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ashbury

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Everything posted by ashbury

  1. ashbury
    The word "scholarship" was bandied about during the end of the Terry Ryan era. That's kind of what you're describing with the guys you mention - extenuating circumstances where patience might be rewarded with good performance later on in the season. Patience, scholarship, long leash - I think we're talking about the same thing, give or take.
  2. ashbury
    Pseudo's response last night had the gist. "Long leash" wasn't a very helpful phrase to use because it carries multiple meanings. In-game, yes, a pitcher likely won't be able to shrug off a poor beginning to his stint on the mound. "I just don't have a feel for my curveball today," if that's the kind of excuse that's given - "well, you'd better find it, because I don't have someone else I can bring in right now" would be the response to that inanity. A pitcher who is brought in had better produce, but if he doesn't, he may just have to gut it out. But, from the medium-term perspective, a guy can't just be shoved to the more remote part of the bullpen and used only in blowout situations while he works out his problems. He has to be replaced by another pitcher, and either goes to the IL, or to AAA if he has options remaining, or else will have to be disposed of in some manner. Or else, a 12th pitcher is brought in, probably at the cost of losing a position player to waivers, or else at the cost of putting a useful position player like Cave or Astudillo at AAA. We won't go with 11 pitchers for very long in any case, but when we go to 12 the same logic will apply, because the trend has been toward 13.
  3. ashbury
    Then we're sending you to Rochester. See you in September, maybe.
  4. ashbury
    I'm impressed if they are going with 11 pitchers. Even with all the off-days early in the season, the default seems to have become 12, going to 13 when the games begin to bunch up. This is lean and mean, allowing a chance for a more productive bench. It means no pitcher gets a long leash, if not ready to produce right out of the gate. I like this.
  5. ashbury
    I enjoyed watching Kent Hrbek fool around at shortstop during fielding practice, back in the day. Cruz in CF is about on a par with that.
  6. ashbury
    Irrelevant? In 2018, Boston led the Grapefruit League with a 22-9 record. Look how the season turned out for them. Houston was second at 21-9, and they had a good season too. In third place was Baltimore, who... um, errr, never mind..............
  7. ashbury
  8. ashbury
    Twins' season over.
  9. ashbury
    Sh! Sh!
  10. ashbury
    Thad Levine is 47. He's getting a little old for knee pants by now. You became too accustomed to Fernando Rodney. If the closer does his job, there won't be another inning.
  11. ashbury
    Unless there's a recent change, up through the first month of the season it's the previous season's records that determine the waiver claim order. So, yes.
  12. ashbury
    If the Orioles are the only team who would have an interest, then that is that. But if some other team, with a lower waiver claim, also would like a first baseman, then our FO can talk turkey with them.
  13. ashbury
    Are there stats on the number of mid-inning pitching changes? Bringing in a new pitcher to start an inning seems more prevalent than in years past, but that move costs little to nothing in terms of play pace.
  14. ashbury
    Couldn't agree more. For me, the payoff from a relentless emphasis on positional flexibility is the freedom to assign one roster spot to someone with a bat this good. (We hope that Cruz is still that guy.) A corollary that I mention now and then is that I never again want to invest scarce resources in a stud-hitting catcher. If one develops, great, but don't trade for one, don't pay big FA bucks for one, probably don't sign one you developed to an extension. Catchers need days off defensively, and to have one good enough to DH is a big roster challenge. If, say, Ryan Jeffers's bat develops, don't refrain from having a good DH - you want a DH so good that Jeffers sits on his days off anyway. But I've digressed...
  15. ashbury
    That was my first impression of Willians on TV as well. Also Ben Rortvedt when I first saw him on one of the back fields at Ft Myers a couple of springs ago. I dunno, I see a guy, and that word pops into my head. Most catchers fidget in one way or the other. I'm not sure being "quiet" should be the be-all and end-all. I just know the term. And now this article informs me that maybe it's a little overrated.
  16. ashbury
    The Homonym Is Over, apparently.
  17. ashbury
    This article addresses some questions that had arisen in the past week, such as when Rortvedt was behind the plate in a couple of televised games. I'd like to see further exploration of how this ties in (or trades off) with the many other aspects of a catcher's game. A brief mention was made of dealing with baserunners, but can more be said? Also, not everything goes according to plan - could pitches in the dirt, either by design or simply a wild pitch, be harder to corral? Ditto for unexpectedly high pitches, or way outside? Finally, might anything about the changed stance make a catcher more vulnerable to missing the pitch with his glove when crossed up by the pitcher? Taking one off of the mask is an uncommon occurrence, but anything that slightly increases the odds of that could be very costly in return for the advantages of better framing - we've seen the long-term cost of concussions, and Garver has had a serious one already. The traditional crouch, when done by an agile athlete, would seem to have one big advantage, of offering the most balanced starting point for any of the tasks which the catcher may be called upon to perform. Sticking a leg out may optimize some tasks, but impede others. I have to rely on experts to tell me the pluses and minuses. This article's a great start.
  18. ashbury
    I was about to jest, "yeah, he'll never get anywhere with that inside-out swing," but I already used my allotment* of satire at this site today. * Or, is THAT the satire?
  19. ashbury
    That tweak does stand out by a mile.
  20. ashbury
    So call my feeble attempt "Satire" instead of "Sarcasm" - which doesn't make it any safer to try on an Internet forum.
  21. ashbury
    Viewers hate pitching changes and will tune out if you allow a substitution.
  22. ashbury
    You watch the early rounds of cuts, and they're all the guys in the 6's, then the 7's. It's not infallible, but gives a hint. Duda stands out. Nicolina's a surprise, but pitching's more SSS and it's a matter of giving everyone innings.
  23. ashbury
    Great question for Cuddy next time you're at a player panel.
  24. ashbury
    Yes. He answered the questions up in the main body of the original post. http://twinsdaily.com/topic/32383-article-ask-seth/
  25. ashbury
    My quick take ... and you may get many ... In an ideal world you have 3 center fielders, and you put them wherever you want. In the real but still-near ideal world, you pick the best all-around guy for CF, and then you pick one guy with a CF arm but not quite the speed to play the position, and let him play RF, for the reason of the throw to 3B you mention. You take the other guy who has the speed to play center but lacks the arm, and put him in left, again with the throw to 3B in mind. ("Arm" includes both the strength and the accuracy, and perhaps when forced to choose, you choose the latter as the better arm.) In even less ideal situations, such as a plodding no-arm guy, it might not really matter which corner you stick him in, and will depend on the strengths of your other corner candidate. I think RF gets about as many total chances as LF. There are no absolutes. Michael Cuddyer is deaf in his left ear, so he played RF, the better to hear his partner in center. We had the fairly recent experience of watching rag-armed Ben Revere do OK in RF for a time, because Josh Willingham was signed with RF in mind and then during Spring Training it was learned he wanted to stay in left, and the team went with the veteran's wishes. Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
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