It's Time for Minnesota Twins to Give Mickey Gasper a Real Shot

[Eris]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

I'm mostly struck by how shallow this team was originally constructed. 

I think the real issue is that there is combination of too many injuries:  Lewis, Keaschall, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Schoebel  (Buxton is currently not on this list but I have not seen an update on his elbow).

There are also players who were expected to perform but have become DFA candidates. Julien and Miranda. Although Julien being able to turn things around was always a question mark. Few would have predicted that a healthy Miranda would turn into a pumpkin. 

Then there is Correa. 
 

As others on this thread are pointing out injuries and lack of ability to be healthy/ stay healthy have become the plight of the Twins, year after year. 

[NYCTK]

1 minute ago, Eris said:

I think the real issue is that there is combination of too many injuries:  Lewis, Keaschall, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Schoebel  (Buxton is currently not on this list but I have not seen an update on his elbow).

100% absolutely not.

The front office didn't expect Emmanuel Rodriguez or Tanner Schobel to contribute, at least not in the first half of the season. Luke Keaschall? Maybe. But you're letting the Twins Organization off the hook for poor roster construction. 

Every team has injuries. It's nothing but a convenient excuse. 

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

These guys (McCusker, Keirsey, Gasper) play every day at AAA and then they come up to MLB and play once or twice a week and then we wonder why they aren’t good. That’s not really giving them a chance.

So, bring one of those guys up and bench a starter? That's not really the point of an injury replacement.

[TwinsDr2021]

44 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

But Willie Mays did okay.  And all this complaining that he's over 30?

Willy Mays? you are comparing Gasper to Willy Mays? Hey maybe you were comparing what Mays did in Minneapolis as a 20 year old (.477/.524//799/1.323) and then went on to win the ROY to what Gasper has done in St. Paul.

I mean there has to be a 29 year old career minor league player that turned into something to compare him to, no? 

[AceWrigley]

"It's Time for Minnesota Twins to Give Mickey Gasper a Real Shot".

2 fingers or 3?

[Coach JT]

Call up Casper and drop Bride . Today ! 
or maybe cut loose GM because he has no clue how to make a roster . 

[lunemann]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Can you imagine how much worse they would be if they hadn't signed Bader and France?

I'm not sure our 97 OPS+ first baseman is the best argument for a solid Falvey pickup.

[terrydactyls]

20 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

#3 prospect! I don't dislike him, but agreed that he was going to really slow down. He should be viewed as a prospect still and not as a player that has graduated and can be counted on, like Lee. Definitely a loss, but wasn't really expected to be on the team in the first half. Only got called up because 2 players on the major league roster fully **** the bed. 

Boo! That's a bummer. Was assuming it was gonna be a 4-6 week thing. Point still stands though. 

So you are saying that if a player is "only" going to miss 4-6 weeks, he's considered healthy?  Then I guess the Twins are healthy.

[thelanges5]

13 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

So, bring one of those guys up and bench a starter? That's not really the point of an injury replacement.

I’m not advocating that they start. But if you bring them up and only allow them to pinch hit or maybe play one game a week, they are not going to be able to show you anything.

[terrydactyls]

15 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Willy Mays? you are comparing Gasper to Willy Mays? Hey maybe you were comparing what Mays did in Minneapolis as a 20 year old (.477/.524//799/1.323) and then went on to win the ROY to what Gasper has done in St. Paul.

I mean there has to be a 29 year old career minor league player that turned into something to compare him to, no? 

The comparison was about small sample sizes, not individuals.  And I also hate the ageism that is being used.  If a player can contribute, what difference does his age make THIS YEAR.  Gasper isn't a prospect by any stretch of the imagination.  But the Twins need help now.

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Can you imagine how much worse they would be if they hadn't signed Bader and France?

Their arguably 2 best hitters are from outside the organization journeyman players that wouldn't start for most other teams.

Well done TC.  Well done.

[NYCTK]

12 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

So you are saying that if a player is "only" going to miss 4-6 weeks, he's considered healthy?  Then I guess the Twins are healthy.

No, I'm more so saying that a major league pitcher missing 4-6 weeks is not even really notable. Every team has multiple pitchers missing 4-6 weeks at any given time, basically. 

[BillyBallLives]

It’s hard to argue with Matthew’s take. When an offense is this flat, with no consistent spark, it makes complete sense to give the most productive bat in Triple-A a serious look. Gasper isn’t just hot—he’s shown sustained success at that level. That should at least earn another chance.

