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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Twins web site says that Lee was put on the IL with his shoulder injury. Blewitt has been pretty good for the Saints, but WTH is Topa? I guess I won’t expect him to pitch for the Twins until he actually pitches for the Twins.
  2. stringer bell
    That didn’t take long……..Eddie Rosario was DFA’d by Atlanta.
  3. stringer bell
    The Twins hit a new high water mark for 2024 with a big home stand coming up. They currently have the fourth best record in the American League and would get the second wild card, which would mean a first round matchup with either Baltimore or New York (currently tied for the AL East lead). In looking at the standings today, what is interesting is that the Twins are only three behind Cleveland and two behind both Baltimore and New York in the loss column, hardly an insurmountable deficit. Looking from the perspective of who might catch them, Kansas City trails by only a game and a half and is in the third wild card position, while Boston would be the first team out. The Red Sox currently trail the Twins by three games and the Twins have the tiebreaker with them. It appears Seattle and Houston will slug it out for the AL West crown, but the loser of that race would probably not make it as a wild card. Run differential is also an interesting story. The Twins are fifth in that stat, trailing the three teams with better records and the Royals. Of the eight teams currently in contention for post season, run differential seems to fit pretty closely with win-loss records. The Twins are among the top run scorers, but they've allowed the most runs per game of the contenders.
  4. stringer bell
    The ERA is still unsightly, but Pablo's other numbers are in line with expectations. Another lefty on the hill for the opponents, so I expect we'll see Margot leading off again. If Lee can't go, Kepler is probably starting as the only lefty bat.
  5. stringer bell
    Kind of a down week for the top prospects. It seems a thumb injury has cost Rodriguez over half a season of development. Lots of options for the Twins' bullpen currently in the Saints BP. Topa's activation seem imminent, Henriquez has pitched well enough lately to justify his 40-man spot, most of the guys remaining in the Saints 'pen have major league experience and they've had some success with the triple A team.
  6. stringer bell
    The consensus seems to be that Louie will get the ball vs. the Guards on Friday and that the Twins should wait a bit before converting him to relief. I agree with both opinion/predictions. I do think the sample size is way too small to have any degree of certainty that Varland will be a big bullpen asset. I also think that he does have enough stuff to be a successful starter, so I see no need to rush him to the BP. It would appear that the Twins are going to face Cleveland with these four guys getting the starts--Ober and Varland on Friday, Woods Richardson on Saturday and Festa on Sunday. I understand not messing with the rotation and giving the guys who have thrown the most innings an extra day when there is an off day, but Cleveland is coming in to Minnesota and will only have to face one of the Twins' top three pitchers in a four-game series. They will have López, Ryan Ober lined up for the Royals.
  7. stringer bell
    Okert listed as on bereavement. Josh Winder recalled per Dan Hayes.
  8. stringer bell
    Whatever the Twins can do to get their three best starters in line to pitch against Cleveland should be done. Festa, López and Ryan would be the scheduled starters vs. the Cubs, which would make it ??? and Ober on Friday, Festa on Saturday and López on Sunday against Cleveland. they could call up someone to start on Wednesday and save Ryan for Friday (with Ober).
  9. stringer bell
    Martin was a dose of caffeine (or maybe an illegal substance) to the major league teams he managed. The improvement would be substantial, but wouldn't last. He battled too many people to stick around long enough to have a consistent winner or even sustain improvement. IMHO, he the antithesis of Rocco. It's all about today and tomorrow or next week or next year doesn't matter. Billy was probably too extreme in one direction and Rocco in the other.
  10. stringer bell
    No, the option stays with the player, making him much more valuable. I am among those that think that the bridges haven't been burned for AK, and that he'll be offered a contract for next year. His position will be very similar to Trevor Larnach's this year, but with the added value of the ability to play first base. Given his meager stats this year, Kirilloff won't be in for much of a raise, even with arbitration.
  11. stringer bell
    Another thought--right now Kansas City has two players on the IL, two! Their names are Altavilla and Schreiber and I've never heard of either one. Cleveland also has only two, although both Bieber and local lad Sam Hentges are major league players. The Twins had a run of good health starting about the first of May, but they've had more players on the IL than the Guards and the Royals combined.
  12. stringer bell
    BBRef puts the Twins as a 79.4% probability of making post season, quite a bit higher than Boston, Houston or Seattle and slightly ahead of the Royals. As the number of games remaining get smaller and smaller, it seems catching Cleveland gets to be a heavier lift. A healthy Twins lineup with López, Ryan, Ober starting games and Alcalá, Jax and Durán finishing them is formidable, I think. It is hard to advance to the World Series by advancing through the extra round, but last year showed it can be done.
  13. stringer bell
    The Castro at-bat in the eighth was epic. It certainly changed the game. I do want to comment on Willi. He has become a regular player this year, obviously, despite not really having a defensive home. Honestly, I think he was better overall last season. His defense was better (didn't play as much second or shortstop) and he made a huge difference on the bases, last year with great base running decisions and 30+ SBs. Willi has leveled off as a hitter this year, with the BA currently around .260 and his overall hitting is up because of great improvement as a right handed hitter. Castro has certainly been very valuable this year and his defensive flexibility is pretty close to historic.
  14. stringer bell
    Maybe the Twins will gain a game on their playoff competition this weekend.
  15. stringer bell
    Probably Castro’s best PA all season.
  16. stringer bell
    Baldwin had looked overmatched, but got hold of that one.
  17. stringer bell
    The only move left is either Wallner or Larnach for Martin. I don’t think Rocco makes that move unless the Twins get behind.
  18. stringer bell
    Keep your helmets on fellas.
  19. stringer bell
    Questionable outfield defense here in the fifth.
  20. stringer bell
    Jeffers! It looks like those fly balls are carrying.
  21. stringer bell
    With their trade deadline deals, the Nats made room for Travis Blankenhorn to get another cup of coffee in the majors. He had 89 days of service coming into this year.
  22. stringer bell
    Topa has been pitching regularly for the Saints. Given the point in the season, Topa's experience and the nature of his injury, I would expect that he won't be using all 30 days of his rehab. OTOH, I don't think there is a slam dunk demotion right now and there isn't an easy 40-man move to make. Of course, the Twins could solve both issues by DFAing Dobnak.
  23. stringer bell
    Not to be a Debby Downer, but I have major concerns about Stewart. I don't believe he can stay healthy for any real period of time. I expect Topa will make his Twins debut sometime soon which will mean someone will need to be sent down and someone will have to be taken off the 40-man roster.
  24. stringer bell
    Back to the OP, yes it may be time to change Varland's role. However, I am not convinced he will be a large asset in the bullpen. His work in the BP late last year featured some pretty good batted ball and hard-hit luck IIRC and those things tend to vary dramatically, making most relievers almost impossible to project. Josh Staumont might be a very good recent example, going from a 0.00 ERA to DFA seemingly in a minute.
  25. stringer bell
    The Twins aren’t alone in having a goal of reducing payroll. Ownership seems to have a hard limit so that taking on even a small major league contract is more than they will tolerate. I suspect the payroll ceiling will be even more stringent in 2025, and at some point trading players because of their salary will be even a bigger factor. They couldn’t unload Vázquez or Kepler for anywhere near fair value and they couldn’t move Farmer at all, so there was no room to add payroll. I’m not surprised. I certainly don’t like the path they’ve chosen and I think it is shortsighted.
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