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Doctor Gast

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Everything posted by Doctor Gast

  1. Doctor Gast
    This type of thinking started with NYY, the "all or nothing" hitting approach. Tweak the heck out of every hitter, draft slow sluggers, to heck with defense, SOs, fundamentals & every sound baseball principle. Baseball is discovering that this philosophy doesn't work. Twins have woken up to transition away from this "all or nothing" approach. It has taken a long time, maybe another poor season they'll wake up & see that it's all a bunch of bunk. It's easy to brand someone as a bad hitter just because they aren't the type of sluggers that you like & totally ignore logical reasoning that you can't refute by continuing to repeat the same philosophy. & again I repeat I never said that Martin & Keirsey are the top hitters on the MLB club the way things sit right now, they aren't given the chance. You can deny it but it's the truth.
  2. Doctor Gast
    I think at this point, you are asking the wrong question. The questions should be, can he adapt to the league adapting to him? & if he can, can hit with enough power to profile at his position at 1B? Those questions need to be resolved at AAA. When he answer those questions then he needs to show that if he can hit LHPs, so to not be platooned.
  3. Doctor Gast
    The problem with Julien isn't that he did anything different, it's the league that has the book out on him & everyone like him. He has shown some signs of adapting, but he's a liability at 2B & until he can start hitting with power again he doesn't profile at 1B, where he belongs. Lee has a solid glove but has shown that he can't hit at the MLB level. Hopefully Lee's problem is mechanical & not physical. He & Julien need to be sent down to AAA, to learn how to hit & for Julien to learn how to play 1B there, not taking away precious time away from Miranda in ST, who should be given primary 1B duties. Miranda is a great hitter when healthy. His lack of production is due to being injured. This isn't his problem, management needs to keep him healthy by keeping him on 1B & off 3B. 3B is definitely much harder on his shoulder than 1B/ DH. If they do this, Miranda will have a very good season. If you practically take him away from 1B/ DH & he starts hit like he normally does, to keep his bat in the lineup they'll stick him at 3B again. I don't want to take that chance again & see him get hurt. Then everybody claims that he can't hit just because he's hurt. So our 7, 8, 9 problem can easily be remedied by management, but will they?
  4. Doctor Gast
    I agree. Canterino has the stuff to be a top-end SP. But the problem is with his arm. Limit his innings, IMO he should be fine. IMO he should make an impact this season. Canterino has options, I like to keep arms in the BP that have options that can rotate in & out of AAA to help support Baldelli's 1 inning philosophy. Otherwise they get burnt out. Our BP has a lot of potential & IMO Canterino & Prielipp can be a part of that. They have the potential to become high-leverage RPs, hope they can realize that.
  5. Doctor Gast
    Only the weird analytical teams have adapted this ideology, that have hurt them, but some are waking up. Betts & Ohtani are traditional lead-off hitters, they are fast & get on base. If they can slug that's fine, but that can't be the criterion. Wallner isn't a threat on the bases & he strikes out too much. Wallner has been groomed & settled to play OF all his professional career right? Why didn't they put Wallner in CF? Playing CF can't be that hard, right? because you expect Martin, who has been moved all around, never been groomed to play the OF, as a rookie to step in on the MLB level, to be better than many veteran CFers? The fact is, it's very difficult to play CF, especially under the circumstances that Martin had to deal with. To focus on all the adjustments he had to do, had to take away his focus on hitting. If Martin was allowed to play 2B all his pro career, where he could settle there. He'd be our best 2Bman, one of our best hitters & a great lead-off hitter. On the other hand, if Wallner, who was better groomed to play the OF, was moved to CF on the fly, I'd guarantee he'd be a much worse CFer than Martin & his hitting would take a huge plunge. The very few chances that Keirsey has been given, he is just starting to show what he can do, but they'll never allow him to excel. I never said that they are our best hitters, the way things stand now. I said they are good candidates to be our best lead-off hitters if the Twins would put them in a position to be so. Quit taking what I say out of context. A lead-off hitter needs to be a table setter, someone who gets on base, can steal a base, shake up pitchers so they can make mistakes for the following hitters. Wallner can occasionally hit a HR. that's only 1 run leading off, if he does walk he plugs the basepaths & he strikes out too often. Last season Wallner never got on base hitting lead-off & SO 3X. I like Wallner but he's no lead-off hitter. If we want to compete we need to find one.