Do I think he’s a long-term MLB guy? Probably not. But given the Twins' current options, why not go with the one actually producing?

[NYCTK]

17 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

So you are saying that if a player is "only" going to miss 4-6 weeks, he's considered healthy?  Then I guess the Twins are healthy.

And, yes, the Twins are healthy.

For example, here are the AL Central teams and their number of pitchers on the IL right now: 

Twins - 2

Royals - 6

Tigers - 7

Guardians - 8 

White Sox - 9

[DJL44]

16 minutes ago, lunemann said:

I'm not sure our 97 OPS+ first baseman is the best argument for a solid Falvey pickup.

I'm not in love with Ty France, but I've been impressed with how much his defense at 1B has improved this season. The Twins seem to have a knack for grabbing the 1B nobody else wants and turning them into a gold glove contender.

The real question with Mickey Gasper is whether he or Kody Clemens is the best choice for playing time until Keaschall returns. Clemens has the advantage defensively and has more experience. They both had a good May at the plate, but Clemens did his damage in MLB, not AAA.

[TwinsDr2021]

10 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

The comparison was about small sample sizes, not individuals.  And I also hate the ageism that is being used.  If a player can contribute, what difference does his age make THIS YEAR.  Gasper isn't a prospect by any stretch of the imagination.  But the Twins need help now.

Is it really ageism or the history of baseball and the results? Comparing Sample sizes of a 20 year old and 29 is not apples to apples, You could possibly used Keirsey as an example but doesn't really work. 

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, mnfireman said:

You're forgetting Keaschall, though he was due to cool down after such a hot start. And Matthews isn't "down for a minute" based on researching the type of injury.

Of the open day roster, Pablo is the only injured player.

Julien, Miranda, Keirsey, SWR and Dobnak got sent down. Alcala got traded. 

They got Stewart back and Lewis for a bit. Keaschall and Matthews injuries suck, but in reality Julien, Marnada and SWR not being good is the issue not injuries. (Lets see about Buxton, fingers crossed)

[NYCTK]

Just now, TwinsDr2021 said:

Of the open day roster, Pablo is the only injured player.

Julien, Miranda, Keirsey, SWR and Dobnak got sent down. Alcala got traded. 

They got Stewart back and Lewis for a bit. Keaschall and Matthews injuries suck, but in reality Julien, Marnada and SWR not being good is the issue not injuries. (Lets see about Buxton, fingers crossed)

TBF, Royce would have bene on the opening day roster, so that's 2 players.

2/26 of the would be players on the opening day roster being hurt is a healthy team. 

[thelanges5]

16 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I'm not in love with Ty France, but I've been impressed with how much his defense at 1B has improved this season. The Twins seem to have a knack for grabbing the 1B nobody else wants and turning them into a gold glove contender.

The real question with Mickey Gasper is whether he or Kody Clemens is the best choice for playing time until Keaschall returns. Clemens has the advantage defensively and has more experience. They both had a good May at the plate, but Clemens did his damage in MLB, not AAA.

Don’t forget about Bride. 

[S Bart]

GASP!

[AKTwinsFan]

We need someone to replace Bride. He can't buy a hit right now, besides his ability to whiff bats as a positional pitcher and some decent defense at 3rd he's a liability offensively. 

[Doctor Gast]

IMO, when we had a 13-game winning streak, we did it with good pitching, good defense, aggressive baserunning & clutch hitting. Now that we have increased our offensive potential, we are slumping. Do we really need more offense?

 

 

[DJL44]

6 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Don’t forget about Bride. 

Bride isn't getting any playing time now which makes him mostly irrelevant. If they gave all of Bride's playing time to Mickey Gasper people would still be complaining that "he's not getting a fair shot". They could release Bride and have Gasper sit on the bench instead, but it wouldn't matter in the end results.

[terrydactyls]

38 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Is it really ageism or the history of baseball and the results? Comparing Sample sizes of a 20 year old and 29 is not apples to apples, You could possibly used Keirsey as an example but doesn't really work. 

What I am trying to say is why hold it against a guy if he is 30 or more.  If you need a spark and he is hitting at AAA, give him a shot.

[terrydactyls]

42 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

And, yes, the Twins are healthy.

