The Path is Clearing for Brooks Lee to Make the Twins' Opening Day Roster

[sweetmusicviola16]

8 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Julien should never be considered for playing 2B (I don't care if they think his bat plays there). Then Lee wins 2B by default. But is he the right person to play there? IMO Lee's best position is 3B, he's also 2nd in line at SS & 2B is his 3rd position. that IMO makes Lee more valuable as one that is the 1st choice in subbing Lewis & Correa. 3Bmen need to have a strong arm, Miranda doesn't have one to begin with & now with shoulder surgery & related injuries, his consideration at 3B should be removed last season. Just to get his bat in the lineup should not be the reason to play him there.

IMO Martin is definitely not needed in the OF. They should clean his slate & try him at 2B, if he shows promise at 2B & able to turn his hitting around so to beat out Lee let him start at 2B. It's an unfair opportunity but least it's an opportunity & could make our team better. If Lee fairly beats out Martin then let him start at 2B while still playing plenty of 3B & SS. & send Martin down to AAA to focus on his hitting & 2B, along with Julien to do the same but at 1B.

I would agree Doctor. Now with the latest injury to Lewis that would make Lee the best answer to 3B, he's our best 3B anyway but this solidifies Lee's need at 3B. Miranda should be used at 1B. The only way to grow there for him is to actually play. Willi Castro backs up Correa at SS. Leads us to 2B. Martin can play the position. Get him out of the OF. Castro backs up in OF and now they have Bader. Julien is not to be used at 2B. 

[darin617]

9 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Julien should never be considered for playing 2B (I don't care if they think his bat plays there). Then Lee wins 2B by default. But is he the right person to play there? IMO Lee's best position is 3B, he's also 2nd in line at SS & 2B is his 3rd position. that IMO makes Lee more valuable as one that is the 1st choice in subbing Lewis & Correa. 3Bmen need to have a strong arm, Miranda doesn't have one to begin with & now with shoulder surgery & related injuries, his consideration at 3B should be removed last season. Just to get his bat in the lineup should not be the reason to play him there.

IMO Martin is definitely not needed in the OF. They should clean his slate & try him at 2B, if he shows promise at 2B & able to turn his hitting around so to beat out Lee let him start at 2B. It's an unfair opportunity but least it's an opportunity & could make our team better. If Lee fairly beats out Martin then let him start at 2B while still playing plenty of 3B & SS. & send Martin down to AAA to focus on his hitting & 2B, along with Julien to do the same but at 1B.

You are forgetting about Willi Castro. With Harrison Bader now with the Twins Castro is delegated to the infield unless there are major injuries in the OF>

[Doctor Gast]

10 minutes ago, darin617 said:

You are forgetting about Willi Castro. With Harrison Bader now with the Twins Castro is delegated to the infield unless there are major injuries in the OF>

I forgot to mention him in this text but I believe Castro is more established & more needed as a super utility player than settled at 2B.

[Doctor Gast]

4 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Do you believe Lewis can play third base?

Yes, I do. But I think Lee is better. Twins fired the old INF coach maybe the new one can help him correct his throwing. When Lewis is out, I hope they put Lee at 3B instead of pushing their luck with Miranda.

[tony&rodney]

Makes me laugh to read all the dread about Julien. Somehow, someway, impossibly, Julien is close to being the key to the Twins season. If he hits and makes the routine plays, the Twins have a decent year. Julien doesn't hit or never gets a shot, the Twins have a soft bat and still poor defense at second base and finish .500.

Totally off topic, I had not watched Ty France very critically until recently. He makes Jose Miranda look like Carlos Santana. France should just DH if the Twins think his bat is that important. No way is Miranda not better at first base and Miranda will hit. Miranda's one big weakness is that he doesn't walk enough.

[chpettit19]

11 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Julien should never be considered for playing 2B (I don't care if they think his bat plays there). Then Lee wins 2B by default. But is he the right person to play there? IMO Lee's best position is 3B, he's also 2nd in line at SS & 2B is his 3rd position. that IMO makes Lee more valuable as one that is the 1st choice in subbing Lewis & Correa. 3Bmen need to have a strong arm, Miranda doesn't have one to begin with & now with shoulder surgery & related injuries, his consideration at 3B should be removed last season. Just to get his bat in the lineup should not be the reason to play him there.

