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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    First sentence absolutely right, second one absolutely wrong.
  2. stringer bell
    Wimmers career to date reminds me of former first round pick Kyle Waldrop, who had a brief, forgettable career. I hope Alex has more success.
  3. stringer bell
    Good for Wimmers. His wife was at ST two years ago. She is an attractive lass IIRC. They called Alex' control problems "Steve Blass disease" at the time, I don't recall if it turned out to be something physical. Then came the TJ surgery. I guess baseball humbles almost anyone who plays, no matter what the pedigree.
  4. stringer bell
    Nice to see a well-executed inning where the Twins maximized their runs without hitting a homer.
  5. stringer bell
    I believe "Colour my World" was the Prom theme for both proms I attended.
  6. stringer bell
    I have pondered publicly whether he might be another Dan Uggla (fell off the cliff in early 30s) or perhaps Jeff Kent (went from solid to near HOF in his 30s). Certainly it is most likely that he is somewhere in between, but if he keeps getting better ala Kent, then it would be smart to keep him, but if he turns into a pumpkin, it is probably best to sell high. IMHO, there are indications both ways. Dozier's bread and butter is driving middle-in fastballs and if he can't turn on them, his whole makeup would have to change. However, this year BD has been able to hit the ball to center and right with more authority, thus getting more hits that way and keeping defenses somewhat honest. Without the data in front of me, he seems to be hitting more ball farther to left-center and straightaway center and hitting fewer 360 foot homers down the line. That bodes well for his future. I think most hitters pull grounders and Dozier is no exception--I haven't seen him roll many through the vacant right side--but I've seen a pretty good increase in hard-hit balls to the gap and right field. He's made himself into a star and at 29, he doesn't seem to have reached his peak, so maybe a bit more like Kent than Uggla.
  7. stringer bell
    I am driving the Dozier bandwagon. I think he should have been team MVP each of the last three years. I also think his overall defense is average, despite subpar metrics. Having said all that, he isn't indispensable. If the Twins can get a big enough return, they should trade him.
  8. stringer bell
    Yeah, but Maddon also used Schwarber in LF. In terms of athleticism, I would take Sano over Schwarber.
  9. stringer bell
    Vargas was caught up in a numbers game. It is a tough call, but defensible IMHO. The real question is what to do with Vargas and Park. They play the same position and realistically can't be on the same 25-man roster. I do think Vargas' work for the Twins this year has put him ahead of Park.
  10. stringer bell
    Sorry, Roseann, it was "Trevor" as in Trevor Plouffe and the ball took a wicked bad hop, which is really nobody's fault. Plouffe is the Twins' most experienced third baseman and probably their best defender at the hot corner.
  11. stringer bell
    Plouffe has been swinging the bat well of late. Don't know if it matters, though.
  12. stringer bell
    The Twins are playing KC momentarily, trying to avert a sweep. Santana v Duffy. Here's the lineups: Dozier 2b Grossman lf Sano dh Plouffe 1b Polanco ss Escobar 3b Rosario cf Suzuki c D Santana rf E Santana p Royals Dyson cf Cuthbert 3b Cain rf Hosmer 1b Morales dh Gordon lf Escobar ss Butera c Mondesi 2b Duffy p
  13. stringer bell
    Not fair to Vargas, but I'm sure he'll be back on September 1. When Plouffe returned, I thought Vargas was the logical candidate, but it ended up being Buxton. The way Santiago has been been going, Meija will get his chance in long relief today. I don't know when he last pitched, however.
  14. stringer bell
    Hello, everyone! I see the game is still in a rain delay. If they've waited this long, they might as well finish the game. Enjoy, you diehards, it is bedtime.
  15. stringer bell
    I guess maybe Polanco can play acceptable shortstop, he sure seems to be a hitter. I really like what Centeno has done with his opportunity as a backup catcher. Rosario and Dozier also did their bit to tie the game before the skies opened.
  16. stringer bell
    I think Centeno is getting better at his biggest flaw--blocking pitches. I like a lot about the (comparatively) little guy. He seems to relate well to the pitchers, calls a good game and contributes quite a few good at-bats. I also like that he's a left handed hitter. Finally, it is a good idea to have a Hispanic catcher.
