Matthew Lenz
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Everything posted by Matthew Lenz
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VIDEO: Should the Twins Trade Sonny Gray?
Matthew Lenz posted a topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Sonny Gray will be an unrestricted free agent, has had no reported movement on extension talks, and has often voiced his displeasure about getting pulled too soon. Can the Twins flip him for player(s) who can improve their current team? View full video -
Sonny Gray will be an unrestricted free agent, has had no reported movement on extension talks, and has often voiced his displeasure about getting pulled too soon. Can the Twins flip him for player(s) who can improve their current team?
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Relief pitchers and bullpens as a whole are volatile by nature. Often times it can months for pitchers and bullpens to “recover” statistically from even one bad outing. While it can be challenging to not magnify bullpen blow ups, it’s important to understand that the Twins actually have a good bullpen.
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Relief pitchers and bullpens as a whole are volatile by nature. Often times it can months for pitchers and bullpens to “recover” statistically from even one bad outing. While it can be challenging to not magnify bullpen blow ups, it’s important to understand that the Twins actually have a good bullpen. View full video
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At the major-league level the Twins don’t have a single starter in the top-50 for average fastball velocity, yet find themselves with a 9.4 K/9. Pablo Lopez and Louie Varland have matching 94.9 mph averages, which is good for 54th out of 258 total starters in Major League Baseball this year. After Lopez and Varland, the next closest is Sonny Gray at 92.6 mph which is a significant dip. So, as a whole staff, how are the Twins able to throw guys the chair so effectively? The answer may not be what you expect. A lot is made of Joe Ryan’s deception behind his 92.5 mph “heater” as it tends to sneak up on hitters. His three-quarters delivery fools hitters into anticipating the speed and movement behind the pitch. Gray and Lopez are two more pitchers who have pitches in their arsenal with significant movement that can make hitters look foolish at the dish. All that said, you may be surprised to learn that, as a staff, the Twins are exactly league average in their Stuff+ ratings. So how do they do it? Command. The Twins are the best in baseball when it comes to commanding their pitches. Command isn’t just the ability to throw strikes, we call that “control”, but command is being able to “hit your spots”. If the catcher calls a fastball low and away? The pitcher throws it low and a away. The catcher calls for a back door slider? The pitcher throws a back door slider. As effective as velo can be, commanding the zone is arguably the most important skill a pitcher can have. But this isn’t just seen at the Major League level, it can be found throughout the entire organization. In St. Paul, the Twins have Brent Headrick, Cedar Rapids has Marco Raya, Fort Myers has C.J. Culpepper, and now Wichita has Pierson Ohl. When you look up the word “command” in MLB’s glossary, they now just show a GIF of Ohl’s fastball. The 2021 14th-round pick has 143 strikeouts to just 18 (!!!!) walks in 133 2/3 minor league innings to start his career. The otherworldly 7.94 K:BB recently earned him a promotion to AA-Wichita after just 25 starts in single-A. In fact, he’s making his AA debut tonight (June 9) against the San Antonio Missions who have the third most wins in the Texas League. You won’t find Ohl on any top prospect lists, because pitchers who don’t throw hard face an uphill battle making it to the Majors and typically are underrated. But pitchers who don’t throw hard also don’t typically strikeout more than one batter per inning while walking just one better every seven innings. Without a question, Minor League hitters are the ones facing an uphill battle when they stand in the box against the 6’ 1” righty. For years and years, the Twins were known for soft throwing pitchers who pitch to contact. Now, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are proving that soft throwing doesn’t have to mean pitch to contact if you can command the zone. Be sure to check out my recent (June 8) interview with Pierson Ohl embedded at the top of this article. -
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Happy Short Season Opening Day! Let’s take a look out the short season Twins prospects to keep an eye on as many continue and some start their path to Major League Baseball. Who is only a handful of short years away from their MLB debut?
