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Doctor Gast

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Everything posted by Doctor Gast

  1. Doctor Gast
    Very good! See what happens when you don't SO (only 6Xs) even w/o hitting a HR, you win games. Ober did a good job again. Let's see what Paddack & Varland can do to help get us back.
  2. Doctor Gast
    The return of Duran is really appreciated to make a difference in some wins, Same with Correa to make a great difference in the INF & help out the offense that'll create more wins. When Lewis finally returns, then we can really make a big push. Kepler won't make much difference. If I had to choose between Kepler & Martin, I'd pick Martin hands down.
  3. Doctor Gast
    For a ball to bounce pretty high, it have to have a high projectory thrown from the OF & land on a dry field. The ball was thrown hard with a low projectory from the INF, landing on a wet field just in front of Vazquez with no time to react to the low bounce. All reliable sources said it skipped & that is what appeared to me. I'm not saying the play was impossible but Vazquez would have to be darn lucky.
  4. Doctor Gast
    Twins were terrible in '21, & the FO came under a lot of fire & for their HR-focused hitting approach. The hitting coaches were blamed & were fired. They then hired Popkin, I was leary about him leading the Loons to a HR title & the Twins wanted to continue their hitting approach, TD members assured me that it wouldn't be the case. Here again, the Twins are trying to divert the focus off their hitting approach & blame the coaches. The problem isn't with Popkin, it's the Twins HR hitting philosophy that has been drafting, coaching & signing players to fit this mold that results in SOs & non clutch hitting for years. The FO have to be held accountable.
  5. Doctor Gast
    I felt sorry for Larnach being called up w/o ample time to heat up but he came through tonight. Wish for continued success for him. This game had to be & should have been won. Hitting & pitching was adequate to win the game but what really lost the game was the defense. GBs bled through the INF mainly because as always SS & 1B shade too much towards 2B to cover for Julien so GBs get through between Santana & 1B and between SS & 3B. And when Santana has to hold the runner on 1B, GBs bleed through 2B & 1B. On a wet field the throw home needed to be on the fly and Julien had plenty of time to make a good throw but he didn't. To blame Vazquez for the ball skidding past on a wet field is pretty lame.
  6. Doctor Gast
    I'm also interested to see what Wash can do with Sano. IMO they are focusing off HRs (0 HRs) & more on getting on base (.380 OBP, 3rd team best) IMO a major feat. His SOs are better but still needs some work.
  7. Doctor Gast
    The last few years I've been watching MIA, To scout possible SPs the Twins could trade for & watch Arraez. This year I've started to follow LAA (Wash) & SEA (Polanco).
  8. Doctor Gast
    A batter can't switch sides either during an AB, can he?
  9. Doctor Gast
    Very interesting, I'd certainly draft him. His dad was a catcher in the Netherlands, how cool!
  10. Doctor Gast
    I'm a Berrios fan, I enjoy very much watching him pitch & his work ethic. But I've also very quickly become a Martin & SWR fan being impressed by their character. Martin is a quality contact hitter together with his fire & baserunning talents will become a very valuable lead-off hitter. His defense is quality & he learns very quickly. He can easily be a starting LFer but his versatility is even more valuable to the team. IMO Martin will also develop power in his own time & way. For me it's hard to figure SWR's ceiling but I have no doubt that he'll become a successful MLB SP. IMO we won the trade by giving up 1 1/2 years (2 1/2 if count a QO or a draft compensation) for potentially 12+ quality years from both Martin & SWR.
  11. Doctor Gast
    I saw improvement in Sands during spring training & suggested for him to be part of the active roster as long relief, breaking camp before there were any injuries to the BP. As usual I was slammed. Sand has been steadily improving, I was pleasantly surprised how well he has been pitching this season. He has had problems with endurance so I'd keep extending the length of his outings in long relief until he's ready for a spot start here & there. I'd certainly not send him down at any time to be a SP.
  12. Doctor Gast
    There are many teams with less budget than the Twins that are doing better than the Twins. It's a matter of better player evaluations & development resulting in some proactive trades. So I don't put all the blame on ownership. I disliked every transaction the Twins did this off-season we had better players on the team & gave away than who we acquired, I knew there'd be some regression from some of the players & they never addressed our real needs. I knew contrary to many that we didn't have a team to compete in the postseason but I figured we could easily win the division. But I didn't figure on an early Lewis exit, a player like Soto who can carry a team & Correa, the backbone of our INF & one of our better hitters. When national podcasters discuss the AL Central division race now, they mention CLE/ KC & DET has an outside chance but do not mention MN at all. I still believe we can win but Lewis & Correa need to return, players like Buxton need to really turn it on, they need to figure out how to use Paddack/ Varland/ SWR & their hitting approach. When Duran comes back our BP should be awesome. When we get to that point they need to finally decide how to address the lack of 2nd postseason SP.
  13. Doctor Gast
    This FO sets the philosophy & they hire coaches that they expect to follow through these philosophies. It's well known that when the Twins draft 1st round (except for a non brainer athletic prospect available Lewis, Lee or Jenkins) they usually draft unathletic big bat college player that fits into their philosophy, They also couldn't help themselves to throw money away at Gallo that fits perfect into this philosophy even though they had so many of this LH- cOF, 1B/ DH already. The reason that they still hold unto the other players that don't fit into their philosophy (except Polanco) is because they need them to bail the team out so they can give credit to their "all or nothing" approach. They signed mediocre contact hitters Santana & Margot to help curb the SO average, while letting their players go wild. that hasn't worked out so well.
