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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    I have no problem taking a chance on 'injured' players in the 5th round. Especially pitchers...a huge percentage of them end up getting injured and recovering while they are in the minors regardless.
  2. jkcarew
    I agree with others here that the Twins must feel there is a realistic-to-good chance Jeffers can be a legitimate (average or close to it) MLB catcher. Decent defensive catchers with power are pretty valuable...even if the power doesn't come with great contact/obp.
  3. jkcarew
    DaShawn Keirsey - he's a year-plus removed from a catastrophic injury sustained running into the center field wall. Presumably would have fallen a bit as he didn't have normal summer experience/exposure last year. Presumably healthy/fully recovered. Toolsy. Don't know about the prospects for power, though he has decent size.
  4. jkcarew
    Plenty to be encouraged about with Enlow. Just turned 19, and holding his own in low A. No HR’s allowed in about 30 IP.
  5. jkcarew
    Yep...this is the way I look at this pick as well. If you’re in the back half of the 1st round and you go toolsy, you’re going to have a questionable bat. Hunter actually a good example...in his case the bat came around, but it didn’t look like it would for a long time. Instead, they went will a bat that they feel is significantly less questionable. In terms of an outfielder I don’t hate it because the Twins have their share of toolsy OF in the system. Not sure I wouldn’t have gone with one of the college arms...but we’ll see.
  6. jkcarew
    The 4 and 5 tool guys aren’t available at 20. The single most valueable tool is a good bat with power. That’s the bet here. Is that this guy will flat rake, and justify average corner defense or even a 1B role. Like all the others, time will tell.
  7. jkcarew
    Agreed. (Other than Bart) it's highly questionable that any of the college catchers would get to the majors before Rortvedt. This is Rortvedt's 3rd year of professional ball. He was a number 56 pick, and so far, he's far from failing...with a very good chance of being at AA Chattanooga by next year at 21. I'd take a catcher, don't get me wrong, but given what's there, I'd almost rather it be a very-high topside HS kid. All-in-all, BPA...I like the position guys better than pitchers, all other things being equal (which they never are).
  8. jkcarew
    I'll take another SS! About 80% of the position players worth taking this high were shortstops for their HS and/or college teams. They can project to be average to plus defensively at several other positions if/when that time comes.
  9. jkcarew
    20th overall picks... 1993 - Torii Hunter (of) 1994 - Terrence Long (1b) 1995 - David Yocum (p) 1996 - Eric Milton (p) 1997 - Adam Kennedy (ss) 1998 - CC Sabathia (p) 1999 - Vince Faison (of) 2000 - Chris Bootcheck (p) 2001 - Jeremy Sowers (p) 2002 - Denard Span (of) 2003 - Chad Cordero (p) 2004 - Trevor Plouffe (ss) 2005 - Mark Pawelek (p) 2006 - Chris Parmelee (of) 2007 - Chris Withrow (p) 2008 - Josh Fields (p) 2009 - Chad Jenkins (p) 2010 - Kolbrin Vitek (2b) 2011 - Tyler Anderson (p) 2012 - Chris Stratton (p) 2013 - Jonathan Crawford (p) 2014 - Casey Gillaspie (1b) 2015 - Richie Martin (ss) 2016 - Gavin Lux (ss) 2017 - David Peterson (p) Note, the Eric Milton pick was by the Yankees, the other Twins players, were Twins picks. Most of the pitchers were college arms, especially the recent years. Milton and Sabathia were HS arms.
  10. jkcarew
    Nice report. A couple of comments allude to Baddoo ‘heating up’ or having had a slow start. But, his OBP has been over 400 pretty much all year...higher than Kirilloff’s...right among the league leaders. His approach is an extreme example of taking pitches, working the count and forcing pitchers to come over the middle of the plate. Results in a ton of walks...and a high number of strike-outs. Recently, more hits and fewer walks (relatively)...which might be a happy result of pitchers trying harder not to walk him. Good signs all around. In the top prospect summary, we had been including batter K’s, which is an important part of the development for many of these guys...especially Rooker. Seems Rooker’s K-rate has slowed down recently, even as the power has started to show up. Nice.
  11. jkcarew
    More articles on Failing Offense please!
  12. jkcarew
    Agreed. FWIW, the offense is right about at league average overall, and the pitching overall has been solidly below league average. Record-wise, they’re right about where they should be, I think. As a group, the pitchers (the ones that get the most innings) are also ‘solidly young’ for low A.
  13. jkcarew
    No, I wouldn't bet on that continuing. I'd just as soon see Kepler in center and Wade or Cave in RF. But, it's pretty obvious from the lineups the last three nights that the first option/plan is to have a center fielder in center field. They started LaMarre in all games since Buxton's unavailability, including yesterday against a right-handed pitcher after he had gone a combined 0-7 with 4 strikeouts the first two games. As long as that approach is in place, it's LaMarre or Granite. So, LaMarre. I guess until he fails offensively more/faster than he has to date. As for having Wade/Cave up, but still playing LaMarre (or Granite) mainly in center? I just see this as less likely, especially in the case of Wade. You just don't often see AA/young prospects come up to supplement bench/depth. Can you figure out how to mix and match in that scenario so that Wade is playing most days? Debatable....probably easier with Mauer out for an extended period. Should that even matter? I don't feel strongly one way or the other. But it usually matters to those that have the job. Again, based on my (lengthy) record for deciphering what's going through the minds of the clubs brain trust, I'd say it's pretty much a lock that Kepler will be in center and Wade or Cave will be up within the week.