  17. stringer bell
    You're missing the point. Both Uggla and Kent were hitters with plus power, especially for the middle infield. Kent was a good player until his early thirties and became a borderline Hall of Famer because he mashed well into his thirties. Uggla fell off a cliff. With Dozier also being a "power for his position" guy, I've wondered if he might fall off the map if he couldn't catch up with a good fastball or if he could adjust as Kent did. I do lean toward the sustained fine performance for Dozier, maybe not at the level of Kent, but certainly above average. Kent's top OPS+ season through the age of 29 (Dozier's age now) was 111 in less than full-time play. Starting in 1998 (age 30) he was an All-Star five times for three different teams with an OPS+ of 119 or better for each year for 10 years. I'd venture to guess that Dozier's OPS+ today is superior to Kent's at age 29, but I'm not that good at math to say for sure.
  18. stringer bell
    Good take Nick. Both sides of the Dozier argument have been laid out for a long time, but his performance since June 1 has put BD back in elite territory. Any return for him should be more than substantial. I would say one "can't miss" or established player plus a couple of good to premium prospects. The team can build around him or build from what is returned for him. I lean toward keeping him, because he has shown he can make adjustments to keep improving and he is durable. Early in the season, I was contemplating whether his career would be more like Dan Uggla or if it would be more like Jeff Kent. I am now leaning to Kent.
  19. stringer bell
    That was my impression as well. I know he had been ahead all the way in Iowa (was that a decade ago?) and held leads in other states and then didn't hold them. He always polled well in the jungle, when there were 5-10 candidates, but didn't really overperform vs. the polls that often.
  20. stringer bell
    May pitched much better between DL stints. I wonder if it will be determined that bullpen duty doesn't jibe with his balky back. I confess to being all in on the "May as setup guy" early this year and I still like how his fastball plays up, but overall he's been a huge disappointment this year in the bullpen. Maybe this will convince the Twins brass to stretch May out and go with him as a starter. We can only hope. Saying this, I do want to say that I don't hold out hope that May becomes to topflight starter.
  21. stringer bell
    Polanco--both offensively and defensively has looked very good. His minor league numbers don't scream "call me up!". His hitting was good, but not dominant, his fielding, especially at short hasn't been of major league quality. Maybe it was exactly the right time to recall him, maybe he was bored in the majors. It is still a really small sample. He's young and he appears to have good on-base skills. It would be great if he could continue to hit and be an acceptable shortstop. Buxton--with his speed, he should bunt a lot more than 1% of the time, if only to bring the third baseman in, but also to lay down a sacrifice in the late innings. Rosario--a lot of great players never walked much and Eddie probably never will. Rosario needs to be selective enough to force people to give him pitches he can handle AKA strikes, rather than getting behind in the count and chasing neck-high fastballs and breaking balls in the dirt.
  22. stringer bell
    Gomez is a shadow of his former self.
  23. stringer bell
    I haven't had time to read the entire thread, but if the supposed answer is Ramos, let's be sure to know how big an outlier this is for the Nats catcher. He's never had an OPS of .800 and his currently sits at .932. His OPS+ was below 100 until this year. He's a good defensive catcher and he turns 29 this year, but as recently as last year he hit only .229 with a .616 OPS. He's been great this year, but the Twins once signed a catcher to an extension after his best season.
  24. stringer bell
    Except there's only three plus weeks remaining in the AAA season. The Twins are probably duty bound to recall Buxton on 9/1 or after Labor Day. Perhaps they would keep him down for the IL playoffs if the Red Wings make it.
  25. stringer bell
    What the major league team has done with Buxton hasn't worked. Does everyone agree with that? I'm reading that he sat too much--gee, aside from injuries he got a lot of play for a guy who is hitting below the Mendoza Line. Pinch hitting? I remember only a few occasions, including Rosario's bomb on Friday night. Right now, offensively, Buxton is a mess. How much is mechanical and how much is confidence I don't know. I really haven't seen much improvement at all before or after his last promotion or before or after missing time for an injury. I thought the right play would be to continue to let BB try to figure it out at the major league level, but Buxton hasn't shown enough improvement that I can castigate the organization for sending him down.
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