Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

stringer bell

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    21,409

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    95

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Lovelady did very well for the Saints. He was released because he activated his contract opt-out. Perhaps a mistake to let him go?
  2. stringer bell
    I like the lineup. I think it's the best they can do with their roster vs. a RH pitcher. Get some walks and bunch some hits, score seven or more and let Paddack cruise.
  3. stringer bell
    I am with Lewis where I was with Buxton two year ago--I doubt that he can sustain health for anything resembling a full season. Royce wasn't able to sprint after returning from the IL and reinjured the same hamstring running out a double. I don't know how he can become the player he looked like when he debuted. I was wrong on Buxton. I thought the knee and hip maladies would keep him from being close to maximum for the rest of his career, but he's shown elite speed and acceleration this year. I hope I'm wrong about Lewis, but each IL stint tells me he'll never be really free of lower body injuries.
  4. stringer bell
    This is all speculation on the far less than sure thing that Gasper really can hit major league pitching. If he is a .750-.800 OPS hitter, he is an improvement over Bader, Clemens (another guy we can speculate about), Vázquez and just about anyone else on the roster. Moving people around to give him a chance can be done and not having Bader strike out four times would be nice. If Mickey Gasper can't hit and is given another 75 at bats, at least he was given a chance. I'm sure McCusker would want the same and so would Keirsey. They all are too old to be prospects who have done good things in the minors. That until this weekend all three of those guys were in St. Paul says that the front office doesn't think they can be productive hitters. They're probably right, but raking in AAA is all Gasper (and McCusker) can do. Rewarding them with a fair shot would be nice, but we know life and baseball isn't fair.
  5. stringer bell
    Disagree. Switch hitting Gasper would have the platoon advantage all the time. The Twins have played Bader a lot against RH pitching and could swap in Gasper for him. They could give France a day off occasionally as well as Buxton or Correa and get a platoon advantage in the mix. There really is no good time to use Bride. There would be many times to use Gasper (all predicated on him hitting acceptably).
  6. stringer bell
    He's getting many more opportunities this year. It only makes sense to rest him and Larnach against lefties--look at the numbers, but they are being pinch hit for far less often and getting occasional starts vs. southpaws.
  7. stringer bell
    I agree, but if Bride is on the roster, when is he going to play? If you check my posts, you will see that I don't think Bride should be on the roster.
  8. stringer bell
    For you young 'uns that can't remember Camilo, he was an elite pitcher for about half a decade ending with injury in '65. Two of the best curve balls ever belonged to Pascual and Bert Blyleven. Pascual led the league in strikeouts in '61-'63, led the league in complete games and shutouts three times each and won 20 games for the Twins in '62 and '63. I believe Pascual and Jerry Koosman are two of the most underappreciated ex-Twins to have played here. Both had career WAR over 40, Koosman won over 200 games and had over 2000 strikeouts, but he wasn't Tom Seaver.
  9. stringer bell
    Looking at Lee's stats for the season, given that he was on the IL to start--projecting his 208 PAs to full-time play (about 600 plate appearances), he would hit .267, 21 homers and 75 RBI. Pretty close to what team leader Carlos Santana put up last year. Of course, Lee won't get that many at-bats because of his early injury.
  10. stringer bell
    I've said it a few times, but Bride and his reverse splits don't fit this roster. He's getting platoon starts at third, but he is more effective against right handed pitching. He's something like 0-24 right now. No offense and capable, but replaceable defense isn't good enough. Maybe Jonah Bride is one of the top 30 or so third basemen in MLB. Probably not, but playing him in a short side platoon where he has weaker splits isn't giving him the best chance to succeed. The Fish were totally out of the race when he got close to full-time run late last year and he hit very well. Maybe he could do the same again, but as a platoon player he is close to worthless.
  11. stringer bell
    Yet another lefty. I bet Wallner, Clemens and Larnach are getting sick of this. Another start for Bride, ugh. Please prove me wrong Jonah.🥵
  12. stringer bell
    A singles hitter hitting .270-.290 is Luis Arraez this year. Arraez is hitting .274 and has a -0.2 WAR.
