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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. ESPN provides batter vs. pitcher numbers and Vázquez is 4-5 vs. Grienke. Maybe that has something to do with it.
  2. Interesting lineup considering that Grienke has pretty standard L-R splits (better against RH hitters, worse against LH hitters). At this stage Grienke is all about tricking hitters and messing with their timing, so maybe keeping Julien out for that reason. Don't know why Vázquez is catching back-to-back unless Jeffers is sick or injured or maybe Maeda prefers throwing to him.
  3. Duran's usage hasn't been the pure closer role that we see for most teams with a top arm. He's worked multiple innings several times and come in before the ninth on occasion. Baldelli probably would use him more traditionally if he had more arms that he could count on. Because of this, Duran hasn't put up the kind of save numbers other relievers have put up. That doesn't make him less dominating.
  4. Ryan would be a candidate to replace someone, but he is scheduled to pitch on Sunday.
  5. K% is a better indicator than raw strikeouts. If a team gets through their order five times (45 PAs) and Ks 10 times, it is a 22.2% K rate, about league average. I always get peeved when Bremer quotes strikeouts percentage per at bat as it should be pegged to plate appearances. Percentage of games with 3 runs or more and 4 runs or more would be interesting as well.
  6. Larnach is really going well right now, as is Wallner and it happens to correspond with upticks from Gallo and Kepler.
  7. It doesn’t seem to matter if the Twins are facing 4A starters or All-Stars. They’ve handled Gausman and Strotman, attacked Williams and got Pressly to blow a save. They’ve been shut down by a number of no names. No team is on top of their game every day and the Twins had at best, a mediocre, inconsistent first half. If they can look like they did today in 70 of the last 77 games, they’ll be just fine.
  8. I wouldn’t object to adding a major league arm or two in the bullpen, but right now with López, Thielbar and Stewart all on IL, simply dumping Pagán won’t happen. It could be a bumpy ride until the All-Star break. There isn’t much help available in St. Paul and teams usually don’t make significant deals until closer to the trade deadline.
  9. Only one game, but more evidence there is an effort to make contact with two strikes and to use the whole field. Seven Ks in 39 PAs is not bad. I wonder if they'll use Jax tomorrow after he got up to throw twice (and pitched on both Saturday and Sunday). I think everyone but Duran will pitch if needed tomorrow with Maeda taking the ball. The chances of him going as much as six innings are pretty remote.
  10. I expected that there would be mostly pushback from a pro-Rocco piece at this time. The prevalent thought among those posting was that the manager and front office should be fired and that they are responsible for the underwhelming below .500 record. I was hoping for something significant, but really the Twins need to go with the position player roster they have, for now. I think there were signs in the Baltimore series that better times are ahead. Both Correa and Buxton hit the ball hard and reduced their strikeouts in Baltimore. The key to the Twins' offense going forward will be increased contributions from those two guys. I thought there were better at bats from several players and that the team hit in poor luck (and good defense from the Orioles). Three games does not a season make, and the ship can't be turned around on a dime. This roster is loaded with high strikeout guys and they've been slow to making adjustments to getting balls in play. Will there be more contact, better two-strike hitting and more hits with runners in scoring position? If there isn't, the Twins won't win the woebegone Central Division and one of the team's all time best starting rotations will have been wasted.
  11. To be honest, it’s probably a good message to have only one All-Star. Personally, I’d have rather seen Duran chosen and not Gray, but Sonny has been excellent so far this year.
  12. López has provided a lot of innings and that alone has value. His underlying metrics are as good or better than his previous seasons and yet his ERA and runs allowed are up. It would make sense for things to normalize, but sometimes they don't over the course of a year. Some guys constantly underperform their metrics (ex-Twin Ricky Nolasco comes to mind), but usually things do normalize. As long as Pablo stays healthy, I would expect his W-L and ERA to improve.
  13. Pitchers and backups named. Only Gray is named. I thought Duran had a decent shot.
  14. Congratulations to former Twins Luis Arraez, Yennier Canó and Brent Rooker. All are All-Stars—Rooker and Canó were named today, Arraez was elected to start.
  15. Okay, for the nine-game road trip, the Twins won four of nine. Between Baltimore and Atlanta, they might win 200 games this year, so a lot of teams going to their parks will win two or less. We all know this is an imperfect team, plagued by strikeouts and way too dependent on home runs (only modestly above average in homers). The roster is flawed in those respects. There really aren't any contact-first athletic players ready to ascend. Correa and Buxton both took much better plate appearances in the Baltimore series and especially Buxton could have had a lot more success with a little luck. Outside of another series against Baltimore, the schedule gets much easier for the rest of the month. If they play any semblance of well for the next four weeks (with time off for the AS Game), they could put some daylight between themselves and the teams that are following them. I saw signs in Baltimore of better at bats. I'm willing to see if the improvement continues.
  16. Middle middle fastball on 3-2 got Mateo. Now they have to face Bautista in the ninth. Good luck.
  17. Nice play by Kirilloff to keep the score tied.
  18. I'm guessing we won't see Duran in the bottom of the ninth if there is one.
  19. Yikes, just in time for an ex-Twin to do damage.
  20. Now I get it back. First and third with one out. Ouch.
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