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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    It's nice to have a guy who can play both infield and outfield and Nick Gordon has done that acceptably. That said, I take issue with the statement above that Nick is a better fielder than Willi Castro. Rocco prefers Willi at both third base and shortstop, for sure. In a game recently, he put Castro in left when he could have used Gordon. Willi Castro is more versatile and probably a better overall fielder than Gordon. I've said this for a couple weeks--if the Twins are looking at Castro and Gordon for their value as versatile utility guys, Castro is the more valuable player. Nick Gordon demonstrated a hit tool last year that probably plays as a platoon starter with most teams in MLB. If that is a fluke, Nick will have a hard time staying in the major leagues.
  2. stringer bell
    Service time manipulations may or may not play in situations. Miranda might have been ready to step in on Opening Day last year, especially based on his preceding year in the minors, but I think service time was factored in to give him no shot in Spring Training. Royce Lewis was sent down, which coincidentally would rule him out from getting early arbitration status, but there were other factors in both cases. I don't think any team wants young players with high ceilings sitting on the bench accruing service time. As far as whether to promote Kirilloff at this point, I would say that as a fit 25-year old, the only concern would be the wrist and if swinging a bat against 95 mph fastballs doesn't bother him, he should be in the major leagues. Paparesta has seemed to say that the medical end of his ramp up is complete. Let him play here and now if he is one of the best 13 position players.
  3. stringer bell
    For quite a few reasons, tomorrow's game is pretty substantial. The Twins had a long homestand including two last place teams and if they lose, they'll finish .500. It will also be the last game of the month--17-12 looks and sounds so much better than 16-13. The Twins totally shut down the Royals with RiSP in the opening series of the year. Regression to the mean indicates that KC will be hitting better in those spots this series and that has borne out for sure. They also have been getting hits from guys who looked like easy outs--Oliveros and Pratto--so there were less easy innings so far this weekend. Cleveland lost in extra innings today, so no ground lost and the White Sox might be out of it by May Day.
  4. stringer bell
    I don't know if Willi picked up his third base coach or not. Watkins probably had a better idea if a play at third was going to be close. The play was behind Castro, so I do think it would be up to the third base coach. Hitters 4-5 were coming up, so it's not like it was Gordon and Jeffers. Duran wasn't sharp. He usually doesn't have a problem with walks, but he lost two guys (plus an intentional walk) and walking one of the fastest guys in MLB isn't optimum. It was like a leadoff double.
  5. stringer bell
    Agree with the bulk of this. For the last week to ten days, I've been bullish on the back end of the bullpen. They struggled, but succeeded on Friday and struggled again today and lost a late lead. I was surprised Rocco used all three of Jax, Thielbar and JLopez on consecutive days, especially since none of them had an easy time on Friday. What does that say about the rest of the BP? Pretty sure it's nothing good. I didn't see anywhere where Winder was designated as long relief. He has worked multiple innings in most, if not all, of his rehab appearances. But if Rocco isn't going to use any of the "front end four" except in lowest leverage, there is a good chance he'll burn out the back end.
  6. stringer bell
    Today might be the first game where stolen bases really hurt the Twins. The Royals got stolen base threats on base and took advantage. There will be more, I presume.
  7. stringer bell
    Not exactly the same, but I recall Kirby getting credited for a single on a ball that was on home plate. The ball had backspin a rolled backwards onto the plate. The catcher tried to barehand the ball and overran it.
  8. stringer bell
    It is all about hitting. If Nick can find the groove as a hitter, he can carve out a role either with the Twins or another club as a platoon player. If their hitting is similar, Willi Castro is the better option as a utility player. Castro is a switch hitter and plays a competent third, short, second and outfield. If Gordon doesn't hit right handers at an above-average level, he really doesn't have much value to the Twins. Gordon is extremely vulnerable to left handed pitching and isn't the Twins' preferred backup at either shortstop or third base, even with Kyle Farmer on IL. There is already an oversupply of left handed hitters in the corner outfield, so getting Nick plate appearances there is unlikely. Michael A Taylor's relative success in center also limits his chances.
  9. stringer bell
    I wonder if Kirilloff will play today against the Red Wings. I'd bet against it.
  10. stringer bell
    It's been the wrist. He's come up and hit the ball hard and then diminished as the wrist pain has increased, kind of similar to Trevor Larnach--playing with an injury that suppresses good numbers. This probably justifies slow-rolling his recall and the slow ramp-up he has experienced in his rehab.
