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jmlease1

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jmlease1 last won the day on March 13

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About jmlease1

  • Birthday 10/15/1973

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  1.    Richie the Rally Goat reacted to a post in a topic: The Twins' Pitching Philosophy Is at War With Itself
  2.    rdehring reacted to a post in a topic: Austin Martin, Brooks Lee, and a Changing Developmental Blueprint
  3.    rdehring reacted to a post in a topic: Austin Martin, Brooks Lee, and a Changing Developmental Blueprint
  4. jmlease1
    Meh. Not excited about the idea of converting starters to relievers earlier in their careers before they've proven that they can't start. Yes, the bullpen this season is a mess and it's a self-inflicted wound, but it's still harder to find starters and quality ones are more valuable. Beyond that they get injured frequently and you always need reinforcements (as has been proven this season as well). Does anyone really believe that Raya would be thriving as a reliever if they'd made him one back in AA rather than continuing to try him in the rotation until he struggled at AAA? Would we be happier with Matthews or Rojas already in the bullpen, or would we be complaining about the shortage of starters if another guy goes down for a few weeks? The problem is they stripped down the bullpen to almost nothing at the deadline, and then did nothing of substance to rebuild it in the offseason. They spent their self-imposed budget limit more on the lineup and put little to no resources on the bullpen, despite it being a gaping hole. This was always the most likely scenario. But if they can ID a couple of guys as pieces this season (Klein, Morris, Matthews, Festa, Funderburk are contenders) and actually spend a little money for next season then they should be back to a functional bullpen. I'm glad to see Rojas looking impactful, because if he busts while Varland keeps being a high impact arm....
  5. jmlease1
    Congrats to John Klein on his debut. Glad to finally see him up here to see what he can do and have another guy in the bullpen who can throw 95+. I do believe that you can rebuild a bullpen on the cheap, using converted starters, guys you collect from the DFA line, etc...but you have to be willing to actually churn them, not keep sending them out there when they look rotten, or convince yourself that one or two decent outings in the middle of 4 bad ones is the true worth. I don't think the Twins really know how to churn the veterans with the young guys to figure out who can hack it with any kind of speed. The rotation at least looks to be in good hands, but it's already gotten old to see the game be competitive for 5-6 innings and know that the bullpen is more likely than not to cough it up. Prielipp may have given up a couple of big flies but he also limited the damage and did well to get through 5 effective innings. New career high for pitches: 91. He's doing ok. Glad to see him healthy. Lineup didn't do itself any favors; they've been at their best scoring runs when they're taking walks and they made it too easy on Cease.
  6.    DocBauer reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (5/1): The Doubles Machine and The Streak
  7.    glunn reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (5/1): The Doubles Machine and The Streak
  8.    Dman reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (5/1): The Doubles Machine and The Streak
  9. jmlease1
    did bot have SWR as the clear weakest link in the rotation on my dance card, but it is what it is. He needs to dig in and start figuring it out because he's the only one who isn't holding up his end of the bargain right now. Too hittable, too homer-happy, and not finishing off enough hitters with a K. His first 2 outings were solid enough, so I have to wonder if he's fighting something? 10 hits and 2 BB should push across more than 3 runs, but 1-5 with RISP and Buck was the only non-single. Martin continues to impress with his ability to get on base, and nice to see Lee provide a spark at the bottom of the lineup. But Caratini is in a massive slump right now (his last 2 weeks have been dreadful) and Keaschall still isn't producing anything.
  10.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Blue Jays 7, Twins 3: Byron Buxton Blast Not Enough to Overcome Avian Outburst
  11. jmlease1
    Like seeing Jenkins hitting doubles like this. It feels like a sign that he's got his swing working. I'm confident that more power will come, and if he's ripping doubles like this you'll start seeing it more and more without adding in too much swing and miss. His plate discipline has stayed good even when he's struggled a bit. Really the only question left for him is whether or not he's going to hit LHP; he was passable in 2025, not great in 2024 and so far this season he's getting murdered. Bummer about Rodriguez; hopefully it's minor and somewhat precautionary because he'd been looking like he was near a call-up. Diaw is on an impressive heater. Good for him. Need to see his bat click, especially if they want him to keep catching. DeBarge continues to be in a real hole and having a rotten week. 3-23 with 1 BB, 8 K's, and no xbhs is pretty dire, and he might be a candidate to get demoted at this rate. Yuck.