For example, here are the AL Central teams and their number of pitchers on the IL right now: 

Twins - 2

Royals - 6

Tigers - 7

Guardians - 8 

White Sox - 9

Pitchers are not the discussion.  I wouldn't bring up Gasper to replace a pitcher.  Although if he replaces Bride, he may need to throw a few innings.

[Twinsoholic]

Keaschall brought his bat, glove, and speed to the lineup. This is one of the slowest Twins teams that I can remember. The team needs hitters, but it particularly needs hitters with speed so that they won’t get gunned down repeatedly at home when Tommy Watkins windmills them around third base. 
 

I hope Gaspar has a successful MLB career, but given his tool kit, the addition of a lot more speed would really make that more likely to happen than not. 

[Danchat]

How many times have we said "player XYZ in AAA is mashing, we have to call him up" and then he comes up and flops? Gasper was already abysmal in his first stretch of games defensively and looked lost at the plate. Call me an ageist, but I don't see the upside in a guy who looked nowhere near ready for the majors in his first time around at age 29. Could be a small sample size, but is there any reason to believe that he can figure out MLB pitching for any reason other than he's hot in AAA right now? I'm not opposed to giving him another chance but I don't like his chances of helping this team going forward.

I'd rather call up the likes of Will Holland, somebody who has a real chance to be a decent fielder and possibly a bench player going forward. Why can't this organization develop even a passable bench player?

[Doc Lenz]

He can’t hit MLB pitching, he is terrible defensively so ya call him up!

[stringer bell]

Okay, probably a long post here, but here goes. Gasper's 39 plate appearances over about 40 games isn't really a fair shot. The same could be said for Keirsey and especially McCusker. Keirsey has the advantage of having two skills that play in the major leagues--speed and defense. It is understandable that he was recalled before Gasper. Giving the 29 year old one chance to play consistently makes sense given what he has done at the AAA level. He's hit well at every level below MLB and has raked every bit as much as anyone in the Twins organization, even McCusker. 

Mickey reminds me of a guy who played in the late 90s and early 00s for the Blue Jays and Rangers--Frank Catalanotto. He really didn't have a defensive position, could run a little bit, but he could hit. He maxed out well above .300 in a high-offense era. Gasper also might manage to do the same. Maybe he could be a .270-.290 hitter with a good OBP. That would make him valuable enough to have a spot on the major league roster. If he could add power as he has been producing at Triple A, he could be in the equation for plenty of at-bats. That is a couple of huge "ifs" but not totally beyond the realm of possibility. If he can't produce extra-base power, he would have to hit for an extremely high average. The last season plus Luis Arraez has hit well over .300 and has a WAR of less the 1.0 with similar defense and speed tools. 

The Twins need hitting without question and adding Gasper for Bride would give Gasper a shot. They have enough guys struggling that if he hit, the team could provide at least platoon PAs until Luke Keaschall or Lewis is ready. It's a long shot that he would make a substantial contribution, but he couldn't be much less useful than Jonah Bride has been for the Twins.

[stringer bell]

52 minutes ago, Danchat said:

How many times have we said "player XYZ in AAA is mashing, we have to call him up" and then he comes up and flops? Gasper was already abysmal in his first stretch of games defensively and looked lost at the plate. Call me an ageist, but I don't see the upside in a guy who looked nowhere near ready for the majors in his first time around at age 29. Could be a small sample size, but is there any reason to believe that he can figure out MLB pitching for any reason other than he's hot in AAA right now? I'm not opposed to giving him another chance but I don't like his chances of helping this team going forward.

I'd rather call up the likes of Will Holland, somebody who has a real chance to be a decent fielder and possibly a bench player going forward. Why can't this organization develop even a passable bench player?

In theory that makes sense. Holland has foot speed and would project to be a decent fielder, maybe better than that, but you gotta hit or you're Billy Hamilton without the game-changing speed. With offense down considerably, there's little room for a position player who hits like Keirsey (or Gasper in his < 100 PAs so far) and it would appear that Holland would be that type of hitter.

Gasper has hit equally as well as McCusker (another guy too old to really be a prospect) at Triple A and did it last year as well. He doesn't have the red flags that McCusker has (strikeouts and chase rate). The next level may well be a bridge too far, but it is also possible that he could thrive given 100 at bats. Talent evaluation and projection aren't perfected and finding someone out of nowhere could be a big help to a club. That could be Gasper, it could be McCusker or it could be someone else they find.