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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Things change in baseball. Arraez wasn't on the radar as an infield option (Nick Gordon) even at the start of the season. Astudillo looked like he had developed power to go with uncanny contact skills. With the exception of his homer in his first game back, Tortuga is swinging a lot and making soft contact too often. Arraez has taken an opportunity and run with it. Here's my take: Arraez is an on-base guy, he probably never will draw a lot of walks because he hits a lot of singles. He's demonstrated some versatility, but is stretched at both short and third. Arraez fits this somewhat lumbering extra-base hitting team pretty well, get a guy on base before the bashers come up! The other drawback (besides lack of power) is Arraez' lack of speed. He's not a base-stealing threat or someone to distract the defense when he's on base. Regarding Astudillo, he should be in line to be the backup catcher next season. With him on the major league roster, there is versatility as well. The unanswered question, to me, is how much playing time is enough for Willians. With a 26-man roster next year, the Twins might be able to carry three catchers again next year.
  2. stringer bell
    Such a fine line between success and failure. Pérez is out of the first with one run if Polanco makes a play he makes 99% of the time and he was one pitch from a scoreless fifth. In his previous start, Rosario had a ball in his glove that he couldn't hold in the seventh inning that turned into runs. That said, both command and velocity have fallen off. The 97 mph fastball is 93-94 and he's missing both in the zone and out of the zone. I don't think his curve or breaking ball are "A" pitches.
  3. stringer bell
    I agree that Sanó has been bad since the start of the Twins homestand and one homer, even in a big spot, doesn't make up for all of the failed at-bats. The Twins have a nine game lead and a very good offense, so they can afford to be patient with Sanó. Another couple of weeks of regular play with give Miguel about 150 plate appearances. If the OPS drops below league average, then it might be time to consider a trip to Rochester.
  4. stringer bell
    Sanó only had one plate appearance last night, but got four strikes (horrible missed call by the ump) and didn't come close. He's struggling for sure, at a time when the team could really benefit from him hitting his stride.
  5. stringer bell
    Many subtopics here, but one I find interesting is the thought that Sanó mashes fastballs. I seen him whiff on up-in-the-zone fastballs throughout his career and I haven't seen much damage done on those pitches. The majority of hard hits from Miguel middle-middle or middle-down in the zone (observation no graphs or anything). I will also say Sanó is not alone in struggling against high fastballs. To me, Sanó has two distinct weaknesses, high fastballs and chasing breaking balls. That is one too many weaknesses to be an elite hitter.
  6. stringer bell
    Dang, you're right. The off day doesn't come until Monday.
  7. stringer bell
    Maybe the Red Sox were guilty of trying to hit a six-run homer in extras, but outside of Parker, I was pretty impressed with the whole bullpen. Magill allowed a couple of hits (at least one soft contact), but worked out of it. His stuff looks too good to give up on (high velo fastball and good slider). Duffey pitched out of a two-on none-out jam in his first inning and fanned the side in his second and I thought Littell looked very good, too. Rogers needs another quality lefty. It would be great to have a lefty be able to come in in the sixth or seventh to get a key out or two and still have another lefty "in the hole" for a save or key outs in the eighth.
  8. stringer bell
    They do have an off day tomorrow. Perhaps they can slide by today, especially if Gibson gives them more than 6 innings. The fact is that Duffey and Littell both pitched well and shouldn't be sent out on merit, but sometimes merit doesn't have anything to do with transactions.
  9. stringer bell
    I really liked what I saw out of Littell last night. He had trouble, not totally of his own making, in both innings and worked around it.The velocity and breaking pitch were both noteworthy and he showed good command. Finally, he didn't "pitch scared", which is what I've seen out of the pitchers who haven't succeeded for the Twins this year.
  10. stringer bell
    Pretty broad use of "from within". The Twins traded for both Nathan and Aguilera and to my knowledge, they were always used out of the bullpen for the Twins. I know Aguilera left Minny as a free agent and was used as a starter after he had done well here.
  11. stringer bell
    Sanó and JD Martinez had games to forget. At least Sanó contributed on defense.
  12. stringer bell
    Do the Twins get more arms for tomorrow? If so, who do they send down and who do they call up? Candidates to be sent down would be Littell and Duffey (both have had their option used this year and both pitched two innings in Tuesday's game). Who would be called up? Well, not Eades or Romero, since both were optioned less than 10 days ago.
  13. stringer bell
    Polanco squared to bunt twice and Devers was playing in and close to the line. That pretty much makes the bunt Polanco put down a sacrifice. To me, if there is some surprise involved, it might be worth it to bunt, but if it is to give an out in exchange for advancing two runners, it is not worth it.
  14. stringer bell
    The play for Merrifield was not easy, particularly for a non-outfielder (IMHO), To his credit, Merrifield made the play and it looked routine. As far as speed, the Twins appear to have only Buxton with game-changing speed. I think that one reason why the Twins should hang on to Nick Gordon is that he could provide speed along with Buck. There isn't much speed besides those guys in the top tiers of the organization. Polanco, Kepler, and Rosario run well, but not to the point that they are disruptive.
