stringer bell

ESPN did an article yesterday on what every team needs to do in MLB. I looked with interest at the suggestion of what the Twins should do, expecting maybe that they get another starter or another bullpen arm. I was surprised to see that the writer said that the Twins should improve their bench. The article mentioned that Gonzalez has been playing third, but not that the presumed regular (Sanó) was on rehab assignment and expected back this month. I have mentioned on a couple other threads that I really like the Twins bench, presuming that the eventual four-man bench would be Marwin, la Tortuga, Adrianza, and whoever isn't playing between Garver and Castro. There is a tremendous amount of versatility, first and foremost, plus a couple of guys who should be able to step in for full-time work. Also, having Cave as the next man up works out because he is a big league player, and can replace any injury vacancy because of the versatility of the bench players on hand now. Cave can be shipped the Triple A whenever needed and recalled immediately if there are injuries. Let's examine the bench: Marwin Gonzalez--he's been a regular at third base thus far, but when Sanó returns, he can be freed up to play all over. Gonzalez has demonstrated a good glove at third and in cameos at first and left field. He only yesterday got his batting average above .200, but I'd call him a proven major league average hitter. To me, Gonzalez is a "tenth regular", who will get innings and at-bats at many positions even if there are no disabling injuries among the regular position players. Willians Astudillo--beyond being popular for making the big leagues with a physique of a church league softball player, Astudillo has a unique skill set. He can play first, third, left and right (and has started games at second and played center field) while being so far a competent catcher. In addition, the Turtle has hit very well in his 150 MLB plate appearances, collecting an OPS+ of 136, despite almost never drawing a walk. He also has insane contact skills and almost never strikes out (4 Ks in those 150 plate appearances). I don't know if 150 plate appearances is enough to prove he's a really good hitter, but he's certainly done enough for the team to keep him around, and I think he is slowly making believers of the doubters. Astudillo has been on the injured list for over a week and is due to come off soon. Ehire Adrianza--More of the typical three-position infielder with a light bat, Adrianza has over 900 career plate appearance and has a lifetime .649 OPS. He's off to a slow start this year, hitting only .146. Adrianza is a minor league shortstop who has transitioned to utility player. He defends decently at second, short and third and has logged innings at first and left field. It appears that manager Rocco Baldelli prefers Adrianza to Gonzalez at short and second defensively, although the regulars at those two positions haven't missed many games. Adrianza is out of options, so he can't be shuttled back and forth to the minor leagues. Alternate catcher--Mitch Garver and Jason Castro have split starts at catcher almost evenly. The one not starting would be the fourth member of the bench. Castro is a lefty bat, while Garver hits righty, but has played first and a bit of outfield since coming to the Twins late in 2017. Having a third catcher (Adrianza) means that the second catcher can be used without the fear of having a non-catcher behind the dish. To summarize, the Twins figure to have a "tenth regular", an intriguing player with a unique skill set who has so far been an elite hitter, a versatile infielder and an alternate catcher as their bench. If there is any position players on the injured list, the next man up is a fourth outfielder who had a 114 OPS+ in over 300 plate appearances last year. Gonzalez and Adrianza are switch hitters. I think that in the era of thee- and four-man benches, this group is excellent.

Yes, to only get one of three vs. the wounded Yankees is disappointing. Friday was a lousy game and Sunday was disjointed. Pineda got swings and misses, but couldn’t put away the #9 hitter when he was ahead 0-2. It was the fifth and he was around 80 pitches. His pitches and command weren’t as sharp. Conditioning? He’s become a five-inning pitcher? I think he has to have a short leash.

Pineda's got something, but I don't think Baldelli can go too long with him.

Germán looks tough.

Three whiffs on pitches out of the zone.

Chasing Big Mike's off-speed stuff!

OK. Got it.Thanks!

In case anyone is wondering, the Yankees changed the game time to 4:05 Eastern Time due to a passing weather system.

Cave is more of a redundancy that the Turtle. I like the idea of no more than 12 pitchers, with the bench being Castro/Garver, Astudillo, Gonzalez and Adrianza.

