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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    I thought we were looking at least a four, if not a three. But, the very instant I first saw Pineda on the mound this spring, I lowered my expectations. I found myself less concerned with his pitches than with the possibility that he would injure himself simply navigating around the mound or experience some type of cardiac event. 10 short weeks later, he's in a position to exceed my lowered expectations.
  2. jkcarew
    Regarding the numbers, taking out the periods of struggle would make every player look better than they are. The AAA results, including power/ISO aren't particularly good at this point (other than OBP...boosted quite a bit by an unsustainably high BABiP). But I agree he has a bit of a pattern of having better second-halfs. We'll see what his second half looks like this year...then, in 2020 in all likelihood, we'll see what it looks like for him to repeat a level. (Unless traded, maybe.) To me, there's still way too much that can go wrong with Rooker to have him rated this high...not the least of which is how his bat will need to play given his defensive options at the major league level. And especially relative to guys like Rortvedt and Arraez who seem to be well on their way to establishing floors that put them in the majors.
  3. jkcarew
    Brent Rooker..."this is a power bat that doesn’t have a ton of swing and miss." I have to ask myself...given his 38% K-rate in AAA, what does a 'ton of swing and miss' look like to you? Rooker's K-rate as a 23 year-old last year in AA was higher than Miguel Sano's was as a 22 year-old in AA. With Rooker the story hasn't changed up to this point. Until his profile changes, the power better be HUGE. And frequent.
  4. jkcarew
    I don't mind the bunt there in general...at home, late,when even one run scored flips the win probability in a major way. Having said that, I don't think I would have chosen to bunt with that match-up. Watching him, Polanco definitely took a very conservative 'sacrifice-first' approach, IMO. Another way of saying it would be...if he was bunting for a hit, it was about the worse possible bunt approach/placement he could have taken. Bottom line, just got beat by a good pitcher. Boston has a ton of very good starters. The encouraging thing is that Berrios dominated a playoff calibre lineup. You can look at his game logs the last couple of years and you'll see plenty of nice outings. But, he's seldom been able to dominate a really good lineup. It looked like that stuff he had last night would play in a matchup vs Sale, Verlander, etc.
  5. jkcarew
    From Danchat (I take this to mean...after the Southern League all-star break.) http://twinsdaily.com/topic/33539-article-twins-minor-league-report-614-blankenhorn-walk-off-winner-lifts-wahoos/?do=findComment&comment=863217
  6. jkcarew
    Thanks much!...I hadn't heard anything. If its the wrist, I have two reactions....one, why the mystery with the 'undisclosed' when he went to the IL; two, it's a re-injury....I go from wanting him playing, to pumping the brakes...they obviously already made one mistake by rushing it.
  7. jkcarew
    Anyone seen Alex Kirilloff lately? Has he been with the club in Pensacola, or perhaps in Ft Myers? Will he be back after the Southern league all-star game? Should we file a missing persons report? Two weeks and counting for a 7-day IL ‘undisclosed’ injury...for a #2 prospect...and apparently nobody in the Twins Cities can get an update?
  8. jkcarew
    In a 162 game schedule, sometimes a hot team with tons of momentum, starts playing poorly several games before results actually turn sour. Hopefully, that isn't what started last week, because the Twins didn't play well at all. They played 6 games at home against two really, really bad teams and outscored them 35-31..most games could have gone either way. Rather than looking/hoping/wishing that the Twins make a move for pitching...and least in the very near-term...I'm going to be looking for some better play in the upcoming week. Maybe the reality of a Red Sox team that seems to be turning the corner will be enough to cut through the issues and distractions of the past week and sharpen the Twins play on the field.
  9. jkcarew
    I’ve always been in the ‘take the chance to get to second with two outs’ camp. And I still like that...but maybe not quite as much when the club is on pace to hit 300 home runs and the guy that follows you is on pace to hit 40. And that’s how it played out. Great point on the positioning of Gonzalez for the Hamilton play. Without that he has no chance, and Hamilton is probably on second with a single and a stolen base.
  10. jkcarew
    The Florida State League all-star game...2-0 with a total of eight hits between the two teams along with 20 K’s and 2 BB. Seems fitting. Lewis batted 9th and went 0-3, but didn’t K, and handled 4 chances cleanly at short. Larnach and Diaz were busy in the field as well, with Larnach charged with one error. Jeffers DH’d.
