Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Brock Beauchamp

Site Manager
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    32,666

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    328

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Brock Beauchamp

  1. Brock Beauchamp
    It all depends on what you consider a #2... Personally, I think a guy who strings together a few seasons of 110-ish ERA+ ball is easily a #2 pitcher (Matt Garza, Brad Radke types). Your mileage may vary.
  2. Brock Beauchamp
    I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade but I put almost zero stock in what pitchers do to the Sox this season. They're last in the AL in OPS despite playing half their games in a child's shoebox. I just looked at the MLB stats and the Sox are 29th in OPS, ahead of only the Phillies. Ouch.
  3. Brock Beauchamp
    That's... Partially true. Nolasco has somewhat lucked his way into so many wins this month but he's been a better pitcher, despite being unlucky with a .374 BABIP. He has struck out 25 hitters in 28 innings while walking just six during that span. If he keeps it up, he's an above average pitcher (though I'm as skeptical as anyone about his ability to keep that up). I always assumed this to be the case. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Meyer is in Minnesota by season's end, pitching out of the pen. That might be the best thing for his development.
  4. Brock Beauchamp
    In the case of Pelfrey, I'm thinking there might be a team willing to swap rentals in a mutually beneficial move. Milone's return won't be much. I don't have high expectations for either player netting a great return but the Twins should be able to ship them out of town for a nice rental piece (or a low minors piece with moderate upside) if they keep it up.
  5. Brock Beauchamp
    That's the major cause of my skepticism as well but I don't think there are many good comps for Gibson. Buerhle has been a good #2 for a long time but he doesn't induce groundballs like Gibson. Jon Garland is another guy who doesn't miss bats but again, he doesn't induce groundballs like Kyle. Bartolo Colon... But again, doesn't induce groundballs. There are guys who pitch like a #2 for a prolonged period of time but fail to miss bats, I just can't think of one with Gibson's toolset offhand.
  6. Brock Beauchamp
    Yeah, I haven't looked at the guys who need protection next season but the Twins have to be approaching crunch time on the 40 man roster. It's something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
  7. Brock Beauchamp
    Best case scenario is the Pelfrey continues to pitch well and the Twins are able to shuffle him out of town for a position of need during a stretch run. I don't see Nolasco getting traded any sooner than this offseason and that's probably a stretch, too. It'd also be nice if they could get something for Milone. The Twins have a glut of mediocre starters and some of them need to be sent out of town so we can start thinking about getting Santana and Berrios (and maybe even Meyer) into the rotation later this year or in 2016.
  8. Brock Beauchamp
    I find it interesting that after all the teeth-gnashing about the "slow" rebuild, the Twins are lock-step with the Astros (though having watched many Astros games this year, I believe them to be the better team) but they got there one year faster than Houston. I rolled my eyes as much as anyone during the Kevin Correia-type signings but ultimately, it didn't matter or hinder the team's long game (on the other hand, moves like releasing Worley surely did). The Twins are rotating in younger players by the week and are in a very good position to keep racking up wins for the next half decade.
  9. Brock Beauchamp
    I don't know what to think of Gibson right now. Looking through his stats over the past two years, he has 40 starts. In 20 of those starts, he has given up two or fewer earned runs. That's... close to ace-like. The difference between 2014 and 2015 Gibson is that he hasn't mixed in a bunch of clunkers this season. After giving up six earned runs in his first start of the season, he hasn't given up more than three. Lucky? Probably, at least to some extent... But we might be watching the emergence of what many predicted was Gibson's ceiling as a prospect: a very good #2 starter who doesn't miss bats but induces a ton of groundballs. Those guys will always be prone to a single-game implosion but that's why they're a #2 pitcher, not an ace. What I find concerning is that his peripherals haven't really stepped up since 2014 and in some cases, they slightly regressed. Whether that will continue or whether the last few starts (more strikeouts and missed bats) are indicative of the new Kyle Gibson remains to be seen.