  13. stringer bell
    First of all, Lee's "hot streak" hasn't really been all that hot. Yes, he's hit in 15 straight games, but prior to Sunday, he was 18-56 with four extra base hits and a .345 OBP. Not exactly Player of the Week or Month production. That said, he's improved his numbers so that he is roughly an average hitter on the year (96 OPS+). I think he is improving at swinging at pitches he can handle and hitting the ball harder, which would naturally improve his BABiP. A guy who can handle three infield spots capably and is a league average hitter isn't bad. He just isn't a star. The tools he has seem to indicate that his ceiling isn't much higher than capable big league regular. He doesn't have good foot speed or a really strong arm. The lower than average swing speed suggests he won't hit for big power. He's getting his shot this year and is apparently healthy. He's a lot better player than last year and still improving. Not a front page success story, but not a disappointment either.
  14. stringer bell
    I think you just made the case for Gasper over Bride and that is the case I would make.
  15. stringer bell
    I agree that Keirsey makes sense as a 13th guy who pinch runs and plays defense and it is made possible by the versatility provided by Castro, Clemens, Gasper, Lee and Bader. The other 12 guys can get basically all the at-bats and use Keirsey 95-99% of the time as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. With the current roster, Gasper could get at-bats taking a game each from Vázquez, Lee (vs. LH pitching), France and Bader, and perhaps Clemens with possibilities of resting Buxton and Correa on one day in the course of two weeks. Bride just doesn't fit, with his reverse splits for a right handed bat and his hitting has been poor since a quick start with the team. I would think consistent at-bats could be had for Gasper that shouldn't be given to Bride.
  16. stringer bell
    In theory that makes sense. Holland has foot speed and would project to be a decent fielder, maybe better than that, but you gotta hit or you're Billy Hamilton without the game-changing speed. With offense down considerably, there's little room for a position player who hits like Keirsey (or Gasper in his < 100 PAs so far) and it would appear that Holland would be that type of hitter. Gasper has hit equally as well as McCusker (another guy too old to really be a prospect) at Triple A and did it last year as well. He doesn't have the red flags that McCusker has (strikeouts and chase rate). The next level may well be a bridge too far, but it is also possible that he could thrive given 100 at bats. Talent evaluation and projection aren't perfected and finding someone out of nowhere could be a big help to a club. That could be Gasper, it could be McCusker or it could be someone else they find.
  17. stringer bell
    Okay, probably a long post here, but here goes. Gasper's 39 plate appearances over about 40 games isn't really a fair shot. The same could be said for Keirsey and especially McCusker. Keirsey has the advantage of having two skills that play in the major leagues--speed and defense. It is understandable that he was recalled before Gasper. Giving the 29 year old one chance to play consistently makes sense given what he has done at the AAA level. He's hit well at every level below MLB and has raked every bit as much as anyone in the Twins organization, even McCusker. Mickey reminds me of a guy who played in the late 90s and early 00s for the Blue Jays and Rangers--Frank Catalanotto. He really didn't have a defensive position, could run a little bit, but he could hit. He maxed out well above .300 in a high-offense era. Gasper also might manage to do the same. Maybe he could be a .270-.290 hitter with a good OBP. That would make him valuable enough to have a spot on the major league roster. If he could add power as he has been producing at Triple A, he could be in the equation for plenty of at-bats. That is a couple of huge "ifs" but not totally beyond the realm of possibility. If he can't produce extra-base power, he would have to hit for an extremely high average. The last season plus Luis Arraez has hit well over .300 and has a WAR of less the 1.0 with similar defense and speed tools. The Twins need hitting without question and adding Gasper for Bride would give Gasper a shot. They have enough guys struggling that if he hit, the team could provide at least platoon PAs until Luke Keaschall or Lewis is ready. It's a long shot that he would make a substantial contribution, but he couldn't be much less useful than Jonah Bride has been for the Twins.
  18. stringer bell
    Gasper has absolutely nothing to prove at AAA. Two straight years of putting up OPS north of 1.000 is more than 99% of prospects achieve. Clemens can be the third third baseman (behind switch hitters Lee and Castro) so there's really no real reason to keep Bride around at the expense of Gasper. I also know that Gasper has caught a handful of games for the Saints and I've watched a couple of those games. Much like a good home plate ump, he didn't do much that was noticeable, which tells me he could be acceptable behind the dish if he hit in line with his Triple A stats (subtract 200 OPS points). People who know baseball and catching much better than I do might have seen red flags in his receiving, but they weren't evident to me. It's probably now or never for Mickey, at least in the Twins organization.
