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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    Ryan was good. Defense was good. Twins win.
  2. tony&rodney
    Yes. This. No problem.
  3. tony&rodney
    Disagreement is good. I respect different thoughts and opinions. Here is what I saw when Simeon pitched. The defense was poor. Misplays and errors go as earned runs, but more importantly run up the pitch count and stress pitcher's arms. While I'm not real big into looking up stats, especially when I have watched the action in question, I did look up his pitching logs for his first two games. Take a look at what someone puts down as FIP (fielding independent pitching). Look it up. The numbers suggest that Woods Richardson is doing his job. I do think Simeon is a #4 or #5 pitcher and expect better from him next time out. I'm also not expecting the same performance from SWR as I do from our top three starting pitchers.
  4. tony&rodney
    A Keirsey Jr. sighting and Bader gets to play his regular position. Twins win.
  5. tony&rodney
    The Pohlad family has received more criticism than anyone else. I will not argue the fairness of that. Falvey and the Twins front office has received very little criticism that I have read. The relatively recent statements that the Twins have outspent their divisional opponents during the Falvey era has opened a few people towards examining how resources have been allocated. There have been criticisms after the fact, such as Joey Gallo or Manuel Margot, but by and large Twins Daily has been very supportive of this front office.
  6. tony&rodney
    I'm pretty much a Twins homer. However, I retain my senses and am able to discern the differences between players. The Twins outfield is not that good. Buxton can still go get the ball on occasion but he doesn't rank up with the best any longer. Wallner and Larnach are playing because they provide thump. They do the best they can in the outfield. Bader has been a terrific centerfielder in his career but had never played in the corners. It has been clear that his reads are a work in progress. Keirsey Jr.? The Twins don't even let him play. I wish they gave him a chance on occasions. It is true that the Twins infield makes the Twins outfield look better than they are in reality. Finally, those who choose to differentiate between Castro, Miranda, France, and Julien are just exposing their bias based on internal factors. Gasper? I'm glad he he got a hit in MLB and that his parents were there to see it.
  7. tony&rodney
    Actually, in fact, Simeon Woods Richardson has been decent. The defense behind him has been deplorable.
  8. tony&rodney
    The Twins roster was specifically and consciously built to outscore other teams even though the players rostered would often concede runs because of below average defense. Thus, when the team does not score 4 runs or more the Twins will lose more often than they will win. This was The Plan (Falvey). However, the Twins do have a good pitching staff and there will be times when there are often going to be low scoring games. In the low scoring games, but not exclusive to these games, making routine plays is important. I am not referring to strong defensive plays but just expecting a very high ratio of success on the easiest of plays. Even poor defensive teams should be expected to make the simplest of plays. Right? One must acknowledge that it is actually possible to win games 1-0 as well. You are correct when you note the Twins record last year when scoring one run (I didn't check it but take your word for it). Still, games can be won by a score of 1-0. Once upon a time I pitched and won three 1-0 games in a week. Credit to the defense. It is possible. The Twins need to have a minimum expectation for their players but I'm not sure what that will be right now. I guess we should expect everyone to start hitting.
  9. tony&rodney
    Here is my take since last October, which became a certainty in my mind once I saw the Opening Day roster. The Twins need to win the AL Central and draw 2 million in attendance or there is a new POBO, who hires a new manager. This is whether the team is sold or not. Just my take which means .... absolutely nothing. Baseball has a long season with many twists and turns. I'm not sure how the season progresses or ends except for my guess in the paragraph above.