  10. Brock Beauchamp
    Trevor Plouffe didn't become a good player until age 28. Lots of players don't emerge until their mid- to late 20s and Aaron Hicks is all of 25 years old this year. Gomez didn't become an above average hitter until he was 26 years old. He didn't become a good hitter until he was 27. It's possible, maybe even likely, that Aaron Hicks is a bust. But given that he's not blocking anyone right now and the only other guy competing for a spot is even younger and more unprepared than Hicks (Rosario), he deserves to get daily starts until Buxton arrives and then he deserves to get spot starts around the outfield until he proves he can't hit. I just can't understand how people scream "PLAY THE KIDS" over and over again but then try to kick those same kids to the curb the moment they struggle. This is part of the rebuilding process and we need to be patient. Not all guys develop at the same pace and sometimes, you need to clench your jaw and just wait it out.
  11. Brock Beauchamp
    Yep. It's not as if he needs to OPS at .750 to have value. In today's game, a good defensive CF can OPS at .680 and still be a quality player. Not to mention that now is not the time to give up on Hicks. He looks different defensively this season. He's altering his approach to become more aggressive at the plate. In short, he's trying new things. That means he's listening to coaches and he realizes his weaknesses. As you said, there's nothing physically holding back Hicks from becoming a success and the small steps he has shown this season give me more hope for the kid than I've had at any time since early 2013, box scores be damned. Right now, I care about his approach, not the results.
  12. Brock Beauchamp
    You mean like Brian Dozier showed himself to be one of the worst players in MLB over his first ~450 PAs? Players don't develop at the same pace, Mike. Less than 600 PAs spread over three seasons isn't enough time to evaluate a player, particularly one that has been jerked around as much as Hicks. And David Ortiz is not an isolated case. He's not even a good comparison to Hicks because Ortiz was actually pretty good in a Twins uniform, or at least not terrible for a DH. On the other hand, Carlos Gomez had an OPS+ of 72 over his first 1400 plate appearances. Baseball history is littered with All-Star players who were awful for several seasons before breaking out and becoming a star. Hell, the Twins have two players who had one foot on a bus out of town and are now 3-5 WAR players because of patience. If anything, Twins fans should be more patient with struggling prospects because they've seen it pan out so successfully in the past few years.
  13. Brock Beauchamp
    That's the nature of prospects but anyone who advocates giving up on a guy as talented as Hicks better be prepared to be quiet for all of eternity if he goes all David Ortiz with another team after the Twins prematurely give up on him. The guy doesn't even have a full season of plate appearances yet. That's not enough time to evaluate his ability as a MLB player, particularly now that he's playing better defensively and taking the bat off his shoulder.
  14. Brock Beauchamp
    Well, for example, Arya roamed around aimlessly for nearly two entire books. Martin could have edited out roughly 200 pages and the reader wouldn't have noticed or cared about it. That should be a red flag that storytelling is taking a backseat to world-building, which is never a good thing.
  15. Brock Beauchamp
    I think this is where people are going astray with their analysis of Hicks. He has just 584 MLB PAs. That is a small sample size for a 25 year old former prospect. Yeah, his OPS+ is an abominable 67 but that doesn't mean he can't or won't improve. Through his age 24 season, Torii Hunter had 799 PAs and an OPS+ of 76. That doesn't mean Aaron Hicks will become Torii Hunter - far from it - but it does mean we should be more patient. Take a look at Trevor Plouffe and Brian Dozier before advocating the Twins give up or shelve a player because he's bad for several hundred PAs at the beginning of his career.
  16. Brock Beauchamp
    The characters remain true to form to a fault... That's kinda my point. We're 5,000 pages into the series and there are only four characters I want to read about at this point (Jaime, Arya, Tyrion, Jon). In a cast of 20+ major characters, that's a really low percentage. Martin has led the reader down too many dead end streets or mired his characters in repetitive behavior that disengages the reader. I don't care how awesome Sansa becomes in book six or seven because I've spent 4,500 pages wishing horrible death to befall her. There's no series of events that will bring her back from that. Dani isn't far behind. Same with Cersei. Caitlin Stark. Etc. etc. etc. and I just can't bring myself to care about people like Bran or Rikon. I could go on for half an hour about the characters I don't care about in the series.