IMO Martin is definitely not needed in the OF. They should clean his slate & try him at 2B, if he shows promise at 2B & able to turn his hitting around so to beat out Lee let him start at 2B. It's an unfair opportunity but least it's an opportunity & could make our team better. If Lee fairly beats out Martin then let him start at 2B while still playing plenty of 3B & SS. & send Martin down to AAA to focus on his hitting & 2B, along with Julien to do the same but at 1B.

One of these players was handed the 3B job going into 2023 and then hurt his shoulder. You've spent 2 years blaming playing him at 3B for that arm injury and then his back injury last year. You call for Rocco's head for making this decision and setting that player up for failure because he just doesn't have the arm for 3B and there was no way he wouldn't get hurt doing it even though he'd played there 2145 innings in the minors. The other 2 players are Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee.

Player 1: Max MPH throw: 83.2, Overall 81.2
Player 2: Max MPH throw: 85.5, Overall 83.7
Player 3: Max MPH throw: 83.1, Overall 81.5

All of those arms are below average. Spoiler alert, Royce is the middle one and he's now hurt. Pick out Lee vs Miranda. Player 1 or 3. Who should start at 3B and who is having his career threatened by playing him there because his arm isn't strong enough?

Bonus Player 4 not on Twins who just signed a $40 million/year free agent deal as the defending AL Gold Glove winning 3B: Max MPH throw: 82.5, Overall 80.7

Bonus question: Should Boston move Bregman to 1B to save his career because he just couldn't possibly play 3B with that arm while leaving Devers at 3B since his arm has a max throw of 87.9 with an overall average of 84.7? Or can we just put your arm strength argument that isn't based on anything real to bed?

[Schmoeman5]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

One of these players was handed the 3B job going into 2023 and then hurt his shoulder. You've spent 2 years blaming playing him at 3B for that arm injury and then his back injury last year. You call for Rocco's head for making this decision and setting that player up for failure because he just doesn't have the arm for 3B and there was no way he wouldn't get hurt doing it even though he'd played there 2145 innings in the minors. The other 2 players are Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee.

Player 1: Max MPH throw: 83.2, Overall 81.2
Player 2: Max MPH throw: 85.5, Overall 83.7
Player 3: Max MPH throw: 83.1, Overall 81.5

All of those arms are below average. Spoiler alert, Royce is the middle one and he's now hurt. Pick out Lee vs Miranda. Player 1 or 3. Who should start at 3B and who is having his career threatened by playing him there because his arm isn't strong enough?

Bonus Player 4 not on Twins who just signed a $40 million/year free agent deal as the defending AL Gold Glove winning 3B: Max MPH throw: 82.5, Overall 80.7

Bonus question: Should Boston move Bregman to 1B to save his career because he just couldn't possibly play 3B with that arm while leaving Devers at 3B since his arm has a max throw of 87.9 with an overall average of 84.7? Or can we just put your arm strength argument that isn't based on anything real to bed?

If one says things enough times, one tends to believe it has to be so. No matter how ludicrous it may be. Confusious or some one like that.

[Fatbat]

10 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Do you believe Lewis can play third base?

Not after today. Maybe sometime in May

[tarheeltwinsfan]

20 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

I'm going to guess that Brooks Lee opens at third base.

It depends on whether Rocco wants Miranda in the lineup or Julien. If he wants Miranda for his bat, then Miranda opens at 3B, warts and all, and Lee is at 2B. If he wants Julien at 2B, warts and all, then Lee opens at 3B. I don't think Castro will be starting as much as he did last year this year. 

[tony&rodney]

59 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

It depends on whether Rocco wants Miranda in the lineup or Julien. If he wants Miranda for his bat, then Miranda opens at 3B, warts and all, and Lee is at 2B. If he wants Julien at 2B, warts and all, then Lee opens at 3B. I don't think Castro will be starting as much as he did last year this year. 

