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Aerodeliria

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Everything posted by Aerodeliria

  1. Aerodeliria
    I wasn't happy that Toronto was playing so poorly coming in. I'd rather have them playing mediocre. I am always afraid that they will suddenly start playing better. I think this was part of the reality of this series, although the Twins also gave them more opportunities than they should have.
  2. Aerodeliria
    I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with mikelink45 about having Cruz in the lineup whenever possible. His presence in the batting order changes the dynamics of the game significantly.
  3. Aerodeliria
    I want four acceptable outfielders who can actually play well enough so as not to lose games through misplays or lumbering around like ogres with one leg tied the foul pole. Unless you can bring up someone who can play outfield as well as Cave and can hit well enough to stick around, I don't see how you can jettison Cave. Adrianza is a utility infielder and one with a bigger downside than Gonzalez IMHO. Gonzalez is a more formidable hitter (I still believe) and can back up anywhere. (Even in a down year Gonzalez drove in 68 and hit 16 home runs and had a OBP of .324 (.409/.733)--not great but Adrianza had a OBP of only .301 (.379/.680).)
  4. Aerodeliria
    You gotta like a player with a name like 'Cabbage.'
  5. Aerodeliria
    Nice to get that win and to see Cruz right in the middle of the line-up, which always puts pressure on the pitchers. He's the difference in this team right now (IMHO). He makes everyone in the line-up a better hitter--especially before and after him. It's one of the reasons that Polanco is getting a lot of good looks (although he's becoming a force in his own right). It was great to let Mejia finish an inning and then start the next. If someone is pitching well, let's take advantage. If he hadn't pitched two days ago, I would have said let him throw one more inning. One thing I really don't like is switching pitchers just because they have completed their 'one' inning of relief. (They do let relievers pitch a few innings in the minor leagues--even three innings to earn a save.) I've always felt that if a pitcher is rolling, keep him in until he's thrown his max amount. This was my primary beef about Monday's game. Harper had a very good curveball and threw only 15 pitches but he had to come out because he completed his 'one' inning. Mejia came in and didn't have anything. In Tuesday's game, Harper came in but this time he wasn't sharp. This has always been one of my pet vexations.
  6. Aerodeliria
    ...my favorite part has always been the minor league game reports (especially when the major league report is depressing). I second that sentiment!
  7. Aerodeliria
    That is a sublime curveball that Harper has been throwing. I wonder why Harper couldn't throw two innings in such a case. He hardly got warmed up and was finished with the side.
  8. Aerodeliria
    We do need two of the three to step up or we will be having bullpen burnout. My guess is that if Perez can get the Twins though four innings, the game will be handed over to Harper and Mejia, but the problem is that they cannot do that three times in a row if none of those three starters can step up for six or more innings.
  9. Aerodeliria
    If we compare the likes of last's years version of Schoop and Joey Gallo to emphasize the point of controlling the strike zone, we can see some interesting differences. They both are known as home run hitters, so strikeouts are something one would expect. We often throw phrases around when referring to players like Gallo as "All or nothing" or "Either or home run or a strikeout." Hence, to the casual observer it might seem like Schoop was at least a comparable player to Gallo based on the more obvious stats: Strikeouts: Gallo: 207 (sounds ghastly) Schoop: 115 BA: Gallo: .206 Schoop: .233 That Gallo had more strikeouts than his BA is death-defying, but from that point forward, all metrics are solidly in Gallo's favor. Despite Schoop having a BA .027 higher than Gallo's, his OBP was .046 lower. This is due to strike zone expansion in many cases I would surmise. OBP: Gallo: .312 (.106 higher than his BA) Schoop: .266 (.033 higher than his BA) Walks: Gallo: 74 Schoop: 19 Strikeout/walk ratio Gallo: 2.8 Schoop: 6.1 In a weird world where walks were counted as hits, their respective batting averages would be inverted: Weird world BA: Gallo: .354 Schoop: .294 This is why, from last year's point of view, Gallo was a far more dangerous player than Schoop. It is true that when Gallo did swing the bat, he certainly was 'all or nothing,' but he didn't always swing the bat as evidenced by the walks. Gallo took those mighty swings at pitches that tended to be in the strike zone to his overall advantage. His 92 RBI attest to this (Schoop had 61). It is good that Schoop has managed his OBP very well in 2019. He has strikeout/walk ratio is better (3.67) so far, which indicates he hasn't chased as often, but it is still early. Let's hope he keeps this pace as he would be a very dangerous player if her could return to 2017 form.