  15. stringer bell
    Gonzalez has played precious little right field until this year. I speculated that he would play left with Rosario and Kepler manning the other two spots when Buxton is on the pine. Margo hasn’t looked particularly comfortable in right, but I think he’s better than “a butcher” out there. Adrianza isn’t slow, but he isn’t fast. Last year he got thrown out several times on the bases. I don’t recall any terrible throw outs this year and his base running sequence on Thursday was textbook. A second baseman was playing right field and he had to run to his left and then make a throw to his right on Schoop’s hit. Merrifield did it perfectly, but it’s a chance to take with two outs.
  16. stringer bell
    Lots of young position players under team control for several years--Buxton, Sanó, Kepler, Polanco, Rosario, Garver. A top ten prospect in the middle infield and two other guys (Gordon and Arraez) who appear to have major league futures at second. On the pitching side, only two starters are under team control for next year and there's only one bullpen arm worth keeping beyond this year. While I'd like to see the Twins pick up a half-season rental, they should use some of their prospect excess to acquire team-controlled pitching for seasons after this one.
  17. stringer bell
    The league has adjusted to Pérez' adjustments. He'll have to adjust a bit more, but he's got a live arm and enough stuff to be a successful starting pitcher. Regarding Encarnación, he is on most everything right now. I would guess right now the word in the Twins' clubhouse is "don't let that guy beat you". May is walking a tightrope on the mound, but the fastball up is hard to square up. If he could drop an occasional curve in there, and get ahead in counts, he could be really effective. Who sits tonight vs. a soft-tossing lefty? About the only sure thing is that Garver replaces Castro.
  18. stringer bell
    To me, Sanó angst is all about the hype. When he got to the majors, the comparisons were to Frank Thomas and triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera. He was supposed to be a power hitter who would hit .300 or better. His debut half-season gave us believers plenty of evidence that he would be such a hitter and soon. The first half of 2017 was more "proof". Injuries combined with struggles the last half of 2017 and most of 2018 show that he's not really improved. We were promised Miguel Cabrera and we're getting Mark Reynolds. I am not sure if it is potential wasted or if this is what Sanó was meant to be. Also, he just turned 26, a lot of players have broken out in their mid to late 20s.
  19. stringer bell
    How about Doolittle from the Nats?
  20. stringer bell
    I really don't think the Twins regarded Escobar as an option at second base, nor has Arizona. There are factors why Esco has received so little play at second the last several years--Dozier's durability, Escobar's emerging as a major league bat that plays on a corner--but I have never viewed Escobar as fluid or smooth. He's got a good infield arm, which played at short or third, but not the range for a plus shortstop.
  21. stringer bell
    Two 30-year-old natives of Venezuela, both switch-hitters, both came to the majors as shortstops who became utility players and were to become free agents at the end of the 2018 season. I was looking at Baseball Reference and thought I would compare the former Twin with the current Twin. I was surprised how similar their numbers were. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/escobed01.shtml https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gonzama01.shtml While they are very similar, there are differences. First of all, Gonzalez has remained a versatile defender, while Escobar has become a fixture at third base for his new club. Neither are spending appreciable time in the middle of the diamond, this year Escobar has played one game at second base and Gonzalez has played one game at shortstop. Gonzalez has started mostly at third, but with the return of Miguel Sanó, he's started multiple games at first, third, left and right field. Escobar has truly come into his own as a hitter. He hits in the middle of a good Arizona lineup and leads the National League in games, plate appearances and at-bats. So far, he is putting up numbers worthy of All-Star consideration. After an extremely slow start, Gonzalez has put up numbers in line with his career norms. It is intriguing to consider what might have happened if the Twins had somehow managed to retain Escobar. Would he have been able to have the role that Gonzalez is filling? Would the Twins then converted Sanó to first base and not acquired Cron? For what it's worth, it appears that this has worked out for all concerned.
  22. stringer bell
    I missed Smeltzer's first start, but saw most of the game last night. I think he's showed enough to be first in line when there's a starting vacancy (rainouts, injuries), but with less than dominating stuff, he needs to have good command and keep ahead of counts. Smeltzer isn't going to give up four homers every start, but he's a far better pitcher when he's pounding the strike zone.
  23. stringer bell
    While Pérez wasn't sharp, he also didn't have any luck. A lot of poorly hit balls were hits. Regression to the mean, I guess. He's got to throw more strikes and the second time around, the Ray hitters didn't chase. Tough spot for Littell and I wouldn't be surprised if he was optioned before the next game.
  24. stringer bell
    Will Smith (Giants) and Sean Doolittle (Nats), both of whom are lefties. Having another dominant left hander in the bullpen would make Rogers' role more clear and perhaps reduce the back-to-back usage we've seen so far this year.
  25. stringer bell
    With Buxton exiting, Rocco put Gonzalez in left, Eddie in right, and Kepler in center. In previous games, with the same three outfielders, Rocco put Gonzalez in right. This was the configuration I expected (Gonzalez has very little experience in RF). Has there been any word why the moves were made last night?
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