stringer bell

There are a lot of ways to look at the "lineup imbalance". Some thoughts from earlier in the thread were that they don't have a first baseman and they don't have a shortstop. Another is that they don't have enough good hitters. Another poster said they have too many DHs playing in the field. I think there is truth in all of those takes. Despite having bigger rosters (now 26 players), there are fewer position player spots than there have been historically. It used to be that nine or ten pitchers was enough, later it moved to 11-12 and now every team carries 13 pitchers. Having so few bench spots increases the value of versatility and makes wholesale platooning difficult, if not impossible. Since the majority of pitchers are right handed, the focus is on the left handed hitters. Having one or two guys who can hit well enough to play almost every day against lefties would minimize some of the "imbalance", but alas the Twins really don't have anybody who fits that description. Filling the problem positions of shortstop and first base might help and would address the "too many DHs" lament. That isn't the case here, so the Twins have a mismatched group that still is vulnerable to left handed pitching. I think they will do all right vs. lefties as the season goes on.

The word "exposed" comes to mind when thinking about the Twins' bullpen. There aren't a lot of overpowering arms and the margin for error is really small, so a misplayed fly ball or unlucky bounce can be fatal. We've seen too many bases on balls for a group that isn't going to strike out many. Letting a deficit go from one run to six runs isn't optimum, but it's far worse to give up a lead. The injury bug bit today and losing Laweryson and Lewis is bad news. I don't know who is coming up, but I'm sure it won't be the last move we'll see.

Sad to see players going on the IL, particularly Lewis. I hope this is a minimum IL stay for both Royce and Cody. Lewis looked like he was running okay after tweaking his knee on Thursday, but I suppose they have to be cautious given his injury history.

With a position player roster as unsettled and unproven as the Twins, the 13th guy shouldn't just be a role player. In 2023, Willi Castro was the 13th guy when the season started, but because of his skill set, by the end of the season he was playing every day and helped the team win the division. The DaShawn Keirseys and James Outmans who only contribute on defense and the bases don't provide enough value. Outman does have legitimate power, but his strikeout rate would make Matt Wallner blush. If the Twins want a premium defense guy, they should call up Kreidler. He's probably a better outfielder than Outman and he's also the best defensive infielder the Twins have in the upper minors. He can't hit either, but at least he could help in more places. If they want somebody to platoon in left field, they should recall Roden.

After seeing the Twins start 3-6, I thought they would never see .500 this season. A poorly put together roster, a suspect bullpen and not enough proven talent were factors I saw as faults too big to overcome and I still feel that way. The Twins pulled off a four-game sweep over Detroit, the AL Central favorite, so I'll suspend my doubt for a while. Here are some topics that I think are interesting and would make good Twins conversations and debates: 1) The ABS system. The Twins have aggressively used the challenge system and have benefitted. The catchers have shown they are in the best position to use the challenges and this has helped both Caratini and Jeffers be more effective receivers. 2) The no-name bullpen doesn't have much firepower, but Shelton has done a good job of putting guys in position to succeed. The group lacks velocity and positive run value pitches, but they've held together better than I expected. If I am going to pick one guy to break through in the bullpen, it is Eric Orze. 3) Roster construction is a problem. The Twins have too many guys who should be LH hitting DHs and some of them have to play in the field. The 13th position player's role thus far is as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. 4) In part because of poor roster construction, defense is an issue again this year. Guys who should be DHing are playing in the field and the Twins are lacking a good defender at the crucial shortstop position. 5) The starting rotation still looks like a strength even with Bailey Ober's diminished velocity. Taj Bradley has made up for any disappointment from the other starters. 6) New guys Josh Bell and Victor Caratini look like good pickups. Bell has hit very well and Caratini has looked decent as a platoon first baseman and backup catcher. 7) I remain intrigued by Austin Martin's skill set. Someone who doesn't strike out much, gets on base and can provide value on the bases and in the field would compliment the skills of most of the other players on the team. He's got to provide some slug eventually, but OTOH he is getting on base over 40% of the time. 8) Royce Lewis looks to me like he might take the step to established regular. Lewis is running well, hitting the ball hard and getting on base. The batting average is substandard, but the OPS is good. 9) I don't think I've ever seen a team face so much left handed pitching. Initial results were terrible, but then the Twins turned around and beat two of the very best lefties in MLB. 10) Health. Yes, the Twins lost Pablo in the first workout and David Festa is on the 60-day IL, but they haven't suffered any injuries in two weeks and i doubt there are many clubs that can make that claim.

So the non-catchers have actually cost the Twins a tenth of a run? Sounds about right. What is apparent is that challenges diminish framing proficiency. Also, a system that gets more calls right is good in my book. The zone is now a square and the "old automatic" on 3-0 isn't automatic, nor is the waste pitch on 0-2.

