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Dantes929

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Everything posted by Dantes929

  1. Dantes929
    I am more tolerant of bunting than you are and really like the bunt as an attempt to get a base hit. I didn't see the game. Was it definitely a sacrifice? Your 3rd sentence I agree with completely. Buxton is 1 for his last 16. To me bunting is his hedge against slumps. Its a great weapon for him so even when he is hot I like to see him lay one down every once in a while. He's not hot at the moment.
  2. Dantes929
    "That being said, the 2017 Twins wouldn’t be in a position to make September baseball interesting without the contributions of their Venezuelan utility man. When the dust settles, Eduardo Escobar is never going to be a game changer for a big league team." Kind of funny. I can't help but notice that in consecutive sentences you said that for the 2017 Twins Escobar has been a game changer and that Escobar is never going to be a game changer. Paraphrasing of course. I have never really liked watching Escobar play and I have no idea why but I still believe your first sentence I quoted which is that when Sano went down, Escobar stepped up. I don't know what the R in WAR would have been without Escobar but I am guessing it would not have ended up with a few more losses in a very tight battle.
  3. Dantes929
    We are 6-4 in our last 10 games. If we go 13-10 we have a good shot and aside from this series it probably doesn't matter how we get there. I would gladly take a split this weekend. 7 of our last 10 are against Detroit and I think everyone else playing for the WC has a tougher schedule the rest of the way. Good time to play some good baseball..
  4. Dantes929
    Long time since I have read the Trib more because of the posters than the writers but I remember kind of liking Howard Sinker. Is he still going?
  5. Dantes929
    "Since people don’t seem to know who to believe, let me help. Here are the people you should and shouldn’t listen to when it comes to the Twins:" Wow! Maybe if he hadn't put himself first on the list I might have a different take but honestly, I couldn't help think that for any political or social issue Trump's advice would be the same. "Since people don't seem to know who to believe about Russian interference with regards to our elections, let me help. Donald Trump is the one you should listen to. Democrats are the ones you should not listen to" Seriously, it came across just as narcissistically. Here is my list of people I listen to with regards to the Twins. Riverbrian, Tom Froeming, the rest of the TD staff, TD posters I used to have an on line subscription to the Trib and I was mostly ok with the writers. It was the posts after the articles that made me look elsewhere. TD is by far the best source for the Twins. They will reference articles and stories by all the other media sources as well as give you great stories, game threads and now that we have the recaps I really don't go anywhere else except baseball reference and mlb.com
  6. Dantes929
    I heard it was Gibson, Mauer, Dozier, Polanco and Buxton. Molitor might have been there also.
  7. Dantes929
    I like it as a general stat and also as a long term one. In your example, it obviously means nothing but over the course of 162 games those kinds of series tend to even out and when there is the kind of negative differential we had with a winning record it is interesting to try to figure out why. As TheJackKmp said we have not had the blow out losses in the 2nd half so if our run differential had continued in the deficit column we would not have had the success in the win column. Over the long haul you cannot keep running a 60 run deficit. Many run differentials vs win/loss are pretty close over a full season with the occasional out flier. Way too lazy but if you ran any teams's 10 year run differential I am guessing it would come out very close.
  8. Dantes929
    The run differential reflected the kind of team we were in the first half. It was overcome by winning our share of close games and when getting beat often getting beat by a wide margin which mostly reflected the lack of depth of our bullpen. This is a different and better team right now but don't get fooled into thinking this is who we are or that we don't need Sano. Mauer isn't going to bat .438 and Polanco is going to come back to earth also. Please lets win tomorrow. If we lost another one run game we would have lost 2 of three while outscoring them by 15. Would that be a record also? Certainly not the kind I want to see.
  9. Dantes929
    You forgot Belisle and Colon. As far as minor leaguers that were called up. Felix George has a 10.57 ERA. John Curtiss has a 7.71 ERA. Rosario at 30.86. Wheeler 9.00. Tonkin 6.55. Of course Busenitz and Hildenberger have done well. Two dumpster dives worked out and two minor leaguers did well. Not really against your point. I like it when minor leaguers are promoted and am not one that complained about Curtiss when he gave up some runs in a game that we lost.
