Brock Beauchamp

All of baseball is suffering through record-breaking numbers of injuries so I’m not sure what kind of accountability can be found in the situation.

If there was ever must-watch regular season baseball, it doesn't get much more intriguing than tonight's matchup in Toronto. You know the crowd is going to be nuts with two of the top pitchers in the AL facing off.

Well, a small bummer but at this point “whatever”. It’s not as if we shouldn’t have expected this given the rest of 2021. But hey, at least it’s not an arm or shoulder issue! https://www.mlb.com/news/bailey-ober-to-miss-remainder-of-2021-twins-season

Well, we're officially in the last week of the season now. A mercy killing, to be sure, but it's always sad to see baseball wind down, as we Minnesotans know what that means... disappointment from the Vikings instead of the Twins. And sometimes the Wild. Sorry, Timberwolves, you're just pathetic and no one expects anything of you, ever. With only six left to play, the Twins have a chance to pull out of the cellar (2.0 GB Kansas City). And if they sweep all three from Detroit, they have a remote chance at erasing the 6.0 GB they currently sit behind the Tigers, provided you're truly terrible at math. The upside is that the Twins have been kinda exciting the past few weeks with both Ober and Ryan looking pretty good and making the 2022 pitching outlook turn from dismal to pretty-scary-but-maybe-okay-if-you-squint-really-hard. Of course, neither one of those pitchers will take the mound tonight, as we will see at least one more CBE before this wretched season concludes. It's not as if I dislike Charlie Barnes, I simply think he's a very bad starting pitcher. On the offensive side, Buxton always makes a game worth watching and we've witnessed some prime time Byron Buxton of late, as he has posted a 1.289 OPS over the past week of baseball. And Mitch Garver is back, too! And he looks like the Mitch Garver of 2019 again, absolutely crushing the ball between taking walks. Damn, it sure would have been nice to see those two accumulate more than 14 plate appearances between the two of them. Better luck next year, Twins fans! Detroit: 1. Akil Baddoo (L) CF 2. Jonathan Schoop (R) 1B 3. Robbie Grossman (S) RF 4. Miguel Cabrera (R) DH 5. Jeimer Candelario (S) 3B 6. Isaac Paredes (R) 2B 7. Eric Haase (R) LF 8. Dustin Garneau (R) C 9. Zack Short (R) SS P - Tyler Alexander (L) Twins (lineup TBD, this is my prediction): 1. Willains Astudillo (R) C 2. Willains Astudillo (R) 1B 3. Willains Astudillo (R) DH 4. Willains Astudillo (R) SS 5. Willains Astudillo (R) 2B 6. Willains Astudillo (R) 3B 7. Willains Astudillo (R) LF 8. Willains Astudillo (R) CF 9. Willains Astudillo (R) RF P - Charlie Barnes (L)

I’ve heard that. Haven’t watched it yet.

I agree with all of this, with the small caveat - and I said this at the time so it's not hindsight - that the team either needs to commit to Kepler in CF or go find a legitimate backup CF who won't be brutal in the field, thereby damaging the pitching staff. We all know Buxton won't stay healthy so a little insurance, at least defensively, was warranted. But ultimately, that ended up worrying about the margins and trying to put out a stove fire as the house burned down around us.

LOL yeah, Asimov didn't really believe in writing... women... I also don't remember the book that well - it's been two decades since I read it - but I know the show is wildly different, largely out of necessity. Most of the novel is a couple of people sitting around, often talking about some abstract concepts. Obviously, that doesn't work for the show, which needs strong, defined roles.

Agreed on Rooker. I quite confident we'll see Jax in Minnesota again, almost surely from the bullpen. His slider is good enough he'll receive more chances and he has options remaining. I believe the chance of Cave returning is near-zero. He's now arb eligible and there's absolutely no reason to start paying him a seven figure salary.

@Mike Sixel No commentary on Foundation yet?

I'm glad Gomez ended up having a nice career for himself but woof, he was one of my least favorite Twins if comparing skill vs. on-field style of play. For whatever reason and probably more than a little irrationally, I couldn't stand watching the guy unless he was playing defense.

