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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    I prefer the human element but also wonder if a change may be best. Just from watching games it seems like some hitters are more affected than others by a poor call. Luis Arraez gets a poor call go against him and he seems to immediately adjust and accept the call; it doesn't take him out of his game. Celestino has had some bad calls go against him and then changed his approach, which seems like it left him dissatisfied and taking the at bat back to the dugout. Miguel Sano seemed like he had more bad calls than anyone else and subsequently he would go fishing, expanding his zone more than he likely would have otherwise. Of course, these are just my perceptions and every individual would react in their own fashion. I haven't watched any baseball with the automatic calls, so I have no idea how well that works.
  2. tony&rodney
    Owen Miller, Noah's brother, has progressed quite well for Cleveland. Both of the Miller players acquit them selves in a positive fashion at the plate and in the field. The Twins must feel pretty good about how Noah has done thus far this year. Nice post about Noah Miller.
  3. tony&rodney
    The entire idea of whether framing actually makes any difference whatsoever might be enlightened by a wide survey and discussion/interviews with MLB umpires. Umpires do not see the glove, they focus on the ball. From my own limited experience (100 games or so) umpiring at a Legion baseball level, the catcher moving sharply for a pitch was noticeable and a little distracting. A catcher who was "quiet" made it easier to focus on the ball. As a baseball coach, the catcher receiving the ball with minimum movement was taught and worked on daily. When we watch a baseball game via the centerfield camera we do not get the experience of an umpire. It would be interesting to have a camera attached to the top or side of an umpire's mask. One thing I am very cognizant of is not just the speed of the ball in MLB but particularly the break on the pitches at different speeds. If an umpire is distracted in any fashion, such as lunging stabs at a ball by the catcher, the call of ball or strike could be affected. Still, the best umpires are unfazed by anything a catcher does and are solely focused on the ball in its relationship to the strike zone.
  4. tony&rodney
    Latroy Hawkins commented on that play and there was some commentary as well on the game site. The umpires watch the ball and umpires make mistakes. Poor umpiring ... framing is nonsense. This is a brief summation of LaTroy's comments. Receiving the ball in a firm quiet manner is good catching. Moving it into the strike zone and fooling umpires sounds like a sad commentary on the umpire.
  5. tony&rodney
    I'm with Latroy on pitch framing and wrote a little comment during the game when that conversation took place. Hawkins also said exactly what I have always thought when he stated that he would love to have a conversation with a number of umpires on their thoughts about the issue.
  6. tony&rodney
    Sanchez has taken over the main catching role and is hitting the ball pretty hard often enough while providing close to average defense, so the Twins just need Jeffers to be a decent backup catcher and develop his game on both sides of the game.
  7. tony&rodney
    Why would the Twins take on a contract of a struggling pitcher and give up their most consistent outfielder? It seems the Twins were already very charitable towards San Diego this year, no need to be so gracious twice in one season.
  8. tony&rodney
    It could happen. Maeda is smart and knows the game.
  9. tony&rodney
    A healthy lineup with Kirilloff could be pretty effective at scoring runs. The recent audition by Palacios was most encouraging. He looked good for St. Paul but played all over the place in deference to Royce Lewis getting reps at shortstop. Jermaine showed everyone that he can be an excellent defender at shortstop: range, hands, arm, instincts, and awareness. The loss of Lewis was a blow but I think he will still factor in to the Twins future plans. This last week had some tough losses but also showed that the team does respond and they can win against good teams.
  10. tony&rodney
    I'm hoping Correa returns. It does seem likely that Correa will opt out of his contract. That, of course, would be a big loss. I would not be surprised if he chooses to return for another year though. Jermaine Palacios plays a really good shortstop and he is improving with the bat. I'm in favor of the defense holding at shortstop. The external options are expensive with Trea Turner being the best option. There will be at least three teams willing to spend money for shortstops: Philadelphia, LA Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs. The question is how much and for how many years. Baseball has been retreating from long term expensive contracts. The Twins shouldn't be as worried about shortstop as they were last offseason.
  11. tony&rodney
    Agree. The A's will need to make it clear but I doubt they can do much better than getting Martin, Balazovic, and some combo added that also brings back Puk. Maybe two of Steer, Sabato, Wallner, Sands, Miller .... something like that would work. That would potentially be a trade of four of the Twins top ten prospects for a starter and a reliever, a pretty steep price. However, 1B has Arraez, 2B is Polanco, 3B has Urshela, SS is Correa, additional infielders are Miranda, Kirilloff, Lewis, Palacios, Gordon, OF has Larnach, Celestino, Buxton, Kepler, and Garlick. A trade is possible and may help in a big way. Falvey gets that call and by the All Star break a decision will be made whether to get aggressive or go with the roster.
  12. tony&rodney
    This is really the truth. The players have to move on but some fans get totally depressed by these type of losses and it is magnified so much more when it is the Yankees.
  13. tony&rodney
    The Twins are making progress. Baseball can be quite difficult and the grind will almost always sift out those who cannot accept failure and mistakes. Yes, Polanco made several horrible errors and Urshela just assumed Judge would never run down that deep drive to left center field and the relievers grooved a half dozen pitches, but each of these guys can turn the page and move forward. It was one in the loss column and the real battle in baseball is mental. The players have a game against an excellent Tampa Bay Rays team tonight and then two more, fly away to Seattle for a series, and so on. It's a long season and while it takes talent the ability to focus on an at bat and the current game is the story of baseball. The Twins are pretty decent and can be better. I lost five trees in the last storm but I'm not selling or burning down the house.
