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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Surprised about SWR. Not shocked that one of Alcala, Moran or Pagan was sent down or DFA.
  2. stringer bell
    We have seen sometime in May bandied about as the time when the Twins will look at Buxton in center field. There is still a week left in March...I mean April and "sometime in May" certainly doesn't guarantee the decision will be made on May 1. I think it will be at least four weeks, and maybe much longer, before Buxton makes an appearance as a center fielder.
  3. stringer bell
    I'm guessing there will be plenty of good seats available for the Nationals series, given the opponent and the weather forecast.
  4. stringer bell
    Ober has had two straight excellent starts for the Saints and has a bigger and better resume than Varland. In addition, if it is only for a start or two, I don't think the Twins want to use up another option move on Varland. I could be wrong, of course. I also wonder if Jorge Polanco might be activated or if the weather might slow the process down. It's going to be cold in both St..Paul and Minneapolis for the duration of the weekend.
  5. stringer bell
    I don't think the Twins are particularly well positioned to add a lot of steals, particularly if Buxton isn't running at all. The limits on shifting both add and take away hits without question. Kyle Farmer's game-winner mostly likely would have been a GDP, but a lot of balls up the middle have gone for hits that would have been outs. A number have also squeaked through on the pull side. The Twins haven't been hurt much at all by opponents' stealing bases and they have only attempted three steals themselves.
  6. stringer bell
    This is exactly how Winder has been used during his rehab--multiple innings out of the bullpen. I have envisioned him as part of the long man carousel, but having an actual relief guy capable of multiple innings would be a good niche. To me, it is the one redeeming factor for Pagan--he's always been available to take the ball and quite often at least pitched in two innings, if not going two complete.
  7. stringer bell
    By the numbers: Willi Castro now has a higher OPS than Byron Buxton, Carlos, Correa, Jose Miranda, Kyle Farmer, Max Kepler and Michael A Taylor. This is of course a SSS. Willi's OPS is a point shy of Trevor Larnach and five behind Julien. My point here is that numbers can change in a hurry--a good weekend could rocket any of the slow starters to respectability or more. Also, league average OPS is .715, a pretty low number.
  8. stringer bell
    Regarding recalling a starter, I would assume that it would be Ober, in part because the team wouldn't want to use up two "send downs" on Varland so early in the season. This is also assuming that an IL stint for Maeda would be just 15 days and not much longer. This is an area that the Twins didn't really add depth. I guess the assumption is that someone will step up if needed from the minors or that some nominal starters (Winder, Sands, Headrick) become capable bullpen pieces. One reason why I would like to see the club pull the plug on Pagan is that it would open a 40-man spot for a reliever and some guys would have a path to perform their way to Target Field. In other posts, I've mentioned three major league vets that have performed pretty well at St. Paul so far--Dereck Rodriquez, Aaron Sanchez and Jose De Leon. It would seem to me that they could be candidates for the long relief job that Rocco wants to exist in the bullpen, but maybe one of them could actually be a bullpen arm, performing in more than low leverage spots. Beyond that, Sadzek, Schulfer and Stewart have pitched pretty well out of the bullpen, but they're not on the 40-man.
  9. stringer bell
    There will be some decisions to be made. If Maeda goes on the IL, recalling either Ober or Varland is a no-brainer with no 40-man consequences. If Maeda is just going to miss a start, it gets much more complicated. Either Varland or Ober will be recalled and someone has to be optioned. The easiest would be to option Headrick and then promote his replacement (Sands, Winder, Megill) after Bailey or Louie makes their spot start. More deeply, what I will call the front-end of the bullpen is showing some weakness. Alcala has been knocked around a bit in his last two outings and the fastball velo has been mostly on the short side of 95 mph. Moran looks good for a few pitches, but seems to have too many 3-ball counts and baserunners. Pagan just gave up a huge number in Boston and really hasn't been any kind of consistently effective since 2019. Alcala and/or Moran could be optioned, Pagan would be DFAed and the Twins would pay his salary if someone else picked him up after going unclaimed. Honestly, I think one of the three relievers should be sent down/DFAed. The easy answer is Pagan, but there is a case for demotion for both Moran and Alcala.
  10. stringer bell
    Maybe it isn’t the stat sheet that will determine when and if AK is ready. His extra base hits have gone to left field and he is playing seven innings so far with only one back-to-back appearance. If he hits a couple balls off the right field wall (or over it) and plays two or three consecutive nine-inning games, then he will probably be ready to help the Twins.
  11. stringer bell
    We haven't seen Kepler in center since midseason last year. Gordon has played a lot more center field than Kepler in '22-'23.
  12. stringer bell
    Kirilloff still has a minor league option.
