Bright spots

[kab21]

Bright spots (mostly covered)

- 3 young players that should be part of a future core look great (Kepler, Sano and Polanco)

- Vargas is up and playing 

- Gene Larkin is doing his thing

- Ervin and Hector can create an issue with pitching well enough to be in demand but also be kept

- Hughes is surviving by guile and could be serviceable for at least part of the contract

- Duffey looks great and Rogers looks good

- Only 3 young players that could be part of the future have struggled (Rosario, Buxton and Mejia)

[Platoon]

There are a multitude of combos that could be employed in the use of the three regular OF, Grossman, Mauer, and Vargas. But for years, myself and many on here have bemoaned the horrific OF play which has made watching fly balls so exciting. Letting Robbie Grossman stand in the OF with a glove on his hand borders on managerial malfeasance. I know he has some fine offensive numbers, now, and he has a good eye at the plate. But with a pitching staff that continues to play follow the league in SO rates, we need players who run down fly balls, not run after them. If you are going to put RG in the OF, you could have just as well left Sano out there, at least he can throw it back in after he picks it up. I have nothing against the concept of platooning. But then you have to change the mix of this roster, so the fall off on defense is not as drastic.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

There are a multitude of combos that could be employed in the use of the three regular OF, Grossman, Mauer, and Vargas. But for years, myself and many on here have bemoaned the horrific OF play which has made watching fly balls so exciting. Letting Robbie Grossman stand in the OF with a glove on his hand borders on managerial malfeasance. I know he has some fine offensive numbers, now, and he has a good eye at the plate. But with a pitching staff that continues to play follow the league in SO rates, we need players who run down fly balls, not run after them. If you are going to put RG in the OF, you could have just as well left Sano out there, at least he can throw it back in after he picks it up. I have nothing against the concept of platooning. But then you have to change the mix of this roster, so the fall off on defense is not as drastic.

It's not something I'd do often and only against LHP. The difference between even Escobar and Kepler/Rosario is likely 150+ OPS points against LHP.

 

Is that enough to offset the defensive dropoff between Rosario/Kepler and Grossman? I think it is.

 

And those guys can't play 162 games anyway so in reality, you're likely talking about the difference between Escobar and Danny Santana, which is pretty freakin' huge. Basically, this would be my (occasional) lineup against LHP:

 

1. Dozier - 2B

2. Polanco - SS

3. Sano - DH/3B

4. Grossman - LF/RF

5. Vargas - 1B

6. Castro - C

7. Escobar -  3B/DH

8. Kepler/Rosario - LF/RF

9. Buxton - CF

 

That's a pretty dangerous lineup against LHP.

[yarnivek1972]

 

It's not something I'd do often and only against LHP. The difference between even Escobar and Kepler/Rosario is likely 150+ OPS points against LHP.

 

Is that enough to offset the defensive dropoff between Rosario/Kepler and Grossman? I think it is.

 

And those guys can't play 162 games anyway so in reality, you're likely talking about the difference between Escobar and Danny Santana, which is pretty freakin' huge. Basically, this would be my (occasional) lineup against LHP:

 

1. Dozier - 2B

2. Polanco - SS

3. Sano - DH/3B

4. Grossman - LF/RF

5. Vargas - 1B

6. Castro - C

7. Escobar -  3B/DH

8. Kepler/Rosario - LF/RF

9. Buxton - CF

 

That's a pretty dangerous lineup against LHP.

Gimenez figures to get most of the starts vs LHP.  Castro has hit them ok so far this year, but not so much in his career.  It's undoubtedly why he has started more than 102 games only once.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Gimenez figures to get most of the starts vs LHP.  Castro has hit them ok so far this year, but not so much in his career.  It's undoubtedly why he has started more than 102 games only once.

Right. Meant Gimenez, typed Castro.

[kab21]

Grossman can start 2x/week in the OF with Kepler/Rosario/Buxton getting days off in some sort of rotation. He can start at DH 2x/week with Vargas and Mauer each getting a day off. Sano can start at DH 1x/wk with Vargas getting a day off.

We can talk all that we want about Mauer taking more days off but it isn't happening yet.

 

Starting OF'ers 5.3GS/6

Grossman 4/6 - he could get another game in the OF easily 

Vargas 4/6

Mauer 5/6

Sano 1 GS at DH

Escobar 0GS at DH - there is no reason to put him at DH- he can start a game at 2B/SS/3B each week

[Riverbrian]

From time to time... Grossman will play OF this year for us and I think we will survive.

 

If Vargas performs and Grossman continues to do what he has been doing. It's a good problem to have and Grossman will have to play some OF... and I think we will survive. 

 

Only a manager with the imagination of a watermelon would be stymied by having only 1 DH spot and 2 DH type guys performing well. 

[gheggs42]

One bright spot is Adrianza playing LF today! Let's hope that means what we all are hoping for.....no more DanSan!!

[Linus]

It appears Rosario is starting to figure out the strike zone of late. Could be a huge development in the overall scheme of things.

