Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Brock Beauchamp

Site Manager
  • Posts

    32,400
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    328

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Brock Beauchamp

  1. Not to be pedantic, but shouldn't it read "playoff berth"? Pretty sure "playoff birth" isn't the correct terminology. But, yes, I agree the Twins should start adding pieces next offseason. While I'm generally not a fan of $150m contracts to free agents, I'd be happy with the Twins picking up guys in the $50-90m range.
  2. Yeah, I'd prefer to see Buxton back off in exhibition games but I've learned that some athletes don't turn that stuff off and on based on situation. They're 100% GO TIME in every inning of every game. And that's okay. I'd rather see that than a player routinely take off plays or jog down the line on a grounder.
  3. A universe where Buxton is coming off a season when he got on base 28% of the time, which was still a 3% improvement over the previous season.
  4. What Buxton needs is a six week course at Delmon Young's School of Outfield Wall Avoidance®. BYTO users will know what I mean by that.
  5. To me, it really boils down to when he was using the pitch. Did hitters know it was coming because Hughes had just thrown two consecutive changeups after throwing three more to the previous batter? A deception pitch is usually only deceptive if the hitter doesn't know it's coming. All in all, I can't judge much from a single start. If Hughes is mixing in the change better two starts from now and it's still getting hammered, then maybe it's a problem.
  6. True, I misread that statement a bit. But that doesn't really change the story much. Hughes was working on a new pitch and it's the middle of March.
  7. That's fair and I guess I don't really care that much either way... what I care most about right now is that Buxton is nowhere near the top of the lineup. I want to see his OBP get well over .300 before I put him anywhere near the top of the lineup.
  8. No one is doubting Buxton's speed but if Byron can leg out a triple on a hit, Polanco should be able to score. Not only does Polanco get a 10 foot headstart (6-7 feet on the basepath, 2 feet more from Buxton starting from the RH batter's box), he starts out running (not coming out of a swing), and the distance to throw to home is usually a bit farther than a throw to third. If Buxton can catch up to Polanco on the bases, that means Jorge is a lot slower than what I've seen from him thus far.
  9. Yes, exactly. Polanco isn't going to get in anyone's way. He's fast enough to stay ahead of Buxton given a one base headstart.
  10. Kepler, if he pans out, looks more like a three hitter to me. He has the OBP and power and everything to succeed in that role. Whereas Polanco doesn't have the power, which makes him a better candidate for the top of the lineup.
  11. Hey, I'm as skeptical as anyone about Hughes being in the Opening Day rotation but I'm not going to use a stat line to make a decision. It's almost impossible for me to care less about the homers. What matters to me is that velocity. If the Hammond Stadium gun is accurate (and many reports suggest it is not), that's an encouraging sign... no, that's an understatement. That's an extremely positive sign and one that should get Hughes into the rotation on its own. If Hughes is throwing 92mph, he's one of the five best starters in the organization (maybe even the best starter in the org). End of story. If he's throwing 92mph and turns his change into an average pitch, he could be a well above average starter again. But I'm skeptical any of that will happen, especially based on a single game in mid-March.
  12. The guy is learning to throw a new (better) pitch. That's literally one of the main reasons Spring Training exists in the first place. Looking at a Spring Training stat line is how we get Aaron Hicks' 2013 season. How much success do you expect Hughes to have when batters see he's leaning heavily on a new pitch and throwing it far more often than he would in a regular season game so he can get a feel for it? As Nick mentioned, two of the three homers were off Hughes' changeup. How many homers does Hughes allow if he doesn't throw that pitch? One? Zero? Seven? That's why Spring Training stat lines don't matter... because pitchers often aren't playing the way they would in a regular season game.
  13. That's not really fair, as I didn't watch the game and Nick's write-up was the only thing I read about it... yet I gleaned all of those points from Nick's article.
  14. What's wrong with that assessment? Nick noted three things: 1. The wind was blowing out in the stadium. 2. Hughes is returning from a serious injury and hit 92mph (though the gun may be generous). 3. Hughes was throwing a pitch with which he's not fully comfortable, which led to the homers. Spring Training isn't (or at least shouldn't be) entirely about results, especially for veterans.
  15. Yep, I've been flogging that point for awhile. Framing isn't so much about tricking the ump, it's about getting your pitcher the strike he threw.
  16. 300 episodes! Good God! And to think I've listened to almost every one of them...
  17. The irony of people who don't play baseball professionally but spend their days on a baseball forum complaining about professional baseball players having non-baseball hobbies is pretty spectacular.
  18. I think this board suffers too often from "show me newness". Murphy is actually a few months younger than Garver. He had a comically bad 2016 but was a relatively productive player before that point. He's considered an acceptable defender. Really, Garver and Murphy aren't that different as players. And Murphy has already burned through options. It makes all the sense in the world to see what you have in the guy who's not going to stick around before you try the guy who has no choice but to stick around for close to a decade. And it's not as if I'm suggesting Murphy should get a season of play before making a decision. Give him two months to see if 2016 was an aberration or a trend.
  19. It's not that he can't hit, I'm just not convinced he'll be better than Castro overall in the next year or two. And service time isn't a big deal but if it makes sense to tack on a seventh year for a guy you hope is with the team for quite some time, may as well do so.
  20. This is the timeline I'd aim for if I was the Twins: June-July 2017: Garver gets a call-up, potentially earlier if Murphy is struggling and Garver is playing well. 2018: Garver starts as the back-up catcher, may play more often based on both his and Castro's performance. 2019: Garver begins to take more playing time from Castro, again based on performance. Castro is elite defensively today and his offense is good enough to play as the full-time catcher. As that changes, Garver can begin taking playing time from him. There's no reason to cut Castro's playing time to a partial role before he's played a single regular season game for the team. Well, not for Mitch Garver, anyway. The guy looks to have an adequate bat for the position but it's far from overwhelming. As a 25 year old, he posted a .750 OPS in AA over 400 plate appearances. That isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. An added bonus for putting Murphy out there, finding what he looks like, and gaining an extra year of service time for Garver in the process.
  21. Well, catching works on a slightly different timeline. And is it more important for Garver to get reps two out of three nights in Rochester or one out of three nights in Minnesota? Given the roster construction and the signing of Castro, I don't see a reason to push Garver... but I don't really like the idea of Gimenez getting those reps, either. Run with Murphy and then make a decision on Garver as the season unfolds.
  22. Somewhere out there, Scott Baker is crying that his career was cut short by injury.
  23. http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/180000/velka/bucket-of-baseballs.jpg
  24. Hah, fair enough. Actually, Myers causes me a bit of worry about Kepler. Both players are pretty athletic (maybe Kepler a bit more than Myers) and both were considered outfield "tweeners". They're athletic enough to play center in a pinch but aren't great at any outfield position, which shouldn't be the case due to their athleticism. I hope Kepler figures it out in the field where Myers couldn't seem to do it. I mean, Myers swiped 28 bags last season. He's got wheels on him.
×
×
  • Create New...