Larnach optioned; Gordon recalled

[chpettit19]

2 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

Based on this, wouldn't that mean that Rooker is just a step or two slower than arguably the fastest guy in baseball?  

According to baseball savant, Buxton is only the 7th fastest guy in baseball now. Getting slow in his old age.

[insagt1]

I have no issues with Refsnyder playing over Larnach, for now. Larnach, like Celestino, may have been called up to the Twins prematurely this season. He has potential, but clearly isn't ready yet. Refsnyder may be auditioning for a utility role to replace Cave (we can only hope).

Anyone surprised that Gordon did NOT bunt in his 10th inning AB? the situation was tailor made for that skill he possesses. Instead he banged a solid basehit up the middle...pretty gutsy. Get him in there everyday and put Simmons on the bench. we know what we have with him...a good field-no hit veteran who won't be here next year.

It was quite interesting to see Cave's enthusiasm when Polanco won the game. He was jumping up and down like a maniac!

[wsnydes]

3 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

According to baseball savant, Buxton is only the 7th fastest guy in baseball now. Getting slow in his old age.

I did say "arguably"!

[bean5302]

The call for bunt wasn't on, I'm sure. If Gordon takes it upon himself to try and drag a bunt (usually doesn't work) and isn't successful, he high fives the guys on the Saints in the dugout the next day, lol.

[MABB1959]

Why so much more willing to overlook Kepler?  He is having a horrible year and I think last year wasn't great either? I like him fine but he doesn't seem to get the "attention" as others who struggle.

[umterp23]

Lineup for tonight's game (8/17) is out and Gordon is riding the pine once again.  What a waste of time to bring him up to chew gum and get some splinters.  Upside for him is getting paid big league money to keep the bench warm.  The love affair with Simmons, will it ever end?  Sure hope it isn't until October

[RpR]

3 minutes ago, umterp23 said:

Lineup for tonight's game (8/17) is out and Gordon is riding the pine once again.  What a waste of time to bring him up to chew gum and get some splinters.  Upside for him is getting paid big league money to keep the bench warm.  The love affair with Simmons, will it ever end?  Sure hope it isn't until October

It will be,the front office still wants to win games, not be high buck T-ball.

[umterp23]

2 minutes ago, RpR said:

It will be the front office still wants to win games, not be high buck T-ball.

Leave him in St. Paul if you aren't going to use him.  Left handed bat vs a righty for Cleveland is right up the stat sheet spreadsheet sweet spot for Rocco.  Simmons isn't the difference maker in winning games.  Give me some Gordon to see what he can do as his 40 man spot/option are on the line for next year

[bean5302]

32 minutes ago, MABB1959 said:

Why so much more willing to overlook Kepler?  He is having a horrible year and I think last year wasn't great either? I like him fine but he doesn't seem to get the "attention" as others who struggle.

It's not negative enough around here, I suppose. Kepler gets quite a bit of criticism in the comments especially for his low batting average and accused of selling out for the home run. He plays good to great defense, is cheap, under team control for several more years. Kepler has never been remotely close to producing negative value across a full season. Even now, Kepler sports an above average 106 OPS+ on the season and has been quite good recently, in August with an .813 OPS or wRC+ 121.

Kepler doesn't need to be an elite hitter to provide value because he brings defense to the table and can even play center field. He's a 2.0ish WAR kind of player in RF these days and he'd be a 3.0+ WAR kind of player in CF.

Here, lets get some kicks in!

