spring Training stats simultaneously matter and don't matter... It's all dependent on what the pitcher is attempting to do in his tune-up starts. Some are just throwing fastballs to get back into a rhythm. Others are working on a new pitch or refining an old one. Some are laying it all out there to earn a spot.

 

But what always matter are the out-of-game sessions most of us don't get to see. That's what managers and front offices examine when making a decision and, as fans, we're often firing shots in the dark by watching two innings of a guy pitch and then making a snap decision based on (at best) limited information.

 

It's why I generally don't get too riled up about Opening Day rosters. Outside of fringe WTF cases like Jason Bartlett playing the OF, we simply don't have enough data to make an informed decision.

[Blake]

 

I will gladly eat crow for ripping on Nolasco in the off-season. Hope he can keep it up so there's a glimmer of hope for a trade partner in the upcoming months.  

You and me both. 

[Blake]

 

Yes. Spring Training stats simultaneously matter and don't matter... It's all dependent on what the pitcher is attempting to do in his tune-up starts. Some are just throwing fastballs to get back into a rhythm. Others are working on a new pitch or refining an old one. Some are laying it all out there to earn a spot.

 

But what always matter are the out-of-game sessions most of us don't get to see. That's what managers and front offices examine when making a decision and, as fans, we're often firing shots in the dark by watching two innings of a guy pitch and then making a snap decision based on (at best) limited information.

 

It's why I generally don't get too riled up about Opening Day rosters. Outside of fringe WTF cases like Jason Bartlett playing the OF, we simply don't have enough data to make an informed decision.

For me, Mr. Nolasco had two things working against him:

 

1. He pitched poorly, at best.

and

2. He really didn't seem like he wanted to pitch for the Twins.

 

I'm glad Mr. Nolasco has turned things around early in the season. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

For me, Mr. Nolasco had two things working against him:

 

1. He pitched poorly, at best.

and

2. He really didn't seem like he wanted to pitch for the Twins.

 

I'm glad Mr. Nolasco has turned things around early in the season. 

Don't get me wrong, I can't stand Nolasco. I'd love to ship him off the team yesterday.

 

But his ST stats only tell a fraction of the story. Everyone who I heard from on-site said he was dealing and his pitches were working.

[kab21]

I practically expected this to happen. There was so much animosity towards him that he almost had to start out great.

 

This is basically a giant middle finger to all of the armchair GM's. Sometimes we deserve it.

 

On a more serious note this is why you don't cut a player outright and instead stash the likely more talented prospect in AAA. It is possible that Nolasco is healthy and could be solid this year while another pitcher or two fall apart or get injured. Now the Twins have a pair of really good replacements to bring up instead of the next Pino, Albers, or other AAAA scrub.

[twinssouth]

This couldn't have worked out better for Mr. Ryan. Berrios, Meyer and Nolasco are all pitching great I'll keep my fingers crossed that Nolasco can keep this up for a month or so for good trade value.

[USAFChief]

 

I will gladly eat crow for ripping on Nolasco in the off-season. Hope he can keep it up so there's a glimmer of hope for a trade partner in the upcoming months.  

I was predicting this all winter*, and I'll crow about it forever**.

 

*not sure what happened to all my numerous posts over the winter predicting this...perhaps the software ate them or something.  But I KNOW they were there

 

**or until he has a rough start or two

[diehardtwinsfan]

Well, with the season start as it was, we may be sellers at the deadline, and we may even be if Meyer and Berrios continue to deal.  This could be a good year to unload Nolasco and Milone as both are relatively low risk pickups, though if the team is in contention and Nolasco continues to pitch this way, he won't be traded.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

Well not everyone loathed his inclusion in the rotation this spring. He won it.

And at this point he ain't our #5 starter. Having said all that, he'll cool off soon enough

Good call. You were one of the only ones. I think the issue other people have is they don't see him as part of the next team that will be very good for a number of years, and getting the teeth cut of the younger guys would be a better use of the rotation spot even this year. Although we will take Nolasco's wins as long as he is winning.  

