Astudillo

[notoriousgod71]

Has the highest career BA among players with at least 100 career AB.

 

Ty Cobb, however, still has him beat in on-field brawls.

[Taildragger8791]

If Astudillo keeps getting thrown at he may start challenging that statistic too.

[goulik]

La Tortuga!!!!!

I'm on the bandwagon!!

[killertwinfan]

I am trying to understand how you do not play this guy.  He is not great at any field position or on the base paths but man, can he hit!  Unless he starts booting balls he needs to play every day.  

[RedBull34]

I'm gonna miss Jeff Sullivan @ Fangraphs writing about La Tortuga...

[twinssporto]

Astudillo really should be in the lineup more often.  If nothing else I think he certainly has earned the opportunity.  Honestly his defense isn't all that bad either.  What else does he need to do or prove in order to get more playing time?  

 

If you were Rocco and Astudillo asked, "what else do I need to do in order to get more playing time?" What would you tell him?  

 

I If I were Rocco I'd ride this horse, I mean turtle till it bucks...La Tortuga, the legend grows.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Should it be "La" Tortuga or "El" Tortuga?. I thought "La" was feminine and "El" was masculine. Someone who has a good knowledge of Spanish, please answer this important question.

[yarnivek1972]

I believe the technically correct way to write it would be “La Tortuga Macho”. But high school Spanish was 30 years ago...

[MMMordabito]

 

Should it be "La" Tortuga or "El" Tortuga?. I thought "La" was feminine and "El" was masculine. Someone who has a good knowledge of Spanish, please answer this important question.

 

I think since the word "tortuga" ends with "-a", that makes it a feminine noun.  Hence the preceding "La".  I don't think using the word to represent a masculine subject would change the grammatical rules.

 

You could go "El Tortugo", if being more "manly" is that important , but "tortugo" isn't even a word.

[Monkeypaws]

If I wasn't busy on April 26, I'd be at Target Field sporting one of these bad boys. 

[goulik]

I think since the word "tortuga" ends with "-a", that makes it a feminine noun.  Hence the preceding "La".  I don't think using the word to represent a masculine subject would change the grammatical rules.

 

You could go "El Tortugo", if being more "manly" is that important , but "tortugo" isn't even a word.

This is exactly how it works

[tarheeltwinsfan]

 

I think since the word "tortuga" ends with "-a", that makes it a feminine noun.  Hence the preceding "La".  I don't think using the word to represent a masculine subject would change the grammatical rules.

 

You could go "El Tortugo", if being more "manly" is that important , but "tortugo" isn't even a word.

Thanks. I read that tortuga is a feminine word, but not the feminine gender. Your response helped me understand. What is we called him "La Tortuga Macho" ?

[MMMordabito]

 

If I wasn't busy on April 26, I'd be at Target Field sporting one of these bad boys. 

 

I wonder when St. Peter will have a meeting with Playmates for the Astudillo TMNT bobble-head.  He's a marketing departments dream!!!

[Nine of twelve]

He is the outlier among all outliers. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY has this low of a K rate AND this low of a BB rate. It just doesn't happen. If for no other reason than being statistically one of the the most unusual players in the history of the game I want to see him in the lineup every day just to see what happens.

[Nine of twelve]

And by the way, the first time I was aware of him was the famous no-look pickoff at first base in 2018 ST. A thing of beauty.

[glunn]

 

And by the way, the first time I was aware of him was the famous no-look pickoff at first base in 2018 ST. A thing of beauty.

That is a great play.

[Han Joelo]

Do you who remember who got put on the DL (for a concussion,) making room for Astudillo?  I don't.

 

I looked it up though--Taylor Motter.  Ran into a wall.

 

Also, although it may not have initially been when he left the organization, to make room for Astudillo, the Twins removed Felix Jorge from the 40 man.

[DocBauer]

And by the way, the first time I was aware of him was the famous no-look pickoff at first base in 2018 ST. A thing of beauty.

First time I was aware of him was an article I read last ST about him...and I forget from what site...talking about his no-look throws and his amazing milb batting numbers. In this article, they talked about how he had made steady progress up the ladder, but seemingly with different organizations from year to year.

 

A comment I made about him last season, and I believe it's still valid, is nobody he played for knew how to define him. Not just because he didn't fit a certain physical model, but because performance wise, he wasnt Gold Glove at any one spot. He didn't hit for power, though we've seen the power begin to come starting in 2018.

 

Even the Twins, initially, didn't know what they had, moving him from behind the plate at Rochester last season for a time to play home elsewhere, even bringing him up briefly to be a bench player and then not play him!