  13. stringer bell
    Gallo played a couple games in St. Paul and struck out a bunch of times. As far as I know, he was out for only a day over the minimum.
  14. stringer bell
    I think "long reliever" is a different track from the other seven spots. Headrick is in the long reliever track and Moran is with the rest of the bullpen. If the Twins want a bullpen arm to replace Moran, I don't think it will be Headrick.
  15. stringer bell
    I don't think Buxton and Correa are exempt from criticism here on TD. However, particularly with Correa, I think there is confidence that the production will be there.
  16. stringer bell
    I do believe tomorrow's matinee is important for the psyche of the club. A second winning road trip, this time against New York and Boston really bodes well for the future. The club is getting healthier and the pitching continues to be outstanding.
  17. stringer bell
    The Twins have completed 1/9 of the regular season, so multiply all the counting numbers by nine. Gallo is on track for 36 homers, Larnach is on track for over 100 RBI, of course Miranda is on track for zero homers, and Lopez, and Mahle are on track for nine wins each, while Joe Ryan is on track for 36 victories. More relevant is that the team is on track for 99 wins, that's a great number especially considering many thought the April schedule would bury the team.
  18. stringer bell
    This is speculation that will likely be answered in a few hours, but I do believe the Twins will send down Julien before they send out Castro. The reasons for such a move revolve around Kyle Farmer, Nick Gordon and Joey Gallo. Gallo is returning today unless something pops up and someone will need to go. Gallo played a decent first base so that is where he will likely play when he returns. If the Twins want to keep one of their few productive hitters in the lineup, they'll have to move Solano, and second base has been his primary position (he got plenty of work there in Spring Training as well). This squeezes playing time away from Julien, and as a top prospect, I'm sure the Twins want him playing, not sitting. The other side of this is preferred subs. Willi Castro is the preferred backup to both shortstop and third base. Castro hasn't hit much, but he's performed acceptably at four different positions--third, short, second and left field. Nick Gordon is off to a rough start and is not the preferred backup to either Correa or Miranda. Until Kyle Farmer returns from injury, I think the Twins keep Castro around as the 26th man.
  19. stringer bell
    Without adding a first baseman while subtracting two guys (Sano and Arraez) who played there a lot in past seasons, I think the Twins were expressing confidence in Kirilloff being healthy for a majority of the 2023 season and for him to be able to put up representative numbers. The Twins brass knows more about Kirilloff's wrist than any of us do. Also in this thought process, there must be belief that AK can and will hit if not impeded by the wrist. Again, being patient while Kirilloff gets ready indicates belief that Kirilloff is worth waiting for. Count me as a believer as well. No one really knows if the wrist will hold up, of course. I firmly believe that Kirilloff will be an outstanding hitter if it (the wrist) does hold up. He isn't entitled to say "I'm ready" and be inserted into the lineup, but if he shows by his at-bats and performance in batting practice etc. that he is healthy, I doubt he'll be in St. Paul long. There is a real need to lengthen the lineup and include more threats in the middle.
  20. stringer bell
    None of the hits Boston got were hard hit and Moran struck out a guy who then reached base. Yes, he walked a guy and pitched himself into trouble, but it wasn’t like batting practice.
  21. stringer bell
    Gallo is in Boston and will almost certainly be activated for tomorrow’s game. It seems the choices are a)Castro, utility guy hitting .150 b) Julien, top prospect but so far only two hits or c) Garlick, supposed lefty killer. My guess is Julien, but none of the choices would surprise me. I will add that it wouldn’t shock me if Max Kepler was put back on the IL.
  22. stringer bell
    Disagree. With a day off preceding, going with four one-inning relievers would have left four available with no one working consecutive days. Due to the fielding misplays, it didn’t work out. I think López and Thielbar and maybe Duran can go tomorrow in addition to those that didn’t work today. Seven innings from Ryan would be helpful.
  23. stringer bell
    Defense cost them. Gordon/Vázquez should have made the play at the plate and I don’t think they understood the Catcher’s Interference rule. Miranda pooched the ball to first and Solano made no attempt to tag the runner or hold the bag. Vazquez keeps 90% of those low pitches in front of him, but the one in the tenth got by him. The pitching options were Alcala, Pagán, Headrick and Moran. I would have been on pins and needles for any of them, but Moran absolutely needs to throw more strikes.
  24. stringer bell
    The eighth inning run scored as a result of a mental error. Miranda tossed the ball to first and Solano didn’t try to stay on the bag, if he had, the runner wouldn’t have advanced to third. Then Duran would have been trying to save the game instead of keeping it tied.
  25. stringer bell
    And we get word just that Kirilloff is moving on to St. Paul!!
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