tony&rodney

This is exactly correct. I see no similarity between the swings of Gallo and Rodriguez. They are different players who share high strike out rates. Gallo has had some success at the MLB level, but E-Rod has a long way to go. I like his chances though right now. All minor league players must learn how to play professional baseball. The separation between amateur and pro ball is huge, and the adjustment to playing every day is very challenging.

Agree with the previous post that Emmanuel has much to offer but needs time to develop as a player. I have watched quite a few of his at bats (milb.com) this year and he has shown an ability to adapt. One possible weakness may be his desire to go yard with runners on base, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. He takes some long swings at times. I'm hoping he can learn when to just drive the ball with contact versus his occasional attempts to hit it over 400 feet. The future is still really bright for him and he will benefit from the ABS umpires too because he seems to have an excellent eye at the plate.

Why would anyone ever compare anything Joey Gallo does to Harmon Killebrew? Harmon retired as the all time American League leader in home runs for a right handed batter. Yes, he struck out quite a bit but his rate was significantly lower and he hit in the middle of the order for a reason. HK had 77 SF in his career. Gallo? Three (3). Gallo has worked hard for the Twins this year, but he is what he is, a one dimensional player. Please think before making comparisons between players.

Pitching is really fun when one can just enjoy the competition and make good decisions about your pitch choices. When doubt and indecision take away the enjoyment, the commitment to any pitch declines. The edge is a fine line. A pitcher needs total command and control to find success. Dallas knows what good outings feel like and could contribute to the Twins. For now it has to be fun for him to be pitching for the Saints, especially with the way that the St. Paul team is banging the baseballs around the yard in support of their pitchers.

I see Gallo as a player who is straining and working very hard to contribute as a Twins. He works the counts, dives for fly balls, and hustles on the bases. The effort by Gallo thus far has been laudable. I also don't believe the Twins are best served with Gallo in the lineup on a regular basis. His defense and base running may be due to an injury, and his bat has a big hole in it. Still Joey has worked hard and I appreciate his efforts.

Of course. We always believe there is a chance. Right?

I look at most statistics as just numbers available to support any argument or discussion. The data is always worth a look and somewhat interesting, but don't be that guy who misses a play because you are checking on the latest analytics. The game is still played on a field and one team wins, another loses.

Lowder is a strong prospect with a bright future. The Twins should be ecstatic if they get any of Drews, Skenes, Langford, or Clark. Passing on these guys would be an unwise choice. I'm hoping for Max Clark.

In the moment all of the roster moves, except Gallo, made sense in an effort to improve the team through depth. Hindsight would open a whole set of other moves that could of/ would of/ should of .... The additions still look reasonable, although it remains surprising that the Twins splashed for Correa. Plenty of baseball is yet to be played this season and further moves of players may happen in the next month. It is difficult to remember a time when the Twins has such good pitching but the bats will hopefully bloom in these last three months.

Apparently viewership is reasonably good. Corporations and goodwill are not much of a thing.

Stats are all relative. Anyone can find some data to support whatever argument. If you played baseball for a long time and watched a pile of games across decades, you have seen the various trends move and if you are still following in a the next decade you will see additional numbers become the rage. Folks can argue the current set of data and players are better all day and then hear the same from more voices down the road. Despite Manfred making his best attempts to uck the game, baseball remains a relatively timeless game of adjustments between pitcher and batter and the data is just peripheral.

Much more accurate than the stat currently in use. I used similar data points decades ago to measure the quality of an at bat. The goal is to square the ball up, hit into fair territory. The severe upper cut is quite dependent on the pitcher throwing the ball to the path of the swing as opposed to the batter meeting the ball where it is pitched. The best hitters remove the element of luck as much as possible. BTW, Byron took several flatter cuts yesterday, putting the ball in play. I have no idea if that was purposeful or accidental or coincidental.

Hey, maybe Gallo and Kepler will lead the Twins to the promised land.

This is actually true. Life is like that: connections, where one event can influence or precipitate another event. Opportunity is always right in front of us and the correct or lucky choice creates fortune while the decision which seems so smart craters all too quickly. Accidents happen. The second guessing and interminable rehashing of why (coulda, woulda shoulda) only creates a sour taste. The Twins can still turn the corner.

Agree 100% with this statement. Falvey & Sons are on the clock.

Thank you for all of the draft coverage. Those of us who watched (via TV/internet) a few college games have seen a number of these players in the past few months. Crews, Skenes, and Langford have stood out. Picking at #5 should force the Twins to choose an athletic talent with superstar potential and a high floor. Yes, we all know that even the best choices can fail. Players like Wilson or Gonzalez are legitimate picks at the end of the first round. I can imagine Teel or Lowder, but the consensus for months has been for the Twins to gobble up whomever is left of the top five. Just do it.