  14. Doctor Gast
    Right but to really take advantage of the #1 pick, you need good player evaluation & then develop them.
  15. Doctor Gast
    Agree, the excuse they gave to send Alcala down was to rest him. Where's the rest? 2 innings! he could get more rest on the MLB level if they wanted to. Festa will be a very good MLB #7 or #8 SP.
  16. Doctor Gast
    I never doubted Martin, just wait until he really feels comfortable in the MLB.
  17. Doctor Gast
    I don't think it's a communication problem because it's the message they have sent to everyone since the '19 "juicedball" season, the so-called "all or nothing" approach. Lewis, Kiriloff & Martin are more pure hitters that are confident in their own hitting & swerved from the team approach. Correa was established in his style before he came here & Jeffers has modified his swing away from the Twins' approach with Popkin help which has dramatically helped his SO #s & hitting in the clutch. We have always had problems with this approach especially when the weather is cool & the league knows very well our philosophy & have very easily prepared for it, which effects drastically our SOs & lack of hitting in the clutch even more so. If the Twins are indeed changing their approach (which I hope they are) when the season is in full swing, it'll take awhile for the players to adjust especially the likes of Wallner who has been schooled in this philosophy since being a Twin. But my guess is all this talk about changing hitting coaches is a smoke screen from the deeply embedded FO's hitting approach problem much like the last time they changed hitting coaches. We do need a change of coaches, IMO it isn't the hitting coaches. We need to change our catching focus on only hitting to defense development & evaluation which our catching coach is inadequate.
  18. Doctor Gast
    Bingo
  19. Doctor Gast
    Great job by Lopez, a game we should have won. A pitcher that our LH hitters should have unloaded on! Lack of clutch hitting or even hitting period!
  20. Doctor Gast
    The key is good player evaluations & development, which many organizations don't do well, rebuild or not.
  21. Doctor Gast
    Right now with our current INF, Funderburk's GB rate would a negative. When Correa & Lewis return & Lee comes up, he'd be a good asset.
  22. Doctor Gast
    I was against all our off-season acquisitions, a waste of money & players. Paddack, Varland & SWR are pretty good #4, 5 & 6 SP (we'd be better if SWR is brought up & put Varland in long relief/ spot starter). If you want greater depth, it could be easily resolved by signing a capable #5 veteran arm, Our greatest rotation need is the postseason. At 1B we have Julien, Kiriloff & Miranda which are a much better bat than Santana. Signing Farmer was a smart move, Where would we be with the injuries of Correa, Lewis & Lee, Farmer is great insurance. We need a platoon at 2B but everybody are busy elsewhere. Our biggest problem has been & is lack of clutch hitting & a lot of SOs, especially with the loss of Polanco, Lewis & Correa. Return of these players & warmer weather will solve most of our immediate problems.
  23. Doctor Gast
    Very interesting article Peter. Twins have been pretty fortunate as far as serious pitching injuries. Almost all our problems have been inherited. I was going to mention Maeda but you explained that he had injury problems before, LAD limiting him to primary BP. The Twin got Maeda with the intent to extend him solely as a SP. Even though a shortened '20 season, Maeda got TJ. But in general, the Twins have been good at limiting their SPs' innings, which only leads to minor injuries & times of inefficiency (which IMO could be bettered). I agree with Mike that I doubt that the pitch clock has any effect on arm injuries. IMO the balls are too smooth, which pitchers have to grip harder & IMO could provoke arm injuries. IMO the balls could be universally scuffed up, They could implement this together with the electronic strike calls.
  24. Doctor Gast
    27ft/ sec. is the universal speed they put on players w/ no history. The 24.4 ft./ sec. is the most accurate. Correa's advantage comes from many years of playing his natural position SS. 2B is a position force upon Julien by the Twins. I forgot to mention that the Twins were tied for last in DPs/ game last season & so far tied for 2nd to the last this season. DPs are a pitcher's best friend but the Twins refuse to address it. My requirements for 2B are able to turn double-plays, range & soft hands.
  25. Doctor Gast
    One thing I don't understand is that Codie's article "Need for speed" stated that Julien has slowed down considerably at sprint speed this season yet greatly improved at OAA (supposedly to measure range) according to this article. This tells me that OAA can be manipulated & can not be trusted. I imagine OAA can be manipulated by cheating (positioning) & have the SS & 1B cover your butt. When we lost Correa we lost the ability of his replacement to help cover the slack at 2B. The Twins pursued Santana they emphasized defense. I asked myself What?! Up the middle you need to focus on defense not 1B, 1B you need someone who can hit. But now I know, they needed someone better at defense to cover for Julien to play further off the line. Santana plays too far off the line allowing too many hits get by him for extra bases. Farmer, Castro & Martin can play a better 2B but are more needed elsewhere. IMO Castro has more range than Farmer & should play SS, Farmer is better at 3B than Miranda. For LHPs they should have Vazquez catching & Jeffers at DH not the other way around. Until Correa comes back our INF will be really hurting.
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