Former Twins 2023 tracking

[stringer bell]

Gary Sánchez gets DFA from the Mets. 
 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/05/mets-designate-gary-sanchez-for-assignment.html

[ashbury]

15 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Gary Sánchez gets DFA from the Mets. 
 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/05/mets-designate-gary-sanchez-for-assignment.html

But he was hitting .310, admittedly in small sample size.

Wait. That was his OPS.

[stringer bell]

Trevor Megill is back in the majors, pitching out of the Milwaukee bullpen.

[big dog]

Thanks, I love these things and always want to update them. My point to this is nothing, really, except baseball can be a cruel game. But not for everyone, all the time. Yennier Cano, this might be your year.

Brent Rooker--Absolutely tearing it up as an OF/DH for the A's. In previous trials with the Twins, Royals and Padres, he had 260 plate appearances with a .208 batting average, 10 homers and 23 RBI. In barely half the plate appearances with the A's, he's hit over .300, 11 homers and 30 RBIs. His OPS this year is 1.042

-- 8 days later- 11 homers, 32 RBIs, OPS is .926

Luis Arraez--Last year's AL batting champion is well on his way to winning another one in the NL. He's playing second base and leading everyone by 40 percentage points. He's hitting .389 with a .930 OPS.

-- hitting .371 with a .887 OPS. I think he's probably still in good shape.

Michael Tonkin--He hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2017 with the Twins. I recall being in Fort Myers in March of 2015 when the Twins sent him down, he sat next to me watching a minor league game. He wasn't talkative, but shook my hand and I wished him well.  Anyway, he made the Braves staff out of spring training and has been outstanding . He's 3-1 with a 2.01 ERA and a .627 WHIP. Tonkin is 33 years old now. It's a really good story.

--  now 3-2 with a 3.42 ERA and a 0.949 WHIP.  Last 4 IP had 5 ER. I'm still cheering for him.

Ian Gibault--He had a cup of coffee with the Twins (3 appearances) in 2021. He hooked on with Cincinnati in 2022 and has done very well for the Reds this year. He's 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA and a 1.105 WHIP.

-- now 4-1 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP

Yennier Cano--The Twins brought him up 2022. He would make several outstanding pitches and then groove one and also really had trouble throwing strikes. He gave 14 runs in 13.2 innings. The Twins included him in the Jorge Lopez trade. For the Orioles, he gave up nine runs in 4.1 innings to finish off the season. Cano made the Orioles bullpen out of spring training and he's been near unhittable. In 21.2 innings, he's allowed four(!!!) hits and struck out 25. The ERA is 0.00 and his WHIP is a microscopic .18. Cano is now 29 years old.

-- ERA is 0.35 and WHIP is 0.39.  Which isn't too shabby.

Ian Hamilton--The Twins had him last year and he made one appearance (I believe as a COVID replacement). The Yankees signed him as a minor league free agent and he's been outstanding. He's 1-1 with a save and a 1.23 ERA. His WHIP is 1.091. Hamilton is 28 years old and prior to this year had made 15 big league appearances.

-- has not pitched since 5/16. Currently on 15-day injured list.

[SteveLV]

Steer 3 for 6 today, a single short of the cycle, 9 total bases.  Hitting up to .284, OBS .841.

That trade is looking brutal and worse every day.....

[SwainZag]

4 minutes ago, SteveLV said:

Steer 3 for 6 today, a single short of the cycle, 9 total bases.  Hitting up to .284, OBS .841.

That trade is looking brutal and worse every day.....

Not to nitpick, he's having a big day, but he didn't homer.  3 for 6, HR short of the cycle, 6 total bases.  His bat would def be a welcome addition to the lineup, but he is looking like a guy without a position, why he was expendable to begin with.

Huntre Greene tossed a gem as well.

[Doctor Wu]

14 hours ago, SwainZag said:

Not to nitpick, he's having a big day, but he didn't homer.  3 for 6, HR short of the cycle, 6 total bases.  His bat would def be a welcome addition to the lineup, but he is looking like a guy without a position, why he was expendable to begin with.

Huntre Greene tossed a gem as well.

I think the Reds are very happy with Hunter Greene. Good pick!

[Doctor Wu]

Meanwhile, after his amazingly hot start, Brent Rooker is sinking like a rock. According to my calculations, he is batting only .202 in May, bringing his season average down to .268. His OBP is still very good at .371, but we may have to postpone those All-Star plans unless he gets hot again. 

[Eris]

WSJ (May 27-28)has a back page story on how the Orioles fixed Yennier Cano. Short summary is they identified mechanical flaws in his delivery and have improved his % strikes. First pitch strike % in 2022 was 58%, it is now 68%. 
 

The mechanical flaws cited in the article are: his front shoulder would fly open, tinkered with grips and threw from multiple arm slots. 
 

This should be alarming for Twins fans. Cano goes Orioles and significantly improves. Lopez to the Twins with massive regression and we have not seen the center piece of the trade pitching in the majors yet. 

[stringer bell]

Gary Sánchez claimed by the Padres. 

