Chris Paddack Leaves After Comebacker and Four Other Things That Might Matter

[rdehring]

Disappointing to see all the negativity about Paddack.  The young man was once very good.  Can he put those injuries behind him and be nearly as good?  Don't know, time will tell.

But our hope as Twins fans should be that he has a good to very good first half of the season.  One, it would help the Twins battle to be in first place come July 15.  Second, it would give the Twins one of the better starting pitchers who could be available at the trading deadline. 

With at least one of Matthews, Festa, et. al. ready to step into the rotation, let's hope Paddack has that good first half and delivers an excellent young prospect, or two, to future Twins teams.

[arby58]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I didn't split. I just chose the seasons where he was a starting pitcher for the last 4 years (flip flopped 2022/2023). He's not remotely the same pitcher he was in 2019.

The point is the expectation a pitcher who hasn't gotten good results as a starter in years and years is still a guy who is looked at as a rotation lock.

Well, starting pitching ERA is what we should use to judge a starting pitcher. Besides, it was 4.03 as recently as 2022.

[PatPfund]

ST stats are a mixed bag (except pretty much wins and losses, which are meaningless given all the late inning substitutions). For vets with locked roster spots like Correa, you just want to see them "getting their work in" professionally with good health. For fringe players (like France), or those on the outside trying to catch big league eyes (like Keaschall), they do matter; it is how you win jobs (like Castro a few years ago), how you get future looks, or how you can lose both.

The next few weeks are more important than the past few as teams trim extra players, and the remaining group hones in on the regular season, but...

France is here on a glorified tryout/showcase, and with his future on the line, he is cashing in (with not just the Twins noticing). Pretty sure he's hit his way onto the team despite Julien showing signs of hitting life, and if minor leaguers are pushing by May/June, France could be a great trade chip.

No way I want Keaschall starting the year with the Twins at DH. He needs time to work back into his field defense after TJ surgery, and should do that playing every day in St Paul until all facets are MLB-ready. If France makes the team, they essentially rotate him, Miranda, Lewis, Correa, Larnach, and Wallner through DH, which is plenty of pop, and gives some players who could use it, semi-days off.

[bean5302]

It comes down to this.

If you want to ignore Paddack's struggles over the past 4 years and pretend he's the same prospect pitcher he was 2 TJ's and 6 years ago, there's good reason to be optimistic.

If you value Paddack's actual results and performance based on the last several years, there isn't a good reason to lock him into the rotation right now.

[jorgenswest]

I don’t know if Paddack is healthy or the ceiling of the healthy Paddack. I do see that his velocity this spring seems to be in line with the velocity over his career including his healthy 2019 season.

I wouldn’t lock him into the rotation but I would trust the evaluation of the staff if they choose to start with him in the rotation. Last year Varland was removed after 4 ineffective starts. A similar four starts from Paddack and they need to look for another option. This is their last year of control. He needs to perform.