Lewis out for the season again

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, wabene said:

If Lewis is to have a career, there is a good chance team construction and his talents dictate he ends up in center field. If he can't play center without getting injured, he has no chance. If he didn't play center on that particular day...... C'mon now.

He had been a centerfielder for all of about ten days. It’s not unreasonable to question whether a player can learn something like that in less than a fortnight. 

[Game7-91]

A lament for Royce and fans:

   Deceptive this hope

      Here now, faint now, whispers only

        of the never-next

[wabene]

28 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

He had been a centerfielder for all of about ten days. It’s not unreasonable to question whether a player can learn something like that in less than a fortnight. 

Lewis played 22 games in the Arizona Fall League at second, third and center without incident. He moved around and adapted. He has played baseball his whole life. Accidents happen and this happened. I chose to accept the fact and not bother with pointless what ifs. You on the other hand can have at it, lol. 

[jorgenswest]

If Lewis runs into a wall in the minors or in Florida would we still put some responsibility on the front office?

[Brock Beauchamp]

36 minutes ago, wabene said:

Lewis played 22 games in the Arizona Fall League at second, third and center without incident. He moved around and adapted. He has played baseball his whole life. Accidents happen and this happened. I chose to accept the fact and not bother with pointless what ifs. You on the other hand can have at it, lol. 

Lewis played five games in center in the AFL and I think we can all agree the skill set is different between IF and OF.

And beside that point, it’s a development league, the same as the minor leagues. That’s where you test out new positions, where the stakes are lower and the eagerness to go flat-out all the time should be lower.

Anyone can be injured at any position at any time but this looks pretty bad for the Twins. They took an elite prospect and put him in the outfield without more than a handful of reps and he injured himself on a wall.

That’s not great, Bob. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

38 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

If Lewis runs into a wall in the minors or in Florida would we still put some responsibility on the front office?

No, because one has to learn a new position somehow.

But it’s also reasonable to question why a career infielder was placed in a major league outfield with so few reps to learn how to do things like, you know, jump against a wall. 

[William Linaman]

Feel bad for Royce, cannot imagine how he feels right now. That said, I've no doubt that he'll come back better and better for it...as fans we'll just have to wait a bit longer to watch him and his talents

[Otto von Ballpark]

Not to claim any great foresight, but my plan for keeping Lewis in MLB did not involve him playing the outfield at all. Even if the rest of the roster was at full health:

~1 start per week at SS

~2-3 starts per week at either 3B or 2B (which line up very similar to SS in the shift anyway)

~2-3 starts per week at DH

Yes, the Twins have other solid players at those positions, but Lewis has long been expected to be something special and really looked it this year too. That’s the kind of guy you can fit in to your plans at any time, without dramatic position changes.

And of course, teams are rarely at full health for too long. In 23 games since Lewis was demoted, we’ve had 15 games without Correa, Polanco, or Urshela in the field, or with Jeffers at DH. Two more games where Gordon played LF while Larnach DH’ed (would have been easy to play Lewis or another infielder at DH instead). Still another two games where Buxton has DH’ed while Gordon or Lewis played CF. (Not that Larnach or Buxton can never DH, but those games represent further opportunities for flexibility without position changes.)

[Guest]

Lewis' comments about this illustrate his never-say-die, forward-looking optimism, the sort of attitude that draws people to him.  I'd sign him to a lifetime contract now.  His leadership qualities will serve the Twins well long after his physical skills wane, and the kid's going to get back ALL of his physical skills, don't doubt him.

[bunsen82]

I feel bad for Royce. There was nothing in that play that you would have thought a tear should have occurred.  As to Correa the calculus has completely changed and the insurance policy of Correa is going to pay off.  I am really tempted to see if we can resign him now.  5-7 years if he really wants to stay in Minnesota.  

[wabene]

12 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Lewis played five games in center in the AFL and I think we can all agree the skill set is different between IF and OF.

And beside that point, it’s a development league, the same as the minor leagues. That’s where you test out new positions, where the stakes are lower and the eagerness to go flat-out all the time should be lower.

Anyone can be injured at any position at any time but this looks pretty bad for the Twins. They took an elite prospect and put him in the outfield without more than a handful of reps and he injured himself on a wall.

That’s not great, Bob. 

