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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Farmer says he'll be back soon. Kirilloff and Winder are midway through their rehab assignments. The comings and goings are pretty positive AFAIC.
  2. stringer bell
    Kepler had a decent (hitting) series in Boston. Nah, I don't really want him leading off, but it is defensible.
  3. stringer bell
    I speculated about that on Wednesday after the game and they have made the long reliever move today. They really didn't have a lot of choices and probably a one-game window without a long man and of course, Maeda got smoked in the second inning. There is some cost to sending guys down (limited number of "free" moves, service time and 40-man issues).
  4. stringer bell
    Three hits Wednesday. One hit yesterday.
  5. stringer bell
    Julien, Kirilloff, Garlick,and Wallner all in the lineup tonight for the Saints. The season is less than a month old and three of those guys have been up to the majors and down. The fourth is probably going to be playing for the Twins within a couple of weeks.
  6. stringer bell
    Well, the max of 20 days rehab would have run until the 26th, so maybe.
  7. stringer bell
    I know two players on the Nats. Meneses (from Team Mexico in the WBC) and Candelario from his time in Detroit. This is a team that is rebuilding.
  8. stringer bell
    Good lineup. Time for the bats to wake up. Should be in the 30s for first pitch. Balaclavas for everybody!!!
  9. stringer bell
    I believe they were 29th or 30th last year. Moving up six spots is improvement, yes?
  10. stringer bell
    Miranda DHed, then played first base and then played third the last few days in spring training. He had as many plate appearances as anybody in spring training and hit very well FWIW.
  11. stringer bell
    Polanco is back in the lineup, but Kepler is hitting leadoff tonight. It might be tough to hit tonight with the temperature a toasty 36 degrees at game time and an 11 mph wind. I still think the Twins manage five or more runs while Mahle gives them six good innings. My prediction 7-3 Twins.
  12. stringer bell
    My original thought was that SWR would be the long man today and tomorrow and if not used in that role, he could start on Sunday. Others are commenting that it will be Ober's day to pitch on Sunday and that he would start then. On reflection, that makes sense. Also, on reflection, the choices on the 40-man roster to be a long man are really limited and Richardson would be available to go long until Headrick is ready to pitch.
  13. stringer bell
    The best bet among prospects to steal a lot of bases is Austin Martin, he had over 30 in AA last year despite a down offensive year. Of course, he hasn't played this year since he has a bum elbow. Next best bet is Julien. Also a chance that Lewis could be a SB guy depending on his recovery from not one, but two ACL tears. He did still have very good speed after his first surgery. Who knows what is left and whether he'd risk injury by running a lot after a second surgery.
  14. stringer bell
    Or maybe SWR? I don't think the Twins want to lock Woods Richardson in the long man role long term. Right now, since no one has gone on IL, they can't bring back Sands and there are no multi-inning guys on the 40-man. Headrick probably isn't ready to pitch tonight, so they need someone to fill that long role.
  15. stringer bell
    Good for Farmer. Nasty cut on his lip there, but it looks like he should be able to eat somewhat solid food. I presume Castro would be the choice if Farmer is back. SWR and Polanco back on the big league team, with Julien and Alcala sent to St. Paul. I'm surprised it is Woods Richardson and I'm wondering about his role. He could be the designated long man and if not used in that role, he could start on Sunday. Or maybe Ober or Varland will start on Sunday regardless. Woods Richardson hasn't been effective at St. Paul. There's no place for Julien right now and even a couple more days at Triple A move his service time down below a year so that the Twins would have six more years of team control. Alcala's pitches are up and velocity is down, and I wonder if he'll end up on IL instead of St. Paul's roster. Two weeks in the minors gives the Twins another year of team control on Alcala as well.
  16. stringer bell
    Surprised about SWR. Not shocked that one of Alcala, Moran or Pagan was sent down or DFA.
  17. 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.
  18. stringer bell
    I'm guessing there will be plenty of good seats available for the Nationals series, given the opponent and the weather forecast.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. stringer bell
    Lopez extension is official. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/04/twins-extend-pablo-lopez.html
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