  6. Doctor Gast
    Our best traditional lead-off hitter in recent past was Arraez because of his OBP but because he wasn't a threat on the base paths, he was far from ideal. The Twins' lead-off hitter now is whoever is spit out the computer based on their crazy ideology, Wallner seems to be the one now. We have 2 very good lead-off hitter candidates that had good OBP & stole a lot bases in the MiLB (Martin & Keirsey) but the Twins have no interest in such types. So we have to suffer through their ideas.
  7. Doctor Gast
    Well said! Many look at MLB as they do Fantasy Baseball. MLB is real people, full of intangibles & underlying conditions that stats can't simulate. To people who only look at stats, "Get real"
  8. Doctor Gast
    Things like character, heart or spunk are intangibles. Some fans reject anything that they can't fit into a formula by stats or age. They try to put intangibles into some formula, is ridiculous. Martin has the character, heart & spunk that these players possess. Don't let these guys get you down, keep up the good work.
  9. Doctor Gast
    What should be done & what will happen are 2 different things pertaining to the Twins. 1st Lee is a solid glove but should be sent down to work on his hitting (but should be the 1st INF injury call up). Julien is a liability at 2B & should be sent down to AAA to work out his hitting & finally his position at 1B. Castro's greatest value is that he's established as a super utility player. He was an all-star the 1st half, but by far surpassed his previous top PAs from 450 in '21 to 635 in '24 that's over almost 200 PAs & 226 PA more than last year & he had to play far too often at demanding CF & SS. People who look only at stats miss the boat because Castro was clearly overextended, that affected all his stats OFF & DEF. With the addition of Bader & Keirsey on the 40-man that will greatly ease up the pressure on Willi to play CF & OF in general. Hopefully Correa & Lee's health will vastly improve, where he's less needed there. With less time at CF & SS, that'd greatly improve his stats as a super utility. With the total failure of CF Margot last season, Martin was our best CF sub via necessity, Martin has never been settled or groomed at CF. To repeat with (RH) Buxton & Bader in CF & (LH) Keirsey available to sub Buxton against LHPs with Emma, Keschal & Jenkins at the door. To now, start to groom Martin at CF IMO is very redundant & setting up Martin to fail. Because if he gets on the active roster he'll never play. To repeat again MLB CF is a super difficult position for anybody, much less a rookie that has not been groomed, is asking way too much. Being the best in what we had on hand at CF, that was enough to keep us afloat for most of the season. The Twins need to reward Martin for his courageous efforts last season by settling him at 2B & give him a chance to be productive. Twins need desperately his potential as a lead-off hitter, he more than merits this opportunity. Like I said earlier, what should be done & what will happen are two different things. But this should have been done in the beginning of spring training, which tells me this won't happen. to the Twins loss. The Twins will give Julien every opportunity to fail at 2B but fail to give Martin one opportunity to thrive there. I know I'll get a lot of thumbs down from Martin haters because of everything he went through last season his OPS wasn't to their liking. But I'll still defend Martin, not because I think he'll become a super star but because he can be an asset to the Twins & deserves the chance.
  10. Doctor Gast
    I hope Canterino lands in AAA, he should. With so many quality BP arms, it be ideal to have them options to be used rotating in & out arms from AAA. Tonkin has worth & many teams have BP needs so why not trade him.
  11. Doctor Gast
    It tells me that loves to hit which is a great trait. But as far as development, I usually think of defense. I didn't hear anything about that aspect.