There is an old adage suggesting that is the case but I've seen a lot of conflicting evidence whether it's true or not. I'm pretty much in the dark about where the limit is or if there is one at all, really.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding Ober, particularly in June and July, about whether to let it rip and potentially shutting him down in September or whether to keep his pitch count low - around 80 pitches per outing - in hopes that would allow him to reach the finish line in 2021. I was as skeptical as anyone but also wasn't willing to dismiss the idea out of hand, as it was an interesting mid-term strategy that I can't recall seeing used so strictly to manage innings for an entire season. Well, it appears it worked. Ober has hit some speed bumps in September but is still pitching adequately and has blown past his previous innings pitched numbers. 2017: 28.0 IP 2018: 75.0 IP 2019: 78.2 IP 2020: 0 IP 2021: 108.1 IP He has one remaining start so he'll likely end 2021 in the 111-114 IP range, roughly 35 IP more than any previous season and infinitely higher than the zero IP from 2020. I find the game theory in this interesting because I don't have a strong opinion either direction: is it more important to "fight through" lineups an additional time but then shut down late in the season or is it more important to adjust to the routine of a six month season, taking the ball every fifth day? And how does each impact that pitcher's ability to expand upon that the following season? And speaking of which, where would you place Ober's innings limit for 2022? Is 150 IP achievable? Or would you try to push even higher?

I'm 1.5 episodes through Foundation (had to stop suddenly) and I'm super-impressed. The production value is through the stratosphere and while it's not a direct translation of the novel - which is nigh impossible anyway - it feels true to the vibe of the story and I'm really into it. Apple TV+ is kinda killing it. I rolled my eyes when Apple announced the service but they've quietly become one of the highest-quality streaming services available.

So you're asking us to go out of our way to create workarounds for you to watch free videos while using an ad blocker?

Except I'm doing that mentally, I'm just not saying it out loud. C'mon, Ash. OPS is short hand. I could just as easily break it down into its mediocre components of .245 BA, .310 OBP, .330 SLG. If Rortvedt was a 27 year old catcher posting those numbers, I'd have him written in as a permanent backup catcher, underlined in pen. A .671 MiLB OPS for a 24 year old catcher isn't good. The jump between AAA and MLB will likely hack 30-50 points off that, at minimum. He has a good OPS in AAA but it's still a very small sample broken up into three stints. Can he improve? Absolutely, which is why I think he needs to be in St Paul for awhile. He's still relatively young, particularly for a catcher, but there isn't a standout skill that makes me think he's going to suddenly jump forward into being a good offensive starting catcher, at least not right now. Hence my original statement of "he is where he needs to be right now".

I think what terminology you use depends on expectations. I'd consider his hitting "acceptable" if he was slated to be a backup catcher... which is ultimately where I think he lands. That's not where I hope he lands but I think it's where he will land. But if expectations are higher, I think his .671 OPS falls short of "acceptable". I'd want to see something around .700 given that he has no standout skill, such as discipline or even contact. Everyone's mileage will vary on this, naturally.

Like Celestino, he pretty clearly needs more seasoning. Before the latest demotion, Rortvedt only had 120 PAs at AAA. He had never played in AAA before this season. Given how he has never been an acceptable, much less decent, hitter it makes sense to keep him at a level where he at least has a chance to succeed.

It seems like every night, Gordon inches closer to a guaranteed 40-man roster spot in 2022.

He has a career OPS of .671 in the minors. He needs to stay there in hopes his bat develops because if it develops into anything that can OPS at or over .700 against MLB pitching, he'll have a ten year MLB career as a catcher.

It was Davey Johnson who held the record with 43. I couldn't remember his name until I saw it.

One guy was ahead of Dozier in the NL, Dozier either led or tied the AL record.

Yeah, some really nice outfield defense. But a pitcher who gives up seven 90mph+ exit velocity balls and escapes with six outs and a single...

Semien tied the all-time 2B home run record there, I believe.

Robbie Ray isn't fooling anyone, he's lucky to have given up only one run.