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Happy Short Season Opening Day! Let’s take a look out the short season Twins prospects to keep an eye on as many continue and some start their path to Major League Baseball. Who is only a handful of short years away from their MLB debut? View full video
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FanGraphs released their top 36 Twins prospects. Dive into the top 5, as well as prospects received from recent notable trades.
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FanGraphs released their top 36 Twins prospects. Dive into the top 5, as well as prospects received from recent notable trades. View full video
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Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took over in 2016 making every player in the organization “theirs” one way or another. How does their knack for identifying and developing Major League talent stack up?
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Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took over in 2016 making every player in the organization “theirs” one way or another. How does their knack for identifying and developing Major League talent stack up? View full video
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The Twins have one of the most inconsistent offenses in baseball with metrics on both sides of the spectrum. What’s going on and is there hope things can improve? View full video
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The Twins have one of the most inconsistent offenses in baseball with metrics on both sides of the spectrum. What’s going on and is there hope things can improve?
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The Twins are going to be without Kenta Maeda for awhile which means Bailey Ober gets first crack at the rotation. Who’s in line next and should Maeda reclaim a starter role when he returns?
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The Twins are going to be without Kenta Maeda for awhile which means Bailey Ober gets first crack at the rotation. Who’s in line next and should Maeda reclaim a starter role when he returns? View full video
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On an all-new From Lee to Limestone, Matthew Lenz led Five Questions with Anthony Prato. Prato was drafted in 2019 from UConn and is currently playing at Double-A Wichita. Find out what adjustments he's made, how comfortable he feels playing around the diamond, his goals for 2023 and much more. View full video
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Typically the phrase “Availability is the Best Ability” is used when referencing a player's health. In fact, this was a phrase uttered again and again as a reason to extend Jose Berríos, who we could rely on for 190 plus innings a year. Alas, Berríos is in Toronto and the current Twins regime has placed value in a different type of availability in their time with the Twins. Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge The Twins Front Office has made it a point of having players on their roster who can handle multiple positions. From Ehire Adrianza when they first took over, to signing Marwin Gonzalez ahead of 2019, and more recently signing the likes of Kyle Farmer, Donovan Solano, and Joey Gallo. Maybe a better example of the value a multi-positional player can bring is former first round pick Nick Gordon, who played multiple infield and outfield positions last season. Not surprisingly, you can find this throughout the Twins Minor League system as well. Jose Miranda was a utility infielder, Austin Martin has playing time at three positions, and even top prospect Royce Lewis was moving around the diamond prior to his second ACL tear in 2022. This regime clearly values players who can make themselves available to play multiple positions. Enter Anthony Prato. The 24-year-old prospect has found himself playing every position aside from pitcher, catcher, and center field. A 7th round pick out of the University of Connecticut in 2019, Prato is yet another success story from a draft that includes Matt Wallner, Brent Headrick, Louie Varland, and Edouard Julien – all guys who have already contributed to the Major League club in 2023. But calling him just a super-utility player would be selling him short…after all, you aren’t named a 2022 Organization All-Star by MiLB.com "just" because you can play six positions. Prato can HIT. In his first three Minor League seasons, Prato has boasted a .772 OPS, including a .380 OBP (!!!) and 64 extra-base hits across 972 plate appearances. His power is a work in progress but it’s inarguably coming along by evidence of hitting 10 home runs in 2022 when he entered the season with just two round trippers to his name. If that isn’t proof enough of the developing skill, check out this bomb where the opposing Left Fielder didn’t even move other than to get a better view of the moonshot. In addition to his on-base ability and developing power Prato is a threat on the base paths, stealing 22 bases in 2022 and already notching one steal in 2023. I wouldn’t put it past him to notch a 15-15 season this year which was something only 102, or 2.5%, of Minor Leaguers accomplished last season. By adding more power to his game in 2023, Prato hopes to be added to the Twins 40-man roster ahead of the next Rule 5 Draft. For fans familiar with the Twins Minor League system and the Rule 5 Draft, I think we can agree that the Twins were very lucky to keep him in the 2022 iteration of the draft. He’ll be forcing the Twins hand if he puts up a wRC+ of 119 or better in the 2023 season. Even if the power stays where it’s at, a .444 SLG was good for 9th in the organization in 2022, we know this regime loves players who make themselves available at multiple positions. Anthony Prato does just that. To learn more about Anthony Prato, including his favorite pizza spot in New York City (yes, he grew up a Yankees fan…we forgive him?), please check out the eight minute interview embedded at the top of this article. View full article
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On an all-new From Lee to Limestone, Matthew Lenz led Five Questions with Anthony Prato. Prato was drafted in 2019 from UConn and is currently playing at Double-A Wichita. Find out what adjustments he's made, how comfortable he feels playing around the diamond, his goals for 2023 and much more.
