Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Doctor Gast

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    8,176

  • 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

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Doctor Gast

  1. Doctor Gast
    It means more playing time for Gordon & Larnach makes the 40 man. Larnach probably will be DHing.
  2. Doctor Gast
    I believe Correa will shine with this shift ban, he'll arise to the challenge, throw & all. Polanco will be fine, Farmer will be fine, Miranda we'll have to see but IMO he'll be fine. The biggest challenge IMO is a 1B that normally let's the ball that's hit to the right of him go so the 2B can field it to start going after that ball. Also the 2B that has no range will be humiliated.
  3. Doctor Gast
    Being a very good switch hitter, IMO the Twins over depends on Polanco. You can plug him in with any pitcher & you can always expect a very good AB that's great in the clutch. That plus willing to play hurt has plagued Polanco. Polanco isn't injury prone, he just gets hurt like everyone but unlike everyone else he's trotted out to play out the season hurt. Everyone knows he's hurt because he's far from 100% but they still play him. Playing hurt drastically effects his stats that people go crazy over. If given the adequate time to recuperate his #s would be much better. I'm a fan of Polanco and he's still needed here. But I'm sad that his days are numbered here because it's more practical to see the Twins future to take over. Polanco has been underrated & under appreciated. Hope he has a great season that he's capable of & help the Twins win their 1st post season game for a very long time.
  4. Doctor Gast
    I believe I've read it in the Athletic but even though I've subscribed I can't get access to these old Athletic articles, I'm sorry I can't come up with any info. Here is an article which had some videos of him having success in AFL where he resorted back to the high leg kick https://www.mlb.com/news/royce-lewis-arizona-fall-league-homer-great-catch What I've read or maybe heard from an interview that he changed his swing to the toe-tap swing because his old swing was hurting his knee. He developed that swing during the off season while recuperating. I have no idea if the Twin staff suggested it or he came up with it all by himself. Either way that's the swing that he wanted to experiment with and it worked.
  5. Doctor Gast
    Lewis usually says yeah put me anywhere, I want to play. When Lewis said he prefer to play the INF, Lewis hates to say no, IMO that's him saying indirectly that he doesn't want to play the OF.
  6. Doctor Gast
    You beat me to the punch, buddy. The # of LHPs that we'll have to face is minimal. But I agree that we have our bases pretty much covered when we do. We need to get Taylor in as many games as we can.
  7. Doctor Gast
    I like your personal favorite. I've stated before that we should never trade Lewis, because of his many tangible & intangible qualities. But I'd trade him in a heart beat if management has any inkling of playing him in the OF. I'd rather lose him to another team than the risk of him losing his MLB career. Many say there's no difference in danger between the INF to OF and I'd kinda agree if the player has no knee problems. Running full blast, jumping high and coming down on that problem leg at that angel & force is like playing Russian Roulette which in Lewis case was the 1st attempt. Now w/ his 2nd operation, the gun has only a single chamber. I don't care if it doesn't fit your depth chart, you can't take that risk on Lewis.
  8. Doctor Gast
    Welcome John to TD. Martin was fine until they started to tinker with his swing, beginning of '22 , it really affected his ability to make contact. Towards the end of the '22 season, he went back to his old swing & he made a surge. He entered AFL with a bang & showed some pop. He'll continue to find his own way much like Buxton & Lewis & will flourish. Martin is an athletic player that can play most anywhere (although IMO is overstretched at SS) , which is a very valuable. An OB machine, whose not afraid to get hit (which I'd advise against because I'd hate to see him get hurt or have his rhythm thrown off). He's a terror on the bases which is exciting to see. As he develops I can see him gain some surprising pop. I can see him carry that AFL momentum into AAA, which will raise his stock considerably. Because he's not on the 40 man, there's no hurry bring him up unless things really blow up. Julien should that leap before him unless there's a need before Lewis is ready. His RH bat might come in handy in the OF next year. Because of his high versatility, I'd like hold onto him.