I'm hoping Miranda is the DH, although Jose is a better first baseman than Ty France. However, France looks like Baldelli's dream. Because Brooks Lee is slow he fits better at third base. Julien has the worst glove and his throws are always a mystery but he does have the best, still not good, range of the choices at second base. Of course, people have serious PTSD reading the name "Julien". The apoplectic responses do not change the reality. We can be certain of one thing though. What Falvey and Baldelli come up with is often a total surprise that elicits a huh. We get to watch.

[bean5302]

17 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Player 1: Max MPH throw: 83.2, Overall 81.2
Player 2: Max MPH throw: 85.5, Overall 83.7
Player 3: Max MPH throw: 83.1, Overall 81.5

Player 1: Max MPH throw: 83.2, Sprint Speed: 25.6 ft/sec - Miranda
Player 4: Max MPH throw: 83.0, Sprint Speed: 26.7 ft/sec - Julien
Player 3: Max MPH throw: 83.1, Sprint Speed: 25.6 ft/sec - Lee

Player 2: Max MPH throw: 85.5, Sprint Speed: 26.6 ft/sec - Lewis

Player 5: Max MPH throw: 92.3*, Sprint Speed: 27.9 ft/sec - Castro
Player 6: Max MPH throw: 94.1, Sprint Speed: 26.8 ft/sec - Correa
*Adjusted max based on average vs. max for Carlos Correa

Physical skill sets for Miranda, Julien and Lee overlap with Julien probably being the most athletic of the three.

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Of course, people have serious PTSD reading the name "Julien".

Perhaps because of all the Trauma and all the Stress we've experienced watching him field and take called strikes?  We're not quite Post this Disorder, either; here's hoping he gets better, so we can.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

I'm hoping Miranda is the DH, although Jose is a better first baseman than Ty France. However, France looks like Baldelli's dream. Because Brooks Lee is slow he fits better at third base. Julien has the worst glove and his throws are always a mystery but he does have the best, still not good, range of the choices at second base. Of course, people have serious PTSD reading the name "Julien". The apoplectic responses do not change the reality. We can be certain of one thing though. What Falvey and Baldelli come up with is often a total surprise that elicits a huh. We get to watch.

France fielding numbers at First Base, are actually close to Juliens at Second Base, but, France has played 530 games at 1st vs Julien's 165 at 2nd.

Now errors seem to depend on how much the scorers like a player, but at that, Julien now has 7 errors vs. France's 10 errors in 3 times as many games.

Ir would be interesting to see how Julien's lead glove plays at first base. Maybe Baldelli could have the pitcher running over to 1st to back-up Julien on most plays.💀

 

[tony&rodney]

10 minutes ago, RpR said:

France fielding numbers at First Base, are actually close to Juliens at Second Base, but, France has played 530 games at 1st vs Julien's 165 at 2nd.

Now errors seem to depend on how much the scorers like a player, but at that, Julien now has 7 errors vs. France's 10 errors in 3 times as many games.

Ir would be interesting to see how Julien's lead glove plays at first base. Maybe Baldelli could have the pitcher running over to 1st to back-up Julien on most plays.💀

 

There are counseling services available online if there aren't any offices/clinics in your area.

[ashbury]

30 minutes ago, RpR said:

Now errors seem to depend on how much the scorers like a player

MLB official scorers are a tight-knit group who meet regularly to discuss their experiences and formulate best practices. During the season they cross-check each others' calls.  The day of rogue scorers at a given ballpark are long gone. 

In the minds of many (including yours truly) they have chosen to err on the side of leniency and giving the fielder the benefit of the doubt in following the rulebook that specifies "ordinary effort," but that's a different issue than favoritism.

Also, since errors are among the lesser-called outcomes in the sport, slightly more common than HBP, it's not a particularly useful stat anymore (like, for the last 100+ years) in judging a player. Also a separate matter from favoritism.

[RpR]

15 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

There are counseling services available online if there aren't any offices/clinics in your area.

Sorry they are all overbooked by those who think Julien is good enough for MLB.

[RpR]

12 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Also, since errors are among the lesser-called outcomes in the sport, it's not a particularly useful stat anymore (like, for 100+ years) in judging a fielder. Also a separate matter from favoritism.

