tony&rodney

The Twins have as good a chance this year as they will next year or the year after that. The Yankees are really good right now but if Aaron Judge goes down, the wheels on their ride get wobbly. Houston is the scariest team right now. The Twins have fought through a few challenges already and I'm thinking that a number of players can perform at a higher level.

Dude, wtf are you talking about. I was referring to baseball, the importance of a catcher to a pitcher. You lost me.

The Yankees, Dodgers, Houston, St. Louis, Tampa Bay are just a few of the winning organizations who disagree. Or .... perhaps you mean that Johnny Bench couldn't make you or me a major league pitcher. A terrible catcher could easily make Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, or Bob Gibson look really bad though by just not catching the ball. Catching is the second most important player on the field every day. I can remember the first time I had a good catcher, "Oh yah this is sweet, mix my pitches and throw a few in the dirt - no problem." I had six k's in a game once with a horrible catcher as a youth and had a brutal catcher once or twice decades later as an adult. A decent catcher is really, really key to a pitcher's success.

Assists and putouts are traditional measures used to make a semblance of judgment about a player's defensive abilities. These are only reasonable across a larger sample of innings and games played. Naturally, there are mitigating circumstances of these numbers related to the type of pitchers, playing conditions, and fields themselves. However, across a large enough sample the numbers tend to level out. For example, one could compare the assists and putouts from various infielders and outfielders to others playing the same positions. I'm not finding the current systems in use being any more useful than the former ways. If one can separate their loyalty to one team and the obvious bias that often occurs when assessing your favorite players, the eye test can actually be fair. This is especially true if one has experience within the game as a player, coach, or scout. A few examples using Twins players: Kepler is a much superior defender than Larnach, Donaldson is a better fielder than Urshela, and Correa is much better than Simmons was last year but not in Simmon's league when Andrelton was in his prime. Our catchers are mediocre, Polanco is average to slightly above average and better than Arraez at second base. Kirilloff is much better than Sano, Arraez, or Miranda at first base. Buxton is still really good but there seems to be some decline. Celestino and Gordon are average to slightly below average. The Twins have their outfielders play pretty deep and shift a ton in the infield which also affects the defense, sometimes for the better and other times not so good. A concern is that the team itself doesn't seem to have a firm philosophy on their direction. Cleveland and Tampa Bay, for example, decided defense was important and their outfields are quite good.

One thing not mentioned thus far regarding Miranda is that he deserves a better number. How about #8 or #9?

What exactly do you think a team would give in a trade for Polanco? Miami needs offense. Would they trade Alcantara? This isn't Buxton, Polanco has a friendly contract and is proven on both sides of the ball. The return would need to be massive. What suggestions might you forward that would sound enticing to the Twins? No player is untouchable in the Twins entire system. We do not have a Trout or Soto. Give us an idea or two to consider because I actually cannot think of one.

Polanco has had some injuries over the last few years and it is easy to forget him when he struggles to stay healthy. Still Polanco is tied for the lead in RBI's, has only two less at bats than the team leader, and has played only a couple of games less than the leader in games played. Polanco has been the best Twin player over the last couple of years. I'm not sure that Miranda has a ceiling anywhere near the play we have received from Jorge. The Twins have most of what they need to play good baseball and it is always a good idea to listen to what other teams offer or suggest for any player. So I guess there are not any Twins that are untouchable.

Miranda, Larnach, and Arraez all have bats but shortcomings defensively. Arraez is a superior hitter who needs to be in the lineup and Larnach is a corner outfielder with some power potential. This leaves Miranda pinched for playing time, especially if one considers that Kirilloff is a decent first baseman who projects as a strong bat if given the time to get into a routine. Buxton takes a number of days thus far this season as the DH as well. Looking at the roster and possibilities, my take is similar to the post. The Twins should not be using either Sanchez or Jeffers in the Dh role more than once a week or ten days and Miranda should be mixed in at third base more frequently. Urshela has a knack for drawing love from fans and teammates and he does seem pretty lovable from my couch: his smile and general demeanor are always positive. The Yankee fans absolutely loved Gio. Miranda should be starting 5-6 games per week. Like every player, however, Jose needs to rise to the occasion with better at bats. I would like to see him drive the ball more as opposed to deep fly ball outs and pitches out of the strike zone should be ignored. Kirilloff and Larnach are in the same boat to some extent. Lastly, Miranda presents a little bit of a challenge for the Twins. The team has presented a better defense this year and going forward I am a fan of players who are above average on both sides of the ball. I think Lewis would be a strong third baseman as soon as next year which puts Miranda right back to looking for a home. Arraez has familiarity with this quandary and he hits and hits to stay in the lineup. Having too many decent players is a good problem but the Twins need their younger guys to step forward sooner than later.

This is boring, I agree but it will work itself out. A few position players suffer arm injuries and the practice will be reduced. I am also in favor of the batting team use their skills to score 20 runs as opposed to swinging for the fences and not taking the game seriously because the game is out of hand. I hate it when position players pitch because it is a lazy solution.

When the Twins won't pitch Duffey or Thornburg they are going with an 11 person pitching staff. There is not any effect on the pitchers if they are used correctly. The key is for the coaching staff to know the limits and health of each pitcher and for the pitchers to communicate honestly with the staff.

Gray and Ryan have been decent but Smeltzer might have better numbers if he had as many opportunities and Archer takes the ball every time out too. Duran and Jax have both had decent years in the pen. Don't forget about Polanco or Kepler either. If we are picking teams only Duran, among pitchers, makes my top six.

Lewis rebounded quite well from the last procedure and has the mental toughness to return effectively by June of next season. He is the third baseman next summer for the Twins.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It could happen. Maeda is smart and knows the game.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.