  9. Doctor Gast
    I like Urshela, he's a good 3B, I don't care what the #s say. To begin the off season the odds for us to land Correa was very low. We needed & still need a decent SS back up, Urshela is not a good back up so Farmer made a lot more sense. Our right side is all right handed hitters so keeping Urshela didn't make sense. We don't know how well Miranda will handle 3B, if he can't handle it then Farmer will have to man there. Miranda plays there only when Farmer need to play SS, until Lewis is ready to come up. Gallo was a mistake because he'll take ABs away from Gordon, Larnach and Wallner. If Kiriloff isn't ready, then Gallo probably makes the most sense at 1B but we have others that have some experience and IMO Julien could make that jump to MLB 1B. We have a log jam at corner OF LH bats. I'm not sure the shift ban will help Gallo that much. Even though we have log jam there, that's no reason to trade Kepler for peanuts. The shift ban is more likely to help Kepler. OF LH bats are a premium so I expect Kepler will be traded and probably Gallo.
  10. Doctor Gast
    Hi Seth, what kind of info can you or anyone else give me about Ricardo Olivar? I know he's mainly plays catcher but also plays OF, including CF. He had a pretty good FSL season at 20 yrs. old & was promoted to A. But have no idea how is his glove or arm. I believe his arm above average & his athleticism would produce a good glove at catcher. I'm looking for another big step from him this year & hope they focus him at the catcher position. I guess I'm hoping for an Endy Rodriguez type of break out.
  11. Doctor Gast
    I agree he's a solid prospect, much like Helman. But be very difficult for him to climb to overcome those ahead of him.
  12. Doctor Gast
    Nice to have another lady on the site. Looks like you have a lot of baseball in your blood. 🙂
  13. Doctor Gast
    I'm sure pulling for Correa as a Twin to put up the #s & advancing well in the PS. It'd be great to see another Twin in the HOF. Hope both Mauer & Correa be able to make it 1st ballad.
  14. Doctor Gast
    You're not nearly 70 yrs. old, are you? Melissa
  15. Doctor Gast
    Hi Seth, what kind of info can you or anyone else give me about Ricardo Olivar? I know he's mainly plays catcher but also plays OF, including CF. He had a pretty good FSL season at 20 yrs. old & was promoted to A. But have no idea how is his glove or arm. I believe his arm above average & his athleticism would produce a good glove at catcher. I'm looking for another big step from him & hope they focus him at the catcher position.
  16. Doctor Gast
    For sure the best defensive OF. Taking a way single here, double there throw in some triple & HR thefts for outs. Sure beats missing outs & let them turn into singles, doubles, triples & even HRs. Our kind of OF defense makes a lot of difference in won & lost games.
  17. Doctor Gast
    I'm a firm believer of having our future SP starting out as long relief/ spot starter. Ober, Winder, Varland and SWR are great candidates & should be used in this capacity on the MLB level. Ober should work himself into the rotation pretty quickly, Winder IMO won't get any higher that spot starter. It'd be pretty interesting to see how Varland & SWR do at this capacity before they graduate to the rotation.
  18. Doctor Gast
    Many teams want him, but try to get him on the cheap. Their need will be greater when he starts to hit better. But probably then they'll have to pay a premium.
  19. Doctor Gast
    I read the same thing, I thought there'd be stir in Twinsdom. I can see the point of what Falvey is saying. Our rotation & BP looks so much better than last year. I expect some kind of piggy-backing with Maeda & Ober. I'd like get Varland, Winder & SWR some regular time in the MLB via long relief/ spot starting. That's a lot of pitchers & not enough innings. If Falvey is in the market for RPs we won't advertise it. But if one fell in his lap he wouldn't pass up on him, I hope. You can't have enough quality BP pitchers.
  20. Doctor Gast
    I guess I'm mainly old school, I like digging into underlying conditions. But with overall comparison my favorite stat is bWAR. But day to day stuff I like the splits w/ BB reference.
  21. Doctor Gast
    I'm 100% behind you Cody. the rating is based on our need & how they are fulfilled. #1 need our starting SS hole- Correa filled that need quite nicely #2 need our starting catcher hole- Vazquez filled that hole #3 need our SP need- Lopez cleared the Gray line #4 need INF depth- Farmer can play anywhere including catcher, we could use him #5 need Buxton replacement upgrade- Taylor elite defense is welcomed #6 need Gallo ?- maybe 1B with a lot of hope that he'll come out his funk unlike Sano #7 need ?- Give Miranda a chance to blossom.
