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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    Well, it's certainly an idea that has worked well for Washington. (#1 in team SP as rated by fWAR). And yeah, I know their signing of Fister helps that number, but they've had an SP ERA every season in the low to mid 3s for the last half decade- largely made up of guys called up between 20 and 24, even with added FAs that hasn't worked out as well as Fister has. And Miami has one of the most promising and very young staffs in all of baseball. Something is wrong with the Twins drafting philosophy and/or developmental program, if all we have to show for budding young (24 and under) starting hurlers in the same time frame as Washington is the likes of Nick Blackburn and Anthony Swarzak.
  2. jokin
    No doubt that was the Twins' plan, but after his performance in ST, and the evidence of early promotions as listed above, it's very debatable if that would have been the Nats' plan.
  3. jokin
    This is a much more apt description than hitting the panic button about his inability to go deep into games. The Twins themselves admitted that all along, Meyer was on a preventive-health maintenance plan this season, the only goal of which was to get him through a season of scheduled innings without a shutdown. It takes years for the super-tall guys to refine and harness their deliveries, and as we've seen, he occasionally goes completely off the reservation with his control. Plus, he spent the year learning a new 3rd pitch.
  4. jokin
    I don't think there's any doubt that Meyer would have been up, probably in 2013, everyone knows about Strasburg at age 20 and Zimmerman at age 23 getting the early call up that phenoms deserve, but consider these lesser talents than Meyer, who were already starting games for the Nats over the last seven years: Shairon Martis 21 Detwiler 21 Lannan 22 Peacock 23 Balester 23 Atilano 24 Jordan 24 and last but not least, our very own Tommy Milone 24 That's a total of 10 Starting Pitchers called up by the Nats in the last 7 years, and before Meyer's current age. And I'm sure there are many more call-ups of younger Relief Pitchers, as well.
  5. jokin
    Nope, but for irrelevant teams, it's the next closest thing.
  6. jokin
    On-base machine Tanner English@ E-Town, probably deserving of an Honorable Mention: .274/.424/.411 OPS .825 Future gettin-after-it scrapper up the organizational chain? Was playing with, and through an injury during August, and this was actually a drop from his season line: .322/.438/.479/.918 If his glove plays well, maybe a future 4th OF depth guy?
  7. jokin
    Because that statement has been demonstrably shown to be incorrect. By age 28, the average player is already in their decline phase- and I would suspect even moreso- for the 15 players on the Rochester and New Britain rosters. Look at what the 5 older players who were back and forth from Rochester have contributed to the Twins this season (Fryer, Cola, Florimon, Johnson, Pino).
  8. jokin
    I"m not certain why you would assume something like that. Calling up a top prospect in a losing season is really elementary for many teams- look at the Cubs. Further, Ryan has stated that Santana is now the long-term heir apparent at SS, which leaves Polanco possibly looking for a position to play two years from now. And since there is no other full-time playing option available right now, what's the objection to having Polanco up with the Twins, again? Every day, every minute, that Polanco can train and play at this level can be of potential benefit to him for when he finally is ready for the full-time major league gig.
  9. jokin
    And there's no reason that Polanco can not be additional depth at 2nd, 3rd and SS. Dozier and Plouffe can still play at close to their regular schedules, just sneak Polanco into games in the last 3 innings or so, just like in Spring Training. His "struggles" at AA? .281/.323/.342 in 39 games hardly suggest that he needed to be shut down for the season at a risk of losing his swagger. IMO, he is at the age, coupled with the stage of his development, where he would best benefit by getting as many reps at possible, at the highest level available. Once the Twins put him on the major league roster, the clock was now ticking on his career track. Unless, we're now suggesting that he is hereby officially "blocked" by Escobar and Santana for the next 5 years.
  10. jokin
    Lots of other players to evaluate, but let's be honest, not much upside in most of these evaluations. And what's wrong with Polanco getting in games 4-5 times a week at various infield positions to pick up some late-inning reps and PAs, just like in Spring Training? (FWIW, I saw Polanco in Cedar Rapids in 2013 after Buxton was promoted, and he looked like the one "major leaguer" among the position players, so yes, he deserves being on the fast track). As Glunn stated, in any capacity this month, it can only help a kid like Polanco to keep taking it all in at the highest possible level, like a sponge.
  11. jokin
    Yep, the cupboard is pretty barren of anything but very marginal major league quality, at both AA and AAA, The exceptions, a couple sure-fire starter prospects (Meyer and Berrios), a few relievers and maybe a starter or two that show some promise, and very little else, if anything, with the exception of Polanco, and probably still Rosario, if he gets his act together in the AFL, but they now look like 2016 debuts, at best. Meanwhile, AAAA-ness abounds at both levels. A total of 15 players between the two levels that are age 28 or older. (7 of 13 Roc. position players age 28 or more, for a total of 10 in all- by comparison, the Twins major league 25-man roster has 12 players over age 28). Hopefully the wave coming up from Ft Myers in 2015, plus Sano and Buxton, clears away much of the roster detritus at the upper levels.
  12. jokin
    I disagree about Polanco. The guy is absorbing baseball acumen like a sponge and appears major league savvy well beyond his youthful age. They should have kept him playing part-time with the big club, getting a few reps at 2nd, 3rd and SS, while serving notice and challenging the current lineup to not get too complacent about their spots, as Polanco continues assembling the building blocks towards his very bright future.
  13. jokin
    Here, here! It seems a September call-up would have been the natural progression for Polanco based off of his terrific 2014.... setting him up nicely for a possible scenario of starting out in AA, then a bump to AAA in 2015, with a possible call-up before season's end next year. I don't get calling up a guy who will be Thirty-Five Years of Age next year, particularly at the expense of a budding 21-year old, who has already shown major league savvy and aptitude....and may very well be a key building block in the rebuild. Call up Bernier as a reward for loyal and outstanding AAAA-level service, fine, but his time in September should be mostly limited to a front row seat in the dugout.
  14. jokin
    Bernier's reward should be a decent seat in the Twins dugout. Not sure that every pitching option was explored fully. Unless something's physically wrong, why isn't Pryor up?.... and Polanco should have been included.. no question that he's earned, and would benefit from another call-up. Even with a crowded infield, he could have subbed in, in late inning situations, at multiple positions.
  15. jokin

