Riverbrian

Just food for potential thought. With no additional research done to support the food. Yes... the righty throwing-lefty swinging human beings do exist. However... the lefty throwing-lefty swinging human beings also exist. Lefty throwing human beings do not play 2B, 3B, SS or Catcher. So if you throw left handed. You are usually an OF or 1B. Again I've done no research on how many lefty hitters are right handed throwers. So... depending on how many are lefty throwers... it will lead to an OF pileup.

Us Brian's get that a lot. LOL

This off-season wasn't what many here were hoping for... including myself. After the trade deadline... many thought it was a beginning of a youth movement. The trade deadline was the end of the youth movement. I thought it was a good time to flood the system with youth. The Twins really did the opposite... especially in the pen. They flooded the bullpen with non-youth. This flood could also include Chafin and Hendriks who were released and then replaced by Drew Smith and Brebbia. I like to refer to our bullpen as crafty. It's crafty in St. Paul as well. Raya is perhaps the only young starter that they converted to bullpen duty. I think we will see some conversions on the fly as necessity requires. However... I thought we would see a little youth movement.

I do intend to keep this updated all year. I got a little behind this week so I'm updating the entire Red Sox series in one post because on Tuesday I became a Grandpa. First of many I hope. Left Handed Starter April 13 - Garrett Crochet - Win - Runs Scored 13 Lineup Composition 5 RH 3 Switch 1 LH Record vs Left Handed Starter 5-5 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starter 5.30 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Right Handed Starter April 14 - Sonny Gray - Win - Runs Scored 6 Lineup Composition 2 RH 3 Switch 4 LH Record vs Right Handed Starter 6-2 Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starter 5.63 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Last Game - Left Handed Starter April 13 - Connelly Early - Loss - Runs Scored 5 Lineup Composition 5 RH 3 Switch 1 LH Record vs Left Handed Starter 5-6 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starter 5.27

I would have done things differently. If I'm wrong or right is TBD. That won't stop me for cheering with all my might for every member of this team.

If you are insistent that a SS play SS and SS only and refuse to recognize that the SS at the major league level may remain healthy therefore keeping his incredible Keith Law scouting reports and his 1,000 OPS at St. Paul. If you are insistent that a 2B play 2B and 2B only and you refuse to recognize that you are promoting a player with a .500 OPS instead of that SS with a 1,000 OPS for the sole reason that 2B is the position that opened up. If you are all cool with that. Carry on. If you think it's possible that you would rather promote the SS over the 2B to fill the 2B role that opened. You have two choices. You can promote the SS and make him play 2B for the first time at the major league level... OR... you can get him work at different positions in the minors to prepare the player for whatever door opens. It seems more reasonable to me to prepare players in the minors.

Outman is toolsy. Power, speed, defense, arm. There was a reason the Dodgers didn't designate him for assignment for multiple seasons. There was a reason the Twins traded for him knowing he was out of options. There is a reason the Twins don't designate him for assignment. Normally I'd say you have to let him build up a decent sized sample. The problem is 19 plate appearances over 16 games is going to take too long to build a decent sample. The other problem is 10 strikeout over those 19 PA's makes him look completely lost. 1 walk is all he has produced.

Last Game - Right Handed Starter April 13 - Max Scherzer - Win - Runs Scored 8 Lineup Composition 1 RH 3 Switch 5 LH Record vs Right Handed Starter 5-2 Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starter 5.57 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Season Accumulated Stats vs Left Handed Starter Record vs LH Starter 4-5 Season Average Runs vs LH Starter 4.44

Sorry about scattering all of this. The post would be too long and I didn't have long enough blocks of available time. There are two reasons why a team should consider what I'm suggesting. 1. Budget: We have a budget... we have always had a budget and I don't care if Elon Musk is our new owner... the Twins will always have a budget. A budget that can't compete with the budgets of the big boys. We will need to develop our way to glory because we can't afford the development successes of other organizations. I see no reason to knock my head repeatedly against the revenue wall. I've resigned to the fact that we can't compete financially. against the money being spent by other teams. Even if we pump payroll up to 180 million. It won't be enough to not make development your top priority. We have to produce a significant number of players who contribute and make the minimum. 2. Failure Rate: If development is necessary and it is... you better be strongly considering the failure rate. All of us have different opinions on players. None of us can declare we are right... we don't know. The front offices know a lot more than we do but even with all of that knowledge... they can get it wrong... they get it wrong frequently. Every year... the mistakes are easy to be found. With all 30 organizations. They can't and don't get it right all the time. They miss often. If they miss and they do... how can anyone confidently put all eggs in one basket. If your M&M making machine produces a significant percentage of M&M's without a shell. You have to run more through just to fill a bag. You can't just let them melt in your hand before trying again. The only protection from all of this is running 13 through instead of running 9 through. Running 9 through... You have to be right. You can't miss.

