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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    Rochester has the makings of a team that is going to be able to lose in all kinds of different ways. One of the more relevant thing that happened last night is that Ryan Jeffers finally had a game where he contributed offensively. Meanwhile, he threw out 2 or 2 would-be base stealers. He's now thrown out 3 of 6 on the young season. Rortvedt has thrown out all 4 who have attempted steals against him. I find it interesting that, so far (10 games), neither Rortvedt nor Jeffers has appeared in a game at a defensive position other than catcher. It's either catcher, DH, or bench for both. The time behind the plate seems to be split evenly.
  2. jkcarew
    "Generating hard contact, like we discussed with launch angle, is not all that valuable in a vacuum." Misleading. Hard contact is always valuable. Always. Exit velocity has a high positive correlation with BA, SLG, BABiP...everything...even bullets hit on the ground. Launching is good. But, the data that shows results are better when the ball is launched is skewed (at least to some extent) due to the fact that the skill to put the ball in play to the opposite field is nearly extinct. The data is going to show it's especially ineffective (relative to pull/launch/K) when nobody can do it well...or that when it occurs, it occurred by accident by someone that was actually trying to pull/launch. If a twelve year old Rod Carew or Tony Gwynn were to come along today, there would be a coach changing his approach by the time they were 16.
  3. jkcarew
    $3 to watch two different (well, mostly the same) world championship teams win games in about 2 1/2 hours. Yeah....that sucked.
  4. jkcarew
    Yeah...when I see such awful results out of the gate, my mind goes to the same dark place...or that he has an injury that he's not disclosing. Hopefully, neither. But it sure would feel 100% better if he posted even one positive outing soon. The only things we (fans) have seen from him so far in 2019, including the ST game appearances, have been bad.
  5. jkcarew
    After their first 250 at-bats (collectively), Fort Myers team BA is .201 and team SLG is .297. Was looking forward to watching them given the very large number of top-20 position players in the lineup, but so far in my two attempts it's been like watching paint dry. As a group, still getting their BB, and not striking out a ton...but still waiting for the base hits, and x-base hits.
  6. jkcarew
    Aren’t the bullpen’s issues easier to take for the thousand or so of you that predicted exactly this?.......No? Fandom.
  7. jkcarew
    Austin riding pine tonight against a right-handed starter. (His first two game with SF were both vs lefty starters.) Belt at 1B, Gerardo Parra in LF.
  8. jkcarew
    Yep...it's probably fair to call what they are do experimenting. Out of the gate they seem to have it like this (in terms of Left Field) Belt > Austin > Posey. Hopefully, the experimenting will result in somewhat regular at-bats for Austin so we can see what he can be.
  9. jkcarew
    Wrong! Austin gets a start in LF against a lefty. Belt benched, and Buster Posey plays first base. So, they'd rather have Austin in the OF than Buster Posey. (Austin was removed for a left-handed pinch-hitter later in the game.)
  10. jkcarew
    Again, the early tea-leaves indicate Austin might be used to platoon at 1B and come off the bench. Last night's starter for the opponent was a lefty. Austin started at first, and Belt moved to LF. Let's see what happens when they see a few right-handed starters. Bottom line, it's kind of moot. Once Cron was signed, there was no way Austin was going to remain on the 25-man roster all year, or even very long (outside of injury to Cron/Cruz).
  11. jkcarew
    The encouraging thing for Romero was "only" 40 pitches in 3 innings and zero walks. Strike % was up a bit, 3-ball counts were down. More of that, and we're in business. Discouraging for Stewart, but I don't think hugely discouraging. It was kind of the perfect storm of what his challenges will be, and what we already know them to be. He couldn't finish guys off with K's when he needed it most...and all the balls in play, despite only a couple of hard-hit balls, resulted in multiple consecutive hits.
  12. jkcarew
    Belt to LF (made a small handful of appearances in the OF in 2018)...Austin to 1B. They’re not going to play Austin in the OF.
  13. jkcarew
    The bats have been a bit slow coming out of the gate, to say the least. Gordon, Javier, and Kirilloff being out makes it seem worse, I suppose. Rooker now with 9 K’s in 16 PA at Rochester (after posting 12 K’s in 23 PA in spring training). But there’s no question the results are fantastic when he happens to swing where the ball is.
  14. jkcarew
    I think ranking Colina as a potential major league power starter is more hope than projection. Beware the 6-0 (ish) power starter...they usually make good relievers, and we got a lot of them: Colina, Romero, Graterol.
  15. jkcarew
    Don’t think Cave is going anywhere. A catcher and Adrianza are the most vulnerable, I think...but again, it could be Cave based on his option...and still good chance it’s moot if only one guy needs to DL in the next several weeks. Doubt seriously that any major league team sees Austin as an outfielder, even a platoon OF. In 91 appearances, Austin started 3 games in the OF...that was awhile ago, with the Yankees...and they replaced him in two of those games.