  10. Aerodeliria
    Cruz is always an asset. He gets walks precisely because opposing pitchers don't want to pitch to him. That creates opportunities for other hitters as was the case today.
  11. Aerodeliria
    "Seems absolutely reasonable to expect Odorizzi to get through that 5th, and if he can't get 8-9 out, pull him for the top of the lineup. We even managed to pull him before a run scored! The problem was not so much *when* we pulled Odorizzi, but *who* we brought in to replace him." Exactly!
  12. Aerodeliria
    I was not thrilled to see Vasquez walk to the mound in that situation. I just had this very bad feeling that he wasn't going to be able to throw strikes--sadly, I was correct. (Why not May or Hildenberger from the start?)
  13. Aerodeliria
    "De Jong threw 46 pitches in the 9th? Whoa." LOL. He should get the win just for pitching half of a game in one inning!
  14. Aerodeliria
    Thanks for the video uploads! That was really, really a fun game until the bottom of the ninth. I really liked the swings Garver put on those pitches by de Grom. That second homer he really hammered it. I also liked the call to bring in Hildenberger even though Gibson (I am sure) wanted to stay in so he could get a win, but if he walked another, I believe the Mets come back and beat the Twins. In that situation, the most important thing is to throw strikes, and Hildenberger is going to throw strikes. On the one negative note, I hope they see something in De Jong. It was surprising that he couldn't throw strikes in a blowout...maybe Tyler Austin should have pitched the ninth. ;-)
  15. Aerodeliria
    I think the comparison to Puckett is quite poignant. They both appeared from thin air and they both were able to hit pitches that others would either take for balls or flail at. They both loved playing the game and they both hated taking walks.
  16. Aerodeliria
    A deep bow and a thank you.
  17. Aerodeliria
    Bellinger has five times as many home runs as the Twins as a team...and we are still 4-1. If someone said that after five games, our Twins would have only one home run, I would be guessing more like 1-4. Only a couple of bats have warmed up to spring. It's all (almost) good.
  18. Aerodeliria
    At some point, you have to say that La Tortuga is the man to beat, considering that all other catchers have ZERO (I think this is correct) hits.
  19. Aerodeliria
    It really is great to have Cruz in that number three slot. That is why it is so critical for Polanco and Kepler to get on base; then, they have to pitch to Cruz. He's going to get a lot of good swings if there are men on base.
  20. Aerodeliria
    Truth!
  21. Aerodeliria
    I agree about the Buxton wall-crash. What was worse though was subsequently missing the cut-off and eliminating any chance of making a play at the plate.
  22. Aerodeliria
    Perfect synopsis of the weekend. My only beef was the same (i.e., not bringing on La Tortuga to pinch hit for Kepler in the 9th).
  23. Aerodeliria
    That's a fascinating article. Thank you. With great players you can win a lot of games. The Yankees could probably have R2D2 as their coach and they would still be in contention for the division, but for teams with fewer marquee players, the make or break of picking up a few extra wins or losses comes based upon their decision-making ability. The Twins coughed up a lot of late inning leads last year. If they cut that number to half, the Twins would be much improved, and a simple turn-around in one-run games would make for an 84-78, which I would call a great success (but I'm adding my 5 game Twins bias to the table to shoot for 89).
  24. Aerodeliria
    PS-I love winning those low-scoring games. (Looking forward to reading the game reports as well as the relief pitcher usage from the Daily crew.)
  25. Aerodeliria
    The perfect season continues on Saturday! As Tom mentioned, this series is just the first, but it is against Cleveland and it is the first with Neo at the helm. Interestingly, last night I watched a special program called ワースポ：ＭＬＢ (Wasupo: MLB=World Sports: MLB). The show featured Japan's latest pride and joy, Seattle Mariner Kikuchi, and was focused on how data are driving the game of baseball in the MLB. Apparently they have changed Kikuchi's release on the slider after data analysis revealed he wasn't getting enough bite on it. The dip difference on the slider has dramatically improved The show also talked about Justin Verlander and his interest in data as well, but supposedly the biggest オタク (otaku=nerd/geek) is Trevor Bauer who spends hours looking at all aspects of his pitching using all sorts of computer-generated data. Let's hope we can out-nerd him this Saturday.
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