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Otaknam

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Everything posted by Otaknam

  1. Otaknam
    I was a big Earl Battey fan. But I am hoping Lackey is has a higher offensive ceiling than Earl, with more projectable power and much more speed ( I remember when the slug footed Battey was thrown out at first base on a single to right). But Battey was an excellent defensive catcher. During the 1962 season, Battey set a remarkable Major League record by picking off 13 baserunners in a single year! And he caught over 40% of base stealers too, which is elite. By contrast, HOF Iván "Pudge" Rodríguez holds the Major League Baseball record for the most career pickoffs by a catcher, recording 88 throughout his 21-season career average 4 per year. But MLB didn’t start tracking this statistic during Battey’s playing career, so it might be higher than 88.
  2. Otaknam
    He looks like a great pick. But I want to wait and see how his transition into pro ball goes, likely low A at Fort Myers. In the meantime I would slot him number 4 until he proves it.
  3. Otaknam
    I think the Twins need to sign Lackey before they reveal where they would start him. My guess is High A Cedar Rapids but it could be Fort Myers low A to get him acclimated.
  4. Otaknam
    I wonder if they would take Flora at number three, given his upside as a top of the rotation starter. As we know, you never have enough starting pitching. Otherwise, whomever is left from Emerson or Lackey seem like the choice. As for Marek, Houston, let’s hope he keeps hitting because being a great fielding shortstop doesn’t verify your number one draft status if you can’t hit and show some power. But I like his results so far, and he can steal a base too, a skill that would be lost if Rocco was still the manager.
  5. Otaknam
    This column is very fair and accurate. This is the third consecutive year Lewis has performed poorly offensively, in a position where solid offensive numbers are expected. It would not longer be a surprise if Culpepper is brought up to play shortstop and Lee moves to third, where his lack of speed won’t be as important. This assumes Lee continues to be successful offensively. Let’s see what Culpepper does offensively. It can’t be much worse than Lewis.
  6. Otaknam
    A positive outing for a big league debut. Great slider and 97mph fastball, with some solid secondary pitches. Let’s hope his arm holds up and he gets more starts to build his innings and stamina. Rojas also managed two scoreless innings in his debut. 3 walks, though, so his command needs to improve. But he looks like he has a couple of above average pitches, a good sign! Now let’s hope Able doesn’t have arm trouble and he comes back soon.
  7. Otaknam
    Flora has a chance to be a number one starter, given his stuff, velocity, and command. When was the last time the Twins had a real number one inning eater, like a Verlander or Roger Clemens, someone you can count on to stop a losing streak? Liriano? I know the definition of a number one starter has changed, and no one throws 250 innings anymore. I view Ryan and Lopez as number two starters, which isn’t bad. But I really like adding Flora to the rotation.
  8. Otaknam
    Hoping Prielipp’s success continues and he is the firsts call up when a starter struggles or gets hurt.
  9. Otaknam
    LeBron, Flora and Emerson are all possibilities. Flora as a potential top line starter would deviate from what they usually do. But given his success this year he could be the guy.
  10. Otaknam
    Bell is a switch hitter w proven power, so a right handed bat was needed with the lefty dominated roster. Larnach should have been the odd man out, but for some reason was not released.
  11. Otaknam
    Agree. Let’s find out which young arms will emerge when given the chance since they are in rebuild mode. My hope is that someone, maybe Abel, seizes the opportunity and can become at least an effective and consistent number three starter.
  12. Otaknam
    This is what any team has to do when their bullpen has been traded away. Sign a whole bunch of scrap heap free agents in the hope that a couple of them still have something left. It’s not unprecedented for baseball players, especially pitchers, to rebound after a poor season by developing a new pitch, better velocity, or more movement.
  13. Otaknam
    At least Banda isn’t a scrap heap reclamation project. And now the Twins have three lefties in the bullpen. Now if they could actually develop a lefty starter, hopefully Rojas.
