Plouffe... for real?

[TheLeviathan]

I think we found Lev's man-crush! For realsies though, there should be a consensus that the Twins need to go into next season with their eyes open. For Lev to argue that his hot streak has tainted his numbers, you also should keep in mind he has played hurt which has hurt his numbers. How much? I don't think any of us know, but injuries like that do have a negative effect.

 

Right, which I'm not willing to write him off as just a fluke. His minor league numbers suggest a 700ish OPS is attainable but if it's the way he did it this year that isn't what we want. (4 pretty bad months and 1 ridiculously good month isn't what you want in an everyday starter)

 

The fact that he can play a position defensively is the real boon to this year. It at least allows us to try him out.

[glunn]

The big stretch was an obvious fluke in comparison to what he has done prior and in comparison to almost very other hot streak by any other player.

 

It makes no sense to discuss weather it was a fluke or not. Of course it was... He was way too hot.

 

However... Power numbers like that... at the same time suggests Power period... We could use some of that.

 

The guy chases and it hurts him. If he gets it under control. The power will still be there and we will all be smiling.

 

He starts in 2013 and I won't bet against him being decent and i think he will be starting in 2016 as well.

 

I also won't bet anything important that he's a lock.

 

5 bucks I'll do... Here's to Plouffe... Go get em.

 

This makes a lot of sense to me. He will be very valuable if he can get the power under control and be more consistent.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I think we found Lev's man-crush! For realsies though, there should be a consensus that the Twins need to go into next season with their eyes open. For Lev to argue that his hot streak has tainted his numbers, you also should keep in mind he has played hurt which has hurt his numbers. How much? I don't think any of us know, but injuries like that do have a negative effect.

 

Right, which I'm not willing to write him off as just a fluke. His minor league numbers suggest a 700ish OPS is attainable but if it's the way he did it this year that isn't what we want. (4 pretty bad months and 1 ridiculously good month isn't what you want in an everyday starter)

 

The fact that he can play a position defensively is the real boon to this year. It at least allows us to try him out.

 

On the other hand, players who neither walk nor hit for average tend to be very streaky hitters. The downside is that for a good portion of the year, they are average or slightly below average players. The upside is that they can carry the team for a month or more when they get hot.

 

I'm not a fan of players in the mold of Plouffe but given his hot streak this season and the organization's lack of competing players at third base, I think he has a spot on the roster for the foreseeable future.

[stringer bell]

Two thoughts: Plouffe drew a lot of walks before he started his ridiculous power streak. I think he can be selective and, of course, getting ahead on some counts will give him more BP fastballs. I don't think he'll ever hit for a high average, but I can see an OPS over .800 with plenty of dingers.Cleveland doesn't need Jack Hannihan with Chisenhall healthy. Hannahan is a LH hitting 3B. I know he played a couple innings at SS against the Twins, but he is basically a 3B only. I wonder if the Twins would be interested in picking him up. His rep is that he's a plus defender.

[TheLeviathan]

On the other hand, players who neither walk nor hit for average tend to be very streaky hitters. The downside is that for a good portion of the year, they are average or slightly below average players. The upside is that they can carry the team for a month or more when they get hot.

 

Well, part of the issue there is that the months that Plouffe wasn't a rockstar - he was worse than "slightly below average". I can handle average with surges - that's a good ballplayer. Putrid most of the year a Ruthian stretch is not what I want in an everyday player. In part, because it isn't very reliable.

[Oxtung]

On the other hand, players who neither walk nor hit for average tend to be very streaky hitters. The downside is that for a good portion of the year, they are average or slightly below average players. The upside is that they can carry the team for a month or more when they get hot.

 

Why would that be? To me they are just like any other player except they reach base less overall. You'll find streaky hitters with exceptionally bad streaks and others who are just consistently poor with little variation in their output. I have no data to support my conclusion so if you have seen studies I would be interested in reading about it.

 

Of course none of that has to do with your larger point about Plouffe, who is a streaky hitter, I understand.

[jokin]

I think we found Lev's man-crush! For realsies though, there should be a consensus that the Twins need to go into next season with their eyes open. For Lev to argue that his hot streak has tainted his numbers, you also should keep in mind he has played hurt which has hurt his numbers. How much? I don't think any of us know, but injuries like that do have a negative effect.

 

Right, which I'm not willing to write him off as just a fluke. His minor league numbers suggest a 700ish OPS is attainable but if it's the way he did it this year that isn't what we want. (4 pretty bad months and 1 ridiculously good month isn't what you want in an everyday starter)

 

The fact that he can play a position defensively is the real boon to this year. It at least allows us to try him out.

