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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    No words.
  2. 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.
  3. jkcarew
    So, Toronto won't think that any wild-card contender (other than the Angels) has a chance to match their record despite the fact that all contenders will play 24 fewer games against the Red Sox/Yankees than they will? The way this year is shaping up, Toronto would have to be X% better than the Twins to finish with the same record...where X is....big. At least Seattle has to play Houston and LAA 19 times each. We'll see. Thanks again...always something interesting.
  4. 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.)
  5. 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.
  6. 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!
  7. 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!
  8. jkcarew
    When the guys that are supposed to produce offensively aren't producing (for whatever reason), then you get desperate and start looking for any sliver of improvement from anywhere you might find it. In terms of catcher, I'm pretty sure the Twins will not consider another bat-first catcher to pair with Garver. For obvious reasons. When a guy (Swihart) is OPS+'ing 70-90 over an extended period of time and plays more corner OF and 1B than catcher...that's a dead give-away he's not a major league catcher. I'm not saying they shouldn't try, but not hopeful that an offensive solution is going to come from the catcher position any time soon.
  9. 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.
  10. jkcarew
    I think Lawton would be considered a good comp for a ceiling. Lawton was a 2-time all-star, with nearly 1200 games started in his career...his power was in the 15-20 HR/year range and his OBP was actually very comparable to Wade’s in the minors (and well above average in the majors as well). Lawton could also steal bases, but his OF range was less than that of an every-day MLB center-fielder. His strong arm placed him in RF. If Wade were a “left-fielding” Matt Lawton, we would push for a starting role even with most good clubs.
  11. jkcarew
    Middle Projection :It really seems like Denard Span with a little bit less base-stealing ability and average, but more walks/obp and power is a pretty good comp for Lamonte Wade--this seems like a pretty realistic projection. Except Span has been starting major league center fielder for the better part of 10 years...and I don't think Wade projects defensively as an everyday center fielder at the major league level. That's the rub. If his defense profiles in the corner (probably left field) only...then it comes down to fit. If a team gets 'unexpected' power from somewhere other than the dh/corners, Wade could maybe provide obp and above average base running from a corner, batting toward the top of the order. Otherwise, he's a good 4th guy. (His minor-league splits are not atrocious.)
  12. jkcarew
    Damn. Heal well, and heal fast, Wander. I wish we could make a surgery decision quicker when we're talking about non-throwing arm on a position player.
  13. jkcarew
    Because we're making it part of the story. The strike zone can be a story 162 games a year.
  14. jkcarew
    Stop with the strike zone. Unless you're willing to argue that Barrios has had tough strike zones for 4 straight games. His issue is command. Always has been. And, when looking at larger samples, you can argue that he's trending still in the right direction. I don't think he'll fail for either lack of work-ethic or lack of stuff. It's just can he find the consistency in all the mechanical stuff that results in throwing the ball where he wants to most times he goes out there.
  15. jkcarew
    My feeling would be that Buxton seems to start out about 2 for 50 with 25 K's in any scenario...might as well get it out of the way as fast as possible. Have to just give him the at-bats even though it's horrifically painful to watch. We're in year year 4 with both Buxton and Sano, and due to injuries and uneven performance, we're still in "need to find out" mode with both. Frustrating.
  16. jkcarew
    Regrettably. I would like balance and diversity. I agree all small-ball would be boring...but an entire league of players incapable (no matter where in the order they bat, or what the game situation) of hitting the ball the other way, or putting a ball in play, or bunting effectively...also very boring.
  17. jkcarew
    Escobar's career OPS+ is up to 94. Not sure he's going to sustain the offensive value you would want from an every-day corner infielder. (But, never say never, I guess.) But to me Escobar's best value remains as a utility infielder. He's turning into the classic utility infielder that you'd want on a championship-caliber team. Decent offensively and defensively...better defensively than the starting corner infielders, while not giving up a ton offensively; and probably better offensively than most guys in the middle, without giving up a ton defensively. That's the sweet spot for a super utility infielder. Guy's like that can be in the lineup nearly every day...somewhere. Also, just because I'm reading the phrase "Escobar filling in for Sano" so frequently.... Escobar is not currently filling in for Sano. Adrianza is filling in for Sano.
  18. jkcarew
    Well the Twins were 2-4 in the first 6 games without Sano, with half of those games against the likes of Cincinnati and the White Sox. But yeah. We’re a much better team when we replace Sano in the lineup with Ehire Adrianza.
  19. jkcarew
    Baddoo hasn't been swinging and missing as much as you might think. He is an extreme example of the approach that prefers going as deep as possible in the count...looking for specific pitches/mistakes. Results in a high rate of walks, and also strike-outs that may only involve one swinging strike, if that. His OBP is basically 400. So, lets not mess with him radically right now. I think as he continues to progress...basically learns where/when more aggressiveness pays off...we could have a good one with him. And then there's Rooker. While I don't think 23 is young for a AA player that's supposed to be considered a real prospect, I do think it's a huge adjustment to be hitting with the real bat against AA prospects only 11 months removed from SEC play. But forget the strike-outs and (lack of) walks...he's only hit 1 home run in his first 100 plate appearances. That seems really weird.
  20. jkcarew