  19. stringer bell
    Defensively and on the bases, 2023 was Willi’s best year. I hope his hitting continues, but I miss the guy who stole 33 bases and played above average defense.
  20. stringer bell
    On the Durán question, I forgot the Twins had a day off today which makes the pulling of SWR and use of Varland and Stewart more of a good call IMHO and no one including Durán would be unavailable in Cincy. I’m much more inclined to agree that pulling starters after 5 innings and using four relievers is a gamble because a clunker from any can lose the game. Altuve is probably going to the Hall of Fame. He looked bad on earlier at bats, but made contact in the ninth inning that sparked a win. Good on him. I actually was hoping he’d walk to set up the DP with less than great hitters behind him. Maybe the Twins were trying to make Altuve hit their pitch. If it was the plan it didn’t work out.
  21. stringer bell
    At one point this season (probably during or just after the big winning streak) the Twins ranked above average in base running (runs above average) and defense (defensive runs saved). I’d venture a guess that isn’t true now, but it is an illustration that the Twins “don’t care” about defense or base running. In these two categories running speed is a key component and the Twins managed to be above the mean with a major lack of team spee I imagine 20-25 major league fan bases are convinced their team plays horrible defense and is full of bad base runners. We Twins fans see the flaws in the players we follow and not the opponents. I’ll say it over and over, the lack of foot speed and range is real and makes it very hard to be good at defense and base running. Having good running speed is no guarantee (Austin Martin last year) but not having average speed lowers the ceiling dramatically. It’s about margin of error and slow runnners with usually with limited range have a smaller margin of error on defense and on the bases. Some are better at reaching that ceiling (Carlos Santana last year, Ty France this year) but their best isn’t the what someone with better athletic gifts can attain. Since Nelson Cruz the Twins haven’t had a basher who took away team deficiencies by slugging and with a comparative popgun attack, the margins are smaller and the flaws look worse. I’d love to see 2-4 additional players who can consistently win games with their legs, gloves and bats added to Buxton snd Correa and that Emma isn’t here and Jenkins has wasted a third of his season and Keaschall broke his arm makes me feel like the organization is snakebit. Every time somebody rises above they seem to get knocked down (Royce Lewis).
  22. stringer bell
    When you’re going good, you get hits like Altuve’s in crucial situations. Provus has been banging the BA w/ RISP drum for a month, but during this tough stretch, they’re awful. That’s baseball and Rocco isn’t any smarter or stupider than when they won 13 in a row. It may seem like it, but things even out. I fear a continuation of this brutal and luckless baseball will cause a selloff at the trade deadline. I don’t really like accumulating lottery tickets, but that’s the likely scenario.
  23. stringer bell
    Even with the spate of strikeouts in the last week, the Twins are right in the middle of K rate and total strikeouts. They aren’t the same team as 2019 or 2023. In 2019 they were the most prodigious home run hitting club in their history and in 2023 they set the all-time K record, but still managed to be above average in run production.
  24. stringer bell
    Hindsight says that his call to take SWR out couldn’t have worked out much better. The setup guys got the game to Durán with a lead and only three hitters above the minimum. Maybe it effects Woods Richardson’s psyche (I doubt it) and maybe it leaves the BP shorter for the next game (it does), but for winning the game on Sunday it was the right call and could not have worked out better.
  25. stringer bell
    The Twins don’t have the personnel to go hyper-aggressive on the base paths. They need to be selectively aggressive and take advantage of other team’s shortcomings. Buxton is the only player whose success percentage is high enough to steal in a close-and-late situation. Anyone else that would attempt would have to choose the right pitch and situation. Most of the Twins’ relievers don’t hold runners that well (Jax might be an exception) and running on Durán and Stewart is pretty easy. I’ve been calling for more team speed for a long time. It seems they have it in the lower minors, but not where they can get help now.
×
×
  • Create New...