  10. tony&rodney
    Carson McCusker is his name. A polished outfielder is not part of his resume. However, McCusker is pretty much similar to Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner out on the grass. Twins fans, including me, have grown to like our current guys and thus put a little shine on their actual play that we might not if these players were wearing a White Sox uniform. In any event, all three of the boppers are bat first baseball players. I'm not privy to what the Twins think about McCusker. Simply based on my watching him from the beginning of last year until the present, Carson has made massive gains in pitch recognition, swing decisions, and overall play. Nobody hits the ball harder. Will he continue to progress enough to require an MLB uniform? That is hard to determine but currently there isn't any reason to use others in the system while Carson sits. McCusker should be in the lineup every day he is healthy, batting in the fourth or fifth spot. McCusker can DH and play right field when the Saints need others for the DH. On a darker note, I wish the Twins would just release players who have some promise that this (Twins) organization/front office does not believe in. At least these players might get a shot in another organization. I was happy for Ronny Henriquez and Brent Headrick. They are now earning MLB wages.
  11. tony&rodney
    The Twins can put a team on the field next year with a $100 million payroll and be as competitive as the team will be in 2025. The major question is who puts that team together. We have not seen much from the current front office group.
  12. tony&rodney
    I watched the Saints game until Matthews was done pitching. Zebby was crazy good: fastball, slider, and cutter were difficult for Omaha batters and their entire lineup has MLB experience. Matthews is ready. The only nitpick would be that he needs more stamina but I believe some of that is on the organization for not stretching him out to 100 pitches yet. It can be suggested that the Twins wanted to take it slow with Matthews because they anticipated a need before or by the start of May. The injury to Pablo Lopez almost certainly means Matthews is dropped into the Twins rotation next time Lopez's spot is due. None of the Saints batters look very good thus far. Martin battles and Keaschall is getting some good experience at recognizing pitches but they both need to make better contact. Emmanuel is trying too hard to be superman. Once he settles down he should be fine. Hopefully. Emmanuel does play a good outfield. I wish the Saints/Twins saw fit to use Carson McCusker on a regular basis. He is best as a DH but is not as embarrassing in the outfield as some others and his bat has wicked line drives in it.
  13. tony&rodney
    Gasper was one of Falvey's big moves this offseason. Because he doesn't make $3M or more, it is possible that the experiment ends soon.
  14. tony&rodney
    About the "Calling Brooks Lee". I think the Twins will. He played 2B tonight and made a nice play. At the plate, Lee grounded out to shortstop, blooped a hit into right center, and hit a slow roller to first. He looked like he was hitting off his front foot and he is so slow, but the Twins are counting on him, so expect it. Witt Jr. is fun to watch. He hits one back to the pitcher (routine) and easily makes it to third hustling all the way right from his first step out of the box. The Twins are rostering a large pile of DH batters so it is hard to escape balls falling, slipping through the infield, errors, or throwing it around. It is possible to hide two or sometimes three guys but the ball keeps eluding or finding the weak spots. Is that 4 losses to defense? These guys better figure it out. There really isn't anyone to call up that will step in, field, and hit though. Tomorrow should be better. Right?
  15. tony&rodney
    The Royals and Tigers are better baseball teams with better talent and Cleveland might be too. Falvey made his bed complete with a pile of DH players and the Twins will struggle to win low scoring games. They will hit, eventually, but it will be quite a challenge. Blaming Julien for his play at second base tonight was precious, seeing as he was the DH. The whipping boy. Lopez looked really good. If he goes on the IL, Matthews steps in next turn. Zebby was fabulous tonight. Keeping with the organizational goals, the Saints played a DH/1B in right field because it must be the pitcher's fault if a fly ball is hit out there. One was, it landed, and Zebby gets charged for the runs. Matthews absolutely owned a lineup of AAAA Omaha players who all have a fair amount of MLB time.
  16. tony&rodney
    Looking over the lineup for tonight's game ... oh my, oh my. Ragans has to focus on the task at hand, while the Twins need to visit a chapel ahead of their work day.
  17. tony&rodney
    I really appreciate how hard Bader is working at the plate and at an unfamiliar position in the field as well. According to BR this year is the first time Bader has played left field. However, if a player signed to be your Buxton insurance policy and defensive outfielder is looked at as a central figure on the team, there may be some underlying issues with the roster.
