Riverbrian

I still fail to understand the "set it and forget it" mentality when it comes to the batting order. I've said many times that I don't care much about the batting order but I really don't understand the reasoning behind a "somewhat static" "small fluctuating" "almost permanent" slotting. Why must Buxton remain in the 9th spot every single game? Any spot in the order 1-9 should be an option on any given day. If Buxton batted 9th on Sunday... Batted 1st on Monday and then Batted 6th on Tuesday and then batted 3rd on Wednesday. Will that ruin him? Will it ruin the team? I'm guessing that the next question could be: "Why Riverbrian do you want to move a batter around like that?". I'm not saying that I want to move a hitter around to that extreme but moving a hitter around based upon matchups or hot/cold streaks should always be a consideration in lineup construction despite the small sample sizes. If Nelson Cruz is 0-30 against Pitcher X... Does he have to stay in the 3 hole when we face Pitcher X? If Byron Buxton has barreled up Pitcher Y every single time he has faced him... Does he have to stay in the 9 hole against pitcher Y. If Max Kepler has struck out 15 times in his past 20 PA's... does he have to remain in the 1 hole or can the manager bump him down in the order until he starts making more consistent contact and then move him back to the 1 hole. Too many people discuss moving Buxton out of the 9 hole like it has to be permanent move. Like there is no going back again if he bats 6th in the order for tonight's game. I am trying desperately to understand the rationale behind the "Set It and Forget It" mindset. We have an analytics department analyzing every little detail just to find slight advantages, for the purpose of making our team just a little bit better and using a "somewhat static" "small fluctuating" "almost permanent" slotting totally ignores any slight advantage uncovered by metrics. I don't care about batting order in total other than: 1. Separate the Rights/Lefts as much as possible to make it hard on the other manager to manage his bullpen. 2. Whoever bats at the top of the order will most likely get one more AB then those hitting at the bottom of the order and if the top of the order gets 1 more AB... it will occur at the end of the game when the game could be on the line. Bottom Line: I just don't understand why it takes an act of congress to move a hitter to a different spot in the batting order.

His mechanics certainly look cleaner. With a cleaner swing, it's possible he is getting a better look, with a better look, he is swinging at better pitches. Swinging at better pitches leads to harder hit balls and less strikeouts. Tell Lavelle that he shouldn't argue with you.

Agreed I don't care about assigned roles. I don't care if we have a designated closer. I'm totally comfortable with the current bullpen not having an assigned closer. Ultimately... I want 7 or 8 guys in the pen that the manager would feel comfortable using in the 9th to protect a 2 or 3 run lead. But... If I were to assign a role in the bullpen... The role I would assign would be called a separator. The bullpen separators are your three best lights out guys. They enter the game any time the manager turns to the bullpen and the game is tight... either tied or 1 run difference. Their specific job is to shut the other team down long enough for the offense to separate from the other team on the scoreboard. For example the score is 3-3 in the 6th inning... Bring in the separator. Let him pitch the 6th. Plus the 7th and 8th if necessary... basically however long it takes for the offense to tack on a couple of runs to create some separation and I'd cap it at 3 innings. If your team grabs a lead of two or more in the 7th... his work is done after 1 inning and he is possibly available tomorrow. If he throws 3 because separation doesn't happen. You give him a couple days rest while you utilize one of the other two separators. If I had Edwin Diaz for example... he wouldn't be dedicated closer for me... He would be separator as described above. And of course... if the separation needs to happen in the 9th... Well... Then he is a closer on that day. Rogers would fit that mold.

We don't know why our relievers broke down. It's a theory based upon them leading the league in appearances. I'm not dismissing the theory but am far from saying that is the reason. I think they led the league in appearances because they avoided the D.L. and Molitor ate two bullpen spots by not turning to Magill once he assigned him LR and refusing to throw Busenitz and Curtiss when they were up. Just not sure it caused the breakdowns. As for "will some forward thinking team start making two innings stints a regular occurrence". I absolutely pray that happens and I hope it is my Twins that lead the way. Not just two but three innings from time to time.

If he stays healthy and performs like he has this year. You go to arbitration with him and pay it. Too many other holes to fill. It would be an incredibly risky move to let Cron go and just hand it all to Kiriloff or Rooker. The roster will be deeper and better with Cron and (Kiriloff or Rooker) on it, if they earn the way North. The Twins will have to (potentially) fill: Three Rotation Spots (Odorizzi, Pineda, Gibson). Not to mention we don't know the health or performance out of Berrios or Perez come winter. Schoop at 2B Castro at C That's why it's critical that Arraez plays when he is up. That's why it's critical that Garver and Astudillo get plenty of looks behind the plate. That's why it is going to be critical to see what Kohl can do... Maybe get a look at Graterol, Thorpe and Gonsalves. If the rotation is full... get them multiple inning work out of the pen. The Twins need to know where they need to allocate dollars because we all know the dollars will never be endless. Lots of talk about Kimbrel... I'd love to see him on the roster but if you had to prioritize between Kimbrel and Kuechel. When you look at next year and the fragile health of most starting pitchers... Kuechel might be the priority. Yes we need to prioritize this year... but I think you can prioritize this year and next year at the same time. Welcome everyone at Twinsdaily to what we call the "open window". The Window may be open for awhile.