[Benchwarmerjim]

Former Twins legend Chris Herrmann is leading the American Association in batting with a .444 average.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Small stats can fluctuate greatly.  Cano is up to just under a 1 ERA.  But he has given up 3 runs in his last 6 innings pitched.  Still hasn't hit a multiple home run situation that can inflate the ERA quickly.  Hamilton and Cano both look like good relief options,  something the Twins could use.  Jorge Lopez stats are not bad,  a .5 WAR,  but most here would like more consistency.  We are still ahead on the trade front overall.  Ultimately the infield will be some combination of Correa, Lewis, Kiriloff and Lee for the majority of the next 4-6 years.  That only changes if a wildcard can outperform someone else.  Julien will most likely become a depth piece.  Steer ultimately didn't have spot and we didn't have enough 40 man spots as is last year.  We were going to lose some players.  In hind sight Hamilton and Cano both would have been nice to still have on the team, but I am not sure our staff could fix Cano.  

[stringer bell]

Aaron Hicks wasn't unemployed very long. He signed with the Orioles after they lost Cedric Mullins.

[davidborton]

Angels pounded Lance Lynn and WSox. Lynn charged w/8 ERs in 4 inn. ERA ballooned to 6.55. Gave up 3 HRs, now pushing count to 15 HRs, record stuff for him with long season ahead.

Didn't like Lynn when he bore the TC so will shed no tears this eve.

[Doctor Wu]

On 5/30/2023 at 5:51 AM, stringer bell said:

Gary Sánchez claimed by the Padres. 

Sanchez hit his first homer for the Padres yesterday. 

[Eris]

Fangraphs with an article on Spencer Steer. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cincinnatis-spencer-steer-believes-in-contact-and-backspinning-line-drives/

[ashbury]

15 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

Sanchez hit his first homer for the Padres yesterday. 

'Nother today.

[ashbury]

14 hours ago, Eris said:

Fangraphs with an article on Spencer Steer. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cincinnatis-spencer-steer-believes-in-contact-and-backspinning-line-drives/

Fun answer to a question.

Q: Did anything change, hitting-wise, when you came over here from the Twins organization?

A: ..... I think the Twins were a lot more about analytics; they had a lot more of a data-driven approach to hitting. Here, I feel like it’s a lot more about feel. It’s kind of ‘Let’s break down your approach. What pitches are you swinging at?’ versus looking at the numbers. It’s not like we’re not looking at numbers — I think we do a good job of that — it’s just that there’s more of, say, what you feel in the cage. I think we have a good balance of analytics and what I guess you could call an older-school type of hitting. That really works for me.

[Doctor Wu]

June is here and no sign of Miguel Sano anywhere. Any updates on what he is doing or where he is doing it?

[Doctor Wu]

Our old pal Eddie Rosario keeps getting some clutch hits for the Braves, including a grand slam yesterday. Despite his faults, he's still a fun player to watch. 

[Doctor Wu]

On 6/2/2023 at 11:00 AM, ashbury said:

'Nother today.

And very quickly, he hit his third home for the Padres. Maybe too late for the All-Star game, but good results for Gary so far. 

[Doctor Wu]

Over in Baltimore, after escaping from the New York Zoo (although perhaps not by his own choice) Aaron Hicks is starting to hit again. He's batting over .300 this month, and just hit his third homer of the year in the Orioles slugfest yesterday. Not sure how long he will remain in the starting lineup with Mullins injured, but he's making the most of his second chance. Or is it his third chance?

[Mortimerkenny21]

Berrios is working on a no hitter against Baltimore right now. Just through 5 innings so far. 49 pitches.

[Doctor Wu]

12 hours ago, Mortimerkenny21 said:

Berrios is working on a no hitter against Baltimore right now. Just through 5 innings so far. 49 pitches.

He didn't get the no-no, but another good start for Berrios. He's turned back into an effective pitcher this season. 

[ashbury]

4 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

He didn't get the no-no, but another good start for Berrios. He's turned back into an effective pitcher this season. 

Every game counts, but for forecasting purposes you can throw out the first two games and see a really good pitcher going forward.

[Parfigliano]

On 5/25/2023 at 6:14 PM, stringer bell said:

Gary Sánchez gets DFA from the Mets. 
 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/05/mets-designate-gary-sanchez-for-assignment.html

Yea.

[stringer bell]

Sánchez is doing quite well for the Padres. 

[Parfigliano]

Sandy Leon DFA by Texas.  I'm suprised he got picked up in the first place

[davidborton]

https://www.mlb.com/news/derek-shelton-baseball-connection-to-two-ron-sheltons

Great story on former bench coach Derek Shelton, now managing the Pirates. Weaves into the "Bull Durham" storyline and the history of the Sheltons in ball.

[Doctor Wu]

Man, another big day for Eddie Rosario in Atlanta. He went 3 for 6 with 2 homers and 6 RBI. I'm still not regretting we parted ways with him, but then again, having a productive bat, even one as erratic as Eddie's, in the Twins' lineup sure would be nice.