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Dantes929

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Everything posted by Dantes929

  1. Dantes929
    You guys might be right and my memory flawed. When Castro got hurt they wanted to give Garver a shot at full time catcher to see what they had in him. Escobar was our 3rd baseman for 97 games. I I don;t remember the timing of all the injuries and who played when but I also don't really remember the name Willians Astudillo until he came up for a short while in July. I don't think I saw him on any top 30 Twins prospects lists. To me he had a nice minor league career but the Phillies were fine with letting him go. Twins picked him up, he had a pretty nice season in the minors and was promoted where he got 100 major league at bats in the Fall and did really well. Continued with winter ball and ST and is now getting some opportunity and is making the most of it. I think the progression as far as the Twins are concerned has been quite reasonable. I just don't remember anyone calling for his promotion before it happened. Timing is everything. Maybe he gets promoted earlier and a lot of at bats but things don't turn out that great and he is written off. We agree he's not a .382 hitter but that is what he did last September and that is why he is at the top of the radar now. I think things have worked out pretty well so far and hope it continues to work well.
  2. Dantes929
    Reading a lot of posts that seem to draw some conclusions over a 3 or 5 game span. I agree they should give him more consideration to be a regular based on last year, his winter league season and Spring Training as I stated in the last sentence of first paragraph. They only got him last year, he hit .276 in AAA and then they played him pretty much every game in September. When would the smart team have promoted him?
  3. Dantes929
    A few quick points. A few things to temper enthusiasm. I like what Cruz has done but he is not a .333 hitter. We loved Hunter for a while also. He was a great signing and provided great leadership when he was hitting three run homers. It didn't last. When the dust settles I hope we get from Cruz what Seattle got from him so what I hope from him is less than what he has given us. The Turtle is not a .667 batter. He's probably not a .382 batter either. His career average at all levels is .300. Sample size is mounting so maybe he has turned a corner but .300 would be great from him and if he is a .300 batter he should be a regular. On the flip side, Rosario is better than a .150 hitter and Kepler is better than a .200 hitter. Interesting that there were a lot of posts (including from me) whining about Kepler being left in to face a lefty the other day. Not seeing those complaints from being left in yesterday. Any chance the two run base hit had anything to do with it? In my defense, I thought the Turtle was the guy to put in there the first time and he was already playing yesterday.
  4. Dantes929
    Yep, that's the risk. You go back to percentages. Left handed pitcher and right handed batter helps so what are the odds of success of Buxton stealing vs being able to move him over with a sacrifice bunt because those are far from a sure thing also. Every move had a possibility of success or failure and I am sure we don't have this discussion if Kepler had drilled a two run homer (though the rare posts I respect the most would have still questioned it) but I am sure I am also not the only one that went "huh" when he left Kepler in swinging away.
  5. Dantes929
    I don't think bunting is easy but at the same time I think Buxton showed some strong signs of being good at it in 2017. I don't know how many bunt hits he had that year but I think it was enough to keep him in the lineup that year when the rest of his offense was struggling. Once he got the rest of his offense going it was still a great weapon. IMO it enhances the rest of his offensive game, it doesn't diminish it. Last year I saw him bunt once. It was a sacrifice right back to the pitcher and he still beat it out. https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/12/10/3748738/best-bunter-all-time-career-bunt-hits-bases-empty-mlb Why is it so hard to find stats for bunts? Anyone know what Buxton's BABIP is for bunts?
  6. Dantes929
    I'm no where near convinced the results would be much different. Now of course Kepler swinging away could have turned out well but the guy with the spreadsheet probably doesn't keep an 0-7 guy in against a lefty specialist. and either puts in a guy that is likely to make contact or someone more likely to get a bunt down. Of course there is a fair chance that that won't work either so I am not giving a full WAR to the guy with the spreadsheet but I am giving him an edge. I'm not big on hindsight but I think there were definitely those out there questioning the non move before the results were in.