Ok now you have established your reasoning for why you can shake your fist at whomever blah, blah, blah. Have fun with that. 

"9 hours ago, PNW twins said:

Whew, sounds like we got lucky Gordon didn't get hurt with his position moves. And Miranda. Throw in Arraez too.  Guys move all over the place in the minors ( some play cf in the AFL) and have to be ready to do it in the majors. If that knee was that unstable it was going to happen anyway. I hate the way it happened too, but that's baseball.  Ridiculous to blame the Twins for trying to get their hottest playing prospects time in the majors.   See you next year Royce, hope the healing goes quick."

I don't want to drag PNW twins into this but he/she said it well imo. Stuff happens, the blame game is tedious and pointless and Captain Hindsight is not a leader I would follow. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, wabene said:

Ok now you have established your reasoning for why you can shake your fist at whomever blah, blah, blah. Have fun with that. 

"9 hours ago, PNW twins said:

Whew, sounds like we got lucky Gordon didn't get hurt with his position moves. And Miranda. Throw in Arraez too.  Guys move all over the place in the minors ( some play cf in the AFL) and have to be ready to do it in the majors. If that knee was that unstable it was going to happen anyway. I hate the way it happened too, but that's baseball.  Ridiculous to blame the Twins for trying to get their hottest playing prospects time in the majors.   See you next year Royce, hope the healing goes quick."

I don't want to drag PNW twins into this but he/she said it well imo. Stuff happens, the blame game is tedious and pointless and Captain Hindsight is not a leader I would follow. 

First, you’re being an ass for no reason. Cut it out.

Second, it’s not hindsight when I said I’d be cautious about throwing him into an MLB outfield without significant reps several weeks ago. I’m not a fan of playing people out of position, especially switching from IF to OF or vice versa. Moving people around the infield? Sure, that makes sense and flexibility is needed with a short bench and platooning. But it wouldn’t have killed the team to give Royce a month to take OF reps in St Paul. 

[wabene]

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

First, you’re being an ass for no reason. Cut it out.

Second, it’s not hindsight when I said I’d be cautious about throwing him into an MLB outfield without significant reps several weeks ago. I’m not a fan of playing people out of position, especially switching from IF to OF or vice versa. Moving people around the infield? Sure, that makes sense and flexibility is needed with a short bench and platooning. But it wouldn’t have killed the team to give Royce a month to take OF reps in St Paul. 

You might want to moderate yourself, name calling and such. I don't think my comment contains any more snark than your average comment. Ease up buddy. 

[Mike Sixel]

Accidents happen. How is it so hard for humans to accept that? That not every event is someone's fault? Unbelievable. 

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

First, you’re being an ass for no reason. Cut it out.

Second, it’s not hindsight when I said I’d be cautious about throwing him into an MLB outfield without significant reps several weeks ago. I’m not a fan of playing people out of position, especially switching from IF to OF or vice versa. Moving people around the infield? Sure, that makes sense and flexibility is needed with a short bench and platooning. But it wouldn’t have killed the team to give Royce a month to take OF reps in St Paul. 

Assuming there IS significant additional injury risk playing CF, How would there be less injury risk playing CF in St Paul vs Minneapolis?

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, USAFChief said:

Assuming there IS significant additional injury risk playing CF, How would there be less injury risk playing CF in St Paul vs Minneapolis?

There isn't. 

[Craig Arko]

49 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

There isn't. 

There is simply more attention paid to it if it occurs at the ML level. Everything is magnified. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Assuming there IS significant additional injury risk playing CF, How would there be less injury risk playing CF in St Paul vs Minneapolis?

Well, you can tell him to not run flat-out into walls, for starters. There’s no need for that kind of play when the outcome of the game is secondary to the development of prospects. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Accidents happen. How is it so hard for humans to accept that? That not every event is someone's fault? Unbelievable. 

Sure, accidents happen. But I was hesitant to just throw an elite prospect with a surgically repaired knee into the outfield and that prospect reinjures that knee three innings into doing just that, it’s fair to question their reasoning behind the decision.

I’m generally in favor of how the Twins are cautious with their players then they inexplicably throw that caution aside in situations like this and a catastrophic result ensues. It’s fair to wonder how they come to some of their decisions because I’m not seeing a lot of consistency here.