  22. Doctor Gast
    Thanks, 2wins87. I'm not worried about Polanco's legs at all. His ankles are fine as long as you keep him away from SS (NP). Like any player he'll get hurt, this isn't a problem as long as the problem is dealt with & given the needed rest. Last season when he got hurt they kept running him out there until he dropped & was lost for the season. That's not on him.
  23. Doctor Gast
    Another great blog, Harrison! I think just the fact that they'll have a normal ST will help a lot in the # of total innings pitched & ERA. What I've heard Ryan & Lopez are working on new pitches (Central AL Division will also improve his #s). IMO what really helps against injuries, # of total innings pitched & ERA, is management. The focus shouldn't be let's see how far we stretch out our SPs. But let's profile our pitchers & pitch them inside those perimeters. Let's say for example we have a SP who profiles at 6 innings (some games early less & later games more). After each game he feels good & is able bounce back quickly for his next start. He is able to maintain his quality innings & health. He continue to feel good & is able starts 32 games, 32 X 6 = 192 innings, not bad. & hopefully if he's properly managed he's ready to pitch well going into the post season. Even if we have a pitcher going 5 innings/ game & feels good afterwards. He's able to maintain his arm healthy & pitch 32 games, that's 5 X 32 = 160 total innings that's much more than the total of our best pitcher under our present philosophy. Let me repeat one more time, our focus shouldn't be let's see how far we can stretch out of each SP each game but let keep our pitchers inside their profile to maintain their health & quality innings. Strength conditioning is also very important. Lopez hadn't pitched many innings in any of his previous seasons. 111 was by far the most & he didn't pitch very well. So it's reasonable that he'd tired well before the season's end & tail off. With the 180 inning season under his belt & hopefully some good strength conditioning, he'll easily surpass last year.
  24. Doctor Gast
    Because of the hold out in '22, Smeltzer had a head start. He came out of ST, IMO our best ready SP. The Twins should have taken advantage of him early, but he started out in AAA, It wasn't until he was burning up AAA & a few down MLB SPs that they finally brought him up. He did well until the hitters began to erase Smeltzer's advantage. Smeltzer was the most stretched out SP & he should have been chosen over rookies Ober & Winder & iffy Paddack. They were injured early because management try to overstretch them in the rotation too soon. If Smeltzer was in the rotation from the start (and kept Ober & Winder as long relief/ spot starter), he'd have handled the workload and Ober & Winder would not have gone on the IL. Plus we could've enjoyed Smeltzer's effective advantage longer. After Smeltzer lost his advantage, I can understand why Smeltzer was let go. The fish we discarded, was picked up by the school of Marlins. Maybe Smeltzer will learn something new & thrive there. Thank you, Devin for your accomplishments here & wish you well!
  25. Doctor Gast
    Polanco has nothing to prove! It's unfair to single him out & ask him to match Arraez OBP. It's much more fair to ask Kiriloff or Gallo can they match Arraez glove at 1B? The answer would be undeniably yes, And ask Gordon if he could match Arraez in quality innings played? the answer would be undeniably yes. Or if he would match Arraez match Arraez as a scoring threat? the answer would be undeniable yes. IMO if we ask Gordon to replace Arraez as the lead-off hitter, he'd arise (Arraez, I'm sorry, it's a pun) to the occasion. He'd run the bases well & become a scoring threat and even try to focus on improving his OBP. But to ask anyone on the roster to match Arraez's OBP is a pretty tall order. Julien would be the one, once he's ready & there's an opening. Awarding Gordon playing time would be a challenge. He has proven that he should played. He could play at DH or Buxton replacement in CF against RHPs. He'd be our lead off hitter whenever he's playing, & when trades are made, that'll free up more playing time Others are fair expectations, Nick and these questions should be asked. IMO these players will arise to the challenge & meet them. Before Baldelli was encouraged to lead off with Arraez, he'd lead off with Garver & Kepler. Maybe he'll go that route again with Farmer & Kepler. I think another fair challenge is if Kepler & Gallo can get out of their hitting funk with this new shift ban? I expect Kepler to but Gallo I have my doubts. His righty counter parts Sano & Sanchez couldn't do it. I really hope he does but wishing doesn't make it happen.
×
×
  • Create New...