  7. Dantes929
    I don't know about beat the ball on the ground but enough of this talk about not bunting. He should absolutely be bunting and often. Unless there are guys on base his bunts are the equivalent of doubles since he soon steals 2nd. In essence, is he more likely to get a base hit bunting or swinging away? I think he is more likely to get on by bunting and by a fair margin. Its exciting, it gets under the skin of the opposing team and it is a slump buster. If he's not bunting he is diminishing his best tool which is his speed.
  8. Dantes929
    Well, along those lines, Having a guy on 2nd that has a perfect steal rate over the last two seasons changes odds as well. What are his chances of stealing 3rd? That should be compared to the odds of getting a bunt down successfully as well. In any case, I believe the Turtle pinch hitting would have been a good move there.
  9. Dantes929
    If they are true odds at 25-1 it is 20 times more likely to happen than the 500-1 odds in 1987. https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/longest-shots/story?id=36932901
  10. Dantes929
    "Only once in my lifetime have the Twins signed a more accomplished hitter as a free agent, and it worked out supremely well. Can Cruz follow in the footsteps of Jim Thome with a legendary late-career pitstop?" Are you really that young? Paul Molitor in 1996 and I would be thrilled if Cruz follows in his footsteps and has the kind of year Molitor had then.
  11. Dantes929
    Thanks for the link. I looked for it and could not find it.
  12. Dantes929
    I saw a bunch of questions last week in the "Ask Seth" but none of the answers. How do I find that link?
  13. Dantes929
    I just hope the Twins have a big year. I hope Pineda has a big year to help make that happen..
  14. Dantes929
    I'm with you. Twins are already on the hook to pay him more than I would make in a hundred years of actually working. That's not even counting the 17 odd million he's made before this. And he's not even thrown a pitch for us yet. Lets not treat this topic the same as concussion risk. If he has another major arm injury he will still be able to do everything in life aside from throwing a major league baseball game. It distresses me a million times more that the two shoulders I've injured playing for nothing that I can't afford to fix will hamper my golf swing. Protecting his arm is a very nebulous arbitrary thing anyway. After watching 50 years of baseball I think the odds of him hurting his arm in spring training are the same as him hurting his arm in innings 180-200 and the same as him hurting his arm next spring training whether he throws 120 innings or 200 innings this year. I don't think its callous that the Twins wouldn't give much weight to what he does in the future as a non Twin. Its baseball. There are risks of arm injury every appearance. Pitch him as long as he is healthy and effective. If he is not healthy he won't be effective.
  15. Dantes929
    Big fan of Maddux just like I was of all the guys listed. They knew how to pitch even when their velocity took a dip. Maddux strikeout rate was well below Keuchel. The original quote was that Keuchel outperformed his ability for a number of years and that it would catch up with him. My point was that if he does it for a number of years then he is not outperforming his ability. He is simply a good pitcher. He doesn't even have to reinvent himself like some of those other guys. He has always had mediocre velocity. I was being a little snarky by saying outperforming ability caught up with them. It caught up with them after many years of success and mostly when they were into their 40's.
  16. Dantes929
    I thought the same about Maddux, Moyer, Glavine Buehrle, Colon and Sabbathia and you are right. It caught up with them and most of them are not even in the league anymore. 4 very good years out of the last 5 and in the American League is not luck. Velocity is great but run prevention is more important than any other attribute. He had 20 quality starts last year out of 34 games. Berrios was 17 of 32. Gibson was 18 of 32. I would definitely take him over Perez. I am ok if we pass on him but its not like the Twins have a history of saving money one year so they can spend more the next. Bottom line is would you rather have Keuchel or not. If you would rather have him then what else are the Twins going to do with their money? One or two year deal is not going to ham string them. I thought Lynn was a good move last year and many thought the same. I don't call them mistakes just because time says they didn't work out. It should have worked out. Sometimes it is just on the players to perform. Lynn not working out wasn't on the Twins. It was on Lynn.
