Romero down, Littell Up

[Vanimal46]

[PseudoSABR]

Littlell has been dominant as a reliever since returning to AAA; hopefully he sticks.

 

And I hope they have a plan with Romero, the transition to the bullpen has gone horribly, and he was good last year as a starter. Why not stretch him out, and at least allow him to establish value as a future trade asset?

[Brock Beauchamp]

http://blog.joytunes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/titanic-band-plays-on.jpg

[Thegrin]

Its June folks.  No matter an individual pitcher looks, he can get better.  Remember how many of us gave up on almost all our relievers when they first came up ? Remember how some looked good at first and then the league catches up to them ?  Ugly as the relief pitching has been, there is hope that it will improve. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

3273496.jpg

is that chair supposed to be musical?

[rdehring]

Also thought Littell looked good last time up, other than that game where he ate a lot of innings to help the team.  Will second PseudoSABR's comment!

 

My question, do these relievers get to keep their frequent flyer miles?  If so, a few will be able to take nice trips come winter.

[Doomtints]

Littell is probably the best internal option at this point.

[RatherBeGolfing]

 

Littell is probably the best internal option at this point.

 

If only there were a way to add non-internal options

[jkcarew]

Comments on various threads regarding Romero that he should be moved back to a starting role where he was "good". But he hasn't been a particularly good starter at the AAA or major-league level. His 6.8 K/9 as a starter at Rochester last year was a huge red flag. But even that's not the point...as a starter he's needed to be shut down the second half of the season virtually every year he's been 'healthy'. The idea was to get him in a role that could be counted on to add value throughout the season. Whatever the case, it should be easier...and take fewer major-league quality offerings...to get 3-6 outs vs 15-21. He's 24 and still a thrower, not a pitcher. (And I don't think his schedule the 24 hours immediately preceding his outing yesterday probably helped much, either.)

 

One thing Littell did last time up...even though he got blasted in that last outing, he managed to eat over 4 innings. At this point, I'd just be happy if the bottom/low-leverage guys could simply finish a lost game (or a blow-out win for that matter).

[nicksaviking]

 

Littell is probably the best internal option at this point.

 

I'm still a fan of Rogers.

 

2nd best is obviously open competition though.

[nicksaviking]

 

Comments on various threads regarding Romero that he should be moved back to a starting role where he was "good". But he hasn't been a particularly good starter at the AAA or major-league level. His 6.8 K/9 as a starter at Rochester last year was a huge red flag. But even that's not the point...as a starter he's needed to be shut down the second half of the season virtually every year he's been 'healthy'. The idea was to get him in a role that could be counted on to add value throughout the season. Whatever the case, it should be easier...and take fewer major-league quality offerings...to get 3-6 outs vs 15-21. He's 24 and still a thrower, not a pitcher. (And I don't think his schedule the 24 hours immediately preceding his outing yesterday probably helped much, either.)

 

One thing Littell did last time up...even though he got blasted in that last outing, he managed to eat over 4 innings. At this point, I'd just be happy if the bottom/low-leverage guys could simply finish a lost game (or a blow-out win for that matter).

 

If anything, they should still move him back to the rotation as trade bait. His value may be low now, but he's still a recently top prospect and teams love to get these kind of guys with arm talent and think they can fix them.

 

Not that I'd be surprised if he did get fixed.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Also thought Littell looked good last time up, other than that game where he ate a lot of innings to help the team.  Will second PseudoSABR's comment!

 

My question, do these relievers get to keep their frequent flyer miles?  If so, a few will be able to take nice trips come winter.

 

As someone who travels, I'll simply note that they accumulate rather slowly... A half-dozen trips on the Rochester shuttle won't get a free ticket unless maybe he's flying Southwest. 

[USAFChief]

Comments on various threads regarding Romero that he should be moved back to a starting role where he was "good". But he hasn't been a particularly good starter at the AAA or major-league level. His 6.8 K/9 as a starter at Rochester last year was a huge red flag. But even that's not the point...as a starter he's needed to be shut down the second half of the season virtually every year he's been 'healthy'. The idea was to get him in a role that could be counted on to add value throughout the season. Whatever the case, it should be easier...and take fewer major-league quality offerings...to get 3-6 outs vs 15-21. He's 24 and still a thrower, not a pitcher. (And I don't think his schedule the 24 hours immediately preceding his outing yesterday probably helped much, either.)

 

One thing Littell did last time up...even though he got blasted in that last outing, he managed to eat over 4 innings. At this point, I'd just be happy if the bottom/low-leverage guys could simply finish a lost game (or a blow-out win for that matter).

concur.

[Shaitan]

 

If anything, they should still move him back to the rotation as trade bait. His value may be low now, but he's still a recently top prospect and teams love to get these kind of guys with arm talent and think they can fix them.

 

Not that I'd be surprised if he did get fixed.

This may be selective memory, but I feel like he was never a top prospect. Instead, he was a "Twins top prospect" during a dry spell in the farm system. In other words, he rated highly but against lesser competition than, say, the present.

