Article: MIN 9, CLE 3: Twins Take Series Behind Pineda, Tortuga

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

The beginning of Baldelli's postgame that I watched certainly supports the conclusion that the pitching changes were predetermined to get Pérez some work. A little jarring for the manager to say that point blank.

[Tom Froemming]

 

How much of Perez being wild was Plate Umpire squeezing the strike zone?

 

Granted, the Zone Cam on the broadcast isn't official, but it sure seemed like a lot of strikes weren't being called as such today.

Here are all of Perez's called strikes and balls from today:

 

[Shaitan]

It's hard to judge a pitcher who was on the mound with an 8-run lead.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

 

was it “their C squad”? Missing Lindor is a big miss. Kipnis, how much does he have left?

Major league C squad, sure. Indians B plus. They are doomed to a cruddy lineup unless the FO can swing a trade.

You got to admit that the Indians starting pitching was the A+ team. And the Twins beat them...should have/could have won Saturday.

[Dman]

While I understood the Pineda move I didn't understand the Pineda move.  He was absolutely just cruising through 4 innings on a low pitch count and they pulled him, I don't get that.  At least let him pitch the 5th and have a chance for the win.  If Pineda was struggling or the pitch count was high I could easily rationalize what the Twins did but I have to agree with Tom that it seemed like this game was more about getting both guys equal work than worrying about winning the game.

 

I am not a big Perez fan but I like what the Twins have done with him so far. His velocity is outstanding but his control doesn't look MLB ready to me.  Watching the game he was all over the place.  Granted some of that is by design but it looked to me like he didn't really have a money pitch today.  Every inning felt like a disaster waiting to happen to me.  If you have good stuff you don't have to throw 80 pitches in  a little over three innings of work.  So my question right now would be is he really   a good pitcher?

 

I get it, he is a work in progress and likely to warm up with the weather but I just didn't care for the way the Twins went about getting him into this game.  Yeah they had  a huge 5 run inning and in the end it didn't matter as they got to have their cake and eat it too, but a couple of bad bounces and they could have lost that game.

 

Ok enough complaining.  I was very happy with how well they hit the ball today.  This really could be a tough lineup for pitchers to face with lots of bench options that aren't that far off in quality at bats.  Not sure how long that bench stays that way but I think it gives them a leg up over other teams right now.

 

I kind of like how they got all three catchers involved early.  Catcher is a physically demanding position so if they can keep those guys fresh maybe we can get a bit better production out of that position by platooning them a bit.

 

Very happy with the win and getting the series win at home.  If our pitching holds this team might do better than I thought they would.

[ashbury]

It's hard to judge a pitcher who was on the mound with an 8-run lead.

When he came in it was only 3-0, and I wasn't too wowed with his command or movement on the ball in that inning. "Effectively wild" at best.

[Doomtints]

 

I wonder what Astudillo would have to do to get regular at bats?

 

Trade physiques with A-Rod.

[GCTF]

 

Trade physiques with A-Rod.

Not happening. He's busy getting his J-Lo on.

[howeda7]

Can someone explain the logic of why Castro starts over Astudillo? You can't frame enough pitches to make up .100 points in batting average. Every time I watch him catch I figure I'll see passed balls galore and a mess back there and he's always fine. 

[Roaddog]

Gotta say I like what I see from Perez for the most part.

[PseudoSABR]

 

Can someone explain the logic of why Castro starts over Astudillo? You can't frame enough pitches to make up .100 points in batting average. Every time I watch him catch I figure I'll see passed balls galore and a mess back there and he's always fine. 

Castro is supposedly a great framer and at working with the pitching staff; I haven't heard much about Astudillo's defense behind the plate, but that they've played him every where but catcher suggests some concern.

 

 

 

[Nine of twelve]

I have one criticism of Astudillo's performance today. In the 4th inning he scored on Buxton's double, but with two out he needs to run full bore through home plate. He eased up coming home and if Buxton had been thrown out at second the run would not have counted.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I love Astudillo as much as the next guy but some of you need to reel it in a bit.

 

The dude has ~100 career PAs. The front office isn’t insane for refusing to write his name into lineups using a pen.

[PseudoSABR]

 

I love Astudillo as much as the next guy but some of you need to reel it in a bit.

The dude has ~100 career PAs. The front office isn’t insane for refusing to write his name into lineups using a pen.

YOU SHUT YOUR SMART MOUTH!

[Riverbrian]

 

I love Astudillo as much as the next guy but some of you need to reel it in a bit.

The dude has ~100 career PAs. The front office isn’t insane for refusing to write his name into lineups using a pen.

 

Agreed... but he won't get 200 career PA's unless they write his name into the lineup.

 

Right Now... I'll give them a pen if they can't find one. 

[jimbo92107]

La Tortuga may not be the best nickname for Astudillo. How about "Pelotero?" The man is a ballplayer, pure and simple. He hits the ball, catches the ball, throws the ball, and understands the game as well as anybody I see out there, including Rosario. If you're wondering about his catching, ask CJ Cron. Astudillo not only fielded Polanco's throw off the fence, he then quickly gunned the ball exactly where it needed to be for Cron to make the tag. That's a ballplayer, my friends. That's a guy you want on your team...playing, not on the bench. 

 

Otherwise, I like watching Pineda pitch. Something comforting about a big man that just flips the ball down at the strike zone with so little effort. Perez looked good, too. You really see him driving off the heel the way Wes Johnson says. Ryne Harper I do not understand. I know, I know, his low velocity is fooling people...for now. Hard to believe it will hold up, but baseball does have room for peculiarities. 

