Akil Baddoo crushes Homerun in first major league at bat

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

1 hour ago, Trov said:

He started off hot for a few games, did terrible for a very long stretch, now back to hot hitting.  The walks is a big thing for him as he was striking out at 50% clip for awhile and no walks basically.  He seems to be making adjustments which is what you need to do to survive at any level.  My guess is teams will adjust again to him and he will have to make his own again.  I wish him well, and if he was in the Twins organization still he would not have made a debut. 

I agree, Baddoo would not have debuted in 2021 for the Twins, even with all the injuries. 

I can’t speak for the OP of this thread, but think the argument @Doctor Gast and a few others were making was that Baddoo could have been protected on the 40 man just fine, if that was the priority. Blankenhorn is already gone; there are a few borderline pitchers on the 40 man (in some cases on the 26 man) not doing much for us, in my opinion. Those guys were protected, Baddoo was not. Like I said, I didn’t have an opinion on Baddoo when Baddoo was selected away, but Doctor Gast did, and kudos to him for saying so!

[Vanimal46]

Baddoo’s streaky play is expected when he hasn’t played above A+ ball, nor play a single game for the last 18 months. His stats through May 27th are pretty impressive given the circumstances. Unless he starts going 0 for the century, Detroit’s keeping him. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

2 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Zero homers and a 1.100+ OPS over two weeks. That's a bit unusual, though only five starts. Was he injured or something?

Baddoo is platooning for sure -- only 3 starts all year vs LHP, and only 1 over the last month (vs struggling KC rookie Daniel Lynch).

Although Baddoo's only been starting about 50% of the games vs RHP the last two weeks too. LHB Harold Castro is one of Detroit's better hitters and they've worked him into the outfield mix lately. They're also still stubbornly committed to LHB Mazara, and they just optioned RHB Jones for switch hitter Reyes.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

I agree, Baddoo would not have debuted in 2021 for the Twins, even with all the injuries. 

I can’t speak for the OP of this thread, but think the argument @Doctor Gast and a few others were making was that Baddoo could have been protected on the 40 man just fine, if that was the priority. Blankenhorn is already gone; there are a few borderline pitchers on the 40 man (in some cases on the 26 man) not doing much for us, in my opinion. Those guys were protected, Baddoo was not. Like I said, I didn’t have an opinion on Baddoo when Baddoo was selected away, but Doctor Gast did, and kudos to him for saying so!

Blankenhorn was released in part because the team realized his glove didn't play as an infielder. They let him go because they didn't want another fringy outfielder taking up 40-man space so it doesn't make a lot of sense to bring him into the conversation.

And we really need to stop bringing up pitchers in this conversation. While the front office might occasionally flip one or two 40-man spots between pitchers and position players, they generally stick to X number of pitchers and Y number of position players, especially if we're talking about people who they don't expect to contribute in Minnesota this season. They're not going to sink a pitcher spot on the 40-man on a fringe position player for an entire season because that could blow up pretty spectacularly mid-season.

[Otto von Ballpark]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Baddoo’s streaky play is expected when he hasn’t played above A+ ball, nor play a single game for the last 18 months. His stats through May 27th are pretty impressive given the circumstances. Unless he starts going 0 for the century, Detroit’s keeping him. 

Detroit kept Victor Reyes and his 42 OPS+ as a Rule 5 outfielder in 2018, there's no doubt they are keeping Baddoo now!

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

I agree, Baddoo would not have debuted in 2021 for the Twins, even with all the injuries. 

I can’t speak for the OP of this thread, but think the argument @Doctor Gast and a few others were making was that Baddoo could have been protected on the 40 man just fine, if that was the priority. Blankenhorn is already gone; there are a few borderline pitchers on the 40 man (in some cases on the 26 man) not doing much for us, in my opinion. Those guys were protected, Baddoo was not. Like I said, I didn’t have an opinion on Baddoo when Baddoo was selected away, but Doctor Gast did, and kudos to him for saying so!

Thank you, Hosken! Appreciate your comment. I think many could see his talent and his left handed bat would've been a great CF asset. The problem is properly managing the 40 man.

[Doctor Gast]

13 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Thank you, Hosken! Appreciate your comment. I think many could see his talent and his left handed bat would've been a great CF asset. The problem is properly managing the 40 man.

I'd also like to add that I think Baddo needed more time in minors to develop before being called up. Now with Detroit he'll have to develop under fire.

[Seth Stohs]

This was fun to read this morning on The Score... It was fun to 1.) see my name in the article, but also just that Baddoo mentioned our Rule 5 draft day interaction. After what he mentioned, I apologized for being the one to tell him. I didn't know the part about him losing his internet connection. Check out the article. Good stuff from Akil. 

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2188937