 

When he went back down, he began to catch again. And when he was brought up a second time, they played him almost daily and look what they got. He may fit a certain model and may not be conventional, but who cares? The guy can play, produce and contribute.

 

The Twins may have figured him out late, but better late than never.

[TheLeviathan]

He needs to be in the lineup almost every day until his play dictates otherwise.

[bighat]

 

He needs to be in the lineup almost every day until his play dictates otherwise.

 

My guess is that (if the game is played) tomorrow, he'll be used as a pinch hitter.

 

It appears that he'll now be catching every 3rd day (ie: 2x per week) and then filling in at 3B/LF max once per week. There's just no room at the inn right now. Who you gonna take out of the lineup?

[Dantes929]

For the record everyone.   He sat the first two games but then played the last three in a row.  He is 9th on the team in plate appearances and has 4 more than any catcher.  If he keeps hitting I expect him to keep playing.

[Ncgo4]

He’s a better hitter than Ty Cobb for gosh sake, not to mention, a much better person. Put any one else on the bench! When you have the greatest player of all time on the roster, ya gotta go with him! What doesn’ this management understand? Jeesh!

[Mr. Brooks]

My guess is that (if the game is played) tomorrow, he'll be used as a pinch hitter.

 

It appears that he'll now be catching every 3rd day (ie: 2x per week) and then filling in at 3B/LF max once per week. There's just no room at the inn right now. Who you gonna take out of the lineup?

You could take Gonzalez out. Isn't that why he was signed, to be a super sub?

[Craig Arko]

Okay, yes, it’s fake. Still.

 

[Riverbrian]

Who you gonna take out of the lineup?

At this moment... everyone is a candidate to move aside for a day to fit him into the lineup.

 

He’s our best bat at this moment. You get him in the lineup if you are putting your best lineup on the field at this moment.

 

If Baldelli can only see a starting 9 and is stumped on what to do with Astudillo as a result, he’s not ready to make out the lineup card.

 

Play the players who are actually producing. Reward positive performance. Having 10 players for 9 spots shouldn’t stump any major league manager.

[USAFChief]

At this moment... everyone is a candidate to move aside for a day to fit him into the lineup.

 

He’s our best bat at this moment. You get him in the lineup if you are putting your best lineup on the field at this moment.

 

If Baldelli can only see a starting 9 and is stumped on what to do with Astudillo as a result, he’s not ready to make out the lineup card.

 

Play the players who are actually producing. Reward positive performance. Having 10 players for 9 spots shouldn’t stump any major league manager.

I agree in this case Astudillo needs to see the field fairly often,. I'd play him mostly at third.

 

but...

 

I want my manager playing the players who have the best chance of being good today and tomorrow, not necessarily the players who were better yesterday or the day before that.

 

"The players who are hitting right now" is a difficult, close to impossible thing to determine. I hope for a better decision making process than that.

[twins1095]

 

My guess is that (if the game is played) tomorrow, he'll be used as a pinch hitter.

 

It appears that he'll now be catching every 3rd day (ie: 2x per week) and then filling in at 3B/LF max once per week. There's just no room at the inn right now. Who you gonna take out of the lineup?

 

As if Schoop/Gonzalez have shown anything thus far to warrant being "automatic" pencil ins.  The whole point of bringing Gonzalez in was for flexibility.  I mean, the OFs have not been great either.  

 

As long as Astudillo stays hot and produces at a .300+ clip... it's pretty easy put him in and use positional flexibility to fill out the rest of the lineup.

[woolywoolhouse]

 

If I wasn't busy on April 26, I'd be at Target Field sporting one of these bad boys. 

 

I'm working that Friday night... but I still bought a special ticket to get this shirt before I start that night!

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Okay, yes, it’s fake. Still.

 

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now my phone lock screen

[bighat]

 

I agree in this case Astudillo needs to see the field fairly often,. I'd play him mostly at third.

but...

I want my manager playing the players who have the best chance of being good today and tomorrow, not necessarily the players who were better yesterday or the day before that.

"The players who are hitting right now" is a difficult, close to impossible thing to determine. I hope for a better decision making process than that.

 

Exactly, man. Should we bench Gonzalez and Rosario now because they're hitting below .200 after 5 games so we can see Astudillo? If we had Mike Trout or a player of that caliber, do you bench him for Astudillo because Trout's had a bad first week?

 

I completely get that people want to see A-Stud in the lineup. I do too. But with 5 games in the book you can't just bench players. They need ABs to get on track.