Outman made a really nice catch down the line today. I don't think Larnach makes that catch and maybe not Martin either. Outman hasn't hit since 2023 so I guess it will really surprise me if he ever hits acceptably. I didn't like the Twins carrying Keirsey Jr. last year for most of the season and I don't like seeing another left handed non-hitter on the roster.

I'd agree if the team keeps seeing 50% LH starters, but the reality is that a right handed platoon guy only ends up playing about 25-35% of the time. I think Martin's skill set would wear pretty well whether there is a lefty or righty on the mound. If Larnach is on the roster, I'd rather see him DH.

I would like to see that as well. He offers speed and on-base skills that are lacking in most of the rest of the roster.

Despite their "success" to this point, it is tough to believe too much in the bullpen. Because of that, it is easier for Shelton to go longer with his starters. I do think Shelton has done a very good job mixing and matching to get his relief pitchers through innings. Twins prospects haven't hit much and the Saints haven't won much since their Opening Weekend sweep. Here are some numbers: Jenkins .154, Gonzalez .171, Roden .243, Kreidler .214, Wagaman .121. Arcia, Culpepper and Rodriguez are doing better, but no one is knocking the door down for promotion.

My seat for today’s festivities.

Martin didn't play a full game and had a pedestrian line, but he was impactful. I thought a very key play in the first inning was Martin beating the throw on a force play, making it a bases loaded-no outs start to the inning. He foolishly challenged the first pitch of his at-bat in the first inning and he got picked off first, but he managed to stay in a rundown long enough for Buxton to score a run and he made one very nice catch in left field and made a couple of other catches look pretty easy that a slower OF might have struggled with.

Twins are 8th in MLB in runs scored despite being 22nd in batting average and 17th in OPS. It seems other teams struggle with runners on base and have trouble advancing runners. I’ll also predict that this might be a high-water mark for the season compared to the rest of MLB.

In theory it makes sense to have more than one LH bat, but the Twins don’t have anyone that is good enough to play every day that hits lefty. That guy might be at St. Paul (Rodriguez or Walker), but right now Wallner seems to be the only LH hitter that can be even okay against southpaws.

Splits against lefty pitching have improved dramatically, and they did it the hard way, by facing Framber and Skubal. I know Gleeman did a piece about how it should be expected that the team would struggle vs. lefties, but I don’t think that has to be. If the switch hitters can be average (.700-.720 OPS) and the the Twins regular RH hitters (Keaschall, Lewis, Buxton) do well when they have a platoon advantage, the Twins don’t need lefty killers to platoon. All three switch hitters are a mixed bag against LH pitching. Bell has fairly neutral splits in his career, but was lousy against lefties last year. Caratini has not hit lefties as well in his career, but last year in a small sample was better against LH pitching. Lee has always been a better LH hitter, but last year was better from the right side. Keaschall, in a small sample, hasn’t hit lefties well, but there’s no reason why he should continue to struggle in that split. Sorry if I went off on a tangent.

Twins are tied with Baltimore for the first wild card in the AL. 😀

The bullpen has been far from bulletproof, but IIRC, they are really to blame for one or two losses. Everybody has had a bad outing, but the aggregate has been better than expected (I expected disaster).

Lewis has had an interesting first twelve games. The BA is low, but he’s gotten a bunch of walks so the OBP is good. He’s driven in his fair share of runs and his OPS is a very nice .859. Lewis had about a four game lull defensively, but I think he’ll be fine at third.

Austin Martin had an interesting game. Plus—reached twice (hit and HBP), beat a throw to second on a force play (underrated play in the big first inning), one very good catch and a pretty good catch in the alley. Bad—terrible challenge on the first pitch of an at-bat in the first inning, couldn’t get a bunt down. Mixed—Picked off first, but Buxton scored in the rundown. He still hasn’t gotten an extra base hit. He really isn’t doing enough to be a full-time player, but he makes some impact.

I've got a feeling that Detroit is going to have a lot of base runners in the next three innings.

We had a poster named "Halsey Hall" who lived in Ft. Myers a couple years ago. I wonder what happened to him.

Can Ober really be successful as a jumbo sized right handed Jamie Moyer? There just doesn't seem to be much margin for error, but when he's on the black and gets good movement, he seems to be tough to hit.

Framber looks like he's finding it after the rocky first inning. The Twins had a bunch of lucky breaks in the first. To their credit, they took advantage.

I guess the question is whether he is broken. He put up really good minor league numbers with plenty of power, but stuff happens and sometimes injuries can add to adjustment problems and CES has been injured a lot in the last couple of years.

Who are these guys?