  14. jkcarew
    Looking at last night's box score. I notice that at the end of the game, LaMarre has the highest OBP of any Twin that appeared in the game. And he bats right-handed...and he's a real center fielder. Inconvenient facts. I'm sure he'd apologize for all this if given the opportunity. It just doesn't seem likely that LaMarre is going away real soon. Seems more realistic that it would the the scenario that I think Mike mentioned where you'd have Wade basically replacing Grossman...playing somewhere, including turns at DH, almost every day. That's the key for Wade, there has to be a scenario for him to play most every day before you're going to bring him up. I think. Granite has really only hit one year of his professional career. Not optimistic that he's going to be a player that you want in the lineup every day.
  15. jkcarew
    The dilemma is that I don’t think the Twins want to play Wade in center field. I mean, they aren’t even playing him in center ar Chattanooga, so it just seems really unlikely that they’d be willing to play him in center for the big club. At the same time, I don’t think they want to play Kepler in center every day either. And if that’s the case, we’re looking at LaMarre or Granite...neither of which do much for my excitement level. At a corner, Wade is behind our two healthiest and steadiest performers. There, I’ve done my part....Wade will be called up any day now.
  16. jkcarew
    Promising signs of professionalism. True professionals committed to excellence share many ‘high-character’ traits...the ones that lead to results.
  17. jkcarew
    I have to agree with I tend to agree. The bar has sagged pretty low here pitching-wise. Basically, we finally have starters that, more often than not, are giving us a chance. The starters are slightly above average by most measures. We're definitely not used to that, and it's encouraging heading into the heart of the season. Meanwhile, the bullpen, while not a disaster, has so far been slightly-to-solidly below average by most measures...so, not sure how we get to a description of excellence for the bullpen. Although, this too should be improved, at least from a depth/options standpoint, as the season progresses.
  18. jkcarew
    I don’t suppose now would be a good time to mention that Jon Jay was the 74th overall pick in the 2006 amateur draft.
  19. jkcarew
    That was 4 innings in 1 hr, 20 minutes...with no runs, no pitching changes, no injuries, no replay reviews.
  20. jkcarew
    It's a sign of how desperate we are that we're spending time lamenting how much offense we can squeeze out of the catcher position. That position didn't figure to provide much offense in 2018. But now that about 5-6 other position players are producing offensively what you might expect from a catcher...and at least one producing offensively what you'd expect from a pitcher...yeah, might as well find out how much Garver can improve defensively.
  21. jkcarew
    Two "likes" for dying (and counting). We really need to start hitting, and soon.
  22. jkcarew
    Since the door has been opened, who would we bring in for Buxton's ghost? Mario Mendoza? Maybe more position-relevant....Jordan Schafer? Sam Fuld? Peter Bourjos? The idea that player A has inferior attitude, work ethic, or self-discipline because he's "fat" or because he has a certain type of body language or even because someone said he did something bad...and that player B necessarily has superior attitude, work ethic, self-discipline because he's fit, or because he "looks like he's always trying really hard", or because "he never gets in trouble"; that failure for player B is acceptable, but not acceptable for player A...I feel this when I read some articles and/or responses here. It's a dangerous and slippery slope...simply because we don't know. We think we know. But we don't know. Results are the only thing that matters and the only thing verifiable. No matter how talented you are, it's hard to be a great MLB player. It just is.
  23. jkcarew
    "The two first-rounders have accounted for a disproportionate amount of Cedar Rapids’ offense." Well, they are the number 2 and 3 hitters in the line up. But, I think it would be a more accurate portrayal of the Kernels offense so far to say something like "Kirilloff has been head and shoulders the best offensive player, while Jordan Gore, Akil Baddoo, and Lewis have been good." Gore has a significantly better slash line than Lewis (in a few fewer games played); Baddoo's OBP is over 400, and his OPS is basically the same as Lewis's. Lewis's OPS is sitting at 739, with almost zero power, which is not surprising for an 18 year-old SS playing in the Midwest League. As a team, pitching has been as much of a 'problem' as hitting. It's been very mediocre...league average ERA as a team, poor WIP, poor BA against, and last in the league in strike-outs.
  24. jkcarew
    Every time a player is promoted, there are roster considerations for two teams. Somewhere upstream there has to be a corresponding reduction, which in some cases, represents the closing of the door on that player's dream. I'm always glad to see when these promotions are handled in a thoughtful and patient manner, even though that sometimes results in players 'immediately', or even 'soon' after appearing ready. Downstream there has to be a supply of players to take the place of the promoted player. Usually, after the amateur draft, that re-supply will result in several promotions being made.
  25. jkcarew
    I would like to request another article in this vein... “A Whole New Buck” No later than the end of June, please.
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