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The Twins Front Office has made it a point of having players on their roster who can handle multiple positions. From Ehire Adrianza when they first took over, to signing Marwin Gonzalez ahead of 2019, and more recently signing the likes of Kyle Farmer, Donovan Solano, and Joey Gallo. Maybe a better example of the value a multi-positional player can bring is former first round pick Nick Gordon, who played multiple infield and outfield positions last season. Not surprisingly, you can find this throughout the Twins Minor League system as well. Jose Miranda was a utility infielder, Austin Martin has playing time at three positions, and even top prospect Royce Lewis was moving around the diamond prior to his second ACL tear in 2022. This regime clearly values players who can make themselves available to play multiple positions. Enter Anthony Prato. The 24-year-old prospect has found himself playing every position aside from pitcher, catcher, and center field. A 7th round pick out of the University of Connecticut in 2019, Prato is yet another success story from a draft that includes Matt Wallner, Brent Headrick, Louie Varland, and Edouard Julien – all guys who have already contributed to the Major League club in 2023. But calling him just a super-utility player would be selling him short…after all, you aren’t named a 2022 Organization All-Star by MiLB.com "just" because you can play six positions. Prato can HIT. In his first three Minor League seasons, Prato has boasted a .772 OPS, including a .380 OBP (!!!) and 64 extra-base hits across 972 plate appearances. His power is a work in progress but it’s inarguably coming along by evidence of hitting 10 home runs in 2022 when he entered the season with just two round trippers to his name. If that isn’t proof enough of the developing skill, check out this bomb where the opposing Left Fielder didn’t even move other than to get a better view of the moonshot. In addition to his on-base ability and developing power Prato is a threat on the base paths, stealing 22 bases in 2022 and already notching one steal in 2023. I wouldn’t put it past him to notch a 15-15 season this year which was something only 102, or 2.5%, of Minor Leaguers accomplished last season. By adding more power to his game in 2023, Prato hopes to be added to the Twins 40-man roster ahead of the next Rule 5 Draft. For fans familiar with the Twins Minor League system and the Rule 5 Draft, I think we can agree that the Twins were very lucky to keep him in the 2022 iteration of the draft. He’ll be forcing the Twins hand if he puts up a wRC+ of 119 or better in the 2023 season. Even if the power stays where it’s at, a .444 SLG was good for 9th in the organization in 2022, we know this regime loves players who make themselves available at multiple positions. Anthony Prato does just that. To learn more about Anthony Prato, including his favorite pizza spot in New York City (yes, he grew up a Yankees fan…we forgive him?), please check out the eight minute interview embedded at the top of this article. -
Pablo Lopez inked a four-year, $73MM deal establishing as a top option for the Twins for the length of the contract. Was the deal good for both sides and what does it mean for the rotation moving forward?
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Pablo Lopez inked a four-year, $73MM deal establishing as a top option for the Twins for the length of the contract. Was the deal good for both sides and what does it mean for the rotation moving forward? View full video
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Shortstop has taken quite a hit early on with Carlos Correa dealing with back spasms and Kyle Farmer taking a fastball to the face. Who is available to fill-in until one or both are healthy?
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Shortstop has taken quite a hit early on with Carlos Correa dealing with back spasms and Kyle Farmer taking a fastball to the face. Who is available to fill-in until one or both are healthy? View full video