With Lewis going down. Tristan Gray is going to get a run against right handed pitching... if we ever have a run of right handed pitching. Tristan has had the best imaginable start. He started this year a lot like Clemens started last year. Remotely Sustainable? I don't know. Doesn't matter... It's in the books that Tristan helped the team compete, Let's see if he can going. James Outman is having the worst start imaginable. You'd figure at least one ball of the few balls he has put in play would land on grass somewhere. He's striking out wayyyyy too much. His O fer is getting longer. He doesn't even look like he has a chance right now. He's lost and he's gotta fix whatever is causing it quickly. And I mean quickly.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

All I can say... and I have and will again... I would have done it differently. Now that it's been done differently... I love bright spots threads. Taj Bradley has been an extreme bright spot. He has looked... not getting lucky good. He is pitching wiht stuff instead of throwing with stuff. Joe Ryan has been solid. Bell has had a great start. I'm glad he's getting more 1B work so the DH can be utilized by others. Hope he keeps going. Larnach has had a great start to the season. 7 walks 3 K's... .448 on base... Martin 10 walks 6 K's... .500 on base percentage. Hope they keep going. I had some decent Lewis vibes before his latest injury.

I absolutely love the current challenge system... I will love it even more when ABS is the system... every single pitch in the regular season and every single pitch in the playoffs. Starting slow with it is alright. It has an element of strategy to it. Deciding when to challenge and not challenge in regards to leverage is strategy and a welcome addition. For anyone paying attention and thinking a step further with it. I believe... my opinion of course... that it absolutely absolves umpires from almost all past derision from fans. The ABS clearly shows how incredibly hard it is to call balls and strikes with the human eye and brain. Umpires deserve our respect because the accuracy they display is incredible. Kudo's to MLB for testing it while I was impatient for it and Kudo's for the current implementation. Love it.

Last Game - Left Handed Starter April 11 - Eric Lauer - Win - Runs Scored 7 Lineup Composition 5 RH - 3 Switch - 1 LH Record vs. LH Starter - 4-5 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starter - 4,44 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Season Accumulated Stats vs Right Handed Starter Record vs RH Starter - 4-2 Season Average Runs scored vs RH Starter 5.17

You wrote/write good stuff. Interesting stuff. You have a natural knack for finding things to twist a tish. Those were the days. I really miss them. I used to laugh until I cried some nights. I never needed to take on serious topics... discuss platoons or anything. The team was losing at record breaking pace and the game threads were still happiness as we talked about Giraffes and Gilligans Island. Bark Art!!! Remember Bark Art. Bark is my favorite artist to this day. I'd buy a Bark over a Picasso.

And then injuries... make them regulars. Could be for a short stretch... sometimes longer stretches. You can roster someone who you hope never plays. Or you can roster someone who makes an injury hurt the team less. Two choices... You can roster someone who competes for playing time or someone who you hope you don't have to play. Whoever you choose will get the playing time when Lewis gets hurt. Lewis spraining his knee while swinging a bat isn't surprising. We can mitigate it by driving your roster forward 13 deep instead of 9 deep. Tristan Gray... Ryan Kriedler in a platoon role tying up two roster spots. That's how prepped we were for a Lewis injury. That's how prepped we are for a Lee injury.

I tried... I really tried. I was at Target Field with my magic wand power shooter thing. I was seated along the left field line. I just had to wait for Ben to head to the dugout at the end of the inning placing himself in the 15 yard range of this contraption. Just as he crossed in range... I let it fly. At that exact moment an 80 year old lady stood up and took a direct shot to the back of her head. She was so pissed at me. She turned and with her suddenly brawny arms... She ripped her chair from row 1 and threw it at me. I apologized to get things back to normal and she returned to watching the game. No Chair of course... so she stood and blocked my view the rest of the game.

I don't have any issues with Shelton's utilization at this point. Well... I have no MAJOR Issues with it. He's decently utilizing 25 out of the 26. I will have issues if Martin is a short side platoon. We don't know if he is yet. With the injury to Lewis. I'm guessing that Gray and Kriedler will form a 3B platoon for a bit. Injuries... bummer... I was hoping to go 162 games without any. Bench players will become starters. At the snap of a finger or a spraining of the knee.

I was looking for the Spiderman catch in Camden Yards. Oddly... I couldn't find it. Still one of the top CF catches ever made in a Twins uniform. I didn't stop thinking about that catch for weeks. If anyone has it... I'd love to see that one again. I was a huge Ben Revere fan. If I could have given Ben one gift or gave him one improvement to help his career. Arm strength wouldn't have been my gift to him. I would of gave him just enough power that the opposing pitchers would have had a reason to pitch him carefully and maybe risk the occasional walk.

Tell Ben Hi from me. I loved Ben Revere.

