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ashbury

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Everything posted by ashbury

  1. ashbury
    I don't think we saw more than one bad plate appearance from him per game, if that. The hits were stroked, and even the outs tended to be at'em balls. My only quibbles were that nothing much was hit for power, and he was surprisingly slow down the first base line the one time I remember him trying to leg something out (not slow like a catcher, I was just expecting him to make it close and it wound up routine). He has stolen some bases. Quibbles, like I say.
  2. ashbury
    One other plug for the AFL, in case anyone else is considering making the trip: no between-innings malarky1, like dizzy bats or mascot races. People are there for the baseball. 1OK, in fairness, I'll admit that in the middle of the seventh they do play this old-timey song about what it's like going to a baseball game. Some of the locals seem to know the words, and they sing along. Must be an Arizona thing. Charming.
  3. ashbury
    Jake certainly pitched himself into trouble in the bottom of the ninth in a one-run game. In a different situation, a new reliever might have been brought in, but apparently in the AFL you simply relieve yourself on the mound. It worked out. Of note that inning were two consecutive batters who appeared to get hit in the hand but were not awarded first base (which would have scored a run each). I don't recall if they were swinging at the pitch, but the umpire was most definite in his ruling and Lance Parrish (manager) didn't argue either time as far as I recall. After some internet browsing, I see that it's not as simple as "the hand is part of the bat," despite the old saying. So I'd like to know a little more about the umpire's reasoning.
  4. ashbury
    I figured that was meant as the joke leading off the article.
  5. ashbury
    I read the above to my son. He said, "Mom doesn't keep score". I told him, "you don't know anything about women". As for having good sons, Chief is in a position to know.
  6. ashbury
    Rogers left because he got nicked on his pitching forearm by a batted ball. Chief and I watched the trainer (one in a Twins uniform) tend to him, in the opponents' bullpen for some reason. After a while they departed for somewhere hidden in the bowels of the ballpark. Rogers had been able to make the throw to get the batter out, and it didn't appear he was in any signficant discomfort while the trainer was looking at him, so I'm hopeful it's just a mild contusion. The 15-day Day To Day list, as Chief said. Lesson learned, I hope - avoid using the meat-hand for fielding purposes. Not mentioned above was Zach Jones who got in two innings of work. I was impressed with his off-speed pitches - curve or change or both? - that froze several batters, including for third strikes. Nice complement to his 95+ fastball. However, he gave up a ringing ground rule double (nearly a homer) on a 77 MPH pitch, so it remains to be seen whether he can avoid Anthony Slama Disease, i.e. get the knock on him that the pitches taken for strikes in the minors won't translate to the majors. Still, I'm hopeful he can continue to disguise his pitches to the better hitters, and this is what the AFL is for. Max's assist in RF was a very nice throw to nail a runner going to third.
  7. ashbury
    Normalized to the league, Plouffe's 2014 OPS of .751 was good for 110 OPS+. We do have two other world series winners to compare to: Gaetti's OPS of .788 in 1987 only comes to 102 OPS+, and Pagliarulo's 1991 OPS of .706 comes to a paltry 91 OPS+. (Scotty Leius did supplement Pags at third, in one of the more successful platoons in Twins history, so that their combined production was probably about in line with Plouffe's season.) Ah yes, I overlooked another world series Twins team, one that didn't win it all. 1965 had the legendary Rich Rollins and his .641 (OPS+ 79). Others have debated the substance of your position, but I couldn't let this Twins-specific aspect of it go without comment. It seems clear to me that a team could win with Trevor Plouffe at third base if he keeps up present production, and without the manager having to go to great lengths to work around him. 1991 was more of a challenge and required some actual Managin'TM for the position.
  8. ashbury
    Mauer will have to stand in line for his chance to punch TC Bear.
  9. ashbury
    If I read TD, I would laugh at this very funny post.
  10. ashbury
    Will this be enough, or should he go old-school and also punch some sides of beef? Cross-train, sez I.
