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.

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.

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.

"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!

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?)

"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!

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. ;-)

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.

A deep bow and a thank you.

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.

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.

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.

Truth!

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.

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).

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).

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.)

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.

I have a question for opening day. What's the snow depth these days?

A well-rounded synopsis of the hand we have. The bullpen rundown is especially prescient in light of the fact that Odorizzi is a twice through pitcher during his better outings and that means long relief. We can ill afford having two relievers underperforming or getting dinged up; then the situation will go from suspect to "ring the alarms," but I have hope in the Twins' staff thus far. I think they might be willing to try some things. JERRY: They could at least try it. GEORGE: They never try anything. JERRY: What's the harm? GEORGE: No harm! I like the fact that this group is really open-minded in their approach, at least it appears that way at the outset. It could turn out to be a very, very exciting season. Let's hope we can get a couple of breaks (not legs or arms though) this year and finally, knock Cleveland off the throne in the Central.

Very nice synopsis. Thanks!

My only worry about Hildenberger is that he now has dead arm from overuse or is hampered by some kind of minor but bothersome injury. Those represent the worst case scenarios, but I also think that prior to his meltdown mid-season in 2018, he had been the most trustworthy asset (IMHO) that the Twins had in their bullpen. If he is fully healthy, it is just a matter of getting his mechanics and possibly his mindset back on track.

Thanks for this. I've always liked the Royals all the way back to the George Brett days. If the Twins can't win it, I always pull for the Royals, but Nater79a's mini-video is probably pretty accurate.

It's a nice synopsis of the Tigers and gives the readers a bit of perspective. I want the Tigers to be bad, so the Twins can take advantage :-). I do take issue with the assertion that Gardy turned a bunch of ragtag players into a force. The Twins had the base already built under Kelly. They were trending up. Gardy demonstrated in practically every situation that he was old school and formulaic, but was still blessed with having a very good, young roster when he stepped in. Nevertheless, his managerial gaffes against the Yankees in the 2004 playoffs should have gotten him fired, but let's just be happy that he is in charge of the Tigers now instead of the Twins.

This looks like the best case scenario from my point of view. There aren't any perfect solutions, but weighing everything, I think this looks about right.