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Dantes929

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Everything posted by Dantes929

  1. Dantes929
    Sounds a little like his talents are not being utilized to their fullest. Time to make him a starter again. Pretty strong case for Twins MVP.
  2. Dantes929
    May didn't even make the bottom 3 for WPA
  3. Dantes929
    Its just my view from watching for decades and reading other teams boards that no one knows when to pull the plug. Or rather, the manager whose team won the game knew when to pull the plug and the manager that lost didn't know when to pull the plug. I am concerned about over usage but I don't expect Rogers to pitch today and we have Monday off. One thing I like about Rocco is that he seems to think that pitchers 10-13 have value also. Its really tough not to ride Harper and Rogers every opportunity but in the long run you would rather have a tested May, Duffey, Parker, Littell and a rested Rogers and Harper. Tough because the long run is often at odds with the short run.
  4. Dantes929
    Not agreeing with that. Of course you want your best guys in the highest leverage spots but Duffey, May, Littell and Harper have pitched in a lot of close games and done just fine. Starters have not done as well in the last month and the relievers have really picked up the slack, IMO. If you believe the Twins have a lousy pen that is ok, but they have not pitched lousy to this point.
  5. Dantes929
    Big series but I don't even think the White Sox are out of it at this point. If we sweep or get swept it won;t change my thinking too much. Cleveland at 8.5 behind still wouldn't be out of it. 2.5 ahead and I would still be optimistic. Its still a long way to go. When the Twins are hot I hate it when they even have a day off. 5 days off is a long time for a hot team to be inactive and still stay hot. My guess is the Indians will pull closer by the end of July and the Twins will get a few games back in August making for an interesting September.
  6. Dantes929
    He threw over a 100 innings last year. The big arm is why I wanted him up in the majors as soon as possible because the big arms seem most at risk and he was just dominating the minors. .944 WHIP in A Ball and 1.049 in AA. Pre injury I don't know why anyone would be low on him. Still hoping he can come back and help us in September. Any progress reports at all?
  7. Dantes929
    I was just talking theoretically. Before 1975 there was no free agency and there were still great teams. It would still be possible if a team were to draft real well and never lose their guys when they become free agents. Twins right now could have Ramos, Garver, Sano, Planco, Arraez, Kepler, Rosario, Buxton and Hicks. They would also have Hendricks, Rogers, Pressly, Berrios and Gibson. Like I said our drafts have not yielded great starting pitching. Other teams may have great starting pitchers but lack in quality position players. Some would get both right and some would get neither right. I know they will never go backwards but I think no free agency is a better model for competitive balance for the league. Trades would still be in the mix. No, great teams do not happen in modern baseball with out free agents because every team has some and loses others.
  8. Dantes929
    1927 Yankees.
  9. Dantes929
    In any short term there is a fair amount of luck involved. Last year we brought in Lynn, Reed, Odorizzi and Morrison. I thought these were great pickups but they didn't work out last year Some credit to front office, some luck, good and bad. In the past year we got Cruz, Marwin, Pineda, Perez, and Cron. Also traded Lynn and Pressly. Some credit, some fault and some luck, good and bad. I am not against free agency but sometimes I wonder if all we did was draft well and made sure we kept our players throughout their productive years we might be just well off and maybe even better. Constantly see our former players do well for other teams. If we had kept Hicks, Hendricks, Pressly, and others would that offset the acquisitions that have worked out. Of course we haven't done that well with starting pitching but that is why I said if we draft well.
