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Road trip

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Everything posted by Road trip

  1. Road trip
    Well, I appreciate the optimism, but the bolded word choice below made me laugh out loud. "Tristan Gray, Orlando Arcia and Ryan Kreidler form an underwhelming but extremely intriguing collection of role players on the infield." I'm neither entertained nor intrigued by that collective, even if I'll root for them. On the other hand, wouldn't it be peak irony if the "pitching pipeline" finally arrived after Falvey left? Other than SWR's implosion, the performance of several young starting pitchers plus Morris in the pen is a cause for real hope. Bonus points as well for Ober's performance.
  2. Road trip
    I saw that too. Olivar absolutely hit the snot out of the ball this year at AA (.978 OPS). Everything I read on here is that he is "barely" a catcher... but maybe if Brian Harper could learn well enough to be passable, so can Olivar.
  3. Road trip
    There have been some rough games for the offense, and with Jeffers hurt it will likely get worse. The eye test says the Twins offense is bad. And yet... still 3rd in the AL in runs scored, and a mere run behind 2nd place Tampa. AL teams are all struggling to score runs. We've had some good pitching performances to be sure, as JD-Twins noted above. But there have also been some horrible clunkers. SWR a real disappointment. Essentially the entire bullpen is very bad. Overall, the Twins rank a very distant 12th in the AL in allowing runs. Every team in the AL Central is better, even the recently horrible White Sox. Despite some good individual performances Twins pitching (and defense) is NOT a strength relative to the rest of the league. I don't know that our eyes are deceiving us, but perhaps our perspective is. A few years ago the Bomba Squad scored runs with ease, but that era of baseball is long gone. Pitching rules the game currently, and pretty much every team can throw good starters out there, and most of them have vastly superior relievers than the Twins.
  4. Road trip
    Makes perfect sense. Culpepper is a possible future Twins shortstop, and needs to get the innings there at St Paul. The Twins need to figure out if he can play major league caliber SS. Arcia is a former shortstop at this point in his career, and likely not a member of the 2027 Twins. He's logged thousands of innings at SS, but not many at other infield positions. Prepping Arcia to play 2B was only wise, given the lack of depth behind Keaschall.
  5. Road trip
    Wrong wish granted... Jeffers is going to be out a while. Hamate bone fracture. AI says out 6 weeks.
  6. Road trip
    For the many people who criticize the Twin's inability to draft and develop talent, Jeffers really is the great Twins success story. He was a bat-first pick from a small(ish) college back in 2018. He's become a good catcher through hard work and coaching, and has easily been the best player drafted in the 2nd round that year. Hope he doesn't miss much time..
  7. Road trip
    It'll be interesting to see the lineup today. Buxton's bat is desperately needed, but is he healthy yet? Jeffers would normally get a day off here, day game after a night game, but his bat is also badly needed. Maybe he gets a DH start instead of the struggling Bell? They've got to find a way to scratch out at least 3 runs..
  8. Road trip
    It seems inconceivable when watching games like this, but the Twins rank...... ..... 2nd in the American League in both runs and rbi's. I know, I can't believe it either. Could be the AL is just really awful this year relative to the NL.
  9. Road trip
    If an infielder gets hurt, sure. But there is no reason to believe 36 games in AAA is anything more than a "dead cat bounce". Arcia's track record is long, and he was never a particularly good hitter. Much like his brother, he peaked in his early 20's. If his defense is no longer above average, what's the point?
  10. Road trip
    Sure... roll the dice, Gomez appears to be able to clear the low bar of "better than Luis Garcia". I've still got some emotional scars from the Ron Davis years, but I have little doubt that this collection of relievers has a good chance to go down in history as "Worst Twins Bullpen".
  11. Road trip
    Definitely satire. And yet...I think I'd be willing to give Hendricks a shot if the alternative is more Luis Garcia...
  12. Road trip
    I get this, and I'm sympathetic, but I kinda wonder why minor league prospects aren't told "don't run into walls". Especially one with the pedigree and injury history of Jenkins? These games don't really count beyond development, and for reasons nobody fully understands modern players are getting injured at an alarming rate, much worse than a generation or two ago. So... in meaningless games, can the Walter Jenkins-type players of the world not be told "Don't run into walls"? Buxton learned to preserve his body, finally, after many injuries, and his wall crashes at least were in MLB games. The cost/benefit of running into walls in a minor league game is very bad.
  13. Road trip
    I'll disagree with the crowd. The clock is ticking, but it isn't midnight yet.. Two weeks ago some seemed to think Bell and Caratini were going to hit all year. That didn't last. Five weeks ago many would have sold Larnach for a random minor leaguer, and Martin was a utility man who shouldn't play more than twice a week. That didn't last. Unfortunately their current hot streaks won't last either. Regression to the mean will happen for nearly all ballplayers, unless they are injured or age has stolen their skills. Wallner looks terrible this month, no doubt. He didn't look great at many points last year either. And yet his career numbers with the bat... are significantly better than any of the players I listed above. And none of those guys are good defenders, with the possible exception of Caratini when he plays catcher rather than 1B. ERod should get his chance in a few weeks if he is deemed ready. It may be at Wallner's expense, or it may be someone else. But this is a developmental year regardless. I care little if the Twins win 65 games or 75 games, because they aren't built to contend this year. Thus we may as well be patient. There is still a diminishing chance Wallner will make adjustments, return to the player he was in 2023-24, and be part of the future as a DH. Let's find out..
