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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    Here're two videos just released: Pretty impressive looking at this stage of his rehab.
  2. jokin
    Good points, all. So long story short, how do Michael's arm and glove currently project as a major league SS? And the players you mentioned didn't pan out very well to draw trade interest.. If Micheal maintains his hitting tool at his current pace, he might raise more interest in trade, especially if he can stick at SS. The Twins, based on where he played this year, currently "seem" to put him behind Polanco, Goodrum, Mejia, Bernier, Florimon. By 2016, most every name on that list will be in the discussion about a 2016 SS roster spot, and the utility spot is equally cluttered in that time frame- perhaps that is the role that the Twins are inviting him to shoot for.
  3. jokin
    Jeremy, is there an updated opinion on Michael's arm and glove? If he's really off of playing SS the whole season, as it now appears likely and deep behind the SS depth chart behind Polanco, Goodrum, et al, there really is no place for him with the Twins short of a utility role, which the Twins seem to be currently rich in those type of players anyway. If true, that would seem to cast doubt on Michael going to the AFL. I guess we'll find out shortly, but I gotta think that Michael is prime prospect throw-in bait for a trade for other areas of need.
  4. jokin
    Yep. A minor correction....his BB/K is actually 10/10, but still, a matching 9.1% rate for K% and BB% is quite good, considering the fact that his ISO during this 28 game run continues to climb, now @ .182 with 12 XBHs. Seth is still convinced that Max will have to repeat A+ starting out 2015, but, he's on the 40-man roster, and as you noted, there's lack of organizational depth at corner OF. I have to think he gets one of the AFL spots amidst all of the very deserving Twins prospects, especially if Buxton isn't cleared to play. Assuming Kepler does well there and then gets the nod to New Britain next year, this leaves a very good chance that, assuming Buxton and Sano begin the season there, the Rock Cats could start legitimate prospects at every field position to open the 2015 season. Add the downright scary bullpen that it shapes up to possibly becoming....imagine if you will, 6-7 strikeout machines on the same staff.... Burdi, Zach Jones, Peterson, Van Steensel, Wimmers, Johnson (and Jake Reed looks like he's a level too low in Cedar Rapids). Taken together with a decent-to-good starting staff, that might be the best minor league team in 2015, at any level.
  5. jokin
    Thanks, Seth! Great to hear your opinion on Kepler, I'm not sure whose spot in the outfield he could take away in New Britain but assuming Buxton is in CF full-time, Rosario splits time in the OF and 2B with Michael (and maybe Harrison?), Kepler should have a shot at splitting time between a corner OF spot and 1B with the Rock Cats, especially if he keeps up his current pace to season's end and has a strong showing in the fall. It seems that Sano and Polanco will likely start out there, as well, and perhaps Walker could also split time in the OF and DH. If Turner also gets promoted, you could actually sport an entire starting lineup of legitimate MLB prospects and not any filler (mostly place holders currently in New Britain, presumably some of them move up to AAA or released). The minor league forum on TD is the place to hang out these days for big-picture positive Twins news, and all of your efforts are hugely appreciated.
  6. jokin
    Seth, in addition to your usual off-season prospect rankings, are you going to do a special piece on the Who? What? and Why? on the September Instructionals? And after that, a projection on who plays where in the system in 2015. Do you have a good feel for where Kepler starts out in 2015? New Britain looks to be sporting an incredible lineup, decent-to-great starting pitching, and a downright scary bullpen.
  7. jokin
    Max Kepler is making a serious bid in turning the corner on his professional career. In his last 26 games he's now hitting with a .341 BA, a .516 SLG and a .928 OPS. On the first stretch of this run, Max was mostly hitting singles, but he's added 10 XBH in August (6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 HR).... and in the process, his LD% has jumped to 28.3%, while his K% is half of his season average before this run, with an ISO of .176. Before this run, I was convinced he'd have to repeat High-A. It appears he's going to make it hard for the Twins to hold him back. Next year's team at New Britain looks to be freaking frighteningly good. And best of all, all of these prospects will, finally, only be one phone call away from the Twins.
  8. jokin
    I don't know if it's specifically health/training-methodology-related, but the Twins have frequently drafted/traded for pitchers out of the same schools. And perhaps the heavy emphasis on drafting all of these college RPs of late is also a reaction to the heightened risks in drafting the typical over-stressed college arm. And it was well-documented that Stewart was heavily restricted from throwing his "out" pitch, the slider, this season.
  9. jokin
    Pretty encouraging start for Meyer. 10 Ks and ZERO BBs to a Buffalo team that has the second best K% in the IL and the 3rd best BB rate. 62 strikes thrown and only 27 balls called. For the season, he now has a K/9 of 10.87, which if the season ended today, would be the highwater season mark for his professional career. 11 pitches, 11 strikes, 3 Ks in the first inning on 3 pitches apiece (unfortunately, that inning began with a Mastro HR on a an 0-1 count). In the 6th and final inning for Alex, Meyer quickly struck out the first two men up, before running into a little control trouble, throwing a total of 23 pitches in the inning and working a couple of 3 ball counts, forcing him to come in with a hittable pitch in each instance. In giving up 8 hits tonight, I would speculate that Meyer's #1a and #1b priorities for the game was NO WALKS and "managing the pitch count", and in the process, experimenting in finding the right mix and balance of pitches in and out of the zone to maximize both Ks and weak contact. And he did have quite a few ABs that ended as quickly as the ones in his July Futures game appearance at Target Field, so, until the 6th inning, Mission Accomplished! Hopefully, he builds on tonight's performance right quick the next time out. He now sits at 123.1 IP, which only leaves him with maybe a projected 20 to 30 innings left in his quiver- with presumably 2 more starts with Rochester to eat up a significant chunk of those innings. Alas, the call-up to the Twins seems out of the picture, especially if the Red Wings make the playoffs.
