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Aerodeliria

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Everything posted by Aerodeliria

  1. I expect he'll be called up in September along with a gaggle of other players. Let's see if the buzz is real. The 103 fastball is nice, but can he really rely on other pitches to keep hitters off balance? And, call-ups have to throw strikes. It is much easier to fire strikes in the minors...just ask Vasquez and Romero. Don't get me wrong. I want to see that blazing fastball bury some hitters, but it's a big adjustment for many pitchers.
  2. Getting lit up by the Tigers is NOT a good sign, especially after Goodrum had to leave with an injury. They were down to one guy who was decent. I think he might be injured or he's reverted to an old habit.
  3. Rocco's confidence in Berrios to work himself out of jams after the 5th is mystifying. He gets burned yet again.
  4. ...and if they pitch like Giolito did today, the Twins will be in trouble unless they can up the level of their game to match it.
  5. Very interesting discussion. Graterol and Alcala need to be protected long term. I still hesitate when it comes to Hildenberger. Maybe he has become Addison Reed, but I'm not sold on that theory yet. He was just too consistently solid over long stretches and then became awful over long stretches. I hope they have pinpointed his troubles. Of course Astudullio is an asset. Fans love him . That matters.
  6. Giolito is not going to pitch like this every single time out, but he is going to pitch like this sometimes because he's a very good pitcher. I have no problem with today's game. This happens to every team during the year against good pitchers. Monday's game on the other hand......
  7. Oddly, I remember that team well because that is the year I asked for the APBA Baseball game for Christmas and received it (I'm curious if anyone remembers that game.) They could hit home runs right and left, but they hit a ton of solo shots because no one was on base (at least in my game). They also couldn't pitch and were the slowest team on the planet, except for one their outfielders who was super fast but not a very good hitter (the name slips my mind,)
  8. I watched Alcala from Tom's short video. He seems to have electric stuff, but his follow through looks a bit awkward--kind of falling off the mound and landing in different places. Are they working on improving that or they will just go with the flow because he seems to be able to throw strikes and get strikeouts?
  9. We can handle anything you've got. Bring it on: https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/comments/1xfh92/remember_that_squirrel_from_yesterday_here_he_is/
  10. BTW, this is one of the most difficult words for Japanese to pronounce ("r" and "l" interference). They almost always say, "Squeal."
  11. This post piqued my interest and I went searching. The Bash Brothers never clubbed 40 home runs in any one year that I could find. The Colorado Rockies in 1997 had three players reach 40 home runs in one season (the only time it's been done??). Walker 49 (130 RBIs) Galarraga 41 (140 RBIs) Castilla 40 (113 RBIs) Interestingly, that team also included Dante Bichette who hit only 26 home runs but drove in 118 runs as well as Ellis Burks who clubbed 32 (82 RBIs). The other weird discovery was that in 1920 Babe Ruth hit 54 home runs, but his total was more than the total home runs for every other team in the league (maybe I rediscovered this...I think I had read it once before).
