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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    I like Gibson as a person and he’s done well since moving on. The Phillies might fall fast without Harper. I wouldn’t rule it out, but the price would have to be reasonable.
  2. stringer bell
    Another question about these numbers. How many runs are the Twins in the negative? I suspect except for the very best and very worst the differences are negligible. If the whole team is say -10 for the season, that’s less than one run per week.
  3. stringer bell
    Miranda isn’t brand new to first base like Gordon was new to the outfield last year.
  4. stringer bell
    The one tool where Correa is not above average is speed. Positioning is crucial and he turns balls he gets to into outs. But if the range is lacking, balls that other shortstops get to aren’t touched. I don’t know that I trust he’s below average, but I think he’s merely good because he doesn’t have the wheels to have plus range.
  5. stringer bell
    With the limited play Buxton has received in the outfield, he hasn't had as much chance to shine in the field. In addition, with Buxton not anchoring the outfield defense, the two corners suffer as well. In the infield, if you believe Correa's rating, a lot centers on him. There is not a lot of speed on this club, particularly if Buxton is limited. That translates to a lack of range. IMHO, the defense hasn't been that bad. They are mostly fundamentally sound--throwing to the proper base, taking the safe out when called for--but not catching balls that can't be reached will be a problem for this team.
  6. stringer bell
    I'd rather have Miranda in the lineup than Sanchez. I also agree that Gio is just an okay ballplayer. Maybe a smidgen above average on both sides of the ball, but certainly not a cornerstone. Honestly, I think Miranda will outhit him, but I don't trust Miranda's defense anywhere. Starting him at least once a week at DH and third would be fine along with platoon duty at first base.
  7. stringer bell
    Is there enough belief in Kirilloff and Larnach that the Twins would trade Max Kepler?
  8. stringer bell
    I agree with much of what you are saying. Urshela has hit in high impact spots in the order far too often. Sánchez and Kepler as well. Youngsters Larnach, Kirilloff and Miranda have the potential to be middle of the order bats for the Twins for most of the decade, but none of those guys has even a full season of plate appearances in the majors. The Twins aren’t the slugging team they were in 2019. They need to run the bases better and improve their situational hitting. There isn’t nearly enough “get ‘em over, get ‘em in” after lead off hits. I expect Kirilloff to help the offense improve and long-term I think Max Kepler is on his way out, even though he is a good player in almost all aspects of the game.
  9. stringer bell
    So far in his career, Garlick is an answer to left handed pitching and should be in a run-producing spot in the lineup when he has the platoon advantage. Arraez is also a real offensive weapon only when he has the platoon advantage. Of course, LH hitters see right handers much more often than the reverse. I believe in Kirilloff being a middle of the order hitter, when healthy. His stats this year are going to be skewed by the dreadful start he endured, probably while battling considerable wrist pain. Back to the OP, I checked BBRef and there isn't a single Twin with a positive rating in base running, not one! According to my highly unofficial compilation, the Twins are -8 runs in base running, that isn't purely about stealing bases, of course. They don't have much team speed and don't have many skilled base runners. I think that is a factor in their inability to score runs commensurate with their OPS.
  10. stringer bell
    To me, the answers are pretty self-evident. The Twins have a paucity of team speed and also have become strikeout prone. Advancing runners is not their strength. In this alleged new era where small ball has more cachet, the Twins lack components to get it done.
  11. stringer bell
    BTW, Miranda was included in a topic entitled "Who Gets Dealt?" in the Minor League Forum back in April: https://twinsdaily.com/forums/topic/55765-who-gets-dealt/#comment-1114839 The single vote for Miranda was by yours truly.
  12. stringer bell
    One of the slogans is "sell high" and that would eliminate trading Balazovic or Martin. Steer has absolutely mashed this season (similar to Miranda's 2021) and has played in the middle infield more than Miranda did in 2021. I think the Twins can afford to part with one of those two guys (Miranda or Steer). I can support a trade involving Miranda. I have been disappointed by his lack of selectivity and his defense. I can also support a trade for Steer. On balance, I think the team would be a bit better off with Miranda, especially since (as noted above) he is younger.
  13. stringer bell
    Miranda has been okay at the plate, but he’s a poor defender at this point. With Polanco out, Arraez can handle second with Kirilloff at first. When Polanco returns, using AK at first and Arraez at DH beats having two catchers in the lineup. Tough calls about who to send down, but if there aren’t any injuries among the position players, I think Kirilloff is a better bet to perform than both Miranda and Larnach.