  17. Dantes929
    I guess I assumed that the time spent on the bunt coverage was for the entire infield and not just the pitchers. My comment about practicing bunting for hits.was not directed at pitchers but the batters.
  18. Dantes929
    I was thinking Lewis at 3rd, Javier at short and Polanco at 2nd with maybe Kiriloff at 1st. Granted that would be a waste of Lewis' athleticism. How about Buxton in left center, Lewis in right center, shift them according to who is up and go with a 5 man infield.
  19. Dantes929
    I'd like to talk a little bit more about Morneau. His 2010 concussion halted an absolute monster year where he would have been a really strong candidate for MVP and might have made a difference in the season and the playoffs. However, if I could go back in time I maybe go back to 2008 and at a minimum keep him out of the home run derby and maybe the all star game itself. Then I rest him as much as I can the rest of the way. He had a sub par August and a very poor September. Later we found out he had been playing with a stress fracture in his back. A healthy Morneau for those last two months very likely makes a game 163 with the White Sox unnecessary and we would have played the Rays who we matched up ok with. Maybe that was the year things would have fallen our way. Who knows? On an individual level we talk about how injuries have derailed or dimmed Oliva and Mauer's chances for HOF. How about Morneau? Without playing 163 games and the stress fracture he would have been a shoo in for MVP that year if he had a strong September and the Twins made the playoffs. Couple that with a possible MVP in 2010 if he did not have the concussion and now you have a guy that wins 3 MVP's. Just on the surface that should get him into the Hall. Add in his performance after 2010 if he never suffered from that concussion just makes an already easy pick that much easier. No one talks about him and the Hall but if things break a different way he definitely had the ability.
  20. Dantes929
    Sure looked like Liriano was heading for Cy Young that year. I agree that having Liriano would not have made the playoffs any sure thing because the Twins didn't score more than 3 runs in any of those games but on the other hand if they had Liriano for more games maybe they wouldn't have been a little more rested and if they just won one of those first three games because of Liriano then you probably have Santana and Liriano for the next two games. Just cuz they have Liriano doesn't mean they would have won. Just because they got swept mean they would have lost the series with Liriano. Its like the series over the years with the Yankees. If they just won one of those heart breakers maybe it changes everything else.
  21. Dantes929
    To each their own. As far as I have seen no one has made any kind of sustained effort to lay down bunts to beat the shift. I am not talking sacrifice bunts. Buxton beating out a bunt is one of my favorite things to watch and I love what it does to the other teams psyche.
  22. Dantes929
    For all their talent and skill I have always thought that major league'rs were not that great at fielding bunts even when they did spend a lot of time practicing it in spring training. How about bucking the trend and using the time saved but not practicing the defense of bunts and use it to actually get good at bunting themselves.
  23. Dantes929
    Its better to have an explanation or reason for the dropoff and if that reason is correctable, all the better. In highs school I skinned my hand pretty badly and it was a bad month into the season before my coach realized I was still holding the bat with my fingers only on that hand. Ask a golfer if a bad back or hand injury causes a change in swing mechanics. its hard enough hitting without having to make adjustments based on pain, intentional or not. Isn't that why everyone seems happy they are taking things slow with Sano's foot? I also believe Polanco will be and should be slated to move to 2nd in 2020 unless both Lewis and Javier move him aside. Polanco seems like an easy choice over all the others at this point.
  24. Dantes929
    I always thought his swing was too quick because when he make contact he often pulls the ball way left of the foul line. Much more so than most players. He rarely hits it to the right of 2nd base fair or foul. I guess hitting out in front of the plate is a different description of the same problem. I don't know if his swing is too long but a heavier bat might help. And as always, I would like to see him bunt way more often and a thicker bat could help with that as well. I think he should attempt it once a game. If he gets it in play half the time he tries I bet he bats .500 when he does and when he doesn't its just a strike.
  25. Dantes929
    More cowbell.
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