  14. Otaknam
    What are the odds that Buxton gets hurt playing in this event. Nothing is more predictable that, costing him a month or more of lost playing time.
  15. Otaknam
    “He held his own over his first 101 professional plate appearances, where he struck out at a 24.8% clip and he walked 6.9% of the time.” I’m not sure why striking out 25% and a strikeout to walk ratio of 4/1 is holding his own.
  16. Otaknam
    This success of this trade depends largely upon how Rojas develops, hopefully as at least a number three ML starter. Let’s hope we all get surprised and Roden proves to be a solid big leaguer. He’s known as a better defender than Wallner or Larnach, despite Wallner’s rocket arm. Maybe they will trade Larnach and open a spot for Roden to save money.
  17. Otaknam
    No to trading Mick Abel. His potential as a number 1 or 2 starter is too important to give up on, considering that the Twins don’t have a true number one starter, like a Verlander type pitcher. If Abel throws consistent strikes he has that upside, and he’s major league ready.
  18. Otaknam
    “There was never an indication that he didn’t want to field a great team,”. An odd comment by the writer. ALL GMs, managers, coaches and players want to field a great team.
  19. Otaknam
    The one thing that makes me somewhat optimistic about the Twins is their young starters working towards the big leagues. It’s always good to have a lot of high potential arms because, as mentioned, some will fail and some will get injured. The Twins do have a lot of potential starters, but they need an ace to emerge. To compete for a strong playoff run you better have a real ace like a Francisco Liriano, Roger Clemens, Viola or a Verlander, someone who can be counted on to stop a losing streak and win 20 games. It seems like strong mid rotation or traditional number two starters are being elevated these days to ace status by some.
  20. Otaknam
    “Until ownership is willing to examine its own role in the franchise’s struggles, the cycle will continue. There are no scapegoats left, except the ones in the mirror.” The Pohlads deserve lots of criticism, but the coaching staff is not guiltless despite the lack of financial investment that has hamstrung the team for the past two years. The best example is Baldelli playing Earl Weaver ball, just waiting for the three run homer instead of trying to manufacture runs, even when the team would struggle for weeks to score. This became very apparent once the roster was blown up by trades. All of a sudden, with two months left in the 25 season, the team started stealing multiple bases a game after four months of Baldelli concrete in their shoes. That’s on Rocco and his adherence to the management by computer algorithm analytics the front office insisted he follow.
  21. Otaknam
    Dumpster diving for the bullpen to see if an arm or two can help is better than moving young starters into a bullpen role, which is usually permanent. Given that developing effective starters is the biggest challenge in baseball, give the young guys every chance to succeed as a starter, and if they aren’t successful THEN move them to the bullpen. Varland is the best recent examples.
  22. Otaknam
    Trying to makes sense of this. They traded Paredes, a good defensive catcher with options who also hit a bit, to make room for Alex Jackson, who has no options left. That means they have to keep Jackson as a third catcher on the 26 man roster or lose him to waivers, which is likely. The lack of apparent strategy of this front office is on full display.
  23. Otaknam
    Outman didn’t show anything w the Twins last year. I cannot imagine him suddenly becoming a functional hitter in 2026. Roden might surprise, however.
  24. Otaknam
    With all the analytical tools available, how was Lee viewed as a polished college hitter, but now has so many flaws in his approach: slow bat, flat plane, not good at controlling the strike zone, slow foot speed, “chases pitches outside the zone more than an average batter, and doesn't make much contact when he does.” And his primary hitting asset is that he can barrel the bat on the ball, so he will hit some homers. This is a systemic failure of the scouting staff to overrate Lee. That said, Lee can add strength to improve his swing speed, and maybe even improve his foot speed. He will hopefully be bypassed by Culpepper this season, rendering Lee as a utility infielder. That would be a good start to improving this team.
  25. Otaknam
    A well deserved honor for a terrific play by play guy and all around great guy! Too bad they didn’t let him choose his own retirement date instead of forcing him out. But Dick rose above that disappointment because he is a good guy who had a great run!
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