Wallner will always look awkward in some ways. I have watched a bunch of his at bats (via milb.com) with the Saints and he has a good eye to go along with that prodigious power. His last time up tonight he flipped a line drive single to left field but acted like he had fouled the ball off before realizing he had to run to first base. Yesterday, he crushed a ball to the fence in centerfield that the centerfielder made a nice play to grab, while Wallner acted as if he had popped up. He just seems like a quirky guy. When someone takes a load of walks, hits .300 with a load of extra base power and good speed, it might be time to see what he can do over three months in bigger stadiums with better pitching. Wallner somehow seems to adjust. It is time to see what he can do playing right field for the Twins.

Nash, you have written so many good posts. The Lopez-Arraez trade and the 2023 season are wobbly right now and the rehashing of missing Arraez makes its way into the comments of virtually every post now for weeks. Are you calling for the removal of Falvey & Sons? There has to be a way to move on from past trades. If the decisions are indeed ruinous, which may be argued, then it is a call for the Pohlads to step in and correct course asap. I can see that discussion. I have a ton of respect for those who write the articles and make the videos for Twins baseball and for Twins Daily. It just seems like Luis Arraez is omnipresent in so many ways with the Twins, yet he no longer plays for the Twins. The Twins chose to draft Kyle Gibson and did not pick Mike Trout in 2009. The Luis Arraez of 2023 does not play for the Twins. I miss him too. So I can watch him play for the Marlins via mlb.com. As a call for a new management for the Twins, the article makes sense. There are some beautiful, well constructed sentences in the post and I always click on a Nash Walker article right away. Respectfully, I'm just thinking that Twins Daily needs a recess from discussing the trade of Luis Arraez. I'm more concerned that the Twins are currently linked by some (Keith Law) to choosing a player with the #5 pick in the upcoming player draft who is generally ranked closer to #20 as a baseball talent.

I would send out Gallo before Kepler. At least Kepler can hit into a double play with bases loaded and nobody out, which scores a run. Max is a better defender and base runner as well. Gallo is working hard. You can literally see him straining to do well. I feel bad for him, but he is toast. The hitting coach? That is reaching to put the poor at bats on him. Not defending the guy but MLB batters should be better prepared and aware than what we often see from out Twins offense.

The post is totally valid. As a former pitcher, I'm biased. Put Pablo Lopez on the Braves and he has an 11-5 record or better. Lopez has had a few rough outings and a number of innings where he lost control but overall he is really good at his job. I also believe he will have a better second half as well. The command and control of his pitches is fine and the pendulum will swing in his favor. Pablo is a damn fine starting pitcher and I enjoy watching him pitch. It is really remarkable that our pitching staff has done as well as it has given the mediocre defense and the woeful lack of support from the offense. A little surprised that folks are casting any negatives towards the staff that has given the team a chance in nearly every game this year.

I think the starting pitchers are for real. We are halfway though the year and the starts have been well above expectations on the whole. which is truly amazing when one considers the poor offense and largely mediocre defense. Pablo Lopez has been decent and might be better in the second half. I think Ryan and Ober should be close to their first half performances. Maeda and others will fill in with respectable fifth starter stints. Gray was so good the first half that one would expect some decline, but Sonny is fired up for his chance to be a free agent and his focus will be at a high level. Good things can happen.

About as accurate of a wrap as possible. Almost every game there is an at bat where a key hit would turn the game. Almost every game ... failure with risp. There are a couple of players who can be jettisoned right now. The pitchers keep us in every game. In other news, St. Paul was fun to watch hit today. It just felt like the team was going to win from the beginning and then to walk off on a comeback grand slam was fun. A couple of these guys can help now.

Maeda looks ok thus far.

This is part of what I used as a baseball coach. When a batter swings the bat there is always a result. The optimal end in my view was a ball totally squared up, hit into fair territory. A foul ball or a swing and a miss are just strikes. A wind blown home run or a ball lost in the sun or misplayed for extra bases is nice but my data recorded the relative manner in which the batter was able to successfully hit the ball. It is a goal of all hitters - hitting the ball. The exit velocity stat is nonsense as is the framing stat among others. Of course individuals have their opinions on a range of plays. I favored defenders getting outs, throwing to the right base, and range. If someone looked awkward but was effective, that worked for me. A guy who steals bases and goes first to third or knows where the fielders are when a ball is hit beats a burner who doesn't know where to go or when. And so forth. Data has always been kept in various forms but data fans now collect information on just about everything so it is true that there is more data than ever. As the specialiststeve argues, the way in which the data is collected and used can be very misleading which creates numbers that make a player seem decent when they are actually not very useful. The job of the front office and field staff is to discern which players put together will produce the best results. The Twins have one of the best records in baseball if you use the expected wins totals. This stat really demonstrates some of the futility of chasing all of the numbers. None of those expected wins count. The games are played and there is a result in the end, either a win or a loss. I sometimes think the Twins actually look at their expected wins to mollify or soften the blow of their mediocre record. You know, process being the point. There is another game tomorrow and the guys who dig through the data can find a stat for every Twin to show us that our guys are in the top ten of something to flash on the screen. But even they get frustrated and put up the RISP stat.

Keirsey just needs to keep putting up good numbers on a consistent basis and hopefully get a boost to St. Paul in July. I'm certainly not holding his age (26) against him and have enjoyed watching him play (via milb.com) this season. I agree he is underrated.