[prouster]

Some bright spots regarding Miguel Sano's Statcast metrics:

 

• Leads MLB with 98.7 mph average exit velocity
• 2nd in MLB with 102.9 mph average exit velocity on fly balls and line drives
• 4th in MLB with 92.1 mph average exit velocity on ground balls
• 4th in MLB with average batted ball distance of 232 feet
• Leads MLB with 68.2% of batted balls achieving exit velocity of 95 mph or greater
• 3rd in MLB with 22.7% Barrels/Batted Ball Event (a "Barrel" is a batted ball with an estimated BA greater than .500 and an estimated slugging % greater than 1.500; so, he's hammering a little over 1/5 of his batted balls)
• 3rd in MLB with 22.7% Barrels/PA

 

So, Miguel Sano has been hitting the ball as hard as anyone in the Majors, except maybe Aaron Judge. To me, this means he'll probably be able run a higher than normal BABIP and K% while still being productive. This seems to reflect what we've all seen watching him mash.

[bluechipper]

 

It appears Rosario is starting to figure out the strike zone of late. Could be a huge development in the overall scheme of things.

Agreed even though he still isn't walking. His SO% is at 16%, after being near 25% in his first 2 seasons with the Twins.

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Right. Meant Gimenez, typed Castro.

That's twice you've misspelled Garver.

[Darius]

Bright spots for me:

 

Pitching (rotation and pen), even though it isn't sustainable.

 

Infield defense.

 

Rosario's approach.

 

Im approaching this differently than many, maybe. I'm hesitant to put guys like Sano and Kepler at the plate in the conversation as a "bright spot" because I think they're doing what they're expected to do. Sano is supposed to crush the ball for extra bases, and Kepler is supposed to be a disciplined guy with some gap power. I'm looking for guys who are exceeding expectations or elevating their game to an unexpected place.

 

In the end, this team is still in 4th place in an awful division. Not much "brightness" for me if that's where they stay. After 4 90 loss seasons in 5, amidst a quarter century of terrible teams and moral victories, I'm ready for some real victories.

[Jham]

I love how calmly and professionally the team responded from a 4 game losing streak to play their best ball. Obviously kintzler had been a stud. Santiago and Hughes have both pitched themselves onto Buster Olneys best available trade targets. Between our top 3 starters and Kintzler and possibly Belisle, we could habe some valuable trade targets for once, or maybe even be in an unexpected playoff chase.

 

Cleveland's slow start is an unexpected bright spot as well.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Thread about bright spots......

 

Polanco for me is the brightest, his defense has been what some of us thought it was, despite what we were constantly told.

i was a nay-sayer, and I happily stand corrected.

[yarnivek1972]

If there is ANY market for Hughes the Twins have to jump on that quick. It's too bad the Giants are in the cellar or perhaps they would have come calling with Bumgarner out, now until the break at least.

[drjim]

If there is ANY market for Hughes the Twins have to jump on that quick. It's too bad the Giants are in the cellar or perhaps they would have come calling with Bumgarner out, now until the break at least.

Twins need to find a team that doesn't use advanced statistical analysis, traditional statistical analysis or scouting.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Im approaching this differently than many, maybe. I'm hesitant to put guys like Sano and Kepler at the plate in the conversation as a "bright spot" because I think they're doing what they're expected to do. Sano is supposed to crush the ball for extra bases, and Kepler is supposed to be a disciplined guy with some gap power. I'm looking for guys who are exceeding expectations or elevating their game to an unexpected place.
 

 

Well, yeah.  But then Buxton....

 

It's always a bright spot IMO, when guys elevate to the next level, because that isn't a given.

[DocBauer]

Honestly, there are so many bright spots on this team right now that I'm not sure I dare to list them all. An yes, I know I tend toward the optimistic side of things, but this whole team and early season is just filled with shiny things!

 

1] The catching has been noticeably better, IMO, and we've seen some clutch hits numerous walks, occasional power and some RIB production. I'm still rooting for Garver, but Castro and Giminez have given us the best pairing we've had in a while.

 

2] While Gibson has been a huge disappointment, and I was really hoping Mejia would get off to a better start, Santana has been outstanding, Santiago solid, and Hughes hasn't been bad. The fact Hughes is ever here surprises me. He's not the same pitcher he was in 2014, but he's healthy, battling, escaping, working different pitches with a different game plan, and struck out 5 today, (Sunday), if I remember correctly. The rotation isn't in fire, don't get me wrong, but it is still better than expected, and better than last season.

 

3] The defense is just sooo much better, especially the left side of the infield. And it will only get better.

 

4] Kepler has been nice. Poland and Sano have been very as well. Buxton is suddenly performing vastly better, and the hits have begun to fall in for Rosario lately. Grossman is a solid piece and looks to be relatively real. Recently promoted Vargas has looked solid thus far. Just imagine Dozier getting hot and Meyer doing almost anything.

 

There is room for improvement on the mound, of course, and I believe there will be changes in the rotation and pen as the season moves along. But this is a vastly better team, overall, then the one we suffered from watching and rooting for last year.