[Twodogs]

Yeah it seems there are guys out there that perform better in some roles and not in others. Romero just hasn't been good in the BP, I think they need to give him another crack at starting, or maybe being used after an opener??

[Thrylos]

Romero was pressing big time yesterday.   Littell has a fresh arm.   I hope the Twins get Romero to relax when he is pitching.  Not sure what's up with that.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I still think Romero can be a decent bullpen option for the Twins in the future, but right now.... nope.

 

I’m happy to see Littell get a shot, hopefully he succeeds, and a couple other guys get their shots until the trade market heats up

[Doomtints]

 

If anything, they should still move him back to the rotation as trade bait.

 

I haven't seen a team do something like this since the 80s and I question it was necessary even then.

[twinssporto]

 

Romero was pressing big time yesterday.   Littell has a fresh arm.   I hope the Twins get Romero to relax when he is pitching.  Not sure what's up with that.

Does CBD oil help with the pressing/stress?  Saw some in a Holiday Station store today.  Maybe we send him a bottle courtesy of TD????

[stringer bell]

I keep waiting for Romero to "get it" as a bullpen member, but so far just about every outing has been dicey. Coming in with a nine-run lead, I expected him to finish off the game and he couldn't get an out.

 

He has the talent to be a really good bullpen piece. I hope he does get it sometime in the near future.

[jimbo92107]

 

Littlell has been dominant as a reliever since returning to AAA; hopefully he sticks.

 

And I hope they have a plan with Romero, the transition to the bullpen has gone horribly, and he was good last year as a starter. Why not stretch him out, and at least allow him to establish value as a future trade asset?

The Twins are screwing up Romero the same way they screwed up Trevor May. He was terrified of getting sent back down, so naturally he pitched tight, got killed, and got sent back down. 

[jorgenswest]

The Twins are screwing up Romero the same way they screwed up Trevor May. He was terrified of getting sent back down, so naturally he pitched tight, got killed, and got sent back down.

 

It might help if the Twins didn’t shuttle him and keep him in AAA until he is dominating at that level. They can shuttle other guys.

 

I guess your comment does make me wonder what else will make him pitch tight. Would fear of failure also apply to high leverage situations? Might he not pitch as well in those situations?

 

This is mostly on him though. He has the talent that will give him multiple opportunities but ultimately he is the only one that can get past this hurdle.

[stringer bell]

 

The Twins are screwing up Romero the same way they screwed up Trevor May. He was terrified of getting sent back down, so naturally he pitched tight, got killed, and got sent back down. 

I think that blame is on Romero. He had a clear path to making the club out of spring training and has been given opportunities and hasn't performed, simple as that. That he has been given multiple opportunities tells me the club believes in his potential. I would assume the coaching staff has communicated with him what they are looking for and what he needs to do. 

[yarnivek1972]

I think that blame is on Romero. He had a clear path to making the club out of spring training and has been given opportunities and hasn't performed, simple as that. That he has been given multiple opportunities tells me the club believes in his potential. I would assume the coaching staff has communicated with him what they are looking for and what he needs to do.

Get outs?

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

It might help if the Twins didn’t shuttle him and keep him in AAA until he is dominating at that level. They can shuttle other guys.

I guess your comment does make me wonder what else will make him pitch tight. Would fear of failure also apply to high leverage situations? Might he not pitch as well in those situations?

This is mostly on him though. He has the talent that will give him multiple opportunities but ultimately he is the only one that can get past this hurdle.

Any MiLB player who already has an option burned certainly appreciates the shuttle. They get paid loads more, get to talk to actual MLB players, and in Romero's case, it's barely a disruption.

 

I don't see it being a big impediment. It might be different if the Twins were treating Romero like they did Alex Meyer; call him up as a starter, bench him for ten days, let him get his face beat in, demote him.

 

For a reliever, it's different. You're used to pitching back-to-back or not pitching for three days. Does it really matter where you pitch?

[ashbury]

is that chair supposed to be musical?

Any way you choose to look at it, this is a titanic thread.

[GCTF]

 

Any way you choose to look at it, this is a titanic thread.

Are you suggesting IT'S TIME TO TITANIC?

[lecroy24fan]

 

And the winner is.... Zach Littel! Hold your cards, we have a winner.

 

Seriously though, why not? He's done well since he went back to AAA, he's only 23, and he has real talent. I would like them to give Reed a shot but I think the roadblock is the need to clear a 40 man spot for him.  Torreyes is really the only guy on the 40 man that's now easy to drop, depending on what one thinks of Mejia, Moya and Vasquez. I think it's too early to write any of those last 3 off completely. Another good week or two from Reed and he's next up - particularly since Hildenberger is still really not doing well. 

 

I second the post on putting Romero back into a starting role. This BP experiment with him isn't working at all in AAA or at the MLB level. Let's get him back to starting where he actually seemed to have a future. 

Torreyes was moved to the restricted list a few days ago so he's not currently on the 40 man.