    Sano and Judge

    jkcarew commented on mikelink45's blog entry in mikelink45's Blog

    I don't mind the strike-outs that much. That doesn't mean that the game wouldn't be in a bit of a better spot if strike-out rates came down a bit. Or at least quite growing exponentially. But, I see the strike-outs as a symptom, not the disease. The disease is that players are getting to the major leagues with one-dimensional offensive tool-sets. It's as if there's a new rule somewhere that says you have to try to lift and drive the ball every swing you take? No, the rule is that all players must employ the same officially-sanctioned swing...always. No matter the pitcher, no matter the pitch, no matter the count, no matter the game situation, no matter the defense, no matter where I bat in the lineup...we're going to stand there and take our one-and-only perfect-plane swing looking to drive and lift the ball; that swing that has been coached to perfection since the age of 4...by a generation of coaches that have all read the same white paper on hitting (probably made worse by the fact that American coaches have now infiltrated...otherwise known as "organized" the central american youth ranks). Until such a point arrives in the evolution of baseball where bunting, putting the ball in play, hitting the other way, do not materially impact the winning/losing of games...even in 10% of at-bat scenarios..then, this is a problem.
  21. jkcarew
    Yes, we could be in first place by Wednesday. Or we could be 7 games out and 10 games under in two weeks. The Twins next 12 games involve 4 opponents, all with winning records, including two division-leaders. Meanwhile, Cleveland plays 6 games against KC and Detroit in that span. 6-6 (even 5-7) in these next 12 games would mean more to me than 3-1 against the White Sox. In the meantime, yes...we can dream of continued Cleveland mediocrity.
  22. jkcarew
    For the Red Sox, my guess is there's a high correlation between victories and demonstration of any type of obnoxious behavior. But, here is where advanced math can be tricky. For, if you were to observe some control experiments, you'll find other positive correlations with demonstrations of obnoxious behavior by Red Sox fans...like losses. The sun rising. Etc. I read once that the factors that can be isolated as having the most impact are all related to the behavior of observing good players playing well. Let's all try that! But, I'm willing to eat Hot Pockets if that doesn't work.
  23. jkcarew
    All I want Sano to do is to make the adjustments at the plate that are screamingly obvious...and have been so for some time. Away, away, away..especially off-spead/breaking balls away. He has been either unwilling or unable to do so. I don't know which, and I don't care. I just want to see him do it. IMO, there is no correlation between his weight and his inability to make the adjustments. Could there be a correlation between his conditioning and failure to make the adjustments if the issue is 'willingness'? I suppose there could be. Either way, he's a young person with a ton of potential that I want to see succeed for his sake, not mine. He has always looked to me, and demonstrated on-field behavior, of someone who genuinely enjoys the game and his teammates.
  24. jkcarew
    And was really, really horrible in camp and early at Rochester before he went down. Maybe he was injured all along. Grossman is what he is. It wasn't the Twins plan to play him every day when one of the big three went down. That role was going to be Granite's role. (That plan was open to criticism, IMO.) Could the FO have found someone for the right-handed bench bat role that would look better under the glare of every-day play than Grossman? Realistically...maybe. Now they're in the position of standing on one leg waiting for Buxton to come back...or bringing up a AAAA player from Rochester, or Wade directly from AA...who is yet another left-handed bat. Sometimes, when it rains, it pours.
  25. jkcarew
    Ah....the good 'ole days!....back when I complained about Rodney. I miss the good 'ole days.
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