  16. jkcarew
    I tend to agree with this. As far as the Twins are concerned, Romero's a reliever. I suppose things could change in the long-term if he were to start showing command/efficiency, including a quality 3rd pitch. The signs that he would be challenged starting in the majors have been there for some time. Was never an innings-eater or particularly efficient. Tended to fade late in seasons...K-rate took significant hits as he faced better batters in AA/AAA. A lot of us were probably mesmerized by low-level results and MPH...especially the MPH, since it's something the system had lacked forever. Still probably true that if he develops major-league command...even with just the two pitches...he's a good back-end guy. Without the command...well, that's what he is right now.
  17. jkcarew
    IMO, the key for Astudillo's value is the developing power, not the 'defensive flexibility'. A .300 hitter isn't that valuable if it comes with zero walks and no power (and no base-running)...which was the case with Astudillo for the majority of his professional career. But, his power seems to be developing...showing way more SLG in the last couple of years than he had earlier in his professional career. So, if the x-base hits continue to come along, he has a very legitimate shot to hit his way into a regular major-league role. I just think it's going to be as a catcher/DH or as a 3rd-baseman. It seems pretty clear that the Twins consider him only an emergency option in the outfield, and no option at all in the middle infield. So, in that regard, it's not looking, at least so far, like he's going to be a 'super-utility' guy.
  18. jkcarew
    Hope Thorpe is healthy. Wasn’t good in very brief spring training look. Now this.
  19. jkcarew
    In my mind, I had the Twins basically giving up on Diaz. Seems he's been around forever, and his results haven't been very encouraging, given how the bat will need to play at 1B/DH. But the perception has a lot to do with the ridiculous situation for international players where they're professionals at 16 and rule-5 eligible before they can clear A ball. Fact is, Diaz is the same age as Larnach, playing on the same team...even though, at this point, most of us (probably for the wrong reasons) have infinitely higher expectations/hopes for Larnach. Interesting.
  20. jkcarew
    I look at it differently. Helman is a year older than Larnach and Jeffers...played the extra year of college ball (in a top program/conference), which also explains maybe droping a few rounds compared to the juniors. To me, if they like him at ALL they should be getting him to Fort Myers sooner rather than later. Either way, it's encouraging. The absence that has me a bit surprised is Rortvedt. The inclusion that has me surprised is Willie Joe Garry. Did I miss something, or is he kind of coming out of nowhere in your rankings? A 9th round draft pick (article says 10th, btw) that hasn't registered anything positive in an official league as of yet. My guess is you're hearing things regarding Garry from people in the organization?
  21. jkcarew
    How 'bout me... The Twins will play the Royals and Tigers a total of 38 times this year. That's nearly a quarter of the schedule! I don't think there's anything nicer that could possibly be said.
  22. jkcarew
    Have to try to give Astudillo more at-bats at this point and see how he progresses. FWIW, he's younger than Garver. Someone smarter than me would need to calculate the hit defensively vs the likely win offensively if you went the Garver/Astudillo. Something tells me the pitchers wouldn't be thrilled with that. Astudillo's got 101 PA...there probably isn't a pitcher in the league that has saw him a second time yet...or a team that has game-planned him. So, we'll see. But if he hits, he hits...and then it might be time to think about getting in shape so he can take the grind and his club might realize his (potential) defensive flexibility at positions other than catcher. It's funny how being 40 lbs past your ideal body weight is endearing when it's an over-achieving career minor-leaguer, but a lack of dedication and professionalism when it's a struggling big bonus-signing top prospect.
  23. jkcarew
    CF – Jimmy Kerrigan / Tanner English 2B – Luis Arraez OF – Jaylin Davis (Alex Kirilloff) 1B – Taylor Grzelakowski DH – Mitchell Kranson OF – Ernie De La Trinidad / Jaylin Davis 3B – Drew Maggi / Brian Schales SS – Jordan Gore C – Brian Navarreto Are you suggesting that Alex Kirilloff will serve as the 3rd corner outfielder behind Jaylin Davis and Ernie De La Trinidad? I suppose it WOULD represent and new and creative approach to player development...something the previous regime wouldn't have thought of.
  24. jkcarew
    Someone had the nerve to say that the staff wouldn't finish the season leading the league in strikeouts and demolish the all-time single-season record? Ban them!
  25. jkcarew
    Carlos Gonzalez, as well, will be an improvement...even such that he is at this point in his career. That is an awful lineup right now...and then Ramirez wasn’t swinging it...might have rushed him back.
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