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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    Listened to the Miracle game. 2 of the 3 hits (both by Lewis) were infield dribblers...two balls were hit well to the outfield. But, it’s early and the Florida State League...so they say. In addition to his double, Rortvedt threw out another would-be base stealer and has now nabbed 8 of 12. And with Lewis barely 50% in the SB department, despite reports of his elite speed, it got me thinking. Does the FSL also have longer basepaths?
  2. jkcarew
    Gets hit by pitch in first PA...naturally. Apparently not hurt...he remains in game.
  3. jkcarew
    The only Wander I'm interested in seeing play right now is Javier. Terribly provincial of me, I know. (But yes, If I was a bit closer to Cedar Rapids it would be interesting to see Franco )
  4. jkcarew
    I’d love a report on his fielding so far this year. Is his speed and range still truly elite? Sometimes young athletes lose a step as their body fills out. Notice he’s having poor early results in trying to steal bases this year.
  5. jkcarew
    I knew if the Twins were to ever show they can beat a really good team in a tight, low-scoring game, that it would have to be Odorizzi and Adrianza.
  6. jkcarew
    Apparently Wes Johnson’s “road to 95” (mph) for Gonsalves had a bit of a pothole. Nevertheless, thanks for including expected returns for all the guys that are out. Severino?
  7. jkcarew
    Only a quality start because Berrios was facing a AAAA lineup (without Mancini). He had nothing as evidenced by the fact that two struggling relievers...May and Mejia...both had innings that were cleaner than almost every inning Berrios pitched. Still, Berrios is not one to give up easily and the 6 innings were important for the bullpen.
  8. jkcarew
    I notice in the Ft Myers box that Lewis was caught stealing and was also picked off. I like the fact that he’s aggressively working on that part of his game. But fwiw, he’s hit a wall there at least temporarily. Now 11 SB with 8 CS at A+. That would project to Jorge Polonco on the bases...and his A numbers were pointing to something more Buxton-ish.
  9. jkcarew
    I think the term “league average” sometimes needs more context. Actually, Castro’s been slightly better than league average during his career...and very near league-average even in recent years...if you compare him to other catchers...which is probably the only relevant context. If you also buy that he’s at least average defensively, he’s a player you can win with at the bottom of the lineup. I like that the Twins seem to have better offensive options at the position. It’s a good problem to have.
  10. jkcarew
    I would think Baltimore fans would be very happy if this year's Orioles were the equivalent of the 1999 Twins team. Appearing on that club...all age 26 or younger... Doug Mientkiewicz, Christian Guzman, Corey Koskie, Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, A.J. Pierzynski, Brad Radke, Eric Milton, LaTroy Hawkins...(and the guy that couldn't make it, David Ortiz.) Give me 97 losses to watch, watching young players with talent, instead of 80-85 watching guys that will never contribute to a legitimately good team. Every. Time. It's always darkest before the dawn.
  11. jkcarew
    I was referring to those on our daily update top 20 prospect list. But, yes there are a few below that line, that are doing well. FWIW, when I say I'm looking for someone to 'take off'...I'm thinking maybe an OPS over 800. It's been Rortvedt. Arraez doesn't have that (actually not very close), Diaz doesn't. Cabbage is probably the best example right now of a relatively high prospect that is putting up some numbers early. The mitigating factors are the injuries (if that can be considered 'good') to top prospects...and the fact that, apparently, a 700 OPS is great if it happens in the FSL.
  12. jkcarew
    “Despite taking his third loss of the season, Duran owns a quality 3.63 ERA to begin 2019.” Except that ERA is below league average in the FSL. Still, the only place it seems he’s struggling is in keeping the ball in the park. Not many hits or walks, but stung by long balls a bit...in a league where they are rare. And the HR ball got him tonight as well. Keep waiting for a bat...someone...ANYONE...on any team...to take off. Like. Watching. Paint. Dry.
  13. jkcarew
    Nope, not yet, anyway. The 'good' part is that his BABiP is lower than it's been for any full professional season he's had. And his OBP is actually higher than it was last year at Fort Myers. The not-as-good part is that he's shown almost zero extra-base capability early this season, even compared to what he did last year at Fort Myers....and his stolen base success rate has taken a hit at this level, as well. Of course none of that matters that much given the sample size...especially if someone were to tell me that his defense at short is progressing nicely.
  14. jkcarew
    I'm just glad that whatever the issues were this spring with Thorpe, they apparently weren't injury-related. I think last night after 6 innings his pitch count was 69 with 9 K's. That means he was throwing the ball over the plate even when ahead in the count. A concept that seems not to have occurred to several starters and wanna-be starters on the Twins staff.