  12.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (5/1): The Doubles Machine and The Streak
  13.    Linus reacted to a post in a topic: Austin Martin, Brooks Lee, and a Changing Developmental Blueprint
  14. jmlease1
    I don't understand the argument that the homers that a player hits don't actually matter. We'll see where Lee ends up and whether or not what he's currently doing is sustainable, but he's increased his triple slash in every category; this isn't just improvement by boosting the SLG and nothing else. Right now he's not a black hole 80% at the plate (in fact, he's never been a black hole 80% of the time; even in his first season he had an OBP of .265, so at worst he could have only been a "black hole" 73% of the time...) and it's not just been the last 10 days that have put him there. It is funny to hear Lee compared to Gallo: they're so unalike at the plate it's hilarious. Gallo was a very selective hitter who swung very hard, missed a lot, but also made very hard contact when he did connect. Lee swings a lot more, doesn't swing nearly as hard, makes a lot more weak contact, but also still puts up higher batting averages. If Lee can keep chasing less and swing with more authority on balls he can do damage with, rather than just getting his bat on everything he can reach, he can continue to progress. The fact that to date in his MLB career he's improved at the plate in every season should be encouraging.
  15.    DocBauer reacted to a post in a topic: Austin Martin, Brooks Lee, and a Changing Developmental Blueprint
  16.    DocBauer reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (4/30): Fort Myers Mussels Its Way to Franchise Record 24 Runs
  17.    Dman reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (4/30): Fort Myers Mussels Its Way to Franchise Record 24 Runs
  18. jmlease1
    It probably wasn't mentioned, because he didn't change his approach back this season, he did it back in like 2023. He showed this exact same approach last season in MLB and was successful with it. The biggest part of why he's been even better this season is getting measured for an accurate strike zone for ABS and having a lot more pitches at the top of the zone being called balls rather than strikes like they might have a year ago. He's having a nice season and if he improves his baserunning should be a useful player even when his OBP comes back down to earth a little more.
  19. jmlease1
    More likely explanation: Keaschall was overperforming expectations in a limited sample last season before getting hurt (again). Now there's a book on him and he's pressing and not doing the things that made him successful in the first place. That's much more likely than the Twins messing with him.
  20.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Austin Martin, Brooks Lee, and a Changing Developmental Blueprint
  21. jmlease1
    Diaw having a very nice week and his bat seems to be heating up. Houston doing a very nice of making me look very stupid for doubting his ability as a hitter. While it might be nice for him to K a little less, the exchange for showing enough pop to be an impact hitter on any pitcher foolish enough to lob him a meatball is just fine. Kind of feels like he'll get a promotion to AA by June at this rate, which would be excellent. Unfortunately, I remain concerned about DeBarge. Oof, he's having a lot of days where he doesn't get a hit. Can't hit .184 in AA and expect to advance. Rosario on the other hand is having a nice week and starting to drag that ugly BA out of the dumps with his usual combination of patience and pop. Not sure what his future really is, but I find him interesting.
  22.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Twins 7, Blue Jays 1: Bailey Ober, Man. He Just Keeps Living.
