stringer bell

Brooks Lee has improved his arm strength from 28th percentile to 30th and this year 40th percentile. I don't recall exactly what his arm injury was, but it took quite a while to improve. I am not sure what Keaschall's arm upside is, but I think there is room for some improvement.

I don't think it's fair to show a "worst of" Keaschall any more than it is for any player. They all make errors and a great majority of players can be shown on blooper reels. That said, the numbers aren't kind for Luke at this time. He has the foot speed to have better than average range, although that hasn't shown up at this point. Second base and first base are the two best places to hide a suspect arm and I don't think his current rating is necessarily permanent. Austin Martin has moved from having a very weak arm after surgery to slightly above average and it took more than a year. Keaschall's recovery was interrupted by hit HBP injury, so there may be room for improvement. On the whole, I thought Keaschall's pivots on double plays has been decent, perhaps better than that.

I don't think a deep voice is the be-all and end all of play by play.

Kody Clemens is a really good story and he's a pretty good ballplayer. I would rather he play first base pretty close to full-time, but it appears that Royce Lewis will get a lot of playing time there going forward.

Willi's versatility included both infield and outfield--Kreidler and Clemens both have played multiple games in the outfield and infield. They are choices to be super-utility guys. Clemens is getting playing time commensurate with what Castro got.

Is he the backup quarterback or the hated substitute teacher? Honestly, I don't mind different voices behind the mircrophone and he gives a little different perspective. My criticism would be he made the events of the game try to fit with the narrative he established. On Monday, Kreidler was Ozzie Smith on plays where he would have been charged with an error if he had not retired the hitter and on Tuesday it was all about Buxton who had one hit and made no stellar defensive plays.

Also Jenkins is rehabbing and should be back in St. Paul very soon. I hope they don't send him to Wichita just to complete the circuit.

It's all pretty murky, but a Jeffers QO isn't out of the question IMHO. That would mean that they don't trade him this summer and I'm not convinced that will happen. The landscape may be really different after the World Series this year. Unless the Twins pretty much miraculously manage to stay relevent, I think Joe Ryan is a goner at the trade deadline. I'd like the Twins to do enough that Buxton continues to want to stay with the belief that he can be a veteran on a contending team before his skills suffer. Buxton has all the leverage with an ironclad no-trade without his approval.

While I thought the praise of Kreidler's defense by the guest PBP guy was a little over the top, he is the top defensive option at shortstop in the system above Cedar Rapids. Gray is giving away as many runs as he produces at shortstop, so it would appear to be Culpepper or bust in the near term. With Lewis and Clemens as options at second base and Lewis and Lee at third, I don't see much of a role for Gray when (if) Culpepper is recalled.

Jenkins is going to continue his rehab at Cedar Rapids. It feels like he has been handled with ultimate caution (kid gloves), but maybe it is because I so want to see him get to the majors ASAP. Tonight should be Abel's last rehab start, if all goes well. Hopefully his arm and the weather cooperates. It will be nice to see him back on a big league mound.

Four runs on four hits, including the two homers. Gore has a great arm and he is going to help this Rangers team if he continues to throw like he did today. The relievers that threw today are most of the best they have (maybe Banda is more reliable than Rogers) and they got the job done.

Defensive Run Saved is supposed to to measure these things It’s a better gauge than errors or earned/unearned runs. I still think defensive metrics have a ways to go before they accurately rate both team and individual defense and I’m certain that large sample sizes ard needed to make rstings meaningful.

He’s quicker behind the plate than Caratini or Jeffers, with a stronger arm. He will throw out a higher percentage than the other two if he gets enough chances.

Okay Josh, you’re forgiven for using up a challenge in the first inning.

Houston is second in hits and third in batting average and tied for eighth in steals in the MWL. He has about as strong a case for promotion as any Twins prospect. I picture him as a Jacob Wilson type player and prospect.

I think Culpepper might have been on the plane to Texas if he had not suffered a minor injury. I think he'll be in the major leagues this month.

The weekly summary is always a good way to get perspective on the team. The pitching staff has taken a large step backwards of late, the defense is poor and the offense is uneven. It's pretty hard to envision this team seriously contending, but there is a lot of season left and we will probably have a totally different view in a couple months. Nice to see Royce playing like a difference maker again and Buxton is a fine player on a tear. Kody Clemens may be the best DFA pickup the Twins have made. I'll keep watching and enjoying the positives even though there are some games where the team is not competitive.

Contending in 2026 was always was a long shot. A lot of low percentage events would have to happen and nearly all would have to break the Twins’ way, starting with developing a solid bullpen. The team has given us hope at times, but both a poor bullpen and shaky defense have been huge problems that haven’t been solved and which doom the team’s prospects to actually contend Byron Buxton has been wonderful and it is sad to waste those homers. It looks like Lewis has found his mojo, but honestly not much has gone well. Hope that some guys can develop and move on to next year. On the pitching side, Prielipp, Abel and Zebby have shown something, but sustaining isn’t there.