  15. jkcarew
    A month ago, it seemed that any number of Rochester starters could be knocking at the door by the end of April. Instead, it's impossible to find one to whom you'd want to give a major-league start right now. Everyone's results have been pretty bad. Will have to go with whoever has been pitching best (despite results) among Littell, Thorpe, Stewart...and hope for the best. Meanwhile, Rortvedt has been the best offensive player among prospects on this list...by a pretty wide margin. Good for Rortvedt, but not what plans or expectations were. Combination of injuries and slow starts has made tracking the position-player prospect list a bit...underwhelming so far.
  16. jkcarew
    And all in a crisp 3 1/2 hours. And that with a mercifully fast 9th. Odorizzi has the rare ability to slow a game down more the better he pitches...by staying in the game and continuing to pitch in his excruciatingly painful style. Then there’s the bullpen. It’s amazing the defense is playing as well as they are.
  17. jkcarew
    Let him be...he’s literally never had as much as two solid offensive months consecutively in his career. Let him find a sustainable level of confidence and comfort where he is before you ask him to be the leader or table-setter.
  18. jkcarew
    Now 7-0 against KC, DET, and BAL. 5-7 against rest of schedule. On to Houston.
  19. jkcarew
    Let's hope not. As 'horrible' as Sano's performance has been...or I should probably say, the perception of his performance...I don't think many of us are quite ready to have the 26 year-old Sano sit 70% of the games to platoon his career .802 OPS against right-handed pitching for 30 year-old Gonzalez's .737 against right-handed pitching.
  20. jkcarew
    Smoak is a switch-hitter, but the point is still valid...you'd rather turn Smoak around and have him hit from the right side. The problem is, Baldelli has one lefty he trusts. It's easy to say use Rogers there, but it's hard to pull that trigger when that leaves 3 innings in a close game with only Mejia available. At that part either call you make is probably wrong. They need a good LOOGY probably more than they need anything. I expect to see Moya as soon as he's available. Not that he's been great (yet) in that role. It's another indicator of how the FO had Molitor hand-cuffed in the bullpen..and now we're seeing Baldelli having to deal with it.
  21. jkcarew
    Reading my post..it was criptic. What I was trying to say.... Swinging earlier in the count reduces K-rate,...over time, you are less likely to strike out if you are hacking early. And I think the Twins have deliberately taken the approach to do that. (Albeit, probably for more reasons than to reduce K rate.) Currently the Twins have the 4th LOWEST K% in all of baseball....while seeing the fewest pitches per PA. It's early, but still not what I expected heading into the season.
  22. jkcarew
    Agree that 'hiding' the bullpen is about to get much harder...irregardless of level of competition. Offensively, you can tell there's an obvious intent to be more aggressive and swing earlier in counts this year. Twins are dead last in baseball in pitches per PA. Swinging before you have two strikes has helped the K%, and hurt the BB%...as you would expect. (Still have a relatively high team swinging strike rate.) This hasn't hurt overall production so far thanks to extra-base hits and a pretty high (unsustainable?) team BABiP of 320. We'll see...but it does seem funner to watch. At least as long as the results remain favorable .
  23. jkcarew
    Get it. But nobody else on the staff gave up a home run for every out they recorded...or even close. Then there were the HBP's/WP's. Wind or no wind...wasn't an outing that screamed "ready to come up any day now".
  24. jkcarew
    Agreed on the need to take the stats with a grain of salt going forward for a while. But, lest anyone think that Romero was anything but really bad in this appearance: he gave up one-third of the home run total, and retired 3 batters. Here was his sequence, starting from entering with 2 outs in the 4th... Caught stealing (to end the 4th), 5th: HR, HR, K (called), wind-blown single, HR, HBP, HBP, K (swinging), WP, ground-out. Even if the HR's should have all stayed in the part, that's not great.
  25. jkcarew
    Fort Myers BABiP so far: Larnach .280, Miranda .227, Lewis .200, Baddoo .143, Costello .125, Jeffers .118, Contreras .100, and Michael Helman .050. (Meanwhile Lewin Diaz is at .600 ) SSS, of course. But not THAT small...Helman's is the smallest...he's 1 for 20 on balls in play. Team OPS is .588 and they're 6-4... because the Pitching has been ridiculously good. Still, it will be more fun to watch this club when balls start finding the grass, as it's always a struggle to hit the ball over the fence in that park and that league.
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