  14. tony&rodney
    It is a long season but to this mark (a third of the season) Sanchez has been a big surprise offensively and and even bigger surprise behind the plate. The last two years Gary was plain and simply a horrible catcher. The movement to adequate has been massive really. I like what Sanchez brings to the game. Can he maintain the changes we have seen throughout the remainder of the schedule?
  15. tony&rodney
    Kirilloff needs to produce in his next opportunity. He is a pretty fair first baseman and has a sweet swing. When he gets his shot, and he will within the month, Alex must show his worth because he is likely to push aside a pretty good player. The Twins are better defensively with Kirilloff at first base. They are better with him hitting .280-320 with power. He can do be a solid player on both sides of the ball.
  16. tony&rodney
    The main issue with Duffey this year is that even his outings where it was clean the batters looked very eager to get to the plate. I don't think he is fooling any hitters at this point. An IL move and rehab stint may allow Duffey to reset. It is always tough to see the cruelty of competition eat up a declining athlete. Hopefully, Duffey can rebound - it just seems farfetched right now.
  17. tony&rodney
    Baseball can be a really tough business. It takes years to make a team and get somewhat established and then if a pitcher loses their command and control ... poof there goes their career. Duffey and Pagan get longer looks than Cotton, Moran, or a few others but it is approaching a time to get the gang together to chat over how long the Twins hang in there with those guys. Based purely on stuff, command, control, and the eye test of how batters look against the relief staff, my personal ranking goes something like Duran, a healthy Alcala, Jax, Moran, Cotton, and then the others: Smith, Megill, Stashak, Minaya, Cano, Thielbar, Coulonbe, Pagan, and Duffey. I think they use those options until it is obvious that a few vets need to be DFA. I guess we will see in the next six weeks or sooner.
  18. tony&rodney
    Yes, situational hitting is a real problem ... and not only for the Twins. these type of things go in cycles (hopefully) and maybe we will begin to see more astute hitting as the players become accustomed to a new ball that doesn't lend itself to the simple rip and launch strategy. Who knows though ...? Agree with the frustration in general and did think the same exact thoughts on that specific at bat. As a long time coach that would have left an impression with me toward a player, and actually it still does.
  19. tony&rodney
    Kirillof could be coming back. Polanco needs to be healthy. Lewis could easily take over 3B. Correa can still have a year worth noting. Larnach has a future and what that looks like is his task. Buxton and Kepler should be fine. The Twins are lucky to have Gordon and Celestino to back up their regulars. Catching loks a little substandard. The Twins should be fine.
  20. tony&rodney
    Teams that have any future goals of becoming better always look for ways to improve, both in in the short term and looking forward. Prospects are capital to spend and sometimes you need a new roof or refrigerator; go ahead and splurge because life is short.
  21. tony&rodney
    Polo is the Twins leader despite the high profile of Buxton and Correa. Several days ago he seemed to be back in a mode of favoring his ankles with his swing. I hope he is ok because the team needs a healthy Jorge Polanco.
  22. tony&rodney
    I guess we can put to bed the notion that trading Berrios was a net gain for the Twins. The odds of Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson, no matter how much we like them, being as good of MLB players as Berrios is very remote indeed. Does anyone really believe/think that Woods-Richardson will ever strike out 13 batters against a first place team in the major leagues? I'm afraid many have underrated Jose Berrios.
  23. tony&rodney
    I'm realatively bullish on this Twins team. I would like to see Polanco get going. Is he hurting more than we know? Hopefully Buxton can move forward off of his last three at bats last night as well. Full support for TopGun#22 and his ideas. My add is Montas and Puk and there are guys the Twins can trade for them. I have no idea what Oakland might look for ... maybe three of Martin, Steer, Wallner, Cruz, Woods-Richardson, Varland ??? More importantly, perhaps is the mentioned possibility of Kirilloff returning and holding down first base. He has looked good the past few games from the camera angle on milb.com. The ball is coming off his bat and Alex has shown more aggressive swings than earlier this year. Maybe the scar tissue is gone. He just has looked more comfortable. The defense has looked better for the Twins this year and hopefully it even gets better as players return to full health. Palacios has looked outstanding as the replacement for Correa. He goes down when Carlos returns but should not be forgotten. Jermaine is also getting in some solid at bats and looks like a player that is improving his offense. Finally, I'm liking many of the guys in the bullpen and do believe that Alcala could be a big boost to that group. The only three (Duffey, Pagan, Thielbar) that look shaky have actually not been too bad, although I'm hoping others step forward to push those guys well down the list of options for Baldelli.
  24. tony&rodney
    Fun read and yes it was obviously tongue in cheek. Baseball has fewer teams tank than football, hockey , or basketball and even the dynasty teams like The Big Red Machine, Oakland's 3-Peat, the several Yankee runs, or the current Dodgers lose a third of their games.
  25. tony&rodney
    Dylan Lesko. The name is pretty close to let's go and Dylan (Bob, Thomas) predict a great future.
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