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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    Yes…over 24 PA…the smallest of small samples. In 2023 over 109 PA (and against better pitching), he was pretty awful from the right side. Less power, fewer walks, more K…the whole 9 yards. Even he has admitted that he’s spent much of the offseason working on improving the right-handed swing. I agree, though, that I don’t doubt he can be a good hitter in the majors. Even if he can improve from the right (which will only represent 20%-ish of his opportunities) to get within hailing distance of MLB-average…we probably have a very nice player on our hands.
  2. jkcarew
    Yes. I am cynical on this topic. I’m not ‘against’ gambling on moral or religious grounds. I’ll dabble rarely. But, IMO, it’s insidious, and more dangerous than our current culture acknowledges…and not just for sports, but in general. The way the professional leagues have fully embraced gambling is, in itself, cynical. Yes, simple greed is in play. But, IMO, it also says, we’re not sure our product is great, and can’t figure out how to make it as great as it could be…but we’re happy to mitigate that via your gambling compulsion.
  3. jkcarew
    Yeah. Hopefully, the Saints face at least their share of lefties in the front half. The comments regarding his defense are encouraging. He had a good showing.
  4. jkcarew
    Under the rug this will go. If there is more than just smoke, and a full-blown and coordinated cover-up is required, then so it will be. The league is already in bed with this devil. (As are other leagues.) For MLB, gambling is a clear…and unapologetically marketed…strategy to bring in the young male who is otherwise uninterested in consuming baseball. A. Bartlett Giamatti is dead and gone…as is “in the interest of the game”. And neither are ever coming back.
  5. jkcarew
    I don’t think payroll constraints (real or imagined) necessarily needs to lead to acquisition of broken pitchers. IMO, it’s simply poor management. Either poor scouting, poor due diligence, poor risk assessment, poor strategy, poor drafting/development…or some combination thereof. Of course it can happen. But no excuses for how often it’s happened to this FO.
  6. jkcarew
    Larnach had a pretty low K rate in the minors, until AAA…and then it ballooned in the majors. Not that uncommon, I suppose. But it’s something, anyway. Not like he’s always had the issue as a pro.
  7. jkcarew
    The points regarding Larnach (and Martin) may be legitimate, but it’s not a Twins issue. It’s a league-wide phenomenon. MLB developmental systems are going to try to maximize in-game power with every single prospect they get their hands on…let alone a 6-3 220+ lb guy with limited defensive value like Larnach. If it doesn’t work for one guy…there’ll be plenty of others to take his place. Blame analytics. Larnach may simply have been better off professionally having been born 20 years earlier than he was.
  8. jkcarew
    Simply the best baseball book ever written. From the perspective of players who played the game when baseball was completely unrivaled as the most popular sport in this country.
  9. jkcarew
    Lee’s a full-time player when he comes up. From a performance standpoint he replaces Santana or maybe Kirilloff (with Julien sliding over there). Although, the failure would probably need to be very bad and extended. So not necessarily likely. From an injury standpoint, he’s up playing full time with an injury to ANY of the starting infielders, including Kirilloff/Santana, I think. This is a realistic (unfortunately)…even likely, scenario. Lee has zero to do with how the LF spot plays out.
  10. jkcarew
    Can’t work up any angst on this. If anything, I even like it from the hitter’s perspective…as, in the end, more batters get to see the front-line arm instead of what would potentially (usually) be more pitches thrown by a nameless/faceless minor league guy.
  11. jkcarew
    Thielbar…not so sure he’s much different than a few of our other lefty reliever options. Desclafani…as expected Duran…as long as it’s done after 6 weeks Canterino…disturbing Zach Weiss…contrary to perceptions, the Twins do NOT always trade for pitchers whose arms are on the verge of exploding. Sometimes they sign them off waivers.
  12. jkcarew
    This! Could the organization have a ‘better’ track record of acquiring arms that are on the cusp of blowing up…even if they were trying!??
  13. jkcarew
    ...Buxton scratched with lower back tightness… NOW it feels like baseball season. Let’s Go!!!
  14. jkcarew
    Right you are…appeared in a handful of games at C as recently as 2019. You’d think that would be doable for a few innings as a worse case. Still, there was much hesitancy last year to plug Jeffers in at DH…we’ll see if that changes.
  15. jkcarew
    I agree with this, but Rocco has been very hesitant when he only has two catchers on the 25-man. At no point in 2023 did they have 3 catchers active…and Jeffers got 6 starts at DH all season, despite being desperate for right-handed bats against lefties. I’m sure it’s all about avoiding the risk of losing the DH if Vasquez was to get dinged up during the game. Maybe, Rocco will be talked off that ledge more frequently this year.
  16. jkcarew
    I hope so. He’s been getting hit hard pretty much every outing so far. Today was batting practice. Probably just working on things, etc. I haven’t heard anything about velocity being down or anything?
  17. jkcarew
    Has Paddack won the number 4 spot?
  18. jkcarew
    It’d be great! But I’m still busy hoping Brock Stewart can be this year’s Brock Stewart.
  19. jkcarew
    Grant Balfour and Homer Bailey pale in comparison.
  20. jkcarew
    Looks like Scott Blewett.
  21. jkcarew
    Lotta smart GM’s, apparently.
  22. jkcarew
    Well, no…and yes. He’s always been an extreme high BA guy with elite bat control throughout the minors. Not expected to have THIS level of success with it at the MLB level, no…but it’s always been his DNA. Miranda’s never been that guy, good but nowhere near Arraez’s bat-to-ball skill…has to have some SLG to his game.
  23. jkcarew
    I do anticipate that Kirilloff will start at 1B fairly often against right-handed pitching. I’d rather have Buxton resting than DH’ing in that scenario (if he isn’t in CF)…just put Castro or Farmer in and move Wallner or Julien to DH and be done with it.
  24. jkcarew
    He’s not going to turn into Luis Arraez. And will need XBH/HR’s to provide value...especially as a 1B/DH. Nice that he’s been putting the ball in play…but that’s not really been his issue. Not encouraging…at this early stage, I’d just call this ‘interesting information’.
  25. jkcarew
    De Andrade one of the less obvious reasons the club would be willing to trade Miller. Ahead of Miller with the bat (so far)…and the club might be thinking he’s likely to stick at shortstop.
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