  10. Dantes929
    That's a big mischaracterization. Actually said huge series but took issue with must win. If they lose the next two and Orioles or Angels win the next two the worst the Twins would be is half a game back with 26 games to play. You would give up at that point? How did you not give up on them already? Every game is important but with most teams that get narrowly into the playoffs you will be able to look back on the blogs and see fans call a series a must win a month before the season ended that they either lost or were swept in. This is a huge series. (said it again) but if they lose it just means that they have to win other games. If they lose the series and we end up a game back you can say I told you so but unless Baltimore runs the table I will be able to point out other games in the next month that the Twins lose that were just as must win. Why wasn't the 5 game set in Chicago a must win?
  11. Dantes929
    Might be correlation rather than causation. But it might be causation. No way to know. Buxton appears to have reignited the Twins offense also but maybe it was just ready to ignite. In both cases, I am sure there is a lot of causation. .339 from the leadoff spot and good defense is going to help win games. Maybe it inspires others. I didn't learn the fallacy in Latin class but in a college logic class. By far the best class I have ever taken at any level. Should really be required because it is useful in so many of life's arenas.
  12. Dantes929
    Nah. Huge series. Really nice to win series but way too early for must win. Even if we get swept we are still in it. My favorite time a series was considered must win was in 2006 when we played the White Sox and Detroit was playing last place KC the last 3 games of the season. Fans were saying we had to sweep. Nope. We won one game and it was enough. Experts also said Santana had to run the table in his last 3 games to even have a remote chance. Nope, He lost 2 of the last 3. I am all for winning this series and particularly tonight's game because the more you win now the less you have must win down the line. Just too many games left.
  13. Dantes929
    You didn't go far enough in your analysis of Liriano's 2006 year. My memory is that he was talking about arm strain before he gave up 4 runs in 4 innings against Detroit and his ERA went from 1.96 to 2.16 so as a healthy starter his ERA was well under 2.00. If Santana goes into the HOF he might owe it to Liriano getting hurt that year. With a 12-2 record, sub 2.00 ERA and about 10 starts to go I thought Liriano was looking good for the Cy Young that year instead of Johan.
  14. Dantes929
    4 pitch mix with good control. Struggles as a starter were the first few years of converting to pitching and then a couple years after surgery. With his pitch mix and command when coming to the Twins I think he could have become a really good starter.
  15. Dantes929
    I am guessing they would comment about the lousy competition that only the Twins seem to face.
  16. Dantes929
    I don't know. Seems to me that when we have written him off on here he makes a case that he can be good and when we post that he has turned a corner in the good direction, he tanks. Cmon TD. We need to do our part also. If his next start isn't quality get him out of here.
  17. Dantes929
    I am quite positive I would have endorsed that call up whether for spot starts or relief just like I would have loved to see Gonsalves before now. What sticks in my head that year was putting May to the pen when he had just had a few very good starts and then putting him in for a spot start later in the season which had a ripple effect for the next week or so. Much like when Kintzler blew that save earlier in this year. I thought Buxton should have been aggressive on a ball that fell in front of him and not making that catch caused the game to go extra innings which used up a lot of pitchers that could have been rested the next day when they blew a big lead and seemed to contribute to a couple more losses that week. Some things just stick in your head as turning points. I don't remember thinking at the end of that year that if only they had used Berrios they could have made the playoffs. I might have thought that. I just don't remember having thought that.
  18. Dantes929
    We have no way of knowing. This will be the 4th time they have made the playoffs in the last 7 years so I am not sure what season you are talking about or if Strasburg would have made the difference but we are off my point anyway. I don't think comparing Strasburg being shut down to Berrios not being called up was a valid comparison even if some national talking head did compare them. So using that arguemnt to further the view that Berrios was mishandled is a non starter for me.
