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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    The rule of thumb is that you don't go offense for defense (pinch hitters) in a tie game. I presume also that Lewis was told he was off and wouldn't be used except in an emergency. BTW, Rocco used pinch hitters for platoon advantage, so maybe it was all about given Lewis a total rest day.
  2. stringer bell
    I’ve kind of dreaded each SWR start fearing he would turn into a pumpkin. Today, I’ll go with cautious optimism and expect a decent start. He’s the best guy in the rotation at limiting homers (so far) and the A’s are going with a homer-dependent offense at this time.
  3. stringer bell
    It appears to me that Correa would slot in as the fourth best shortstop in the AL, behind Witt Jr. , Hendrickson and Seager. Jeffers, similarly, would be behind Rutschman, Perez and probably Raleigh. A lot of pitchers are having great starts to their season, but Ryan has been very good.
  4. stringer bell
    Totally agree. I have pretty much agreed with Baldelli's choices in general as far as starting lineups, although it is tough for a young left handed hitter to "grow" if he's always lifted for a pinch hitter any time a lefty reliever is on the mound. Three younger guys who were routinely platooned (Wallner, Julien and Kirilloff) are now wearing Saints jerseys. I don't know if strict platooning hurt them, but it didn't seem to help.
  5. stringer bell
    Encouraging: Buxton 3-3 with a walk. Two of his hits to the middle of the diamond. Lewis--two hits. Buxton, Lewis and Correa all in the lineup. Joe Ryan had another very good outing. The Twins play the A's seven times in ten days, they need to win six of seven.
  6. stringer bell
    Correa needs five PAs tomorrow to qualify.
  7. stringer bell
    He will be out of options if he stays in St. Paul for a certain period of time (20 days?). If someone goes on the Injured List in the next three weeks and they decide AK should be recalled, the option will not be utilized.
  8. stringer bell
    Good players will play and be regulars as Carlos Correa, a healthy Buxton and Royce Lewis demonstrate. Maximizing the talents of of lesser players is what teams and their managers aspire to do. Casey Stengel platooned at several positions and won world championships for the New York Yankees. Tom Kelly also used players in platoons. The Twins and probably 20 other teams are trying to build winning teams with some great players and some less than great players who fill roles. The one thing that Baldelli does that old style managers really didn't do is pinch hit early in games. I guess the analytics say that you take the chance and make the move early. I hope the team develops more everyday players. Maybe Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins could be two candidates and they both hit left handed.
  9. stringer bell
    Martín gets an immediate start in left field. I guess my biggest question was how Martin would be utilized and how to give him sufficient playing time. Brent Rooker is having another good to great offensive season. Good for him.
  10. stringer bell
    Over the course of the season it is regression to the mean. I’m not predicting anything close to sustaining their hot spells for any of these guys. As I said, three of the four have negative WAR. All four would project to being better than a replacement player over the course of a season.
  11. stringer bell
    A couple of weeks ago, the critics were all over the Twins for their second-rate acquisitions in the off season along with the decisions to keep veteran part-time players on the payroll. Four players were singled out--Carlos Santana, Cristian Vázquez, Kyle Farmer and Manuel Margot. It seems all of these guys are on the upswing. Santana is getting regular at-bats as the Twins first baseman and with a good game yesterday got his OPS+ over 100. He's second on the club in homers and RBI and would project to come in with something like 25 homers and 80 RBI for a full season. For the last four weeks, his OPS is .814, for the last two weeks, the OPS is .998 and in the last week his OPS is .943. He's improved his OPS versus right hand pitching to .678, which is below average, but not severely so. Vázquez has improved lately as well. In the last seven days, he's put up an OPS of 1.345, his two-week OPS is .970 and in the last four weeks, he has on OPS of .623, not great, but totally acceptable for a defense-first catcher. Farmer also has trended up in the last month after a terrible start. His last seven day OPS is .733, two week interval is .844 and for the last four weeks, he has an OPS of .751. Finally, Margot has started to hit a little as well. His last seven days OPS is 1.433, two weeks--1.066 and four weeks--.912 OPS. What does this mean? Well, I think regression to the mean is a thing. All four of these guys started out cold as ice and it only figured that they would return to some sort of decent level. Secondly, perhaps patience is a good thing for a manager and front office to display. Finally, I don't think we should be saying that this warm streak for all four players vindicates the front office. Vázquez, Margot and Farmer still have negative WAR because of their brutal starts and Santana logs in at +.6, not exactly All-Star quality.