  11. jkcarew
    Since we’re solving mysteries...what’s the latest on Kirilloff?
  12. jkcarew
    Statistically, the Twins bullpen is 'ok'...still top half in terms of FIP, and most numbers that one would care about. Still not what you might want for a team that looks good enough to compete with the best in the post season. But the thing that is most concerning to me...the Twins are right at the bottom of MLB in innings pitched by bullpen. In other words, this is as good as it's likely to get with the current cast of characters. Any regression/struggle at all by the starters and we'll see more of the bottom half of this bullpen in leverage situations. Maybe that doesn't matter in the race to win the ALC? Maybe that won't matter in the post-season with Pineda and/or Perez moving to the pen? Maybe Mejia will ride in on a white horse?
  13. jkcarew
    When you have 6 outs left, lead by 9 runs, and end up having to warm up your best guy (Rogers was up in the pen in the 9th)...who is trying to heal an injury....that's not good. And this type of finish to blow-outs has happened multiple times. I agree it's not likely to matter in the regular season. But help in the minors seems non existent...and the trade deadline isn't really that far away.
  14. jkcarew
    Jeremy also likes to end most of our baseball conversations with "even my hapless club has managed to win more championships than yours in the last quarter century!" Great guy, that Jeremy.
  15. jkcarew
    So, you're saying the Twins should look to trade Rortvedt?
  16. jkcarew
    Sano's a nice 'problem' for this team to have. I agree with those that would like to see improvements in approach and recognition. I think small improvements would have a big impact. We have a lineup that affords the Twins the patience to see if that can happen. My wish (dream) is that Nelson Cruz likes to talk, and Miguel can get to a place where he can listen/learn. I like watching Sano. Shows a lot of joy for the game and his team-mates, IMO.
  17. jkcarew
    Interesting article. But, IMO...with balls flying out of parks at ridiculous historical rates, you'd want to look at OPS+ (or wRC+)...not OPS. But, it's enough for me that they are the best in baseball so far in 2019. The offensive over-performance is due to almost all players having performed toward the top of their reasonable expectation/projection. Kepler, Polanco, Rosario, Cruz, Cron, Schoop, Garver, Castro, Buxton. That's 9 names. That just doesn't happen. Then you consider that the others...Gonzalez, Adrianza, Sano, Astudillo, etc...have all ranged between decent and good. Most experts thought the offense would be good...above league average overall...but, then this happened.
  18. jkcarew
    I did...there was acknowledgment that the bases should have been loaded with nobody out...but not the usual outrage that we get when the call goes the other way. I’m firmly in the ‘let the umpires call the pitches, it’s not a big problem’ camp. But that was one of the worse calls on an extremely high leverage pitch that we’ll see all year.
  19. jkcarew
    Thought for sure I’d be reading all kinds of pleas and arguments for electronic calling of balls and strikes. Guess not. Weird.
  20. jkcarew
    Nice to hear encouraging comments on Lewis’s defense. And he’s striking out less recently, so there’s that. His name doesn’t come up much, but I would think Diaz has made himself a legitimate trading chip. After all, he was a pretty highly regarded hitting prospect prior to last season...and at age 22, he’s not an ‘old’ prospect yet. Even better if he can get to AA soon and be productive. If the Twins don’t trade him, it’s starting to look more possible that they could lose him via rule-5 (unless rostered).
  21. jkcarew
    Murder on Gemini’s.
  22. jkcarew
    I don't know that there was a question there. But there was a question here....
  23. jkcarew
    Kirilloff was eligible to come off the IL for today’s Pensacola game...but no. What is the injury? When is he expected back?
  24. jkcarew
    Blankenhorn, Cabbage, Arraez, Diaz, Balazovic, Poppen, Smeltzer...not that hard to argue that it would be more fun this year to track the “2nd 20” prospects than the top 20.
  25. jkcarew
    I think "integrity of the game" is fine (IMO), as long as playing fields are level. For those that equate the integrity of the game with the state of historical records...that ship left port before this year, with both home runs and strikeouts. Approach, ballparks, the baseball, etc. It doesn't bother me any more than it does to hear announcers drone on and on during NFL games about the amazing passing yards and receiving yards players x and y have. Just as meaningless, if not more so, than 2019 HR numbers in MLB. I tend to tune that out, and enjoy the competition of the game.
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