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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. jkcarew
    I would like to request another article in this vein... “A Whole New Buck” No later than the end of June, please.
  5. jkcarew
    Interesting to hear the talk/speculation centered on Gonsalves moving up to the big club and bumping Lynn into the long spot that opens with the departure of Hughes. Slegers has been better than Gonsalves...is all of 25 years old and was drafted one round lower than Gonsalves. To be fair, Gonsalves has been border-line spectacular pretty much his entire minor league career, and has a better K rate than Slegers. But Slegers also walks fewer batters, and has been a very good minor-league pitcher for a while now, as well. It's amazing to think that this team is about to reach a phase where one can make an argument that Aaron Slegers is a couple weeks away from being the number 9 starter on the organizational depth chart. (Assumes along with Santana, Gonsalves and Trevor May are/will be ahead of him.) No stud number 1...but there hasn't been this type of legitimate depth for quite some time. Of course, meanwhile we can't score.
  6. jkcarew
    Also...in 4 at-bats tonight, Sano hit 3 balls to the right side, and 1 up the middle. Two were struck well. We can only hope he is consciously trying to make some adjustments. (He DH’d)
  7. jkcarew
    The game situation made it a good risk to take.
  8. jkcarew
    Already up by a run, with 2 outs, and Adrianza and Buxton due up. Exactly the right time to take a chance.
  9. jkcarew
    He’s 24 1/2...in his fourth season and was OPS’ing 476 before the toe and migraine. But no, I don’t think anyone wants to give up on him yet.
  10. jkcarew
    Now 203. Highest it's been all season...and coming off a spring where he slugged about 160. He went on a fairly lengthy DL stint right after the Rochester season got underway...so, there is that. But has literally not been getting the ball out of the infield.
  11. jkcarew
    I would have gone with Earl of Weaver as manager.
  12. jkcarew
    120 games to play and 52 against Detroit, KC, and Chicago. That’s 43% of the remaining schedule. Of course Cleveland has basically the same schedule, and the Twins are 6 back in the wild-card...so, not in a great spot to be sure. But, if this team could get its act together...particularly offensively...it’s still possible that wins would come in bunches.
  13. jkcarew
    It’s probably good for all of us to remember that some scouts questioned the upside of his bat right from the beginning and maintained that stance even when he was raking in the minors. Probably also worth reiterating that he doesn’t have to be a league average hitter to be a good player. If he’s within 10% of that, he’s a good player. If he’s an OPS+ 95 guy, he’s basically Paul Blair...a near perennial all-star. Hype aside, that would be a good outcome even for a number two pick.
  14. jkcarew
    In the 7 games Buxton has started in Center since his return, he’s had 22 fly balls caught and zero assists. It would be a stretch to say he’s save the Twins 2 outs and 4 bases in that time (relative to what, say, Kepler would have benn able to accomplish in those games). Meanwhile, he’s had 24 plate appearances resulting in 3 bases and a walk. That’s about 5 extra outs and 6 fewer bases than a league average hitter. It’s a fallacy that good defense has the same value as a good bat. It doesn’t...not over time. It a matter of opportunity. On the other hand, he doesn’t have to be a league average hitter to have value...but he has to be way closer to league average than he’s been this year to have value.
  15. jkcarew
    Not really...was a 3rd round pick.
  16. jkcarew
    A lot? Right now? No.
  17. jkcarew
    Most recent...yes...sadly. Although I would say Hicks will end up close to ‘average result for #14 pick’....before Joe it would have been Hunter at 20 overall. Buck just needs to be within shouting distance of a league average hitter...seems doable...but right from the start, hasn’t been one once better than he was three years ago.
  18. jkcarew
    No words.
  19. jkcarew
    We don’t see when the real trying is supposed to be happening. I’m not giving Buxton points for gripping the bat into sawdust or looks sad when he fails.
  20. jkcarew
    There's been some really cheap no-hitters late in seasons with eliminated teams playing minor league line-ups and/or veterans only interested in getting to the airport. But this was a perfect game just entering the heart of the season. So, it's an accomplishment to say the least. But if I were Wells, I'd have the line score and a photo in my trophy case...not the box score. Here's why... The Twins had 3 legitimate major league players in the lineup. Matt Lawton, 42-year-old Paul Molitor, and Ron Coomer. A fourth, if you want to count Marty Cordova,...but this was not 1995 RoY Cordova...this was I'm on my way out of the league Cordova, batting clean-up, on his way to a 10 HR, 84 OPS+ year. The others 5 in the lineup? I bet not one Twin fan could name more than 2 without cheating. Pat Meares batting 9th and Brent Gates batting 2nd (for god's sake). Those were the easy ones. Alex Ochoa batting 6th. Javier Valentin batting 8th and catching. And something called Jon Shave batting 7th and playing 3rd base. On the bench were Terry Steinbach, Otis Nixon, David Ortiz, and Todd Walker...the latter three sporting OBP's well above league average. Of course Ortiz and Walker were lefties. (Toiling in the minors, just a few months away from getting a taste, were Corey Koskie, Doug Mientkiewicz, Torii Hunter, and A.J. Pierzynski.)
  21. jkcarew
    Twins need to be thinking about making a change regardless of Santana's return. Need to be thinking about moving Romero out of the 5 spot and into top 4 so that he's starting every 5th day no matter what. Even if there's an innings limit, you don't defer the innings of one of the best pitchers. The only way to make sure that there are important games in Sept and Oct/Nov, is to win games today, and hope good fortune and hot bats can bring you home. Unless the Twins think that extra rest between starts is going to be the difference between Romero struggling and being great, they need to consider moving him into the top 4.
  22. jkcarew
    Agreed. There's no such thing as a valuable position player OPS+'ing 23...or 60 or 70. Even in center field there are not enough opportunities (that average defensive players wouldn't make) to make up for outs at the rate he's made them for long stretches of his career to date. He could be a combination of Usain Bolt and Lou Brock on the bases, wouldn't matter. Too many outs. But, if he hits balls over the fence 15-20 times each year and improves the obp part of it even moderately, he's a star. And that's what he looked like he was going to be capable of at the end of last year. We'll see. Regarding the rest of the team...other than CF...1B, DH and SS are the positions with probably the biggest offensive delta between the Twins and league average. Theoretically, SS gets fixed when Sano comes back (and/or Polanco comes back), DH is trending in the right direction. And nothing's going to be done about 1B. So...let's hope the guys start hitting!
  23. jkcarew
    I want Lewis to stay at Cedar Rapids!! I think that would be best for his development...SS, age, etc., etc. I might feel differently depending upon how things go over, say, the next two weeks. In totally unrelated news, I have tickets to the Kernels Memorial weekend home-stand. 5 games in 3 days!
  24. jkcarew
    Born and raised on Chicago's south side in a neighborhood that had always been heavily Italian. Two hits off Drysdale in game 1 of the '65 series, and one of the Twins 3 hits against Koufax in game 7. Had a ton of respect from the likes of Killebrew and Carew. He was a baseball guy. A life well lived. Rest in peace, Frank.
  25. jkcarew
    Because we're making it part of the story. The strike zone can be a story 162 games a year.
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