  12. stringer bell
    Castro was much better against right handed pitching than left handed pitching last year. His career splits aren't very wide. I'm fairly comfortable with Willi from either side of the plate. Frankly, since May 1, Santana has been better against any pitching than Kirilloff. Shielding left handed pitchers against left handed pitchers is fairly easily done. It's really hard to do the reverse (shield righties from righties). Personally, I would like to see more consistency from all of the hitters.
  13. stringer bell
    Austin Martin returns and takes Kirilloff's place on the roster.
  14. stringer bell
    Unless someone goes on the Injured List.
  15. stringer bell
    The season is just over 40% over. By the end of 2024 Kirilloff might have made himself an important part of the Twins' future or he might have played his way to a non-tender. So far, the pedigree and the projection have far exceeded the performance. There is still a spot wide open for him to seize in 2025, but if he doesn't perform and soon, he'll probably be in another organization.
  16. stringer bell
    I agree that Castillo wasn't overly impressive. His FIP is pretty high (5.28) and his problem the last couple of years has been his walk rate and he walked seven in seven innings for the Twins. Relievers have small sample sizes and BABiP luck and a high strand rate can hide some suspect performances. When Jackson was designated MLB Trade Rumors noted that his deeper numbers were much better than his ERA, indicating he was on the unfortunate side in a small sample size. Caleb Thielbar also looked to be unfortunate so far this year, but allowing a bunch of walks and hard contact to the Rockies might be the true measure of his effectiveness or lack thereof.
  17. stringer bell
    The whole process of bringing up Varland to start a game necessitated taking someone off the active roster and the choices would be Castillo and Sands as guys with options. They could have promoted someone who was on the 40-man like Funderburk, Winder or Henriquez and then they wouldn't have to DFA anyone.
  18. stringer bell
    Apparently Kirilloff has been optioned to St. Paul. No corresponding move that I can see.
  19. stringer bell
    Alex Kirilloff is listed on the Saints roster this evening. I don't see that someone has been recalled, but apparently the Twins are using AK's last option now. It is fair, but I don't know if it is the right move.
  20. stringer bell
    I was surprised by both the move to bring back Jay Jackson to the major league team and the DFA of Diego Castillo (the pitcher). Jackson really wasn't effective for the Twins and he doesn't have much of a major league resumé. The Twins have plenty of other guys that wouldn't have necessitated potentially losing another veteran arm (Castillo), yet they chose to select Jackson's contract and then DFA Castillo. To look at the transaction from a glass-half-full perspective, they must really like Jackson and figured that the stint in St. Paul was what was needed to have him "get right". Perhaps also, they think that Castillo will both get through the DFA process and accept assignment at St. Paul. I believe he's been designated for assignment before, if he hasn't, then the Twins can outright him to the Saints. Another view is that the potential relievers, including Funderburk, Winder, Henriquez on the 40-man aren't going to help the club as much as Jackson. There are quite a few guys that could have been considered for promotion who weren't on the 40-man, including Nick Wittgren, Scott Blewett, Ryan Jensen and Jeff Brigham. Purchasing Jackson's contract seems to indicate that none of these guys are more than depth options.
  21. stringer bell
    They had to make a spot for Jackson.
  22. stringer bell
    Aaaand the Mariners have DFA'd Matt Bowman. Michael Tonkin, Niko Goodrum and Bowman have all been on at least three major league rosters this year, with Goodrum now on his fourth, perhaps to be joined by Bowman. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/06/mariners-designate-kirby-snead-matt-bowman-for-assignment.html
  23. stringer bell
    The platoon switches are pretty easy to see--Miranda or Jeffers for Larnach and Santana for Kirilloff. I really don't see any role for Farmer unless somebody gets injured.
  24. stringer bell
    Most of their offseason acquisitions are optionable (Staumont, Topa, Castillo), with the exceptions being Okert and Jackson. Jackson is in St. Paul and Okert is going pretty well. I guess I don't think it is a huge problem. I think the larger problem is getting guys who can't stay healthy.
  25. stringer bell
    I had a look at the lineups and was mildly surprised that Miranda is out of the lineup for the second day in a row. Margot is getting a start in left field--he has been hitting better--with Larnach at DH and Kirilloff at first base. I guess Rocco is going with Margot as the "hot hand".
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