  12. It might be a bit closer than one would think, however. This also from FanGraphs:(And before anyone carps about sample size. He also talked about it extensively. I just didn't want this to be any longer than it needed to.) The other day I wrote about Shin-Soo Choo and the way he’s hitting the ball really hard despite being a 37-year-old who has never garnered much of a reputation as a power hitter. In that piece, I included a chart that showed Choo was having the second-best season in terms of hard-hit percentage by a player 35 years of age or older since we started gathering such data in 2002. Choo was deserving of the digital ink used on him, but as impressed as I was with his placement on that chart, the most remarkable player listed was the one directly above him. The hard-hit rate that Choo had put together that ranked second on that list was 46.7%. No. 1 on that list was 2019 Nelson Cruz, whose hard contact rate currently rests at a whopping 55%. He’s 39 years old, and he’s hitting the ball hard more often than anyone else in baseball. He also just wrapped up one of the hottest two-week stretches you’ll ever see. All season long, Trout, Cody Bellinger, and Christian Yelich have separated themselves from the rest of baseball in terms of offensive prowess. On July 21, 31 points separated Bellinger’s third-place wRC+ (183) from Anthony Rendon’s fourth-place wRC+ (152). Just over two weeks later, Cruz has nearly caught the top three, with his wRC+ of 168 now just eight points back of Bellinger. This may have the looks of a player simply hitting out of his mind for two weeks, and indeed it is. Statcast data, however, suggests that this past week has simply been Cruz quickly catching up to what his batted ball data said his numbers should have looked like all season long. His xSLG of .666 this year is the highest in the majors, and his xwOBA of .440 is third in the majors. He is also second in exit velocity and third in hard-hit percentage. All of this adds up to what suddenly looks like a career-best season for Cruz at the plate, which is an absurd thing to say about a 39-year-old who’s already put together a long list of impressive seasons, the majority of which have come in the second half of his career. His wRC+ is 10 points better than any other season he’s ever put up, but he’s also tying his career-high in walk rate while blowing past his career-high ISO by nearly 100 points.
  13. Let's not give Anderson too much credit. The double was a handle shot down the right field line that plopped down about an inch inside the line and then because of the spin (I imagine) made a weird carom of the wall--more like a yarn rather than a rope IMHO. Even on the home run Anderson was fooled, but he was able to slow his bat speed and kind of barreled it down the left field line. It hung just a little so he could keep the barrel on the ball long enough to generate a fly ball. It carried very well. I thought Pineda pitched well. Even the home run by Abreu was a decent pitch. Abreu just clocked it. You sometimes have to tip your hat to your opponent. Cruz may not be the league MVP but he is probably the team MVP at the moment. His presence in the batting order has an effect up and down the lineup.
  14. That was certainly the low-point...although Gonzales also whiffed in the same inning. Cron really hasn't been the hitter he was earlier in the season. Getting one run in that 6th inning was critical.
  15. Meh...games almost always turn on one or two pitches. We'll see what happens next time Gibson goes out. He's been disappointing fairly consistently lately. I also like Arraez in the leadoff spot. He did what we wanted him to and had a nice two-out swing with runners on. It was a pity it didn't fall in. It's nice to have Cruz back.
  16. I think I'd give the pitching nod to Sammons despite getting the L. Only one hit the entire game is a yeoman's performance, but there were a few good candidates to choose from on the pitching side.
  17. Thanks again Parker. I noticed his balance again (as I did last time) and his stance. The hand adjustment naturally improves his stance. I noticed how much more upright he looks in the box. Also, because the pitches farther out of the zone away, look like they are farther away, he can lay off of those pitches. Previously, as you mentioned, he had only one 'sweet spot,' while every other place he was swinging like the proverbial 'broken ladder.' The lunge factor has also seemed to correct itself (to me those were the ugliest swings of all). Sometimes intervention is needed as these things do not correct themselves over time--they tend to worsen. Kudos to the Twins and to Sano (for heeding their advice).
  18. Sure, but I think the assumption is that someone comes off the bench in a situation where contact is needed--say like in a WS game with the pitcher's spot coming to the plate and a man on 3rd with one or two outs. I am assuming that Arraez will be in the lineup and therefore only available when his turn comes up.
  19. This a perfect summery summary! You touched on everything of import. Thank you!!
  20. Sweep! I really thought we had a good chance to dominate the Rangers who were "pie in the sky" dreamers at the deadline. They could have landed a couple of very good prospects from the Twins had they been willing to let Minor come to the Twins. Their plan to get back in the playoff race by taking out the Twins backfired. Saying Romo allowed a base-runner is a bit cheeky. Polanco had his mandatory errant throw to put that base-runner on. His huge hit makes the error easy to overlook, but this is a trend that won't play well against better teams. The error thing is becoming problematic. Without Gallo in the line-up, the Rangers lack firepower. I'd rather face Danny Santana and Choo-choo than Joey Gallo any day of the week.
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