Maybe but the Brewers came darn close last year. With the Rays... First the obvious. Morton, Snell and Glasnow are clearly starters in the traditional sense but... notice that they all average less then 6 innings per start. There have been some injuries but they sure seem to be trying to limit the number of innings the starters are throwing. These guys are not struggling at all so they don't require a quick hook. 2nd... Castillo, Alverado and Pagan are the late inning crew. No designated closer but they work in short stints. Kolerek and Roe appear to be arms a couple more arms that they use in short stints in the middle innings. 3rd... Stanek appears to be the preferred opener. 18 Games - 12 Games Starter - 24 innings pitched. 4th... Chirnos and Beeks appear to be the guys out of the pen that they are lengthening out to handle more innings and it looks like they will use Wood and Stadler for longer stints out of the bullpen as well. 12 to 13 pitchers and they have rewritten deployment of their limited resources.

Yeah I read the exchange. You shouldn't make such statements right before the team hits 6 home runs in one game.

Love this one!!!

I agree. Just because Rocco came from the Rays doesn't mean the Rays are coming with him. However... When I see the results the Rays are generating. I personally hope that Rocco is taking a piece of that with him. It wouldn't speak highly of Rocco or the front office to purposely leave behind something the Rays are having success with. That's why I'm spending the season watching how they deploy who they roster and not who they roster. They can sign 4 guys named Austin Adams if they'd like. I've decided to trust the front office to do their job with the information that they have. What they think of each player they roster will be apparent by how they deploy each player that they roster. If it's May and If the 4 guys named Austin Adams only get into the game when it's an 18-4 like score. I'll know they are short on depth. When the first rotation injury occurs... If all they do is slam Kohl Stewart into the rotation and let him keep rotating traditionally, conventionally, with a 5 plus ERA... I'll know we are short on depth and ideas. If they think they can get by with just 4 trusted members of the bullpen because the rotation is throwing 7 innings a turn... OK, I'll trust the front office but it's May and one of those 4 trusted members of the bullpen is in Rochester. So yeah... Data incomplete... I'm watching to see what happens after whatever happens next.

I usually consider this a good thing.

I also worry about the pitching depth but I remain neutral by stating that I don't know if we do or do not have pitching depth yet because I don't know how they will adjust when injuries or performance issues arise. Because we are not talking about our father's depth anymore. That's why I'm watching deployment... we are deploying somewhat traditionally at the moment. As long as we are faithfully rotating 5 starters and using half of the bullpen in low leverage situations in a traditional manner... I will have some worry. However... Baldelli comes from the Rays and this mitigates my worry or at least delays it until I see how the Twins react. Exhibit A: Look at the current state of the Rays Rotation on the link below. https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-tampa-bay-rays/ It is similar in structure to last year. Exhibit B: Look at the innings distribution on the link below. Check G/GS/IP of each member of the staff. https://www.fangraphs.com/teams/rays You can see that the lines are blurred, bullpen guys throwing more innings. Check the names, the majority of the names were not well known names. Still not well known names in some cases. Exhibit C: Check how the Tampa staff compares to the rest of the American league. In the link below. http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/league/al Exhibit D: And of course... The standings on the link below. http://www.espn.com/mlb/standings I'm thinking that Kohl Stewart doesn't have to do what Berrios is doing. It can be maneuvered around as illustrated in exhibit A,B,C and D. But we are going to need more arms than Baldelli is currently using in high leverage situations.

I was confused as well. 17th didn't make obvious sense... at least not like the 18th does.

I agree. Relievers are like the National Enquirer, Chili's Gift Card and Gum, Impulse Buys of the trade deadline.

Offense is bulletproof. I'll need to see the pitching depth. I'm worried we don't have sufficient depth but I want to be clear that I'm not saying we don't have it. I'm saying... I'll need to see it or see how Rocco can navigate when a major arm goes down. We've been healthy thus far on the mound, who steps up when we are not is the question that needs to be answered. I am firmly in prepare for playoffs mode. We will be in them but I'm taking the under until I see pitching depth.

In my opinion... Spycake is the most obvious choice.

I'd like to see the Twins trade for the Mariners Austin Adams. Put them both on the same roster. Just for the confusion created when Bremer announces that Austin Adams is warming up in the pen.