  23. jmlease1
    Ober is doing a heck of a job. Unsure how sustainable it is without a tick more velocity on the fastball, but you never know. location, changing speeds, making hitters uncomfortable, and not being predictable is a recipe for success at almost any velocity and the changeup has been filthy. Still concerning that the fastball gets ripped so hard, but maybe tossing junk after junk can work. Good for him. Fewer hits, but the Twins took their walks and pushed more runs across with those xbhs. Jeffers is really having a nice season and he's been leading the offense. With Buxton hitting like this as well I'd like to see him out of the leadoff spot to drive more runners in, especially since Martin keeps playing well, but that's not a huge issue. Nice work from Morris. If he can give you two good innings every 3 days or so that would be very helpful. Don't need to push him to 3 if he can consistently give you 2. We'll see how he does; I still think the bullpen needs reinforcements and more velocity.
  24.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (4/29): Riley Quick is Too Good
  25. jmlease1
    My only real concern is just how little Quick has pitched in either college or pro. he's got so few innings. But if he continues to maul the competition in cedar Rapids, I see little problem in moving him to AA
  26.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (4/29): Riley Quick is Too Good
  27.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (4/29): Riley Quick is Too Good
  28. jmlease1
    Hard not to be impressed with Quick so far. He's pitched so little overall (only 87 college innings total) that you have to temper the expectations a little bit, and I have to believe that the Twins will be very careful about his workload this season...but this is a fantastic start. He's even been efficient: only needed 41 pitches to get through 4?!? This guy might rack up 4-5 inning starts on a 50 pitch limit! Hey, love to see the early promotion. I thought they might keep him in Ft. Myers this season, just to better monitor his health and workload, but at this rate he might land in Wichita before the season's done. Good for him. Diaw is an interesting prospect. Off to a bit of a slow start at the plate, but his approach has been pretty good. Trying to recall another catcher/CF combo outside of Biggio...and I hate comping an A-ball guy to a Hall of Famer, you know? But it's unusual and speaks to his athleticism. He's not super young like Tait, so he needs to get moving a bit. Be interesting to see where his bat lands by the end of May.
  29.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (4/29): Riley Quick is Too Good
  30.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Twins Minor League Report (4/29): Riley Quick is Too Good
  31.    jmlease1 reacted to a post in a topic: Revisiting the Jake Cave for Luis Gil Trade That Still Sparks Debate
  32. jmlease1
    Yep, here's the crappy bullpen we were worried about. There's literally no one you truly trust right now. You're playing roulette with these guys. Bradley did well. Offense should have given him more support with that many hits, but it can be hard to get the runs when it's only one for extra bases. (hitting for power does matter!)
  33. jmlease1
    We have self-imposed budget limitations that make it a lot harder to just pay a guy $5-7M to be a backup. Teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, etc don't have to worry about that and can fill holes and buy their way out of difficulty; teams like the Twins have to look at trading to fill in holes to meet their budgets. It's not that the player wouldn't sign here, it's that we'd never make them the offer, or if we do, it's 1 maybe 2 guys that can get that.
  34. jmlease1
    Part of the reason the trade gets bashed a lot is the twins also held on to Cave too long, and so we all endured seeing them trot him out in CF in 2021 past the point where he really could credibly fill in there and saw multiple seasons where the bat was unimpressive at best and rotten at worst. It would have been easier for people to look at it as a "we got what we needed and the risk on a 19 year old A-ball pitcher paid out for someone else" without those extra seasons. Gil had one meteoric season with the Yankees and a lot of injuries and ineffectiveness. Cave was a very nice backup for a couple of seasons who fell off quickly after that. Neither the worst trade nor the best. Some people might argue that you should never trade for need like this, but I'm not one of them. Unlike the Yankees, it's much harder for us to buy a backup off the shelf and overpay them for 1-2 seasons.
  35. jmlease1
    Accurrate assessment of where Buck is now. It doesn't mean he's not still an excellent player or needs to be moved out of CF now or even soon. It just is what it is, and as long as he can still hit like Byron Buxton, he'll be a fine overall player. Putting better defenders next to him wouldn't hurt either; with Rodriguez or Jenkins in RF the whole OF defense (heck Martin more regularly in LF too) looks better. Even if the overall defense grades out closer to average, he's still capable of making great catches, is incredibly consistent, has a strong arm...and hits more like a RF than CF.
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