Jocko87

Si

En Español, also no.

I was wondering about the framing on that pitch. It wasn't great.

I've learned not to let my imagination loose when talking with @Riverbrian

That's not the same guy!

If it pleases the faithful, Tony Kemp has homered tonight.

No thanks, I live in Kansas now.

I can relate having grown up in western North Dakota in a time of significantly worse performing outerwear and ummm, I wore a face mask umping in 40 degrees a couple weeks ago. Without a hint of embarrassment. It's cold on that field.

I don't care how many time you watch it, it was still a perfect throw. Awkward footwork and double/triple/quadruple pumps don't matter when you hit the dot. 99.9% on Vazquez, with 0.01 chance Eddy told him in practice that he would be throwing at his head on a play at the plate. Vazquez still has to make that play.

Why on earth would he take an extra second to make a perfect throw that had a runner by 8 steps? Heavens. It's the Correa effect on the throw.

Maybe, but not because of that play.

I feel the same way about 30m in payroll. These guys suck right now.

Something like half the 40 man were first round picks.

Is an ERA+ of 343 good? Heck I'd take a third of that and call it a win.

Today I learned his name is Bryson. This is the pitching pipeline, a 6 ft 3, 220lb college guy maybe figuring it out around age 26. A solid 5 ish cost controlled years would be a huge win. He's Falveys type for sure.

Theoretically at least, a 400 inning pitcher would be incredibly valuable. Or, could still pitch on one side while Tommy Johning the other. Risk mitigation! I'd draft him.

I think emulating Martin by putting the fat part of the bat on the ball will work wonders. Martin was never going to be a power hitter but if the guys with more of a power profile get the damn bat to the ball the power will take care of itself.

I think you are probably correct that they all are on board with the moves they make as they seem to be a very cohesive unit but the hierarchy and roles are pretty distinct. Just from interviews with Rocco we know he's not involved in free agents until very late in the game but I'm sure they've talked at least in general prior to that. Falvey owns the trump card though, it doesn't matter how much Rocco and Levine are on board if he's not. Conversely, if Rocco or Levine have reservations he's probably not going to force something through. It would be out of character from what I can tell and not a great idea in general.

This makes no sense. Why are players having completely different issues and performances from career norms?

I still have questions from that players only meeting / scrapping the hitting plan time frame from last year. I kinda expected Popkins to make a graceful exit in the offseason as it seemed a direct repudiation of his program. I could also invision a scenario where he made adjustments in that period and was part of the fix. I still have the same questions about him that I've always had. He might be the most technically proficient instructor of the swing but without high level experience as a coach or player he will have blind spots. It would stand to reason that Mike Maddux would be two steps ahead on a game plan. The recent correction for Jeffers is interesting. As reported it was a slight tweak to his swing found in video reviews with Popkins. OK great, it worked, but Jeffers wasn't swinging at garbage two feet off the plate at the time. My suspicion is that Popkins is too technical and that's what's in the players heads in the game. Everything we hear is Correa elbow moved here, Buxton leg kick there. Those things are important, but you can't be thinking about it during the game. Practice, then execute. All the in game thought should be on the plan of attack for that days pitcher. It doesn't matter if your little swing change isn't quite locked in, go with what you got and work on it later. Part of the reason for my suspicion is that the game plans suck. Not just not ineffective, actively bad and counterproductive. I was an advocate for a special assistant Nellie Cruz or Molitor, insert whatever name here, as a voice that knows how to attack a pitcher and pair it with the technical data. Coaching can only do so much but bad info against 98 and you're screwed from the start.

Who's got duty on the "Does Griffen Jax need time at Cedar Rapids to work on his composure" article duty tonight? Tomorrow, on Twins Daily!

He has one inning pitched coming off the IL. I'd say some patience is warranted.

Are we going to get a doomer article for each spot on the roster? It's been a tough couple weeks, we get it.

I'm not sure that his main value was as the shortstop. If Correa goes down longterm it's Lee or Lewis at short. The value was that he can backfill anywhere to support short, as well as play it. He set the floor better than anyone available. I'm sure they tried a sign and trade but he shouldn't be surprised they were OK with keeping him at price knowing what they value. I don't care about a biased interpretation of what sources supposedly said. I listen, and didn't hear anything that would make me believe the Twins regret the move. Their price was obviously high. Farmer is also a notorious slow starter. His splits are pretty ugly first and second half.