  10. jokin
    As a former #1 pick, I hope he can end up being a little more than Beresford.
  11. jokin
    It really becomes a game-changer if Santana proves to be more than just a flash in the pan and continues his hitting prowess, even at a more sustainable level in 2015, and just as importantly, proves acceptably competent at SS- which is why I think it behooves the Twins to give him the bulk of the starts at the position in September and finally get some consistent big league reps.
  12. jokin
    You're work is much appreciated, JC, no matter the venue.
  13. jokin
    Burdi and Zack Jones first time together to shut things down in Florida in the 8th and 9th. Hopefully a prelude of things to come in Minnesota in the near future.
  14. jokin
    Promotion missing in report: Jorge Polanco from Ft Myers to New Britain. Also, you mentioned 6 pitchers promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft Myers, I only saw 5 listed. Other than that, excellent report.
  15. jokin
    Based on this interview, Arteaga's obvious depth of understanding of the pitching aspects of the game, his successes- both developmentally and on-the-field results- with the club, his strong bilingual communication skills, plus his relationship to Jake Mauer the last couple of seasons doesn't hurt... taken as a whole, it seems to bode well for his Twins future.
  16. jokin
    Thanks Seth. You and SD are very helpful in learning about the man being more than just a name on the program. He's still relatively young (44), would you consider Ivan a comer for the Twins? Obviously, the need for good bilingual communicators in the organization is only going to continue to increase. Here's a link to Arteaga's splendid interview with "Jim Crikket": http://knuckleballsblog.com/2014/08/12/ivan-arteaga-on-change-ups-sliders-and-curves/
  17. jokin
    Good stuff, JC. Out of curiosity, in reading your interview (and BTW, great interview on your blog) with Arteaga, the man was incredibly insightful on the subject of the history of pitch selection and the effect of specific pitches on young arms. How would you grade his job with all of the great pitching coming through Cedar Rapids the last couple years, and how good is his English?.... the interview gives the impression that he's also a great communicator, as does the Hu-dini pun, very clever. (On the English matter, how is Hu's grasp of the language?).
  18. jokin
    ISWYDT and I approve..
  19. jokin
    You may not want that, but I think it's a bit presumptuous to assume the "we" part of your statement... and it comes down to your presumption of a "pretty stark line", it seems the facts argue against how "stark" that line in the sand actually is. (just off the top of my head, Kirk Gibson HR in the '88 World Series, Michael Jordan's playoff flu game in '97... Brett Favre started 297 consecutive games, most of which he played with multiple injuries, and who can forget the beating he took against the, with-criminal-intent-to- harm, New Orleans Saints, in the NFC title game). The fact is, some guys have much higher pain thresholds than others. Re: Kurt Suzuki has continued to perform at a high level, despite taking a beating behind and at the plate this season, that other players are unable to tolerate, and thus, play with effectively.
  20. jokin
    Giancarlo Stanton is the gold standard. I don't think that Arcia will ever match Stanton's bat, and obviously, his glove, but it's an extreme overreaction to characterize him as "not good at all". Given his rapid rise through the Twins system, his ML numbers at such a young age show the promise of potential multiple 35 HR, 130-140 OPS+ seasons as he reaches his peak years in his late 20s.
  21. jokin
    To take this one step further, Ortiz got his first 615 PAs over his first four seasons, along with trips to the minors, 1997-2000 (All Star break), ages 21-24: Here are his numbers in that time frame vs. Arcia (with 649 PAs over two seasons), ages 22-23: Ortiz: BA- .263 SLG- .425 OPS- .784 ISO- .162 HR- 10 XBH- 54 Arcia: BA- .240 SLG- .427 OPS- .730 ISO- .187 HR- 25 XBH- 57
  22. jokin
    The only video I saw in the story was of the Rodriguez HR.
  23. jokin
    Thanks so much for all of these vids, JC. I really like Reed's swagger. Here's a video that won't embed, but is definitely worth a viewing click, Rosario's No-hitter-saving catch last night against the CF wall: http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=35429195&sid=milb
  24. jokin
    I'd say he's more than earned his cup of coffee.
  25. jokin
    Excellent analysis, and really, your last 3 paragraphs sums up perceptions of Mauer's career in a nutshell- the guy is really a human Rorschach test for how a baseball superstar is perceived by the broad public. The way he effortlessly crushed the HR to RF in the KC series comes to mind, and leaves one wondering if he would be willing to adjust his approach more often.... he even acknowledged in the postgame that he made a simple adjustment to look to do just that. Analysis of Mauer within the context of "doing more" will no doubt occupy baseball statheads for years to come, but for now, have a look at 2 spraycharts of Mauer and another Twin during their very best 17-game stretch of that particular season: http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/charts/gen/4080452014061720140815AAAAAspray-chart.png http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/charts/gen/4657532013050820130528AAAAAspray-chart.png Yes. Mauer's is Image #1, and the 2 most-pulled hits on the chart came this week (hope for a change afoot?), but though it doesn't rsemble, pulled-ball-wise, Image #2, it bears much too close a resemblance, outfield-distance-wise, to the Twins' former #9-hole punch-and-Judy-on-his-very-best-day hitter, one Pedro Florimon, who as the chart illustrates, somehow managed to pull two homeruns in May, 2013, on the way to a 9 HR season. Image #1 also clearly illustrates your point about the OF and IF shifts against Mauer, LFers have been hugging the line on him all season, with the CF shading heavily to left. Even DicknBert have occasionally talked about the yawning gap between the CFer and RFer. Meanwhile, one IF is almost always positioned to take away Joe's patented GB single back through the box.
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