Super Rosario Stars as Twins Sweep Doubleheader

I hardly recognize anyone in the Oriole's lineup, of course that was true of the Blue Jays too.  I liked the way our bats played, but not our pitching.  Romero disappointed and Perez against that lineup did not look good either.  He made innings, but again - look at their lineup.

But our bats really made noise and that is so fun.  Sano must be chomping at the bit to get back with the team.

 

Would you rather have Rogers pitch shorter bursts and be available to appear in more games? Or would you rather him cover multiple innings but be limited to fewer games? 

I've been saying this for quite some time and will continue to say it.

Every team should be trying to sign, acquire or create their own Andrew Miller or Josh Hader type. 

Taylor Rogers is our candidate for this type of role. 

2018: Josh Hader -- 55 Appearances - 81 Innings.

2018: Taylor Rogers -- 72 Appearances - 68.1 innings. 

2018: Jose Berrios -- 32 Appearances - 192.1 Innings. 

The Hader and Rogers numbers kind of highlight the difference in how they were deployed last year and it shows how Rogers can throw more than 1 inning per appearance if the organization looks at the Brewers and Josh Hader and considers it. Jose Berrios is listed for the hell of it to show that anything in between is also possible with Taylor Rogers and to simply ask the question back:

Would you rather have Berrios pitch in shorter bursts and be available to appear in more games? Or would you rather him cover multiple innings but be limited to fewer games? 

Baseball has been Auto-Pilot for way too long. Starters don't have to go 6 innings and relievers don't need to be limited to 1 inning. Everything in between is possible!!! 

It doesn't matter what inning... Taylor Rogers should be deployed whenever the game is tight and should remain in the game (there is a limit) until the offense provides separation. 

You won't create this type of weapon until the coaching staffs and front offices get over the 1 inning bullpen mentality and get out of the prefabricated boxes of closer, 8th inning guy, 7th inning guy, LOOGY. 

If you have a guy who can hang zeroes... let the guy hang more of them. Don't pull him just because you can't fathom anybody on earth throwing an additional inning out of the bullpen or because it was how your grandfather constructed his bullpen. Don't limit him to 55 special innings... increase his innings. The goal of every bullpen is to hang zeroes. Let the guy hanging them... hang more. 

Once you create a guy like this... there is nothing stopping you from creating another one so the other can get some rest.

This is how you get Bullpen serious. Stretch out everyone. Quit creating these specialists... Quit saving your best guy for the 9th inning only and only when you have a 1 to 3 run lead. 

When I see Baldelli get another inning out of Taylor Rogers... I am hopeful that it's an indication of a different bullpen usage mentality. I know it doesn't mean he is in lock step with me because it was just one time but I'm hopeful because it needs to happen. 

How do you get Rogers more innings?... Not appearances... Innings? That's the question that needs to be asked. 

I continue to have no complaints with how the team has been run. Rocco is utilizing his entire roster. 

However... I feel a complaint coming on. In my opinion: I think he has been great defensively at 3B but, It's time to start moving Marwin around the diamond. 

Sano is coming back eventually, Garver is hitting the ball and earning more AB's and Astudillo has been earning AB's all along. 

Let Garver catch more, Let Astudillo play 3B more, Move Marwin around the diamond spread the playing time burden around to everyone. 

It's time. 

I thought of another potential complaint that I’m not ready to complain about yet.

Baldelli does seem to have a locked down slotting of players in the batting order which leads to the question.

Wouldn’t we all like to see Byron Buxton get an extra AB every game he plays? It doesn’t have to be permanent but isn’t Buxton currently out performing the nine hole that he has been consistently hitting out of?

I normally don’t care about batting order but I’d put Buxton in the 1 or 2 hole as long as he’s hitting like he is and let him be a distraction on the bases while the pitcher is trying pitch to Cruz and Rosario.

Polanco... Buxton... Cruz... Rosario... Looks like a great 1-4 at the moment start to any batting order.

His OPS is good but when I watch him at bat I still see a fragility to the results that I'm not tempted to mess with success quite yet. A BABIP of .390 suggests that a few fortuitous balls have fallen in for doubles for him. I see a few too many center-cut pitches missed. So, I'd give it another month at least.

I also heard someone (Provus I believe) say that Byron ranks 2nd behind Bryce Harper in exit velocity which coupled with his speed leads to a possible logical (not concrete) explanation of the .390 BABIP. I'm not seeing fortuitous doubles. I'm seeing line drives of the base off the LF wall and some singles in the gap that he turned into doubles with pure speed. 

Personally... I rarely look at BABIP as a luck stat to be normalized down the road. I feel BABIP is more of an indication of solid contact and other factors like speed. 

Some people tend to use BABIP as a way to marginalize or downplay current success. When I look at a high BABIP, I tend to say "Nice Job... Good For You... Keep it Up". 

He already has 12 extra base hits in 61 AB's. 

I do agree that I'd like to see a big cut down in his whiff percentage. It's better so far this year in a small sample size but I'm salivating over the thought of him getting his strikeout percentage to Astudillo levels.