stringer bell

Bullpen was nails! The offense had a lot of chances to increase the lead, but couldn't come up with the big hit. OTOH, Ober also avoided damage after yielding a first inning homer despite a parade of runners in the first couple innings. The Twins are playing Texas at the right time, with a whole bunch of their starters on the shelf.

Yes. I have raised an eyebrow that Santana hasn't been in the lineup for two straight games. Minor injury or maybe AK's last chance? Smooth has a .569 OPS vs. right handed pitching, so there's that.

What value does a 27-year-old who doesn't yet have a full season of AAA have? Keirsey was available for anybody to claim over the winter at the expense of $50K and a 40-man spot and no one claimed him. He may have increased his value incrementally with a nice two months at St. Paul, but there isn't much value there.

As far as the 40-man situation goes, there is a vacancy right now, but Winder will have to be placed on the 40-man when his rehab is over, which should be pretty soon. Winder has an option, but he would still have to be on the 40-man even if the Twins want to send him to St. Paul unless they DFA him. Zack Weiss would also be eligible to come off the 60-day list yet this month, but AFAIK he isn't ready for a rehab assignment. The Twins probably will DFA him as soon as he is healthy, but if they don't he would again take a 40-man spot.

Just because a guy makes a couple of highlight reel catches doesn’t make him a sound defender. From what I’ve heard Keirsey Jr. is a good defensive CF and that attribute is needed for the Twins. Some guys thrive at AAA, but it doesn’t carry over. The Twins have several guys like Helman and Prato and now Keirsey with good Triple A numbers who never were top prospects.

Pleasantly surprised to see Santana sitting. Maybe it’s AK’s chance to save his spot on the roster?

I'm going to bump this thread (sans poll) and proclaim the Cleveland Guardians as the favorites to win the AL Central. They've improved greatly from within and it seems to be one of those years when they get all the breaks. Bad calls and close games have gone their way, but they are also getting contributions from beyond the top three or four players. The bullpen looks very good. By the All-Star break, the Guardians will have played all of their games against the Angels, Athletics, Rockies and Marlins and will have played 10 of their 13 games with the White Sox and two of four vs. the Reds. These clubs are six clubs at least 10 games under .500 at this point. The Guards schedule gets tougher after the break, but they've demonstrated enough quality that they would seem unlikely to have a long losing streak. From my Twinscentric point of view, Minnesota needs to match or be slightly better against the rest of MLB than the Guardians and reverse the matchup with Cleveland.

He's going to have to hit at the higher rate for another 36 at-bats to get to the Mendoza line (actually 10-37 would put him there). It's a steep mountain to climb. We are closing in on 1/3 of the season and Farmer has zero homers, that is almost as surprising as the low batting average.

Early start in deference to the Timberwolves.

Good day for the Top Twenty prospects. Great to see Lee and Jenkins playing.

There is a thread in the “Twins Talk” forum about Miranda that I authored. If I had known that this blog had generated conversation I would have made my comments there. That said, I don’t think 100 at bats cements Miranda as a bona fide major leaguer, much less a starter. He has very similar career stats to Alex Kirilloff, who is about 7 months older than he is. We’ve seen AK fall off the table and play injured and seen the same from Miranda. I think the right move when Lewis is activated would be to send Kirilloff down, but I still am not convinced Miranda will become a solid major league regular. As I wrote, Miranda doesn’t have big exit velocities or hard-hit rates. Further, he isn’t a great fielder at either first or third (low on the defensive spectrum) and doesn’t have great tools (foot speed and arm strength). Most likely, Miranda will stay with the Twins and his performance has merited that. I think there’s a long way to go and he’ll get his chances and a lot will be determined by his performance in the rest of the season.

Will Miranda sustain above average offense? The relatively low exit velocity and low hard-hit percentage give some evidence to the contrary. A guy without good speed who makes a lot of soft contact would suggest a pretty low BABiP. Miranda has to thread the needle and hit without great power and a relatively low line drive and hard-hit percentage and given what else he has to offer, he needs that wRC+ to 110 or so.

I made no such conclusion. The point I was making was that given his defensive profile and having at best an average throwing arm and below average running speed in his toolbox, Miranda needs to be quite above average as a hitter to be a top-tier regular. Additionally, the batted ball data, seems to limit his upside. How Miranda adjusts will probably determine his future.