  17. Brock Beauchamp
    Sure, it's possible - maybe even likely - that one or two of Arcia, Vargas, and Pinto are trade at some point but that won't happen this season. Maybe this offseason at the very earliest (unless Ryan makes a blockbuster deal at the deadline, which I think is unlikely).
  18. Brock Beauchamp
    Absolutely. The oldest player you listed is all of 25 years old. It takes time for some players to develop, particularly players who aren't regarded as top prospects (ie. a top 50 prospects on several lists). All you have to do is look at Trevor Plouffe and Brian Dozier to see that in action. Also, it should be noted that Arcia has a career OPS+ of 104 and he's only 24 years old. Why do we suddenly believe he's not a good hitter? IMO, he's basically a lock to be pretty good with the bat. The only question is whether he can field.
  19. Brock Beauchamp
    As Levi said, the show has character problems partially because the books have character problems. The further I get into the television series, the more down on the books I become. The first novel was an absolutely fantastic fantasy novel. The third was also very, very good... After that, the books are largely mediocre-to-good. Once you get past the intrigue and betrayal, you start to realize that most of the characters are a combination of evil and inept and never learn from their mistakes... Except maybe Dani, who actually regresses as a character and goes from very likable to "will someone kill her already?" Arya and Jaime are the best characters by a mile, simply because they actually progress as human beings. Tyrion is also fun but he never really stops being Tyrion... And that's okay because he's a fun character. The rest are interchangeable and Martin just keeps adding more interchangeable characters to the mix. Even formerly interesting characters like Cersei become stale after they just keep doing the same tired crap over and over again. The show is better than the source material but I'm skeptical even that can hold up if they keep making bone-headed moves that shuffle around characters but don't improve them meaningfully, not to mention they really need to stop raping major characters for no reason other than titillation of juvenile audiences.
  20. Brock Beauchamp
    For the Twins to get Howard for $6m, the Phillies would have to eat somewhere between $48-62m through 2017. That will cost the Twins a lot in return. Way too much just for Ryan Howard. In Howard, the Phillies saddled themselves with the dumbest contract I've ever seen handed to a MLB player. The Twins shouldn't be any part of helping the Phillies out of that contract by taking on some of the burden. I'd put even money on Oswaldo Arcia being just as valuable as Ryan Howard through the end of 2017. Why take on that idiotic contract when Oswaldo is making the minimum? The Twins have so many potential DH-types on the 40 man that it's pure insanity to add a decline phase, expensive DH to the mix in hopes that he'll help you win a few games in 2015. Thankfully, I'm almost certain Ryan feels the same way. I think there's virtually a zero percent chance Ryan makes such a ridiculous move this season. Healthy or not, Howard has a 103 OPS+ over his past 1417 plate appearances. He's 35 years old. He is owed between $53-68m through 2017. Why would anyone take on that kind of risk? Why why why?
  21. Brock Beauchamp
    I find it really puzzling that in 2013-2014, Hicks was not the defensive centerfielder advertised by scouts. In 2015, he is the centerfielder advertised by scouts. He's a different player this season, even if it's not showing up in box scores... yet. He was overly passive in previous seasons but now he has turned into an aggressive hitter. He'll need to move back to being slightly more passive (his contact rate, zone swing rate, and a few other peripherals are concerning) but I have hope that he can do that in time. I hold more hope for Aaron Hicks now than I have at any time since 2013.
  22. Brock Beauchamp
    Yeah, I don't think that's the right move for the Twins. It has been too long since fans saw competitive baseball and pulling the rug out from under them would hurt PR quite a bit.
  23. Brock Beauchamp
    Johan won three Cy awards, some writers were just too dumb to realize it.
  24. Brock Beauchamp
    I've been wondering the same thing. The guy doesn't have enough MLB innings to really trust any of the metrics yet.
  25. Brock Beauchamp
    Good luck finding 12 quality pitchers who can get nine batters out every third day. Most teams struggle to find five quality pitchers who can get ~15 outs every fifth day. Never mind how illogical it is to pitch Clayton Kershaw the same number of innings per season that you pitch the 12th man in your bullpen.
×
×
  • Create New...