    May 8/29

    jokin commented on Secondary User's blog entry in Twins Pitch Breakdown

    Correction, in the 4th inning, It was a hit, then 2 HBP, K of Delmon, and then the walk to Hardy. (Losing Hardy was the crusher to May getting out of the jam, he has a paltry BB% of 4.7% and this year is an extremely high percentage, GB/IFFB hitter).
  16. jokin
    I may have missed the announcement, but Aaron Slegers was doing well in Ft Myers until his last outing on August 16. And now I see him on the GCL Twins roster. Is there any report of an injury, disciplinary action, etc. The move seems unusual assuming he's not on a rehab assignment and I hadn't heard that he's gone on the DL. Any word?
  17. jokin
    Here, here, Doc... I too, have been clamoring for hiring a veteran Latin hitting coach for years- and whoever has been coaching Vargas' approach, Latin or Anglo, deserves mention in terms of Kennys' quality approach. But based on this evening's Gardy post-game presser, he and his lieutenants are having a hard enough time communicating and relating better with the Anglo 2nd baseman on precisely when and how to move closer in to the infield during a shift and with a runner on 2nd base (according to Gardy, tonight's occurrence in the 8th inning was the second time it's happened with the player in question, and he was obviously frustrated that his directions weren't being followed properly).
  18. jokin
    The pitching quality definitely improves in AA, but the FSL park conditions make for the worst possible minor league in terms of run production and home run production and next to worst in hits/game, the former 2 areas are where Walker excels most. The Cedar Rapids park in the Midwest League was an absolute launching pad compared to Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, yet ABW is close to matching his 2013 HR total. By contrast the Eastern League ranks near the middle for runs per game and hits per game, and is right in the middle for HR/game. I'd say there's at least a decent chance that Walker can actually increase his overall production in the EL, particularly with the power-packed lineup that projects to start out the season in New Britain. No doubt, the frightening, and steadily increasing K rate will be telling in the long run, but Walker has these other areas to consider that could mitigate some of Walker's main underlying problem to his game. Baseball America has an excellent mathematical analysis on park factors and aggregate minor league variations from league to league in terms of offense: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/season-preview/2013/2614870.html
  19. jokin
    Well yes, those two, and Zach Jones should also have a shot, if it's a reliever for that fourth slot. Assuming he's fully healthy now, he's one that can clearly use the innings.
  20. jokin
    Turner's season is a little misleading. If you throw out his absolutely horrendous April- where he had a debut month that even Aaron Hicks couldn't imagine in his own worst nightmare, he's actually having a pretty good offensive season in the pitch-happy Florida State League: April Slash line: .182/.239/.212/.452 ISO .030 OPS+ 37 May-August line: .266/.345/.411/.756 ISO .145 OPS+ 117 By contrast, the top OPS+ by any catcher in the FSL (with over 250 PAs) is 127.
  21. jokin
    Phil Miller updated the situation on the AFL picks today, in a summation that took more page space than the game summary of the Twins walk-off loss to KC. Mike Radcliff was the source for some in-depth commentary on the big announcement and the Burdi snafu: This explanation invites more questions than it answers. Such as.... 1) How did the Salt River team know to post Burdi to their roster? 2) Dustin Morse made the official announcement online, sans Burdi. Exactly when was he officially removed from the remaining spot?... and more importantly, why? 3) If the three pitchers that did make the cut are "serious candidates to be in Mpls. soon", where does that leave "only one of several candidates", Nick Burdi? http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/272818871.html
  22. jokin
    You are correct, sir.
  23. jokin
    And ensuing confusion reigns for all Twins fans offline. Seems like this could have been handled a little better.
  24. jokin
    I think we agree with the Twins apparent conclusion that he probably isn't a ML SS, but you still haven't made the case of how he gets into a game. Dozier, presumably, is going to be playing virtually every day at 2nd until at least 2019. Escobar, Nunez, and the other utility candidates will have to have moved on, or Michael has to outplay/outproject the other comers to get the utility role
  25. jokin
    Yes, I called for it earlier. Combined with his Louisville college numbers, he's only thrown 53 innings this year. And his numbers and stuff indicate he's as close to a finished product as a relief pitcher coming out of college as is humanly possible. Isn't the 7th AFL guy kind of a swing roster player, anyway...?... ie., just there to fill in when someone else isn't available. I doubt whatever few innings he throws would be deleterious to his pitching health, and on the positive side, it might give him a chance to match up with some of the best prospect hitters who are knocking at the major league door.
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