The Brooks Lee Third Base Era is Beginning

[dxpavelka]

13 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

The pitchers are happy when they see Buxton in CF, Kreidler at SS and Lee at 3B, rather than Martin in CF, Lee at SS and Lewis at 3B.

If they are happy with Kreidler at SS they might not be the pitchers we need

 

[arby58]

6 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

He does.  But do you think he is still there if we are a contender?

 

Right now, we are a contender, and he's contributing. If he regresses, it's a conversation to have. The one I'd be looking to upgrade at the moment is Bell.

[Elliot]

Other than CF, the Twins seem to be in flux at every position. 

[David Maro]

If they think Lee is going to stay at 3rd then it may be time to move on from Lewis. The problem with Lee he has to work on throws to 1st because he doesn't have the arm that Lewis has. That was a big problem early on with Lewis was wild throws to 1st that he has improved greatly. Everyone is talking about oh boy Lewis has hit a couple of homeruns he is ready to return. Let's not get ahead with ourselves he needs to show that he has figured things out for more than a handful of at bats. As of now the whole infield is in flux. Everyday it's who's playing 1st,who's at 2nd,SS and 3rd. In my mind players are playing for a roster spot for 27.

[arby58]

4 hours ago, Elliot said:

Other than CF, the Twins seem to be in flux at every position. 

There are a few other constants: Larnach is going to play LF against right-handed pitching, and Martin is going to be in either RF or LF pretty much every day. It's also pretty clear who will be the starting rotation, barring injury or innings caps. We also know how will be catching, and when Jeffers comes back, he will be in the lineup most every day (although it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of those days he DHs, at least at first).

[dxpavelka]

5 hours ago, arby58 said:

Right now, we are a contender, and he's contributing. If he regresses, it's a conversation to have. The one I'd be looking to upgrade at the moment is Bell.

I won't disagree.  But I will point out that Bell is an experienced professional hitter.  I remember, three years ago, almost to the day, having similar thoughts about Donovan Solano who was sitting on FIVE RBI.  From that point forward, we don't win that division title without his contributions.  And Bell has THIRTY RBI which leads the team so he must be doing something right.

[arby58]

11 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

I won't disagree.  But I will point out that Bell is an experienced professional hitter.  I remember, three years ago, almost to the day, having similar thoughts about Donovan Solano who was sitting on FIVE RBI.  From that point forward, we don't win that division title without his contributions.  And Bell has THIRTY RBI which leads the team so he must be doing something right.

I also won't disagree, but he will need to turn things around IF he is to be viewed as anything but a liability. I hope you're right that he will.

He is not good defensively at 1B, and if Jeffers returns and needs to mostly DH for awhile, what happens to Bell? It's notable that the only player so far this year with a worse WAR for the Twins is currently playing in St. Paul.

RBIs are something of a stat of opportunity, and with the Twins second in the AL in runs scored, there have been plenty of opportunities for a hitter in the middle of the order. That said, you would expect better than a .363 slugging percentage and .647 OPS from the someone batting in the heart of the order.

[Wedman13]

I'm ready to admit I know nothing.  Was about to write off Lee, now 2 games on fire.  Maybe Confucius was right after all