• Garver is worth -37 runs a game because he can't reliably block a 100mph ball bouncing off the dirt 3 feet to the side of home plate!
• Sano only plays first base because the Twins trick him by laying a trail of cheeseburgers to the bag! He's an automatic out whenever it counts and no amount of above average hitting will convince me he's not the worst hitter in baseball!
• Polanco's glove is made from cast iron and he's secretly throwing 100 pitch bullpen sessions before game to wear his arm out!
• Donaldson's hamstring sounds like a bass guitar when he runs for the 1 game he's on the field per month and he's terrible compared to other All Star caliber hitters!
• Simmons is running around throwing feces like an angry monkey in an attempt to ward off COVID. It makes his bat too slippery and it causes him to make bad contact. His defense isn't that good, either. It's barely the best in MLB!
• Larnach had plenty of time to adapt to higher levels of pitching in AAA for those 3 games this year. I don't care if he didn't play in 2020! That's 3 games plus Spring Training!
• Buxton is more unreliable than a poorly maintained Italian car from the 1960s. Maybe if he'd stop trying so hard to catch balls in the field sometime he wouldn't always be hurt! On top of that, he has the audacity to want to be paid for his work! Everybody knows he's lucky the Twins would even offer him a contract!
• Kepler only ever tries to hit home runs and he doesn't have the power. He's only got 60 home runs over the past two full years worth of at bats! 
• Rooker's garbage. He's had 123 plate appearances and I've seen enough. He needs to learn how to read a curveball. I mean, yeah, his K rate is lower than Sano's and Larnach's and some bums named Ohtani and Gallo and Baez, but still. He's not very fast so he'll never be an MLB caliber player. No... I do not want to consider the fact he has raked at every single level of the game and every year he's played. 100 plate appearances is enough to KNOW he should be DFA'd!

 

 

[Cap'n Piranha]

1 hour ago, wsnydes said:

Based on this, wouldn't that mean that Rooker is just a step or two slower than arguably the fastest guy in baseball?  

Yeah, I think Buxton running full speed stays on his feet comfortably, maybe even is able to slow down the last couple of steps to not overrun.

[bighat]

Larnach was posting some of the worst numbers in baseball since July 1 for any regular, anywhere. If you cherry picked a few of his advanced metrics and turned them sideways in the sunlight, there were some bright spots - but most of his stats were downright ugly. Those low offspeed pitches were just kryptonite for the poor guy and he wasn't able to adjust on the fly, it happens. Good luck Trevor.

 

[TheLeviathan]

3 hours ago, insagt1 said:

Turning him into a football player eh??

Ha!  That's hilarious.  Nice catch,

[TheLeviathan]

1 hour ago, umterp23 said:

Leave him in St. Paul if you aren't going to use him.  Left handed bat vs a righty for Cleveland is right up the stat sheet spreadsheet sweet spot for Rocco.  Simmons isn't the difference maker in winning games.  Give me some Gordon to see what he can do as his 40 man spot/option are on the line for next year

This argument is bulletproof.  It makes zero sense what they're doing.

60 OPS+ players ain't helping you win a damn thing.

[LA Vikes Fan]

This is strange. Why call Gordon up if he is not going to play? I was actually hoping that they called him up to give him a run at SS to see if there was any possibility he could play that position next year on a regular basis. This sure seems odd. All I can think of is they're waiting for some games against non-contending teams starting after the Brewers series. That would mean starting with the Tiger series on August 30. That's a long way to wait. Hopefully he will at least play tomorrow in the day game when the "Sunday lineup" is likely to be used

[bean5302]

The Twins do not consider Gordon a prospect. He's bench utility and MiLB roster filler. If you frame it in that perspective, what they're doing makes perfect sense.

[RpR]

He is a rooking being handled like a rookie.

[umterp23]

12 hours ago, bean5302 said:

he Twins do not consider Gordon a prospect. He's bench utility and MiLB roster filler. If you frame it in that perspective, what they're doing makes perfect sense.

Nothing mgmt does at this point makes perfect sense.  Waste of a move that Gordon was sent down for a cup of coffee at Saints for what about a week.  You already have a bench utility and Milb roster filler on the team in Astudillo, so really no need to have two on the bench.  Simmons is gone in about 45 days when season ends, would rather let him be the bench guy at the moment and let Gordon prove his worth.  

[arby58]

On 8/16/2021 at 6:03 PM, Linus said:

For the love of god play the kid. Simmons can sit and Cave should sit. Let him play three weeks at SS and see what he has. I don’t trust the brain wizards to determine what he can and can’t do without seeing him do it. 

He's got almost 100 ABs this year with the Twins. He slugs .340, has a .654 OPS (85 OPS+). He's a below average hitter with little power. He's 25 - hardly a kid anymore - and has never hit more than 9 HRs in the minors. What's there to see?

[RpR]

Why is Gordon still playing; no one to take his place?

[bean5302]

2 minutes ago, RpR said:

Why is Gordon still playing; no one to take his place?

He's utility backup. Just using him to fill spots while protecting service time and roster spots for players in the minors.