Hmm, how many times can a fielder kick the ball away, or throw it into nowhere land before it becomes a problem. 🤣

[mnfireman]

It's still just ST, but it is the day after Lewis went down with an injury; Lee CG at 3B, Miranda CG at 1B and Julien 7 innings, 4 PA at 2B. Also 7 innings, 3 PA for Keirsey. The results were mixed, but maybe the team is going to let the players sort out who's making the team and where they are going to be playing. 

[Doctor Gast]

On 3/16/2025 at 5:37 PM, chpettit19 said:

One of these players was handed the 3B job going into 2023 and then hurt his shoulder. You've spent 2 years blaming playing him at 3B for that arm injury and then his back injury last year. You call for Rocco's head for making this decision and setting that player up for failure because he just doesn't have the arm for 3B and there was no way he wouldn't get hurt doing it even though he'd played there 2145 innings in the minors. The other 2 players are Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee.

Player 1: Max MPH throw: 83.2, Overall 81.2
Player 2: Max MPH throw: 85.5, Overall 83.7
Player 3: Max MPH throw: 83.1, Overall 81.5

All of those arms are below average. Spoiler alert, Royce is the middle one and he's now hurt. Pick out Lee vs Miranda. Player 1 or 3. Who should start at 3B and who is having his career threatened by playing him there because his arm isn't strong enough?

Bonus Player 4 not on Twins who just signed a $40 million/year free agent deal as the defending AL Gold Glove winning 3B: Max MPH throw: 82.5, Overall 80.7

As always you miss my point. The point I made is that Miranda's arm is overtaxed at 3B, especially since his injuries from playing there. Miranda is no Bergman, in that moving him to 1B is a gigantic waste of talent. Which could be only temporary until he is 100% again. Again my point is the condition of Miranda's arm that asks for no pissing contest between him & Lee. For me, stats have no meaning if underlying conditions aren't present. Which I want no debate on the matter, it's my opinion & has no meaning on this thread.

[chpettit19]

Just now, Doctor Gast said:

As always you miss my point. The point I made is that Miranda's arm is overtaxed at 3B, especially since his injuries from playing there. Miranda is no Bergman, in that moving him to 1B is a gigantic waste of talent. Again my point is the condition of Miranda's arm that asks for no pissing contest between him & Lee. For me, stats have no meaning if underlying conditions aren't present. Which I want no debate on the matter, it's my opinion & has no meaning on this thread.

No, you miss the point. I provided you the numbers for their arms. Alex Bregman has a weaker arm than Jose Miranda. Brooks Lee has virtually the exact same arm strength as Jose Miranda. But you don't care because you've decided you're smarter than the numbers. You're smarter than radars and computers so you know that Miranda was hurt despite the fact that his arm is clearly strong enough to make that throw.

Just saying "underlying condition" doesn't make the facts go away. Jose Miranda played over two thousand innings at third base in the minors without getting hurt. TWO THOUSAND. He had 438 assists. That means he made that throw 438 times in games alone. So not even counting practices where he likely made that throw well over 1000 times. He had another 284 innings and 66 assists at shortstop in the minors. 1173 innings and 200 assists from 3B in the majors. At all levels, over 9 seasons, Jose Miranda has played 3416.2 innings and made 662 assists from third base. In practices he's made the throw from third thousands of times. Just saying "underlying conditions" like it explains all that away is meaningless and doesn't outweigh facts. He didn't wait until he made the majors and then suddenly decide he needed to work harder and strengthen his arm for 3B where he'd spent the vast majority of his minor league career. You love to say "it's common sense" until common sense disagrees with you. It doesn't make any sense at all that he'd spend most of his minor league career playing 3B then make the majors as a 3B and then suddenly go crazy trying to strengthen his arm that is already strong enough to play the position.

If Miranda's arm is "overtaxed at 3B" but it's the same strength as Lee's then why aren't you worried about Lee? Where is the "common sense" in that? If it's stronger than Bregman's why isn't Bregman hurting himself making that throw? Simple answer: it isn't overtaxed and his injuries aren't from playing there they just happened.