  14. stringer bell
    Agreed, bullpen back end is the #1 priority to address at or before the trade deadline. I think two high-leverage guys are needed, moving Jax, Pagán and Thielbar to less leverage. There are enough arms—that is there is major league quality even for the seventh and eighth best bullpen pieces— but I don’t like the Twins’ chances to prevail in relief pitcher battles unless they add an arm or two from outside the organization.
  15. stringer bell
    His best position is first base. Arraez can handle second.
  16. stringer bell
    The IL for position players is only 10 days at the minimum. Polanco won't have played for 5 days at this point. Hindsight is 20-20 but Kirilloff could have come up for Polanco easily enough.
  17. stringer bell
    A lot of key at bats, as well as pitching and fielding highlights. 1) Urshela made a do or die play that broke up a possible rally. 2) Gray retired the side after Trammel reached third with no one out. He made a great 3-2 pitch to France. 3) Jeffers and Correa with big RBI hits. 4) Thielbar retiring the pinch hitter on a routine fly ball. Getting ahead in the count made a real difference in what kind of swing the batter had. 5) Arraez’ 2-run single pretty much iced the game.
  18. stringer bell
    I don’t think there would be any problem finding at-bats for Kirilloff. However there are no easy demotions to make roster room for AK.
  19. stringer bell
    It is true that there are a lot of guys like Chi Chi Gonzalez out there. Outcomes are varied. Most move around and get occasional opportunities (guys like Andrew Albers and Aaron Slegers), some find a home in an organization. Most don't make much of a mark. It looks like Gonzalez will get an opportunity with the Brew Crew. Good for him.
  20. stringer bell
    In 61 games last season, Buck had 4.5 WAR. He isn’t outperforming that this year, although if he does get into 120 games, he’ll easily eclipse that 4.5 aggregate WAR total. Since the start of 2021, his HR frequency is on top of the charts, but the OBP and slugging are down from last season. He’s been basically an “all or nothing at all” hitter this year. To me, he’s only using a fraction of his skills and yet he’s a very good baseball player. I want to add that load management and injury are why he’s only using a fraction of his skills, not lack of effort or anything else.
  21. stringer bell
    With Garlick nearly ready to return, there already is a position player crunch. Assuming Soto goes down plus two pitchers when Gray, Ryan and Garlick are activated, who is demoted to bring up Kirilloff? Gordon and Garlick would likely be lost to the team. Larnach has done well and has played a good corner OF, Celestino is hitting well over .300 and is Buxton’s primary backup. Miranda has come on and provides an alternate at third and first against lefties. No easy choices. I do expect AK to return fairly soon. I expect a decent contributor once he gets here with plenty of at-bats.
  22. stringer bell
    I was wondering about Steer, as well. Glad that his absence isn't injury related. I guess the Saints don't need him!
  23. stringer bell
    The Twins have used Sánchez at DH frequently against RH pitching. I would think that having Kirilloff in the lineup instead would make a better attack. For now, neither catcher is hitting much and it seems a waste to have both in the lineup so often.
  24. stringer bell
    Hey, Buck is on another amazing power run. However, I still don't see the same guy we saw in April--a nightmare on the base paths, all-world center field and a guy who hits ropes all over the field. Maybe I'm nit-picking, but Buxton is not running full-speed very often, only playing center about half to 60% of the time and is hitting the ball over the fence a lot. I fear we may go through times where he's not barrelling balls and he slumps (not 0-30, but twenty or thirty unproductive at-bats). That said, this version of Buxton is still pretty doggone valuable. Ideally Smeltzer would be a fifth starter. Right now, he's the top starter on the active roster. Much like Dylan Bundy's first few starts, if his command is excellent, he can get guys out, but the margin for error is tiny. I like that the Twins can put at least one lefty in the rotation and still have to like Smeltzer's story. He's easy to root for.
  25. stringer bell
    The best cure for what ails the bullpen is longer starts. The second best cure is multi-inning relief outings. When healthy, Smeltzer, Gray and Ryan look like they can give six or seven innings on a fairly regular basis. It appears both Gray and Ryan will be back within the next ten days, however we'll probably see caution exercised since they will both have been out for a while. I disagree that Baldelli has overused his short relief guys. Thanks to an expanded roster, back-to-back appearances are infrequent as are appearances with over 30 pitches. Much criticism has been leveled at Rocco for his bullpen management. I think the underlying reason for what might appear as questionable decisions is avoiding overuse. Jax, Duran and Cotton have thrown multiple innings more than once IIRC. Having a potential starter (Winder, Gonzalez or Bundy) in the bullpen might also fill a need for longer relief.
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