Grading the Twins 2021 Rookie Debuts

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

I think by the end of 2022 we will finally be able to  grade that trade.  I am betting Alcala will be a dominant RP this year we saw at the end of 2021 and we have him for 4 more years.  I think we see quite a bit of Celestino too.  

I think in 2022 the Twins will start seeing some real results of the trade, but IMO, you can grade it along the way.

2019 - F, 2020 - C -, 2021 - D, these grades don't mean it was a bad trade, it just means they haven't returned any or much  results for the Twins so far. 22 and beyond could and should be B or better, meaning in the end it was/will be a successful trade.

[Old fox]

That’s why we play the game and I am proud of these players. They gave it their very best and learned a great deal and will make adjustments. That’s why the game is played.

[Trov]

Kiriloff was encouraging because he was hitting the ball hard and all over the field.  He started to get hits to land when he hurt his wrist, which eventually required surgery.  I believe that accounts for much of his drop off.  I have little worry for him.

Larnach on the other hand he seems to not have much excuse other than failing to adjust to pitching.  He worries me if he does not make the adjustments of how MLB pitchers will pitch to him.  Hopefully a new year he has a new mind set.

Gordan did what he always does, starts off a new level very slow but gets better over time.  I still hope he gets an actual shot to show what he can do in regular time.  He has always been slow to adjust to new level of competition. 

Jax strikes me as future pen guy.  Limit his pitch mix and let him go all out for shorter period I think will work best for him. 

Ober I am excited about as he got better over time, which is always a sign of improving.  

Ryan seemed good right away and I am excited for him too.  I do expect some regression but he has the confidence for sure.  

Celentio was pushed due to injuries and never would have played otherwise. Hopefully he can develop into either a trade piece, a 4th outfielder, or the fill in for Buck when he gets injured. 

[Doctor Gast]

I liked your article, you always give informative results.  Not to split hairs but I'd switch Larnach and Gordon's grades. Yet my expectation of Larnach was higher than Gordon's so that might've made a difference because of level disappointment. Besides being disappointed with Larnach's hitting and glove, his arm leaves something to be desired. I wonder if he could be a better candidate at 1B.  That said, I still think Larnach has a lot of hitting potential.

[TwinsDr2021]

Liked the article, I think the grades seem a bit high for the pitchers. Ryan pitched 26.1 innings, to me that has to be incomplete grade, Ober was good, but compared to other rookie pitchers in the league the grade kind of seem silly.

For example - Alek Manoah pitched 19 more innings, had a better ERA in the same amount of starts, then compare him to Trevor Rogers, Luis Garcia, Shane McClanahan or Anderson.

To me the last 3 are A's, Monaoh, A-, Ober seems more like a B,

[Otaknam]

Not convinced yet of Ober. He had some good moments but seldom was allowed to pitch into the fifth inning, so his ability to eat innings is unknown. That says fifth starter to me, which would be ok. Hope Baldelli shows a little more trust in him in 2022 and he earns it. Also not too optimistic on Jax but he’ll probably get some more chances.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

On 12/29/2021 at 10:01 PM, wabene said:

Click edit after hitting the 3 dots in the upper right corner of your comment.

99% of the comments? Well we got 17 comments and we all know the one comment you didn't like, so that would be 94.22%, just saying. 

Why do I mention this? No idea I must be very bored.

 

Thank you. I spent several days in Duluth 20 + years ago during Octoberfest. I remember Grandma's Bar and watching the drawbridge from the patio.  A fun time.

[jmlease1]

11 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Thank you. I spent several days in Duluth 20 + years ago during Octoberfest. I remember Grandma's Bar and watching the drawbridge from the patio.  A fun time.

It's a liftbridge, not a drawbridge.  This moment of duluth-native nitpickery has been brought to you by the letter D and the number 6. (a drawbridge folds up from the side (usually just one, but possibly both with a split in the middle) and a liftbridge has the entire center span rising up. Hi, I'm a huge nerd.)

[wabene]

49 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

It's a liftbridge, not a drawbridge.  This moment of duluth-native nitpickery has been brought to you by the letter D and the number 6. (a drawbridge folds up from the side (usually just one, but possibly both with a split in the middle) and a liftbridge has the entire center span rising up. Hi, I'm a huge nerd.)

Duluth native? I knew there was as something I liked about you. I'm a transplant from MPLS but am so enamored with Duluth I'll never move back.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

11 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

It's a liftbridge, not a drawbridge.  This moment of duluth-native nitpickery has been brought to you by the letter D and the number 6. (a drawbridge folds up from the side (usually just one, but possibly both with a split in the middle) and a liftbridge has the entire center span rising up. Hi, I'm a huge nerd.)

You are correct. It did lift up like you said and therefore is not a drawbridge. Thanks. I'm a smarter man today than I was yesterday.

[bighat]

Great list! Thanks for the write-up, I agree with most of your assessments.

One tiny misgiving: How in the heck does Larnach get a B minus? Were you watching the same games I did? Did you take a glance at the stats? It's so weird that I keep having to appear like some kind of Larnach-hater on this site when all I'm doing is pointing out that the kid was, frankly, a major disappointment. I get that we all want him to be good, and I get that we all still think he might be good in the future. Unfortunately that didn't change THIS: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/larnatr01.shtml