We have no idea what Derek Shelton's intentions are in regards to Austin Martin. We still don't know if he will be utilized as a short side platoon because this bizarre run of left handed starters has actually made the left side of the batters box the short side. As you pointed out... he made one start against a right handed starter. Buxton was dinged up and doing DH duty but Shelton did give him an opportunity instead of the left handed James Outman. On your thoughts about it. I 100% agree. 1,000% agree. I would give Martin good playing time and allow him to... I almost said it again. Well.. You know. Martin hasn't earned the right to prevent others from playing but the other players also haven't earned the right to keep Martin from playing time. This is easy enough done. It's even easier if the Twins play Bell at 1B... like they have been lately. I'll say it... I apologize to all. LET THEM COMPETE! It's a small sample right now... but so far... Martin looks like he wants it. Larnach looks like he wants it. Wallner does not look like he wants it. His strikeout rate is too high. Time will tell.

Speed can make up for arm strength. Speed won't help you much on straight tag up throws. However... on any ball that hits the ground and must be fielded by the OF... Speed can more than make up for arm strength. No matter his arm strength. He can throw it faster than anybody can run. The weakest arms are still a threat to any runner trying to take a base. Players and base coaches make quick decisions on where the fielder is and their current/future orientation to the baseball. What direction is he running? How close is he? If the fielder is running away from the bases or running so they have to turn and throw. Those are the cues to go for the bag. Arm strength isn't the calculation. Faster runners not only get to the ball quicker... they can also get themselves in better position for the throw. If the fielder has a ball in hand near easy throwing position. The Runner will stop at second base even if it's a Ben Revere arm in RF. As much as I protect Trevor Larnach on this website and as much as I point out the majority of plays being routine plays. I'd love to have speed in CF, speed in LF and speed in RF. I just believe that after the bullpen. Offense in in need of the most fixin. I can't yell about the offense too loud because they are currently 9th in runs scored per game. On the other hand... The Bullpen is 25th... so I can keep that ranked #1.

Last Game - Left Handed Starter Handed April 10 - Patrick Corbin - Loss - Runs Scored 4 Lineup Composition 4 RH 3 SWITCH 2 LH Record vs RH Starter - 3 - 5 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starter 4.13 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Seasons Accumulated Stats vs Right Handed Starter Record vs LH starter - 4-2 Season Average Runs scored vs RH starter 5.17

How would compete for playing time work with Larnach and Martin? That's too narrow a question because when you include DH... there are 4 lineup spots for 5 outfielders on the 26 man roster. If all things are equal... (they are not equal).... but... if all things were equal... That's Buxton, Larnach, Wallner, Martin and Outman all playing 4 out of 5 games. None of them are tossed... no roster spaces wasted... all roster spots developing. Please understand that I am not advocating blind equal distribution as I just exampled. It's an example to provide the playing time available to an active 26 man roster with 13 position players. It's a dial not a switch. Buxton you dial up... Outman you dial down. If you have to dial Outman down all the way to nothing because his presence in the lineup hurts the team. Get him off the roster. Bring up someone else. This team could cut Outman right now and call up Erod. Erod could join that group of 5 and playing 4 out 5 games would not compromise his development one bit. What it doesn't do... is remove everybody around Erod and force him into a 162 game attitude where you sink or swim with Erod... Where it's all Erod or nothing. It's a dial not a switch. If all you see is all or nothing. If all you see is... we will commit to him... we will not commit to the other guy. If you don't see the dial and it's possibilities... What I'm saying will make no sense at all. You have to see the dial and the dial is important because the margins are thin Larnach, Martin and Erod. Larnach or Martin? Your opinions are reasonable. Mine are different. That's OK. The first thing I wouldn't do. I wouldn't short side platoon Martin. It's probably too late for Larnach... we have already strip mined him for parts... we are 4 years into his development as a guy that requires a right handed compliment. We have already robbed him of crucial development time against left handed pitchers... we have already created a platoon specialist named Trevor Larnach. However... the problem with trying to set up a platoon for Larnach. It requires someone on the roster to be a short sider. That's wasting a roster spot because 28% of pitching is left handed. If you turn Martin into that short sider just to cover Larnach... You will kill his development. Just like the Twins killed or attempted to kill every left handed hitter the past 3 years. Same thing... just worse because 28% creates even less playing time that the 72% that left handers face. In regards to the infield. Same thing. I didn't roster Tristan Gray... I would have looked for a young SS to compete with Lee and Lewis. Tristan just happens to be who the Twins gave a roster spot to. If you have 4 infielders for 3 spots... Equal rotation would be 3 games every 4. Nobody needs to put on a waiting list and we don't have to suffer the potential fate of Brooks Lee failing and nobody else to turn to. Which means they will have to start over. Catchers have their own rotation... That leaves 11 players for 8 spots. Use the dial... Don't use a light switch. Let the performing players to dial up and the ones who are struggling a little to dial down.