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

No, you miss the point. I provided you the numbers for their arms. Alex Bregman has a weaker arm than Jose Miranda. Brooks Lee has virtually the exact same arm strength as Jose Miranda. But you don't care because you've decided you're smarter than the numbers. You're smarter than radars and computers so you know that Miranda was hurt despite the fact that his arm is clearly strong enough to make that throw.

Just saying "underlying condition" doesn't make the facts go away. Jose Miranda played over two thousand innings at third base in the minors without getting hurt. TWO THOUSAND. He had 438 assists. That means he made that throw 438 times in games alone. So not even counting practices where he likely made that throw well over 1000 times. He had another 284 innings and 66 assists at shortstop in the minors. 1173 innings and 200 assists from 3B in the majors. At all levels, over 9 seasons, Jose Miranda has played 3416.2 innings and made 662 assists from third base. In practices he's made the throw from third thousands of times. Just saying "underlying conditions" like it explains all that away is meaningless and doesn't outweigh facts. He didn't wait until he made the majors and then suddenly decide he needed to work harder and strengthen his arm for 3B where he'd spent the vast majority of his minor league career. You love to say "it's common sense" until common sense disagrees with you. It doesn't make any sense at all that he'd spend most of his minor league career playing 3B then make the majors as a 3B and then suddenly go crazy trying to strengthen his arm that is already strong enough to play the position.

If Miranda's arm is "overtaxed at 3B" but it's the same strength as Lee's then why aren't you worried about Lee? Where is the "common sense" in that? If it's stronger than Bregman's why isn't Bregman hurting himself making that throw? Simple answer: it isn't overtaxed and his injuries aren't from playing there they just happened.

Again my point that you want to debate on is not about their ability to play 3B. It's about the condition of Miranda's arm & the health management to keep Miranda on the field. The fact that Keaschal shouldn't be playing OF now isn't because he can't normally play there. It's a matter of health management. Grant it that they are at different places in their recovery but the idea is the same.

[chpettit19]

24 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Again my point that you want debate on is not about their ability to play 3B. It's about the condition of Miranda's arm & the health management to keep Miranda on the field. The fact that Keaschal shouldn't be playing OF now isn't because he can't normally play there. It's a matter of health management. Grant it that they are at different places in their recovery but the idea is the same.

That wasn't your point. You've stated numerous times that Miranda hurt himself because he didn't have the arm to play 3B and he was trying too hard to improve his arm to play 3B in the majors. He hurt his shoulder in 2023 because of that and then his back last year because of his shoulder. That's always been your argument. Until now. His arm is fine and was fine. As displayed by the fact that he threw as hard as Lee and harder than Bregman last year. You think the Twins don't have Drs and trainers who know where Miranda is at in his recovery but you do all the way from Brazil? Again, you're just making stuff up by saying "underlying conditions." The Twins give Miranda physicals. They take scans. They put him through drills. They know where he is from a health and recovery standpoint.

1B isn't some magic position that is going to save Miranda. It wasn't some magic position that was going to save Kirilloff. The guy retired at the age of 27 because of injuries. That wasn't because he had to play OF. He had to have his wrist bone surgically shortened for goodness sake. He has a back condition that had nothing to do with playing the outfield. He hurt his shoulder diving for a ball at 1B.

The idea isn't at all the same between Keaschall and Miranda. Keaschall isn't playing the field at all. Miranda is. And your argument for Miranda isn't that he shouldn't play 3B this year. Or that he shouldn't have played last year. It's that he should never have been playing it. You're trying to move the goalpost now because you're realizing you've been proven completely wrong. Keaschall isn't healed yet. Miranda was healed. Your argument has always been that Miranda never should've been playing 3B to begin with. Your argument has always been that he hurt his shoulder in the first place because he tried too hard to strengthen an arm that wasn't strong enough to play the position. Not that he was injured and should've been given more time to recover. The Keaschall comp doesn't work at all. Miranda went from completely healthy to hurt while playing a position he'd played the majority of his minor league career. Not at all the same thing. And not at all about his arm not being strong enough. Your argument about Miranda and third base has been wrong from the beginning.