Twins Minor League Report (4/12): Red Wings Play Extras To Gain First Win

It's worth clicking on that Cedar Rapids boxscore and looking at those top three hitters.  

Great night all around--lots of great performances.  Nice outing from Curtiss.

I watched the Cedar Rapids game and listened to the miracle. Nice to see Royce get going! And Kirilloff stayed pretty good too.
Tyler Wells is an absolute stud. I can’t believe he’s not in the top 30. He’s an incredibly intimidating looking guy, and looks WAY more buff than last season. He was consistently 93/94 mph, and was absolutely dominant. Again. Wells doing Wells things. He’s back up to 11k/9 already. Do you think he will get to Chattanooga by the break if this trend keeps up?

I was astonished they didn't walk Mauer to load the bases and set up a double play and pitch to Sano.

Of course, glad Joe got hit 2,000.

Wells doesn't get the attention of national prospect writers because of draft position and his age vs level. But 178 Ks in 145 IP says there is something there.

Hope he does well in Fort Myers and gets promoted mid year. It will be fun to see if he can do it vs more mature batsman.

And Baddoo has more SBs than Lewis? Despite his slow start he is still taking walks and getting on base. Hopefully as the weather warms his strike outs be come hits and he really gets going.

Is anyone else as upset as I that minor league baseball has decided to change the rules of the game beginning with the 10th inning.  

That decision is absolute horse 'you know what,' in my opinion.

Wells doesn't get the attention of national prospect writers because of draft position and his age vs level. But 178 Ks in 145 IP says there is something there.
Hope he does well in Fort Myers and gets promoted mid year. It will be fun to see if he can do it vs more mature batsman.

And Baddoo has more SBs than Lewis? Despite his slow start he is still taking walks and getting on base. Hopefully as the weather warms his strike outs be come hits and he really gets going.

He is 23, the exact average age of A+. So I am not sure where this "age vs level" thing is coming from. I suppose if you're comparing his age to top 3 rounders at this level, then yeah, by a year or 2. But everyone knows he was a bargain and should have gone top 10, but he missed some time his junior year of college. Either way, he's damn good and if he stays healthy he will be a top prospect. I don't know if I have seen such smooth, repeatable mechanics on a 6'8" guy before. It's exciting though. Andy Pettite was a 22nd rounder. Late bloomers are my favorite! I just love their underdog, watch my prove it mentality. I like Andrew Vaquez and Poppen for this reason too

It doesn't upset me, the affiliated minors are the laboratory for the majors, which I think is great. Most sports don't have the luxury of experimentation like baseball does.

 

If it doesn't look like a solution for the majors they'll abandon it.

Do we know how MiLB is treating stats in the 10innings and beyond?  If a pitcher comes in, in the 10th and gives up a hit, does that run count agains his ERA?  I am not sure that is fair.  

He is 23, the exact average age of A+. So I am not sure where this "age vs level" thing is coming from. I suppose if you're comparing his age to top 3 rounders at this level, then yeah, by a year or 2. But everyone knows he was a bargain and should have gone top 10, but he missed some time his junior year of college. Either way, he's damn good and if he stays healthy he will be a top prospect. I don't know if I have seen such smooth, repeatable mechanics on a 6'8" guy before. It's exciting though. Andy Pettite was a 22nd rounder. Late bloomers are my favorite! I just love their underdog, watch my prove it mentality. I like Andrew Vaquez and Poppen for this reason too

Because the average player at any milb level is not a legit prospect, and will never sniff the major leagues.

Therefore, legit prospects should hopefully move along faster than an average player at each level.

It's certainly not a deal breaker , but it's a legitimate point of data to consider.

Minor league players already have a tough day. Little is gained from long games, I have no issue with the change at all. It literally hurts no one

This is what I was going to mention. What is the point of playing extra innings for these guys? You want to keep them healthy, and being in a demanding, grinding schedule doesn't mix well with 15 inning games. Also, what happens if they run of out pitchers or overextend someone in extras? The rule makes sense...as long as it stays in the minors. 

If it became a permanent difference between the majors and minors, it could harm the perception by local fans that the games are being played competitively. That's already a problem IMO, with obvious strategic moves (lefty-vs-righty pinch hitters for example) not being employed in critical situations, and pitching moves or non-moves made with apparent orders from higher up to allow a certain number of pitches to a starter no matter what. Gimmicky extra-innings rules won't by themselves cause fans to tune out and not show up at the ball park, unless they happened to be the tipping point on top of everything else.

But affiliated minor leagues ARE for development. If the local fans don't realize that, then that's on them.

He is 23, the exact average age of A+. So I am not sure where this "age vs level" thing is coming from. I suppose if you're comparing his age to top 3 rounders at this level, then yeah, by a year or 2. But everyone knows he was a bargain and should have gone top 10, but he missed some time his junior year of college. Either way, he's damn good and if he stays healthy he will be a top prospect. I don't know if I have seen such smooth, repeatable mechanics on a 6'8" guy before. It's exciting though. Andy Pettite was a 22nd rounder. Late bloomers are my favorite! I just love their underdog, watch my prove it mentality. I like Andrew Vaquez and Poppen for this reason too

We all enjoy late bloomers. They are part of what makes prospect wacthing fun, but Wells is either a Baxendale type of pitcher or there is something more there. Hope he gets to AA this year so we can see.

"An interesting note, in a couple of the extra innings, the Red Wings manager had the pitcher intentionally walk the leadoff batter of the inning to set up a first and second situation. It worked the first two times."

 

I am very interested in seeing how this plays out over the course of the season. If you are the home team, I think it is smart to follow the run expectancy rules and not walk the leadoff hitter (Teams score an average of roughly 1.10 runs with a runner on 2nd and 0 outs, vs the roughly 1.50 runs with a runners on 1st and 2nd and 0 outs).

 

However, if you are the visiting team and you can't give up a single run or you lose, the best approach would be to use the best strategy to prevent giving up a single run. In terms of runner on 2nd and 0 outs vs 1st and 2nd and 0 outs, they are nearly identical at roughly a 61% chance of giving up a run.

Great post, Andrew. I assume the scoring % stats used are for the major league play. I'm relatively clueless about MiLB nuances. Never been to a game, but with having less experienced and talented infielders are grounded into double plays less common in the minors? Plus, I assume MiLB pitchers tend to give up more walks than major leaguers with first base already occupied. The logical strategy might be much different for A ball in comparison to AAA. Just spitballing. Anyway, it's another interesting thing to think about when scanning the box scores.

This is what I was going to mention. What is the point of playing extra innings for these guys? You want to keep them healthy, and being in a demanding, grinding schedule doesn't mix well with 15 inning games. Also, what happens if they run of out pitchers or overextend someone in extras? The rule makes sense...as long as it stays in the minors. 

You make a good point. On one level, I agree. But I also am an "old school" guy who used to hold season tickets to Orlando Twins games and always was of the mindset that baseball is baseball. Extra innings? No problem. Play 10, play 20. I always liked the drama of extra inning games, even in the minor leagues. It's the way the game has always been played. In any case, I'm still on the fence regarding this new extra innings rule, or whatever they are calling it. Not crazy about it, but not saying I won't change my mind at some point.