I wasn't suggesting that he couldn't hit left-handers... I was saying that if he isn't allowed to hit left-handers then he won't in the future. I'm saying Play Him... Play him tonight.

Managers will often put a decent bat in the 9 spot to feed the top of the order. This makes perfect sense but it only makes sense if you have a crappy 8 hitter that isn't capable of feeding the top of the order. We don't seem to have a crappy 8 hitter at the moment. And it only makes sense if the #1 #2 and #3 hitters are good enough to be fed. This point becomes really debatable when the #9 hitter is out hitting the #1 hitter. I honestly think we are looking at a manager who likes consistency in the batting order and I don't care much for that. I Just don't see the damage caused by moving players around in the batting order.

I LOVE BASEBALL!!!

I haven't seen him play either but I'll be giving him a fair shake right from the beginning. I look forward to seeing him play and I'll be bummed if I don't.

I don't want to consider any form of platooning. Light platoon, heavy platoon, temporary platoon or long term platoon for a 22 year old who has zero AB's at the MLB level and especially a player who has hit every where he has been. The organization doesn't need to take young prospects and turn them into platoon specialists at a young age. Yes, I know we are talking about a possible cup of coffee that won't ruin him but there is no reason to treat him like he's Shin Soo Choo with zero AB's. You don't call up a right handed hitter and sit him against right-handers because of the high percentage of RH's so let's not treat left handed hitters differently. Lefties already have big enough issues with those spiral notebooks leaving marks on their hand when they try to take notes. Let's not punish them at the plate as well. We may need Arraez and we may need him this year. None of us can predict the future. Let's see how he does against left and right handed pitchers. The Twins should be focused on developing future value with Arraez and if he can't hit left-handers... he won't develop enough value and he will never hit lefthanders if you are thinking platoon on day one. He's here with the Dogs now... Throw him to the Dogs. (I was gonna use Wolves for this sentence but I didn't want Andrew Wiggins anywhere near him). Play Him!!!

Play him. Don’t call him up to watch. His time here might be short so let’s have a look.

There is only one way. Give them the ball and keep giving the ball to the guys hanging zeroes and remove from the roster the guys who are not and keep searching until you have a surplus. . Bullpen guys come out of nowhere. Teams are frequently wrong. Use our Twins for example. We threw Hildenberger in our highest leverage situations and that suggests a level of confidence in Hildenberger from the front office. Martin Perez was brought on board as our 5th starter. His turn in the rotation was skipped a couple of times in April because he was our 5th starter and that suggests a little lack of confidence. The front office has been wrong so far on both accounts. If they had this evaluation thing down to a science... they would have had Pineda's turn in the rotation skipped a couple of times in April so Perez could pop the mitt a couple of more times instead. They probably had a hunch on Perez so they signed him but they are probably just as surprised as the rest of us that he has performed this well. If they are not surprised... then why start him as the 5th starter. If they had this evaluation thing down to a science... Hildenberger would have been a question mark from the get go and maybe they would have been more aggressive going after Ottovino or something. I'm not telling them who they should sign but I am watching how they are deployed. Other teams are frequently wrong... The Nats practically gave Treinen to the A's as an inclusion in the deal for Doolittle and Madsen. Kirby Yates was DFA'd by 4 teams before finding himself with the Padres. 4 teams full of scouts, coaches and front office who couldn't see the potential or teach him that split finger pitch. 4 teams taht were wrong. Brad Hand was released by the Marlins. A team full of scouts, coaches and front office personnel who couldn't see the Andrew Miller like potential as he stuggled as a starter... just like Andrew Miller struggled as a starter for the Marlins 5 years prior. Was Taylor Rogers supposed to be what Taylor Rogers is today? Bullpen guys come out of nowhere and they come out of nowhere by handing them the ball. Teams must be in continuous search mode for guys who can hang zeroes. As long as we have 4 guys that the manager will only trust to pitch if the score is 10-0. We are simply a time bomb that hasn't gone off yet. As long as the team makes mistakes on Hildenberger or Yates or Hand or the throngs of others, you can never trust that the manager is correct in who he trusts. You build a bullpen by handing them the ball and keeping the ones who get the ball back from catcher more often and moving on from the ones getting knocked around. I believe it is that simple and I believe it is absolutely possible.

I feel bad for Hildy but I'm happy that they made the move because that's the way this is supposed to work. It didn't work this way last year. If you got someone with options who is struggling... there is no reason to not use an option... none. I view this as a roster management upgrade in fundamentals to the positive. .But yeah, I feel bad for Hildy. So, Dear Front Office, Thank You for demanding performance from your players... now bring on the next guy. If you don't have a next guy... that's your fault.