  11. stringer bell
    Maeda to IL and Ober officially recalled and starting this afternoon's game. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/04/twins-place-kenta-maeda-on-il-recall-bailey-ober.html
  12. stringer bell
    Woods Richardson had a very nice outing despite taking a loss. Watching him in long relief for the Twins was interesting mostly because of his seemingly unique delivery. I think, at 22, continued development at St. Paul isn't really wasting ammo in games that don't matter.
  13. stringer bell
    Agreed, but optioning Castro or DFAing either Gordon or Solano reduces the right handed hitters and defensive flexibility. The most likely scenario is that one of perhaps eight guys goes on the Injured List in the next week or so and Kirilloff is recalled in their place.
  14. stringer bell
    I don't think service time issues are the only reason why Alex Kirilloff or any player gets optioned, but it certainly can be a factor. A similar case is Edouard Julien....his current optional assignment will guarantee that he won't be credited with a full year of service time and be under team control through 2029. In another case, the Twins kept an undeniable major league relief pitcher (Duran) on the roster for the entire year and now will have him under team control through 2027.
  15. stringer bell
    I am a fan of AK and really believe (as you do) that if healthy, he is the real deal. As the OP points out there are unknowns about his health and the possibility exists that he won't ever reach his full potential. There isn't an easy way to put Kirilloff on the active roster and see how it plays out. Byron Buxton is currently a full-time DH, Joey Gallo has been terrific and both Max Kepler and Trevor Larnach have above-average OPS+ numbers at this point.
  16. stringer bell
    I can see it--"Riverbrian, come on down!"
  17. stringer bell
    Baseball Reference lists Ryan Jeffers as having the best Caught Stealing percentage in MLB, with four caught stealing and three successful stolen bases. Those of us that have watched Twins games will recall that three of the four caught stealings were occasions when the runner broke too early and the pitcher threw the runner out at second. Jeffers has successfully thrown out one runner out of four.
  18. stringer bell
    One high-stress inning for each of Jax, Thielbar and JLopez. Saturday's bullpen will feature Stewart, Winder, Moran and Duran if he's back from his immigration hearing.
  19. stringer bell
    It varies from year to year, but somewhere between 2-120 and 2-130 is where the line has been drawn. Arraez qualified at 2-121 year before last. A month, putting his time at 2-111 would almost certainly be enough for the Twins to avoid arb.
  20. stringer bell
    Kirilloff’s service time going into 2023 was 1.141. He’s already accrued 30 more days of ML service time while on the IL, so he only needs about ten days more on the major league roster to pass two years of service time. If he is optioned on May 1, the service time accumulation will stop and 15-30 days in AAA would likely keep him from being arbitration-eligible this offseason. So long answer shorter— no sending him down certainly wouldn’t be about free agency and team control, but an option could benefit the Twins financially, by avoiding AK being classified as a Super 2, and arb eligible.
  21. stringer bell
    1/6 of season is complete. Twins are on a 96 win pace. April Goals: Winning month--check. First place at the end of April--check.
  22. stringer bell
    Duran will be taking care of an immigration issue tomorrow and likely unavailable to pitch anyway.
  23. stringer bell
    I have to say that Brent Headrick opened some eyes with his appearances in long relief. I presume he will be in the St. Paul rotation and he might be a candidate sometime this year to get starts with the Twins. As far as Winder's role, he's pitched multiple innings and would probably be asked to throw multiple innings, but really be a "long man". Sands is available to be recalled this weekend and they could add him and subtract either Moran or Pagan, if they want a real long man.
  24. stringer bell
    Gallo's been ok at first, especially compared to Solano, and he is a big target to throw to, but I don't think he's as good a first baseman as Kirilloff and I think Gallo is probably a better outfielder than AK.
  25. stringer bell
    I looked at Kirilloff's minor league stats today and I can see why he achieved high prospect status. He's been a really good hitter wherever he's been, with sufficient power. My expectation for a healthy remainder of 2023 is establishing himself as a major league regular. Adding a solid hitter to the Twins' lineup will be important. I know that AK has played both first and corner outfield on his rehab, but it would seem to me that he would be playing first base almost exclusively given the composition of the Twins' active roster. I believe he is the best fielding option at first on the Twins 40-man roster.
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