  12. Doctor Gast
    Miranda didn't have any health problems until they said 3B is yours in '23. Miranda has an average arm IMO to get his arm up to MLB level, he overdid it. Coming to spring training with a wrecked shoulder. '24 he was doing great while at 1B/ DH. Even though healthy Santana was horrible at the plate, Baldelli declared him as a full-time 1Bman. Larnach hurt his toe, so to keep Miranda's bat in the lineup they moved Miranda to 3B. Not long afterward Miranda hurt his back (the back is part of the throwing process). His production took a dive. So when healthy Miranda is great, so the secret here is to keep him healthy by keeping him at 1B/ DH. Not play him at 3B like they did with DET. France has had many years at 1B & he's still terrible. So common sense should tell us that we need to invest in the long-term Miranda to develop his potential & not in short-term undevelopable glove of France at 1B. I'm all for France to have a good season at DH & help out at 1B but not as the primary 1B.
  13. Doctor Gast
    I didn't say that he didn't play CF, I distinctly said he played all over which includes stints at CF, as I stated before as the team needs. But that doesn't qualify him as a CF prospect. A CF prospect is someone they fix at CF & they groom them for that position. that is not Martin. Again I'll remind you that CF is a very difficult position & he hasn't been prepared to play there. & let me remind you that this started from defending myself from your claim that I had vitriol for Julien which I assured you I didn't.
  14. Doctor Gast
    I totally agree with you Jeff that Julien & Lee should be sent down & that it would benefit Castro have some stability. But where I disagree is that Twins would benefit more by his flexibility than him settled at 2B. Castro is an established super utility player which is very valuable. That said IMO he'd benefit from less time at CF & SS. Who could benefit the most from stability is Martin, he could thrive there.
  15. Doctor Gast
    Many athletic guys are moved around depending on the need of the team they don't care about the player. Many times to the detriment to the players. My main point is that he's been moved around, which you agreed on, & not able to settle in any position. I mentioned in that post that Martin played mainly 2B just before he came up from AAA (that you left off your quote) so I credit them to be able see that Martin should be at 2B. But what good is it playing Martin at 2B in MiLB but rarely at the MLB level. Though rarely played there, there is where he scored the highest. I'll repeat again CF is a very difficult position. You have to quarterback the OF, you don't have a Buxton out there covering for you, you are on your own. Kepler didn't want the extra distraction of playing there. Our top CF prospect, Celestino, whom many hoped to amount to something, couldn't handle it. How can you expect a non-CF rookie to perform as a competent CF veteran (there are many that aren't)? That is my point. & to give everyone context, my post was defending myself of vitriol against Julien which I assure you I don't have.
  16. Doctor Gast
    I'll be as brief as I can. I've been accused of hating Cave, Polanco, Gallo, Jeffers, Julien & others but I don't. I'm a fan of Julien, I like him to succeed & was quick to support him in the MiLB. But I'm against how management assesses their players in where they play them, who they elevate & who they put down, their weird analytic philosophy, their universal hitting philosophy they adopted from the Yanks. IMO, this hitting philosophy that has hurt & set back a lot of players like Sano. I'm glad that they have, after fully embracing & propagated to the public this hitting philosophy, they saw the fruit of their folly early & quickly changed philosophy & have implemented this change in spring training. Julien has embraced this philosophy, which paid dividends because the pitchers didn't know him, but now he is a victim of that philosophy. Martin has also been a victim of this philosophy, but he has quickly seen that it was hindering him. Both Martin & Julien have been victims of management's forcing them in positions that were above them & try to prop them up. Julien at 2B & Martin at SS & then CF. I don't only look at stats; I look at the underlying conditions. Julien has played primarily 2B professionally under the shift. So his adaptation to the bigs was easier playing an easier position that he played his entire career & he was platooned a lot against LHPs, where as Martin has played all over the field because he's a better defender, not getting settled in any of them. He played the majority of his last season before he was called up at 2B. If Martin was placed at 2B & was platooned like Julien, IMO his stats would have been much better but he was forced into a very difficult position of CF at the MLB level to learn on the fly. So I give him a break. I can see a path for Martin, he's a much better defender than Julien. He has great potential to be a traditional lead-off hitter, which the Twins desperately need. Julien is a liability at 2B. He will have to reinvent himself to stay at the MLB level & if he can do that, will he be able to hit with enough power to profile at 1B where he belongs? He needs to go to AAA to figure all these things out. Is Martin a sure thing? No,? he isn't, the way that they are using him, he probably won't. He's not even needed at CF, why play him there? Keirsey is needed there to sub against the majority of RHPs. Why play Julien at 2B where he doesn't belong? give them to Martin. Why give so much time at 1B to France, Gasper & Ford? Give them to Miranda who needs them. We need to keep Miranda healthy. Why are they so determined to jeopardize that when they have Lewis, Lee, Castro & others to play at 3B? I can see why you think that I'm vitriolic against a certain player but I'm not. I'm passionate to see the Twins become better & have a chance to go the World Series. I cheer against no Twin player. I'm a realist & I don't buy all this positive & negative hype that's put out in social media.