  11. ashbury
    At one time, at least, you could find YouTube footage of Darin Mastroianni giving an interview in Spanish. Darin for manager!
  12. ashbury
    Plouffe 2014 against White Sox (1.084 OPS) or Plouffe 2014 against Indians (.471)?
  13. ashbury
    Moderator's Note: this is heading down a path more like bickering than good discussion, with undercurrents of accusations of arguing in bad faith. Please keep it civil.
  14. ashbury
    It's certainly true that higher leagues are harder than lower leagues and a batter who moves up tends to see an immediate drop in his stats. For an older player that might be the end of the story, but someone young can compensate by learning more each year. I think Walker stands a good chance of avoiding that .220-.230 rut if he reaches the majors.
  15. ashbury
    Ditto. A team option on him was a win-win for the team. I don't know if I understand why any player would accept a contract containing one. Likewise I don't understand why a team agrees to a contract containing a player option. Win-win for the player if whether he does terribly or outstandingly. But I digress...
  16. ashbury
    What happened to the "Mom Brought Pizza?!?" video? That had to be ranked somewhere, right?
  17. ashbury
    Maybe lack of public evidence of the fire in the belly for the job, which is what I also perceive to be what holds back Molitor from getting the nod without any need for further interviews. Note that this is not the same as the fiery personality type, for which Mientkiewicz gets positive reviews. I think the ideal candidate hasn't surfaced yet. You want cool under pressure; you want the burning desire to win; you want an analytical mind who also trusts what he sees; you want youthful vigor and the wisdom that comes with age. And so on. And you want no red flags. If after all this it eventually circles back to either Glynn or Molitor I think we will be OK.
  18. ashbury
    I don't hold Mientky's on-field fight against him forever. But I would like to see him build up three more years on his resume with no further embarrassments to himself or his team. That could be as a minor league manager, or as a major league coach. Sitting at Gene Glynn's right hand side, for instance; they might team up well, I don't know. But no, not as Gardy's immediate replacement. And I agree with the comments that his being young doesn't preclude him from being considered old-school, if he views Getting After It as more important than talent for example.
  19. ashbury
    J.J. Gardyhire - first player/manager since Rose!
  20. ashbury
    Having been reminded of his skirmish with another minor league manager, I am less enthused about him receiving an early promotion than before. I'd like to see him put in about 3 more years, without drama that reflects badly on him or his organization, before entrusting him with the keys to the dugout. "Fiery" may be good, "ticking time bomb" is not.
  21. ashbury
    I was in Houston in late July and took in a couple of games, and was amazed/disappointed that the city isn't getting behind a team that, while still losing, seemed fun to watch. Several exciting players, some good starting pitching, already on the major league team. I am virtually certain that the PA system was piping in cheers at appropriate moments, because it didn't seem possible the noise could have been generated by the number of fans I could see - but the roof was closed and maybe they do get enough echoes to get the sound level up by legitimate means, in which case playoff baseball could be rockin'. At any rate, Houston is IMO another cautionary tale for a front office that thinks the visibly-blow-it-up route is a good one for a rebuild.
  22. ashbury
    Conventional wisdom is that a winning season shows up in attendance the next year. That's what we see in their 2014 attendance. When the market goes that dead for that long, it may take longer to ramp up again. Maybe 2015 sees 2.5M? Cautionary tale for our own 4x90 loss team.
  23. ashbury
    Agreed, and that's not my objection. Actually I don't have a specific objection, except that almost nobody gets their first managerial job at age 58. Terry Ryan could probably explain why that is, and maybe finding the exceptional person is some kind of market inefficiency we should be exploiting. But since there are a lot of good candidates out there, I'm not inclined to buck the trend.
  24. ashbury
    Nice anecdote. Great to have on the staff. Not sure that it translates to being a manager. Their views might change the first time he has to tell them "No" and make it stick.
  25. ashbury
    Two outfielders signed for $20M+ through 2017 and 2019 respectively, with declining defensive abilities, belong in LA. For that kind of money you could be going after a couple of borderline-ace pitchers as FA this year or next.
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