  10. Dantes929
    If its team ERA it really doesn't matter who is allowing runs, inherited or otherwise. Twins are scoring more than a run per game better than the Indians which is why the Twins are 5.5 games ahead. That's not nothing people. I participated in discussions about possible playoffs but it was always with the disclaimer of "first, lets make the playoffs" Anyone who was a fan back in 2006 when the Twins were farther behind much later in the season shouldn't assume anything. Also, if the Twins do win 95 or so and the Indians win more that is not a collapse by the Twins. Thank you for that. Indians are winning at over a 70% clip and its at Cleveland. Then the Twins have a tougher schedule for a while but then it will reverse. Yeah, the Indians could pass the Twins but then the Twins could come back and retake the lead. Fans will start to talk about series as must win and critical. EVERY game is important but there is no must win series in July or August when you have the lead. Every division championship the Twins have had involves several series that fans called must win where the Twins either lost the series or were swept. All that matters are the records at the end and you never know where the other guys are going to end. Indians are hot and the Twins are not. That is unlikely to remain the case.
  11. Dantes929
    That is crazy good. By contrast a few years ago at this point I think we only had one player with an OPS+ greater than 100 and that was our backup infielder (Nunez). I don't know if any pitchers at the time had ERA+ over 100. Some players improved the 2nd half but what a nightmare to have everyone with or near career worst years. What a dream to have everyone at or near career bests. Some guys will drop off but I think a false narrative here is that we have to keep pace with the Indians last 5 weeks. They are not a .700+ win % team. ....... The pleasant surprise for me among others listed (Ryan. Freaking. Harper. near top of my list as well) is Pineda. After an understandably slow start to the season, 7 of his last 10 starts have been quality starts and 2 that missed out only missed out because he was just short of the 6 inning qualifier. That is fantastic for the back end of the rotation. His OPS+ makes him the best #5 in the American League and he would be #2 or #3 on almost half the teams in the league. I also expect him to just get stronger and should help mitigate regression with a few other pitchers.
  12. Dantes929
    Maybe, maybe not. The key phrase here is hot streak. I don't expect the Indians to play at above a 70% rate. If schedules mean anything then the Indians will gain more ground in the following weeks because their schedule is weak and the Twins are strong. Then the schedule reverses and the Indians play the tough teams. I think it is reasonable that both teams will play around 55% which makes a 6 game lead at this point huge. 50% might cut it. Of course seasons don't follow projections. Its baseball.
  13. Dantes929
    The Twins are 56-33. They had everyone hot and now have predictably cooled off. Indians are currently hot and maybe a little lucky (pythag says they should be 45-42). They will also cool off. Twins could use some help but they don't need it. What they need is enough of their current players playing well again. 40-33 would give them 96 wins. It would also be winning at a slightly less than 55% rate from this point. Seems doable to me. They are certainly capable of it but its up to them. They shouldn't be afraid of an actual race. I enjoy pennant races. Meaningful games in August and September are fun.
  14. Dantes929
    I've never really thought of him as an ace but in the last 28 days he is 0-2 with a 2.17 ERA. That is better than good in my book. He also gave them a good start though in a loss after that 18 inning game that gave the pen a rest.
  15. Dantes929
    They all have a break but not everyone wants or needs one. There have been many times in the past where I hated the break because the Twins were on a role and other times I have thought they could use the rest and a reset. This is one of those times. Cleveland gets a break also but I am guessing they would rather not have one at this time. When Twins are hot I don't even like the single days off.
  16. Dantes929
    That sounds like a friend of mine that was running a meeting and when asked a question said "thanks for reminding me to tell you all there is no such thing as a stupid question".
  17. Dantes929
    I tend to not give managers a lot of credit or blame. Rocco has had a couple moves in the pen that have made me go "huh?" but every manager does that and every manager gets criticized for bullpen usage. I like that for the most part he has rotated players in to keep everyone fresh. We've played 85 games and Polanco is the only one that has played more than 77. I suspect hitting and pitching coaches have more to do with results but I will give Rocco a more than passing grade.
