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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    Once again, way too much credit for Solano, IMO. If he had been part of any 'plan' he would have been signed before spring training. It was an act of desperation when they figured out Polanco and Kirilloff were delayed. They've been lucky with it so far. But context on Donny Barrells... after todays nice performance, his OPS is 753...thanks to a 423 BABiP. Don't know how great or sustainable that is...but yes, as of April 12, thank god for Solano. After ST, I posted that I thought the Twins looked like a high-floor team, but not a high-ceiling team. After two weeks, they're the 4th or 5th worse offensive team in majors depending upon what metric you want to use. The question becomes, if this is GOOD lineup depth/flexibility...what would BAD look like? I actually think the ceiling might be higher than I thought. But certainly not because of anything I've seen from the 'starters', or the 'depth' or the 'flexibility' of the lineups. Because of the pitching.
  2. jkcarew
    Good point! The strike-3 to Robert was a huge break. And the bullpen made the break count. Which was nice.
  3. jkcarew
    Really good question…they literally have no OF or IF left, including Lee, without having to make a 40-man move. Is Polanco ready? It’s close, I know. And will Castro then be the SS?
  4. jkcarew
    And halfway through his rookie year, Chief was complaining about Walter Johnson. We all get it wrong sometimes.
  5. jkcarew
    True. But, you’re also old enough to remember when some of us us wanted Zoilo Versailles cut.
  6. jkcarew
    Ok, now we’re just embarrassing them.
  7. jkcarew
    Exactly this. And it’s an example of not all injuries being ‘accidents’. Most guys make the ‘play’ Buxton made there a million times without incident. Also why, it’s folly to think DH is going to protect him over meaningful time period.
  8. jkcarew
    I wonder how good of a hitter Cole Sands is?
  9. jkcarew
    Yeah. The white Sox probably feel the same. Jimenez and Moncada is a lot of potential fireworks missing. Although their pitching hasn’t been great. (Until this series, of course).
  10. jkcarew
    Hmm…was starting to fall behind guys, but 1 more inning seemed reasonable.
  11. jkcarew
    Those first 270 feet seem so easy for us.
  12. jkcarew
    I'm sure there's a rehab program. There's always going to be justification for sticking with the plan no matter what. And there's frequently going to be circumstances that warrant consideration of some flexibility and adaptability to the plan. It's a balancing act...unless it isn't, and you just go with what you perceive to be the zero-risk approach every time regardless of circumstances. It's early. We'll see if things become more flexible as time goes on. And we'll also see if this maintenance program (on top of the diminished DH role/demands) results in him playing significantly more than 50% of the season.
  13. jkcarew
    I don't know. I don't see him flailing away...his BB/K rates are so far better than last year. He's not getting anything to fall...low BABiP...and the power hasn't shown up yet. I think he'll be fine. Might help mentally, to drop in the order...but hard to do until Polanco, Correa, Buxton, Gallo/Kepler start showing up and playing on a consistent basis.
  14. jkcarew
    Here's what's annoying... OK, you can't play Gallo, and you find out maybe late that Correa can't go. Then, be willing to adapt to deviate from a ridiculously rigid maintenance schedule with your DH. Let him have tomorrow off, or the day after, or the day after that. Is he going to spontaneously combust? Give your team a chance. Especially, when...at least at this point...you have to assume the pitching staff is going to keep you in games. Other than that...another pretty well pitched game overall. If Maeda stays healthy, it looks like he's going to be very solid in a #4/5 slot.
  15. jkcarew
    Yeah...I don't think that Houston is what we can use as the standard for 'top' right now...not until the get Altuve and Brantley back, Bregman warmed up, etc. They're barely in the top half of the league in R/G...for context, the White Sox offense has been a good step better than Houston's so far. But, I'm not sure I care as long as Ryan keeps doing what he's doing. Maybe he'll take that next step, maybe he won't. Signs are encouraging. In the meantime, I have no problem with Ryan's quality as a #3, regardless of the terms we use to describe him. Barring injury and regression, it seems like a decent matchup against playoff-level teams' #3s.
  16. jkcarew
    My issue isn't that it wasn't a very good start. I thought it definitely was. 5 of the 6 innings were perfect, save for an error on a squib. Got through the meat 3 times, 3rd time being maybe the strongest, etc. But, yeah, I don't know if I would have gone with 'dominant'. On the other hand, that was not an elite, top-end lineup without Altuve and Brantley. Good still, but not currently the standard to be used for 'great' or 'top' or 'best'.
  17. jkcarew
    This is absolutely what I would HOPE. You take a ton of PA away from Taylor...replace those PA with a DH that at least has a shot of adding offensive value. And then when you do play Taylor, he has a better chance of having at least neutral overall value. With the Twins do it? I doubt it. Maybe at mid-season point if Buxton's still healthy?...AND, Kirilloff or Lewis or Julien are healthy and ready?...AND it still matters in the standings?
  18. jkcarew
    Even with Buxton's good start, he's currently 8th or 9th on the club in bWAR. I don't know of anyone that was saying he'd have ZERO value at DH. The point is, he'd have MUCH MUCH more value if he was playing CF. The difference between Buxton and an average DH is miniscule compared to the difference between Buxton and an average CF. And in the Twins case, he wouldn't be replacing an average CF...Michael Taylor is among the least valuable CF's in baseball (even accounting for the defense, and completely predictable). Also, I think everyone gets why he's DH'ing. But, it's a frustrating, kind of built-in formula for mediocrity, forced by Buxton's fragility.
  19. jkcarew
    Also, not expecting much. Interesting the nice comments...because the organization's ACTIONS say exactly the opposite. Moving Cavaco to 1B...having really never hit at any level...is buying a lottery ticket that he'll go from poor hitter to very, very good hitter. And in the meantime, they're moving him out of the way of Salas, Miller, and Schobel. FWIW, Cavaco has K'd 6 times in his first 12 PA.
  20. jkcarew
    Sometimes the article may be on point...but the timing is just unfortunate. Hopefully that's the case here.
  21. jkcarew
    I think as we see more of this offense, there will be pressure to bring him up sooner rather than later. On the other hand...if Buxton is written in in granite as the DH...it does limit the options on what you can do with him. Unless you assume he can play second base. I'm not sure exactly how the Twins feel about that. Meanwhile, he's showing signs of becoming more and more of a three-true-outcome guy. Big K% so far in St. Paul...but good OBP, and pretty good power. He seems like he'd potentially be 'just like Gallo' offensively...at least as he acclimates to major-league pitching. Not that that wouldn't be better than what we're getting from quite a few guys right now.
  22. jkcarew
    Even today, pitching wasn’t the problem. By the end of the days schedule, there will have been 40-50% of the league that scored 5 or more runs today. Playing Buxton at DH (instead of center) presents a big offensive handicap. Easy to ignore if the rest of the lineup was productive…or if you assume it WILL BE productive. Impossible to ignore when it’s not…or you don’t think it will be.
  23. jkcarew
    Mahle looks fine to me so far this year. There’s going to be bad starts. If they involve Mahle too often, there will be options. And on another note, if this is the 2023 standard for a bad outing, it’s going to be a good year. A major league lineup would probably be winning this game…or at least have a very good chance.
  24. jkcarew
    And/or, for the ability to see things a little more real-time, go to milb.com Go to ‘Teams’…then ‘Teams by Affiliate’
  25. jkcarew
    Well…without that sequence, Duran starts the 9th, so…😀 But, YES, it was clutch…and runs are always, er, almost always, a good thing.
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