  17. Doctor Gast
    Thank you for that graph. I remember a few years ago in an article how the Twins wanted their hitters to focus on launch angle plus, exit velo, other stuff I can't remember & pulling the ball to increase the teams HRs totals. Just because he's not able to pull some of the pitches doesn't mean that when he comes to the plate he's not looking for a pitch to pull. That is my assumption, I could be wrong.
  18. Doctor Gast
    I'd like the best for Keirsey. But a proven LH CFer is valuable, one who is left in AAA is not as far as a trade goes. Very quickly his window will be closed when Emma & Jenkins arrive, even more so for Larnach.
  19. Doctor Gast
    I've been a fan of Eeles since the beginning. But he's not on the 40 man & won't be until they absolutely need to. Which will be a long time & they'll string him along as long as they can as insurance. Sorry to say.
  20. Doctor Gast
    I still don't understand the rationale of forcing Martin at CF when he has to compete with Buxton & Bader for minority LHPs games. And Keirsey, who Baldelli has never considered to be on the active roster, should be the Twins' option at CF against majority RHPs games, has yet to play a game at CF. '23 Martin played mainly 2B, which is his natural position. '24 Baldelli needed an extra RH bat in the OF & didn't want Julien to have competition at 2B. So Martin was off to the OF, '25 Lee & Julien are Baldelli's choice at 2B. Although Lee is a solid fielder, neither can hit. Both should be sent down to AAA to get their hitting back & Julien should learn how to play 1B there, not in spring training. Martin should settle in at 2B & Castro as Utility. Miranda should get the most time at 1B. To keep Miranda healthy, he should be kept off 3B, but there he was at 3B already. Then they complain he can't stay healthy? France should have less time at 1B & more time at DH. Good games & good to watch them.
  21. Doctor Gast
    How did MLB ever survive before WAR? All the best players must have slipped through.
  22. Doctor Gast
    Defensive stats are very poor evaluations, especially for catchers, some are worse than others. I never said that Vazquez is elite. I don't need to see Gasper play to get an idea on his defensive talents, all I need to see is that at 29 years old has yet to catch in a MLB game & isn't projected to catch a '25 MLB game. You don't have to be an expert to make that judgement.
  23. Doctor Gast
    I'm a big Varland fan & have advocated for him not to waste his bullets in AAA & let him focus in the MLB pen last season. With his knuckle-curve, would that make an argument for him to stay in the rotation?
  24. Doctor Gast
    Vazquez doesn't have value only if you have a T-Ball philosophy mentality, (as long as you can hit you're good, defense isn't important). Because someone is over-priced doesn't mean they have no value. It's true that'd it'd be disastrous w/o Vazquez in that sense. A safety net isn't used very often, only in case you need it as a safety precaution. But Vazquez has caught more games than Jeffers. The more he catches throughout the season, the better we are. Gasper is a safety net that hopefully you don't need. Vazquez isn't a safety net.
  25. Doctor Gast
    I tried to insert a MLB Trade Rumors link but it didn't work https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/. (you'll have scroll down a bit) it gives good catcher trade possibilities. I've tried out a trade on all of them & more.
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