  19. Dantes929
    There is always angst and posters always want whatever minor leaguer that is doing well at the moment to get the promotion to save the day. I am not immune to it. You make a good point because there is always angst over so many things. This was true in the WS days though no forum to express it like now. It was true in 2010 and before. I wanted Berrios up but I had never seen him just like I wanted Garza up back in 06. The difference was that Garza gave us a boost with a 5.76 ERA because Silva was having a bad year, and Liriano was gone for the season and it was a risk well worth taking, just like I think it is this year. Who would you have replaced in favor of Berrios. What games without the hindsight of seeing whether we won or lost. Or as a reliever? Of course I wanted him up but I certainly don't think he makes up 3 games and is probably more likely to have cost us games. There is almost always a learning curve and if you replace a bad Ricky Nolasco with him there is little risk but if you replace a good Tommy Milone with him you are not helping but hindering your odds.
  20. Dantes929
    Um.. they are in first place now and not bringing in a rookie to replace a 4.00 starter compared to a 3.16 ERA guy with a 6 year track record at the time being shut down is a bit of a stretch. I may have had angst and wanted him called up but the only part I remember is the May start bothering me a bit.
  21. Dantes929
    I don't recall having such angst that we were not bringing guys up. Before that final series we had gone 8-3 and we only scored 1 run in each of the last 3 games. Our rotation was full of guys that were slightly better than 4.00 or slightly worse and you don't bring up untested minor league guys to replace 4.00 starters. Do you bring in Berrios as a reliever in high leverage situations? Perkins was our all star that year and it was his implosion as much as anything that cost us that year but it would take a lot of guts to replace him with a rookie. If I was in charge at the time I would have brought up Berrios for one game and that is the spot start that went to May. It really thinned the relief for the next week. This year is a bit different in that we are kind of set for 4 spots but need a 5th guy. Gee didn't do so hot but has had a good year and could be given another shot. I would love to see Gonsalves just to see what he's got but Slegers is on regular rest and kind of deserves another start. When do we find out who the September call ups are?
  22. Dantes929
    I always like having a knuckle baller on the team. Seems to mess up other team's timing for the next guy in the rotation. I see he is playing for the Braves which made me think in a couple deals we could give up a low prospect for him and flip him for a couple higher ranked prospects which led me to check on Garcia for the Yankees. 0-1 with a 5.95 ERA. That led me to look at Aaron Hicks stats and I see he is batting .167 in the 2nd half which makes me think again that he would have made a good platoon guy for us with his right handed bat and our left handed heavy outfield.
  23. Dantes929
    Only person I ever knew from there was a girl named Virginia from Wyoming, MN. Your "Shouldn't that be an even number" comment reminded me of a radio show once that said a poll revealed that on average men slept with 8 different women in their lifetime and women slept with an average of 4 different men. Everyone else I was with thought that sounded about right and could not see the flaw in the math. That same show I learned some trivia that I will share since it is Tuesday. Tuesday Weld was actually born on a Friday but her parents didn't want to name her Three Days After Tuesday Weld.
  24. Dantes929
    As long as he doesn't get power hungry and pull happy I think he will do well. He has obviously worked on his bunting skills which should keep him somewhat slump proof. Keep using all fields and avoid over swinging and he will hit plenty of doubles, triples and home runs. If you look at his three home runs they were all pulled but they were all solid swings with great balance and stepping toward the pitcher. I think he has natural pull to him which is fine as long as he is still able to go with the pitch when they throw him that way..
  25. Dantes929
    I mostly discard it but in Buxton's case I minimize it. The eyeball test says he saves a lot of runs with his range (not so much his arm) and a lot of runs turns into wins but my eyeball doesn't know how to convert the runs into wins but defensive WAR does. Maybe in his recaps Tom should do an analysis of how much value above replacement in that specific game Buxton had defensively. For example if he makes a catch with two outs and no one on in a 5 run win it probably doesn't count as a WAR but if he makes the same catch with bases loaded in a 1 run win he can count it as a full WAR. In between scenarios can be assigned a fraction intuitively assigned by Tom. Then we can compare what he comes up with in a season to the statistic. So the Twins would have to actually win for it to be counted. That way he wouldn't have to save 10 runs for a mythical WAR. It could be more or less.
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