Maybe I'm being nit-picky here, but to my recollection three of these guys (Hicks, Anderson, Rodriguez) never played a major league inning for the Twins. Is it fair to call them ex-Twins? That said, it is interesting who is thriving and who isn't.

There certainly is room for more pitching. Not factoring in injuries, the bottom half (less leverage) of the bully has been poor, the top half is OK, but besides Rogers, there isn't a guy I feel comfortable with pitching in high leverage situations. A right handed complement to Rogers would leave lower leverage situations for Parker, May and Hildy. As far as the rotation, Perez has been outstanding, Pineda pretty poor and Gibson's numbers are not good. There is room for better in the rotation and there isn't a season without pitchers missing significant time with injuries, so the club should have a plan when a guy or two go down. From what I've seen of reports from Rochester, there isn't much help there.

Hearkening back to this topic. In the last seven days, Gonzalez has started at three different positions, played very good defense at each position and has gone 6-21 with three walks. The offense has been satisfactory this week, the defense excellent. This is what I expect from Marwin Gonzalez going forward, coupled with a couple of hot streaks with the bat. Back to the defense, I think it is significant that it was different type plays at each position that highlight why Gonzalez can be so valuable--he made a fine back to the infield play on a blooper while playing first, several nice fielding plays on ground balls at third, and had two fine throws from the outfield for assists while playing left. The bat is showing signs of fully awakening and the rest of Marwin's game is sound. He'll get a lot of playing time at several positions if the Twins' blueprint is correct.

We've seen excellent offense, powered by home runs for the first 31 games. Almost every position player has gone through a skid of some sort and Gonzalez still is below the Mendoza Line. I really don't think the offense will slow considerably because of the depth. I doubt the homers will continue at the pace they have occurred so far, but every starter and a couple of bench guys are 20-homer guys if they get 500 plate appearances, so they aren't dependent on one or two hitters. I don't care that Buxton is hitting ninth, whatever keeps the pressure off of him. He is the only guy who is stealing bases and is so important to the defense, I know it's a cliche, but any offense is a bonus and so far his offense is pretty good.

Sample Size of One has that one. Thanks for the offer. The next open game thread date is May 11, doubleheader in the series with the Tigers.

I'll say the curse is over if the Twins win the season series from the Yankees. New York comes to Minnesota in July, so the team they play then will be different from this group.

I wondered about sending Rogers out for the ninth (perhaps May), but with a pretty short appearance and the likelihood that he wouldn't face any of those batters tomorrow, it looks like a good move.

Bounceback test. The Twins played a lousy game at “The Stadium” last night. Their past poor games have been answered by good games, with no indication of a skid. They face another lefty (Happ) today and Jake Odorizzi will answer the bell for the Twins. A reminder that there is a game thread intro signup thread. If you’d like to improve on my efforts to start a game thread, please sign up. Lineups: Twins Garver. C Polanco SS Cruz DH Rosario LF Gonzalez 3B Cron 1B Kepler RF Schoop 2B Buxton CF Odorizzi P 3-2 3.34 Yankees LeMahieu 2B Voit 1B Sanchez DH Andujar 3B Torres SS Gardner CF Maybin RF Romine C Trauchman LF Happ P 1-2 4.78 ERA

OK. Take advantage!

Looked like four strikes to Garver.

Big Maple has it up to 95.

Cron & Marwin with hard-hit singles. Big inning?

I don’t know about a “good bullpen”, but subtracting those not on the roster at this point does present a different picture. Mejia, de Jong, Vasquez, and Duffey all gave up a lot of runs in not many innings.

Last year’s .679 OPS might have been what the poster was referencing for Sanó.

BTW, did someone mistakenly post a spring training lineup for New York? Wow, they are beat up!

Adrianza for Eddie, with Marwin in left field. Probably a good day to make that move. It appears to me that all three switch hitters have better left handed swings. I hope they do make some noise against Paxton.