 

Falvey and Levine seem to like players with high baseball IQ. This team looks smart in the way they move and play. They seem to like each other, too. Baldy might just have himself a good team.

[Lasorda_This_Out]

My question is sincere...

 

Why would Baldelli/Twins allow CLE runners to advance from: 1. Second to Third and 2. First to Second on consecutive uncontested pitches in the top of the 9th with a six run lead and two outs? Why not a catcher throw? Why uncontested? Thanks!!!

 

[Jacksson]

Even Baldelli's inexperience couldn't screw up Sunday's result. Now, if we could have a bit more hitting in the clutch by some players and if Rosario could buy a hit, the Twins might have something.

[Mike Sixel]

I love Astudillo as much as the next guy but some of you need to reel it in a bit.

 

The dude has ~100 career PAs. The front office isn’t insane for refusing to write his name into lineups using a pen.

Didn't ask for that. But all he's done is hit. Give him a shot.

[David HK]

 

Twins pitchers get 39 strikeouts in 3 games?

Yowza!!!

Yeh, those numbers in recent Twins history generally show up on the other side of the ledger...  

 

Nice to have 'em in OUR box score for a change.

[Penthang]

I know that Astudillo doesn’t have a lot of plate appearances yet but I really feel like the lineup is better with him in it. Also, he makes good, heads up plays. I’d really like to see Baldelli find a way to get him on the field 5 out of 7 days with 2 of those behind the plate. Was it just a coincidence that they had a breakout offensive game the first time he was in the lineup? Maybe, maybe not?

[JPK]

Yes, extraordinarily small sample size. But this seems like as good a moment as any to note that: La Tortuga currently leads all AL hitters with an OPS of 2.750. Viva La Tortuga!

[killertwinfan]

 

Under Molitor: not make baserunning mistakes like we saw today.

 

I'm hopeful that Rocco isn't quite so doctrinaire. Figure out what the players can do, not hang them for what they don't.

I agree that it was a mistake but I thought the third base coach was late on his signal which had tortuga slowing down on his way to third.  He is not the type of player who will run freely. And Buxton was going all the way, he never would have made it anyway. Not sure what was going on there.  

[Platoon]

It's early, it's cold, and Pineda had TJ. Nothing wrong with getting him out of their ahead of the game. They also made it clear for quite awhile Perez would be a stretched out reliever, then starter. Other than that, so far pretty confused by Rocco. He didn't PH for Kepler the other day, used a bottom of the order RP with a full compliment of relievers, and writes the same lineup 3 days in a row, with the exception of catchers who simply bat in the 8 hole. Looks more like a 1960's guy than an analytical wizard? Who knows, maybe it's simply early, he doesn't want to rock the boat, or over manage. It will be interesting once the games pile up and the pen gets stressed. As for La Tortuga, it's getting to the point where he is going to have to show management why he SHOULDNT be playing. He's already shown them why he SHOULD be playing!

[Old Twins Cap]

 

We're probably looking at the same video, and it might be the only one available, and I agree it's hard to tell exactly when the coach stopped/started to signal to run hard. The coach came into view just a millisecond too late for our purpose.

 

 

I was at the game, under the heat lamps on the third base side.  I had a great view of third and the coach was definitely windmilling Astudillo to go home.

 

For some reason Astudillo stopped, Buxton was coming to third, so Willians set sail for home and the Indians infielder just never looked up or he would have had Astudillo at the plate.

 

But, best thing was, Buxton gave himself up at 3B in the rundown instead of trying to be Superman.  Gotta take care of yourself Byron, especially in a 9-3 game.

[wabene]

When in the past would we have seen 3 catchers play in the first three games? Never. I don't care where they batted Astudillo I'm just happy he was in there. This is not the robotic heard marching off a cliff giving the feeling of futility. This sh** is fresh!

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Tom, How was Astudillo's pitch framing in this game. You were able to compare Castro and Garver in games 1 and 2. Could you compare all 3 catchers in the first 3 games?

[Dman]

 

I love Astudillo as much as the next guy but some of you need to reel it in a bit.

The dude has ~100 career PAs. The front office isn’t insane for refusing to write his name into lineups using a pen.

 

He's a fun guy to root for.  You look at that body and say no way could that guy be a good baseball player.  He didn't get perfect gene's but he does everything he possibly can with what he has.  I love underdogs and Astudillo has that in spades.

 

I hear you though.  Defensively the only decent spot for him is catcher and the Twins at this point seem to like Garver and Castro better.  He can play third but Sano's power bat plays better there at least in theory.  He can play second but Schoop is much better there defensively and should give us decent offense as well.  He can play first but Cron is better in that spot as well.  At DH we have Cruz.  So yeah I see your point.

 

His best chance to make a difference defensively is at catcher. At this point I would rather see Garver go down than Astudillo just because he such a good PH threat.  He puts the ball in play better than anyone in baseball.  That skill has to be worth something, most likely a better BA with a greater percentage of BABIP luck.

 

I hear you but I like this guy and hope they are writing his name in pen soon.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Didn't ask for that. But all he's done is hit. Give him a shot.

Where and how often?

 

And who loses playing time in return?

 

I want to see Astudillo on the 25 man roster but we’re three games into the season and he’s an unknown quantity. He should get playing time but not at the expense of more established players.

 

If he’s worthy of a starting spot, he’ll play his way into it. Don’t force the issue.

[jorgenswest]

Is it reasonable that he gets 2 starts at catcher and 2 starts at 3B a week? Gonzalez can sit one and replace Schoop on the other day. At the point Sano returns maybe he has shown enough to get a bigger share of catcher.