 

On the other hand, players who neither walk nor hit for average tend to be very streaky hitters. The downside is that for a good portion of the year, they are average or slightly below average players. The upside is that they can carry the team for a month or more when they get hot.

 

I'm not a fan of players in the mold of Plouffe but given his hot streak this season and the organization's lack of competing players at third base, I think he has a spot on the roster for the foreseeable future.

 

I think what's being overlooked is Plouffe's "after-month" approach at the plate after that ridiculous streak in June The clubs were catching on that throwing "up and in" to him was playing right into Plouffe's strength. In late June and into July, Plouffe got a constant diet of low and away pitches. Plouffe reacted correctly by going with the pitch-away to the right field gap, yielding him a 314/352/480 slash in late June/July- after the bulk of the unconscious run he maintained through most of June, his homers went way down but he did show decent discipline as a hitter during that stetch.

 

Given the Twins other more-pressing needs that must be addressed this off-season, the best solution is one I've advocated all along, platooning Plouffe and Mauer at 3B, cutting back on Plouffe's appearances against tougher righties, especially when he's in one of his bad streaks (this would also save Plouffe to give Gardy a RHPH option in many games when his usual PH-candidates have usually only been Butera and Casilla).

[StormJH1]

I think he's a legit MLB 3rd baseman, and a guy with offensive upside we would have killed for in the days of Nick Punto, Mike Lamb, Tony Batista....

 

But realistically, I think he's a .250 hitter with about 20-25 HR power. And that's good enough to make nowhere near among our major "problems" heading into next year.

[stringer bell]

Interesting that Ryan wasn't afraid to be critical of Plouffe during the in-game interview by DickBert during the final game. He pretty much dismissed Trevor from the outfield (fine) and pointed out his inconsistent play at third and highlighted his "lateral mobility" issue as well.

 

Plouffe played better than I ever expected in the field (the bar was set pretty low) and produced power, a commodity that the Twins really lack. If he can pick up the "D" and OPS in the .700s, I don't think the Twins have a real problem at third base.

[IdahoPilgrim]

Interesting that Ryan wasn't afraid to be critical of Plouffe during the in-game interview by DickBert during the final game. He pretty much dismissed Trevor from the outfield (fine) and pointed out his inconsistent play at third and highlighted his "lateral mobility" issue as well.

 

Plouffe played better than I ever expected in the field (the bar was set pretty low) and produced power, a commodity that the Twins really lack. If he can pick up the "D" and OPS in the .700s, I don't think the Twins have a real problem at third base.

 

I agree - if he can improve both offensively and defensively, he'll be a better player.

[stringer bell]

Interesting that Ryan wasn't afraid to be critical of Plouffe during the in-game interview by DickBert during the final game. He pretty much dismissed Trevor from the outfield (fine) and pointed out his inconsistent play at third and highlighted his "lateral mobility" issue as well.Plouffe played better than I ever expected in the field (the bar was set pretty low) and produced power, a commodity that the Twins really lack. If he can pick up the "D" and OPS in the .700s, I don't think the Twins have a real problem at third base.

I agree - if he can improve both offensively and defensively, he'll be a better player.

Since Plouffe had played very little at third, I think it is reasonable that he will improve defensively. Ryan mentioned lateral mobility issues, which might be tough to fix, but Plouffe's arm was more accurate than I thought it would be while he didn't boot an inordinate number of balls either. Offensively, he's made strides two consecutive years. I think he'll OPS in the mid .700s, with a chance to be better.

[nokomismod]

How much improvement on the defensive side of his game can we expect from a player that is 27ish? It seems to be a lack of focus at times with him and our former guy, DValencia.

[Dilligaf69]

He'll get a fair shot at 3B and unless the Twins can upgrade significantly this offseason he'll more then likely be the front runner. The more reasonable approach will be to get a defensive 3B type who can back him up but I'd think the Twins want his power potential in the lineup and if he can hit .250 ish and 30 HR's which is possible over a full season then I would take that and so would the Twins. I just really think the thumb injury really derailed his season.

[Badsmerf]

.250 with 30HR would be awesome IMO. The Twins could have a pretty potent line-up next year... even if they have a black hole in one of the MI spots (Carroll finished the season very well and I'd be fine with him next year). At least Plouffesie finished the season strong. Hopefully an offseason of rest and strengthening can help him.

[Mike Sixel]

KLAW is not a believer in him or parmalee, BTW. Mentioned in today's chat.