  18. Dantes929
    You are absolutely right in that the offense has taken some pressure off and the starting pitching has as well. It is way different than when our starters would have one or two each rotation where they couldn't make it through the 4th inning. It just wears out a bullpen. On the flip side though, is that our starters still rarely get past the 6th inning. Also, while I know save stats aren't everything they are somewhat indicative. Yankees have 42 saves but they have blown 13 of them. Twins have 31 saves and have only blown 6. If they had more opportunities that percentage would probably go down but I think they have done well. I liken it a little to a couple years ago when we made the playoffs. If we were down 4-2 in the 7th or 5-1 in the 5th we might lose 11-4 but if we were up or tied when they pen came in, then they held. In other words they gave up a lot in games they were likely to lose anyway and held on when they had a good chance of winning. This year is a little different. Maybe they have been given bigger leads and have given up a few runs but they haven't broken and there have been plenty of games like last night where they have given up very little in 3+ innings in very close games. I have some faith in Rogers, Harper, May, Duffey and Parker. That's 5 and there are a couple other guys that are ok. I would be happy with one more because I don't think they will get two and I fear they won't get any.
  19. Dantes929
    I don't watch every game but my view is different than yours. I have not seen over and over that Buxton is bad at bunting. Two years ago it was his best offensive weapon until he got hot swinging away and I wish he would continue to bunt often for base hits. I'm not saying he is great at it and sacrifice bunting is different but the only sacrifice bunt I remember seeing from him was one right back to the pitcher that he beat out anyway.
  20. Dantes929
    Not necessarily arguing with you though I don't really consider Parker one of our best relievers. I would rate him 5th or 6th and that is where his ERA (a respectable 3.70) would put him on the Twins, the Astros and the Yankees. Valuable but not at the top. Twins are 2nd in the major leagues in save %. Yankees and Astros have twice as many blown saves and are 13th and 14th in save percentage. Maybe they should start using some of those top relievers they have in save situations.
  21. Dantes929
    To be clear, I was defending the bullpen though in a tongue in cheek kind of way. How can a bullpen do better than 6 scoreless? . I have said in those other threads if all we do is add one guy like Kennedy, Giles or Smith or ? I would be ok with that. I think this bullpen has done a remarkable job this year and could go over game after game to show why. I would like one more dependable guy to help than continue to do well. I would not expect that guy to never give up runs. Every reliever in every bullpen gives up runs.
  22. Dantes929
    Six shutout innings by 5 different relievers in a close much needed win. Just think how much better we could have been tonight with a good bullpen. Is it my imagination or are the Twins making a lot more errors now than they were earlier in the season? Nice win.
  23. Dantes929
    I don't know how the rest of the season is going to go but sometimes I like to look at our world series and division winning years scores and results on baseball reference to imagine what fans would be posting back then. Actually, I don't have to imagine some of it because I saw what was posted in the 2002 to 2010 years. When the Twins went up 11 games a third of the way through the season I never thought they would be 18 games ahead at the break or 40 games ahead by the end of the season. Any thought that they might bored me rather than excited me. How would the fans now have reacted in 87 when the Twins were up 5 late in the season and then lost 9 of 10 to be in a tie. How about the 91 Twins who were up 4.5 and then lost 7 of 8 to be tied on July 3rd? I am sure everyone at the time was saying "that's ok, we'll win the World Series and Jack Morris who was 21-32 the last two years, is now 36 with a 4.00 ERA will pitch a shut out in game 7." I never thought everyone on the Twins would just continue to be smoking hot all the way through. It is nice to know they are capable of being that hot for an extended period of time.
  24. Dantes929
    I have found them to both be rather streaky and as this is in the midst of a great streak by Kepler I am sure others would agree with you. I suspect you may be right but if Rosario gets hot and Kepler slumps I am sure the pendulum of opinion will turn.
  25. Dantes929
    Seems every successful season has a reliever or two like Meija that steps up and surprises. In appearance and name he reminds me of Jose Mijares back in 09 and 10. On no one's radar and then comes in and has a string of success in key games. I could see Meija being like that. He can't succeed in high leverage spots if he is not used in high leverage spots. I have no idea how is stuff plays now but seems like a guy that could be useful if he is fully recovered, healthy and strong.
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