  14. Road trip
    His upside is perhaps to turn into something like Chris Young. Young survived/thrived a decade-plus throwing an upper 80's fastball, and as I recall by the end of his career it was barely a mid-80s fastball. Young was even a bit taller than Ober, but much like Ober that long extension made his slow pitches more difficult to hit than they should have been. Ober will never be an Ace, nor was Chris Young. But maybe he can have a longish career as an effective #3 or #4 starter throwing like this, eating innings, keeping his team in games, and slightly befuddling hitters who are accustomed to much faster pitching. We shall see... I'm rooting for him.
  15. Road trip
    I was just thinking Garcia is a useful name to remember when playing Immaculate Grid, as he's played for about a third of the teams in MLB at this point. Otherwise he brings very little entertainment value, or more importantly, hope for a better Twins future bullpen.
  16. Road trip
    I commend Clemens for his game yesterday, but in my mind he's still a AAAA player. On a contending team he is a depth guy you stash at AAA, waiting on a call up due to injuries at the MLB level. The same is true of Gray, and yes, they are similar players, although Gray has a better and more versatile glove. The big difference? Well, Clemens has that major league name... I sometimes think that is the reason some fans like him.
  17. Road trip
    I also noted that Gonzalez is suddenly getting reps at 1B. Four games now. This seems a like a wise thing to try. 1B is an organizational hole, and there are likely multiple outfielders ahead of Gonzalez (Jenkins, ERod, possibly others) in the minors org. Besides, reports are the Gonzalez is not good in the outfield anyway. It certainly appears that Gonzalez may be a hitter, but he needs a position where he can be adequate and isn't blocked. He's shorter than ideal for 1B, but there have been other short first basemen that have provided good defensive value. Hopefully he is able to learn the position... and quickly, because there is no apparent internal solution there.
  18. Road trip
    Martin has had an unexpectedly good start, which brings him into the everyday player conversation. But it's just a good 20 game stretch at this point. His defense looks better, I guess, but he's probably at best an average outfielder because his arm is no bueno, and his routes are still an adventure at times. Should he get some starts against right-handers? Yes, I think so, if for no other reason than he will get mighty rusty soon as the tsunami of left-handed starting pitchers will inevitably end (it has to, right?). Mixing him in a bit more while sitting Clemens/Larnach/Wallner is fine but odds are all three of those guys are going to be better hitters over the course of the season against right handers (maybe not Clemens... but the Twins seem to have no faith in Bell at 1B).
  19. Road trip
    Unfortunate, but as others have said this is just a normal part of the sport now. Players get hurt, frequently. It's tough being a Vikings Twins fan. Next man up.
  20. Road trip
    CES absolutely raked at AA and AAA in 2022 and 2023 when he was in his early 20's, but something went terribly wrong with him. I have no idea what, although I recall he did have some back issues. It may also be that for many players the gap between AAA and the majors is a chasm too vast to cross. He's young enough yet that someone, somewhere, is likely to sign him to a minor league contract. I have doubts that it should be the Twins, but have to note that CES is the same age as Anthony Sabato and has been a much better hitter than Sabato at every level. Sabato is more or less our "prospect" at 1B for St Paul, if you can still be generous enough to call him a prospect. Nobody at Wichita is primed to move up to fill 1B either. So.... maybe?
  21. Road trip
    The Twins defense is bad, to be sure, almost everywhere on the diamond. And yet an equally large problem is the offense. They just can't score runs with any consistency. Just look at shortstop production. The best defender at SS in 2025 was Bobby Witt, at 18 runs prevented above average for the year (per Baseball Savant). That makes Witt worth 19 runs more than Brooks Lee on defense (Lee was -1 last year). But look at their respective offensive production... it's a chasm, far more than the 19 runs worth of difference. Heck, Witt's offensive value over Lee might be worth more than 19 runs in a month! And you can do this all over the diamond, save for CF if Buxton stays healthy and has a good year. Even for traditional offense-first positions like LF and 1B the Twins roster players that are below average hitters. It's gonna be a long year..
  22. Road trip
    Yeah, I mean, he should have just struck out 😉
  23. Road trip
    The fact that Lee was a touted prospect and a 1st round pick still matters, at least at this point. Out of the 2022 first round picks, only Jackson Holliday, Cade Horton, and Zach Neto look like sure-fire major leaguers, and frankly only Neto has had significant success in the majors thus far. It's still early in Lee's career. Results haven't been as encouraging as hoped. Maybe 2022 was just a weak draft, but I wouldn't give up on Lee's bat until he gets to 1000 plate appearances.
  24. Road trip
    Yes, that would be fine for a defensively elite SS, but that batting line seems really optimistic for Houston. .240 is league average these days. Maybe he can become Mark Belanger. That would be valuable. Just understand what you are wishing for: Gold Glove defense with an OPS+ of 68 (that's really bad, btw).
  25. Road trip
    Plan for the future. Don't live in the past. As much as we want a return of 2023 Pablo/Twins, nobody has a time travel machine. The odds of Pablo returning to his prior form are poor. He's suffered a serious injury, and the track record for pitchers undergoing a 2nd UCL is not good. This is especially true of starters over age 30. It was a devastating event for the franchise. If the Twins want to contend again someday they have to face reality and think with their heads, not their hearts.
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