José Miranda was recalled due to injuries and has played very well. He's almost exclusively played third base and has showed no signs that he surgically repaired shoulder is limiting him. He's hitting .269 with an OPS+ of 113. He's hit left handed pitching well (.847 OPS) and held his own against right handed pitching (.702 OPS). That sounds like a middle-tier regular major league ballplayer. There won't be a defined place for José to play as soon as Royce Lewis returns (projected next month) to the Twins. I see a very narrow window for him to establish himself as a major league regular. #1--Advanced hitting metrics. Miranda's average exit velocity is 87.2 MPH, while his hard-hit rate is 31.9%, both pretty far below MLB average. This doesn't forecast improvement from his current numbers and wouldn't project to any more than average major league power numbers. #2--Physical limitations--Even with a healthy wing, Miranda has at best an average arm for third base. He has below-average speed and is not an adept base runner. #3--Low walk numbers. This is a bit of a double edged sword--Miranda has a low strikeout rate, but his walk rate is even further below the mean. Despite a decent batting average, José has only a .307 OBP so far this year and in 749 plate appearances in his career his OBP is .310. IMHO, José Miranda needs to be a far above average hitter in order to make up for his meh defense at low on the defensive spectrum positions. He has put up slightly above average numbers, but not enough to cancel out his so-so defensive value and lack of foot speed. Miranda is only 25 (26 next month) and an adjustment or two might raise his ceiling. In particular, if he could be more selective at the plate, he would get better pitches to hit and hit them hard. If he can develop into a true middle-of-the-order hitter, the Twins or another team would find a place for him to play.

Several topics here. 1) Keirsey Jr. is the bright, shiny object at St. Paul right now. I suspect he's most like Andrew Stevenson, except that he has no major league experience. That said (and this thread is about defense), he is probably the best defensive option not named Byron Buxton in the Twins' system. 2) Austin Martin is where he needs to be right now--getting experience in the outfield and raking at Triple A. Injuries have put Martin at a point where he is an "old" prospect without a defined position. If he can show top of the order on-base skills and abilities and be an elite base runner/stealer, he could be a regular. Otherwise, he's a "utility" player without a lot of utility (second base, left field and stretched in center). He hasn't put together his skill set to be even an average defender but the skills are there to be better than what he's shown. 3) Willi Castro should have been considered for a Gold Glove as a utility player last year IMHO. He was very good in left field and third base (where he'd previously hardly played) and satisfactory in center last year. This year, he's been called on to play shortstop and center in the absence of Correa and Buxton and has shown why he's not a big league regular at those positions. Playing Castro in center once a week is okay, but playing him there for five or six games a week isn't optimum. 4) Alex Kirilloff isn't a great outfielder, has never been projected to be a good outfielder and his eventual position has been pegged at first base. It's nice to have the versatility of having a first baseman that "can play" outfield, but having AK get 90% of his defensive reps as an outfielder don't serve him well. As a first baseman, I watched Kirilloff in ST work at the gateway and I thought he looked excellent as a 1B. Justin Morneau said the exact same thing on one of the broadcasts this year. I've always thought Kirilloff would be an elite hitter and that plus defense would be a bonus. So far we've gotten neither with a few glimpses of what is possible. Morneau has frequently pointed out the advantages a left handed first baseman provided and Kirilloff is a lefty. I'd like to see what he could do with an extended run at first base. 5) We don't know if Jeffers would hold up as a more regular catcher. I think we are at a point where that chance should be taken. Vázquez has given the Twins next to nothing as an offensive player.

"Not overpowering" would be an apt description for Richardson's stuff as illustrated by the low K rate. He doesn't get many swings and misses and as the pitcher he is now, he is going to be subject to some games where the BABiP is high. Except for one game, hitters haven't really squared up many pitches. He has been on a pretty short leash, which makes sense IMHO.

A truly historic win for a franchise that doesn't have much positive history. I see the early line is that the Wolves are a 4.5 pt. favorite against Dallas, so behind only Boston, Minnesota is the second pick to win it all. I expect a tough series vs. the Mavericks, but the Timberwolves could and should have a great chance to win.

I think Buck played consecutive games on consecutive days in center field only once or twice in April. I didn’t have the privilege of watching last night, so I have no opinion on Buxton’s health.

A good lefty traded for a good SS. Just think if the money he would earn if he was playing at this time.

The underlying numbers for Jackson aren’t bad. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone claims him. Dylan Floro couldn’t work a clean inning for the Twins. He’s compiling good to great numbers for the Nats with little change in exit velo, GB/FB rate, strand rate etc. So sometimes the stuff doesn’t change, luck does.

I don't think Alcalá has been down long enough to be recalled without a disabling injury. It probably makes sense for Boushley to occupy a long-relief spot. I hope he gets a chance this time.

Jackson DFA, Boushley recalled from St. Paul. This does create a 40-man spot.

Two former Twins died at age 79--Buzz Stephan (a pitcher) and Tom Tischinski (a catcher). Both had brief careers, primarily with the Twins.

Leadoff hit for the Twins leads to nothing, leadoff hit for Guards............

When a major league team isn’t hitting, they don’t look good. The Twins mistakesxof the past days would be largely papered over if they were scoring five runs a game. Sadly, they are not. Most of the hits that SWR allowed were softly hit, while the Twins hit a couple of missiles and also GDPed three times. The strikeouts haven’t been off the charts, but not enough (almost none) of the hitters are clicking.