[diehardtwinsfan]

My loathing was more that Trevor May wasn't in the rotation.  As said earlier, Nolasco beat out Duffey, like it or not, but that's what happened.  May never really got a shot.  The problem with all these FA signings is that now you're committed to them.  I'd love to see a 2017 rotation that looks more like this:

 

Santana

Berrios

May

Gibson

Meyer/Duffey

 

Problem is that you have Nolasco (tradable only if he keeps this up), Milone (easily tradable), and Hughes all under contract.  They will fix this by stashing May in the pen and exercising options on some of the younger guys.  Depth is a good thing, but the flip side of it is that the guys with options are the ones in AAA.

 

[Platoon]

I was predicting this all winter*, and I'll crow about it forever**.

 

*not sure what happened to all my numerous posts over the winter predicting this...perhaps the software ate them or something.  But I KNOW they were there

 

**or until he has a rough start or two

One of the biggest problems with the interweb is that people can go back and look at what you said previously! TD should delete all comments, within 6 minutes. So much easier to adjust ones positions that way!

[Physics Guy]

 

He had a 5.71 ERA in ST while the Twins wanted Duffey to work on a change up.   Duffey earned the spot by having a great minor league season last year and was the ace of the staff over the last month of a pennant race with the Twins.    You really shouldn't be "earning "  much in ST.     I don't loath anything but think it was wrong and still think that even though I am happy Ricky is pitching well.    At time Livan, Correia and Pelfrey pitched well also.   Milone on the other hand does not get much respect still.   He should have been pulled , IMO, before his last inning against the Angels and he pitched just fine his last time out but left with the bases loaded and two outs and the reliever let all 3 runs score.   He has pitched ok.   I expect the Twins to give everyone about 8 starts before considering moves but if Berrios comes in and Milone goes to long relief I am ok with that also.      I still think Duffey has actually earned the spot though.

Let's be honest here, a good chunk of the reason Nolasco "earned" his spot in the rotation is because he is "earning" $12M either way this year.  At least he's actually earning it on the field for once.

[Linus]

Good call. You were one of the only ones. I think the issue other people have is they don't see him as part of the next team that will be very good for a number of years, and getting the teeth cut of the younger guys would be a better use of the rotation spot even this year. Although we will take Nolasco's wins as long as he is winning.

I don't care for the guy but I think people over think things about these situations. I'll take the wins and go from there

[Vanimal46]

 

Let's be honest here, a good chunk of the reason Nolasco "earned" his spot in the rotation is because he is "earning" $12M either way this year.  At least he's actually earning it on the field for once.

That certainly had something to do with it. There were 3 mortal locks in this rotation before the season even started. The Twins have a fascination with having a LH pitcher in the rotation, so Milone was a 95% lock IMO once he accepted arbitration. I also believe (and have nothing of substance to back it up) that Nolasco was an 80% lock into the rotation based on the salary figure. If Duffey blew Nolasco out of the water in ST, then he would have won the job. But he didn't, and here we are. 

The good thing is Nolasco's first 3 outings are better than I ever dreamed he would do this year. So keep it up! He may go from a guy with zero trade value to a guy with some trade value. 

[nytwinsfan]

See if anyone will trade value for him! Now's our chance!!!  Then bring up two of the three of Berrios, Duffey and Meyer and make Milone the long reliever. DO IT!*

 

*Note, I know they won't do this.

 

** Second Note - My 1,000th post!!!

 

[Ncgo4]

No question Nolasco is outperforming darned near everyone's expectations.  Hope he keeps it up, cause it still doesn't mean there isn't room for Berrios.

[MindFreak]

 

See if anyone will trade value for him! Now's our chance!!!  Then bring up two of the three of Berrios, Duffey and Meyer and make Milone the long reliever. DO IT!*

 

*Note, I know they won't do this.

 

** Second Note - My 1,000th post!!!

No they won't, See Pelfrey. If Nolasco can keep this up they need to get whatever they can for him. They had the opportunity a couple years ago when Pelfrey had a damn good run, but held on to him until he reverted back to vintage Pelfrey form