  18. tony&rodney
    Perhaps an unpopular take, but the Twins seem to be working hard. Right now the bats are just not able to score runs and the defense is about what can be expected for a team built for offense. I'm a little amazed that some folks were not able to appreciate that Simeon Woods Richardson pitched a pretty tough game. An average defense and he only gives up 2 runs. Finally, Kansas City is a pretty good team. Line up the Twins and Royals position by position and pick your team. Did you pick 2 or 3 Twins? Weight shifts to Pablo tomorrow but I'm giving SWR a big hand for tonight.
  19. tony&rodney
    Yes, I know. The failure to give errors on 3/4 of all errors means earned runs and fewer errors, making the pitcher look less capable and the fielder looking better. Unless one actually watches the games it is nearly impossible to understand the game from the box score. There was a time when errors were charged. Bobby Witt Jr. is arguably the best shortstop in baseball today. He is fantastic. He had 705 assists in the last 2 years and only 27 errors. Zoilo Versalles was the AL MVP in 1965 with 487 assists and 39 errors. Ozzie Smith put up crazy numbers and was given a pile of errors. The fields are better today and I'm not judging Bobby Baseball, but it is relatively safe to suggest that errors were once commonly given where today there needs to be a clear egregious physical mistake to rate an error.
  20. tony&rodney
    ERA and errors statistics are not really legitimate as seen in inning one.
  21. tony&rodney
    Bader is a good centerfielder. not so much a good left fielder. Kind of feel sorry for him out there. Guess it is all the Twins got.
  22. tony&rodney
    There is not a need to replace any players. The players on the roster need to make the plays and perform. No offense to either the suggestions or the players but the three noted are lesser options that the current guys. When and if the time comes for wholesale changes, the Twins will need to make significant trades and promote prospects. Does anyone see that occurring? I don't see that happening. The team is still expecting to win half or better of their games. Is it too early to be pessimistic for the Twins to be a contending team? That elusive opportunity dissolved several years ago when the current roster plans were birthed by the current front office. The Twins can potentially still contend in the AL Central and 84 wins is still a reasonable forecast.
  23. tony&rodney
    Nobody needs to be sent down. The 4 available relievers are plenty adequate. Panic is not much of a plan. Going forward the Twins will need to think about where Paddack realistically fits, but Falvey won't allow that change yet. Falvey sets the roster, Baldelli decides who plays.
  24. tony&rodney
    A while back there was some discussion of how many batted balls that should be outs actually wound up as base hits or errors. Well today was a game lost because of well below average defense. It is easy to see the number of runs scored and conclude the pitchers didn't do their jobs. That is only partially true. You can tick the box that puts this loss down to the defense.
  25. tony&rodney
    Twins fans need to find some hope somewhere. The infield has Carlos Correa and a band of maybe can get betters. Line them up however you want: France, Gasper, Miranda, Julien, Castro, Lee, and Lewis. We can pick the 1B, 2B, and 3B out of a hat and be as correct as spending days searching for the right combination. Most people will automatically choose Lewis and even Lee because they were high draft choices and are identified as more valuable. Lewis does promise more but his availability and performance are no guarantee. Eventually it just comes down to who can deliver average or above average results at the plate and in the field. Those who suggest one or two are better than than another are merely toying with small sets of numbers and their own bias. None of these players has proven themselves as full time MLB players who deserve their name in the lineup for 2025 yet. Perhaps the Twins need to force the issue by identifying who is the starter at each position and remove the others via trades. Of course the time for that decision was each of the last two winters. The Twins are in a tough position because these players all take the field with less than full confidence from management. Lewis is likely an exception. Julien is the whipping boy of the group. Edouard must eliminate the demons of doubt if he is to have any success. Despite my concerns about Julien, the Twins will struggle more if he does not produce. I do think that Julien will lose his roster spot if he doesn't hit before Lee and Lewis return to the team, which won't be a positive move for the team. The front office designed this mess and I believe the team needs Julien to rule again in order to have a good year. While I hope it happens, I'm not putting much faith in it because I don't see Baldelli giving Julien the run he needs.
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