I don’t think so. A couple of teams are tryingvthis, but not the Twins.

After yesterday’s game, the Twins slipped to last place in DRS and Gray joined Lee at -7 DRS at shortstop in about half as many innings. It made sense to move Lee off SS, but primarily replacing him with a far worse defender can’t be a permanent move.

Exactly. Clemens will be in his first arbitration year this off season. Arb will net him raises, but the current system gives team control through his age 33 season. He is performing well enough to be at least a 400+ PA utility man and in a different situationcould possibly be a 3 WAR first baseman who contends for a Gold Glove. Not bad for a DFA pickup who I immediately dubbed "Bronnie".

Who is just having a snag, who is cooked? Which prospect has really earned a promotion and which guy is benefiting from weak depth of pitching in AAA? These are the questions the field staff and front office need to answer and their livelihoods may depend on it. Nothing tells me Aaron Sabato has finslly closed the holes in his swing and I don’t bdlieve Gabby Gonzalez or Fedko will help the club. I’m all for Culpepper taking over shortstop and moving Marek Houston to AA. I am willing to give Josh Bell until the All-Star break and think Caratini will be okay. Move on from Larnach—he might net something at the deadline. I want to give Austin Martin a little more time to get his second wind. I am hoping Bradley is in a lull and if I’m in charge Gomez is the only bullpen guy who has earned much trust. A little for Orze and Banda.

I didn't write about it, but the Twins third best defensive position at this time is catcher. Jeffers is +1, Caratini at 0 and Jackson -1. The Fielding Bible includes a column for strike zone runs saved, which would seem to be ABS usage, and that pushes Jeffers into positive territory. I think catcher throwing isn't given enough credit and Jeffers and particularly Caratini are weak there. Also, regarding Jackson, he's been charged for two errors on Catcher Interference in a really small sample, that probably is his -1 run saved right there and those Catcher Interference calls are pretty rare.

IMHO, fielding metrics are like election polls—if enough agree (enough data points align) it is probably accurate. There are outlers for sure. Early this year, Liis Arraez was on top of the heap at sscond base. He’s now in the middle, still better than expected, but more in line with what I have seen.

I've spent a fair amount of time looking at ratings provided by The Fielding Bible. The site is free and both teams and individuals can't be monitored. Rankings move around--the Twins at one point were ranked in the low 20s overall and only a negative six runs about three weeks ago. Currently, they are next to last with a ledger is -25 defensive runs saved, ahead only of the Phillies. The site ranks by position and the Twins are currently last at two positions--shortstop -14 runs and pitchers -9 runs. That accounts for all but two of their -25 runs differential. Brooks Lee had -7 DRS in 45 games, while the combination of Arcia, Kreidler, and particularly Gray have accounted for the other seven runs. Gray is -5 in only 114 innings, so I would say that he is part of the problem. That the pitchers are -9 as a group is somewhat of a surprise and maybe is something to criticize the coaching staff about. The Twins were brutal last year in pitching defense and it seems they are even worse this year. Other defensive soft spots are second base and right field. Luke Keaschall has been the primary second baseman and his defensive runs saved number has sunk to -6. Matt Wallner and his -8 DRS was sent to the minors. Maybe Keaschall needs a reset in St. Paul as well, if not to improve his second base defense, maybe to work on a new position. There aren't a lot of bright spots among the players who have suited up for the Twins this year, but there are a couple. Austin Martin is ranked highly at either corner outfield spot. He is +2 DRS in left field and +4 DRS in right field. In a small sample, he's still well below average in center, but overall he's the Twins top defender at +5 defensive runs saved. Kody Clemens is among the top defenders at first base (+4 DRS) and is okay at second base and in the outfield. Surprisingly Josh Bell comes in at +1 in limited play at first base. There has been much discussion about the defense of Royce Lewis and also Brooks Lee. In 30 games, Lewis was -1 at third base and in his return has been neither plus or minus at first and second base. As noted, Lee was the worst defensive shortstop as measured by DRS and he's been -1 in his 20 games at third base. I will note that Lee had three quick errors in his first week at third and has stabilized since then. 20 games is still a really small sample size. Improving the soft spots is the way out of defensive struggles. As I indicated earlier, I think the coaching staff needs to work on pitcher fielding in a different or more focused way. The Twins appear to have repaired the soft spot in right field by changing personnel and it is possible the same thing will be done in the infield. This is one more chip in the pile to boost the promotion of Kaelen Culpepper. He could hardly be worse defensively than the guys who have stood between the second and third baseman and he might be substantially better. To be an average defensive team so far this year, the Twins would have needed only average defense from their pitchers and shortstops. If they add an above average defensive shortstop, team defense would rank as one of their lesser problems. That's the way I see this particular issue. I would hope that others weigh in with their opinions.