Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Doctor Gast

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    8,192

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    10

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Doctor Gast

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Doctor Gast
    Right but to really take advantage of the #1 pick, you need good player evaluation & then develop them.
  5. 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.
  6. Doctor Gast
    I never doubted Martin, just wait until he really feels comfortable in the MLB.
  7. 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.
  8. Doctor Gast
    Bingo
  9. 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!
  10. Doctor Gast
    The key is good player evaluations & development, which many organizations don't do well, rebuild or not.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Doctor Gast
    Unfortunately, Larnach is one of the unathletic big bat, low 1st round pick whom the Twins had high expectations (so did I but I was open to trading him for the right price) & a lot of hype following him. I hope he can figure out the breaking balls & contribute to the team this season. But I'm afraid that his window has closed with all the new prospects ready to reach the MLB. It's more him increasing his trade value by adapting to the off-speed stuff.
  17. Doctor Gast
    Wallner has the raw tools to be an all-star. But the Twins only focused on trying to squeeze out a few more HRs while ignoring working on his defense & ability to make contact. Twins broadcasted very loudly that they were doubling down on the "all or nothing" approach & the league pitching was well prepared for them. The approach that helped kill Sano's career Year AB R H HR RBI SB AVG OBP OPS 2024 Regular Season 33 6 9 0 1 0 .273 .385 .718 What I noticed is that Sano has 0 HRs & decent BA & OBP. That shows me that LAA has focused entirely on Sano's problem of not making contact & got away from hitting HRs.
  18. Doctor Gast
    Coming against the next AL powerhouse. Last night we fielded the worst INF. definitely far from MLB level. As I stated from the beginning, Santana was a waste of money & a roadblock of playing time for Miranda, Kiriloff & Julien to play 1B. Miranda had a great night, too bad he didn't have more help. IMO we'd be a better team if we bring up SWR & have Varland in long relief.
  19. Doctor Gast
    I'm sorry Sherry, I disagree with everything you wrote. I like Julien a lot but he's not a 2Bman. OAA can be very deceiving especially when you have the best coaching you in how to cheat (in positioning). What you need to look at is the actual range or even sprint speed (which Julien ranks very low) & DPs, MN ranked next to the bottom last season even with Correa. And it appears that he's worse this season, especially now w/o Correa covering for him. Last season Julien was the jewel of this team's "all or nothing" approach. This season he has yet come close to match that standard & he has trouble hitting LHPs. Polanco had been abused by this organization by playing hurt most of his career yet not spending time on the IL until '22. '21 was his 1st & only year he played healthy at 2B, where he played very well. If he had started at 2B from the beginning he'd have more all-star appearances as he had at SS in '19. Polanco had been our best clutch hitter until Lewis appeared on the scene hitting well at both sides of the plate. We lost on the trade, losing one of our best players & receiving no one that will contribute anything this season. I could further debate on this but I won't.
  20. Doctor Gast
    Well said RiverBrian. Even when Emma is raking, Wind Surge still has difficulty winning.
  21. Doctor Gast
    Agree that Varland has had some pretty tough competition teams to pitch against but from the beginning I've advocating Varland to start out in long relief & spot start, still do. I'm encouraged by SWR on the MLB level. The season & both of them are still young & promising, let's see how things shake out. Varland would be too valuable in the pen to send down.
  22. Doctor Gast
    W/O Correa & Lewis our entire INF is compromised. Farmer & Castro are good INFers but they aren't ones to play every day on the left side & they haven't played there for a while which was evident on Sunday. It was wonderful news that Correa won't be gone as long as originally thought. Hope they can get up to play better ball against a talented BAL team. I still believe we'll make the postseason, Hope everyone'll be healthy then.
  23. Doctor Gast
    Joe Ryan & Martin had a pretty good game; seems like Castro is ready to start to hit. Jeffers hit an HR but his best AB was his 12 pitch battle against a dealing Alex Lange in extra innings, he took what he gave him. Jeffers has modify his swing from the Twins' "all or nothing" approach. Sometimes he relapse & strikes outs a lot but here he was very impressive at this AB much more than the HR Wallner hit against McKinstry but the stats favor much more Wallner.
  24. Doctor Gast
    So happy that SWR pitched so well, confirming my faith in him. Sweeping this double-header has done a lot to help restore my optimism towards this team. Just what the doctor ordered.
  25. Doctor Gast
    Our large INF surplus sure got depleted pretty quickly. Our INF stinks all a way around. CLE, KC &DET are hot (lucky to get those 2 wins in KC with Lewis). That hole could get pretty deep before Lewis comes back.
×
×
  • Create New...