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jmlease1

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Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    They did make a rule change to try to put some guardrails on it, since it was happening so much more. YMMV on whether they should tighten it up more? (I don't think ending it completely is ever going to happen, and that's ok by me) Joe Ryan had an excellent game last night. He was aggressive in attacking the zone and used that huge lead like a hold 'em player with a huge stack bullying the small stacks. The Rizzo HR was the only flaw and it was a good AB by a good hitter. I love what we're seeing from pretty much every aspect of Ryan's game right now. The WHIP is fantastic, the K/9 are up, the HR/9 is very manageable, and he's chewing up the innings. Amazing job by the offense in jumping all over the rookie pitcher. Great work in grabbing that early lead and then going into overdrive to make the game feel out of reach in the first dang inning. Great start to the series, and really fun to watch.
  2. jmlease1
    My guess on the multi-inning aspect is that they're looking at seeing if a longer outing will let him settle in and refine his command in a way that going out to get 3 outs won't? I don't know if that's going to work, but it's an interesting idea. I really think Alcala just needs innings and appearance to get on track. He basically didn't pitch at all last season, and I think what we're seeing from him is a lot of rust from a guy who wasn't a fully developed pitcher in the first place. With Jorge Lopez and Griffin Jax both looking good on the right side, there's room for him to stick to mostly lower-leverage outings and get the rust out. The biggest problem Alcala is having right now is with his changeup, a pitch he was just starting to get a handle on to neutralize lefties when he got hurt. I don't think he's found a comfort level with it yet this season and he needs it to be effective against lefties. The slider and sinker both look good, even if his command isn't there yet and the velocity is down a little on the fastballs. We'll see where he is at the end of May.
  3. jmlease1
    But last season we'd already lost Gray after his second start and Alcala after his second appearance. (and Archer was Archer) The good health of the pitchers to date is a real boon.
  4. jmlease1
    Seriously. You'd think the Twins were 4-8, not 8-4. Every game thread there's people jumping in after a WIN declaring that the other shoe is about to drop and they can't possibly win the next series. Sweep KC on the road? "Who cares, it's KC, doesn't count." Win a series against Houston? "They weren't healthy, doesn't count." Win the series against division rival ChiSox? "It's unsustainable, we're going to get destroyed in NY." This team is probably going to play more close games with lower scoring this season: the pitching is (much) better, but the offense isn't there (yet). Gray did a solid job on a day where he was sick and fighting it. Still gutted his way through 5 and got it done. We're 12 games in and the starters have gone 5+ in every single game. When was the last time that happened? And for all the complaints about injuries...no injuries to date on the pitching staff. Still the exact same 13 guys, and they're all healthy.
  5. jmlease1
    Castro is filler for me, only reason he started with the team was it might be better from a developmental side to let Julien & Wallner ease in with some time at AAA and the Twins absolutely don't care about his options. I was skeptical about the Gallo signing, but so far that's worked out excepting for injury. Solano was a surprise for me, but with Polanco and Kirilloff being behind, it makes even more sense, and after last season where we had some many fringe players get significant time, a deeper veteran group doesn't offend me at all. Still not sold on Pagan, though. but as good as the depth has been to get us through several early injuries, the offense still needs some gas. Polanco is a bigger loss than I think some people realized and Nick Gordon has disappointed so far.
  6. jmlease1
    I'd say Lopez is the story from this game. My goodness, he dominated once he got rolling. Nice to see that he and Vazquez to get a grip on things when the 1st inning wasn't going to plan, and they got it done. The changeup looked really good, he was spotting the curve, and then later the sweeper got back into play as he got deeper into the game and was more comfortable out there.
  7. jmlease1
    There's nothing unreasonable being said here. He's a pitcher who has had slightly reverse splits for his career, but has also performed like a #2 starter. He's added a new pitch to his arsenal that looks like it may be more effective for him against same-sided hitters, and his velocity is up. If he was already a number #2 and may have improved...how is he not looking the part of a ace? If your criticism is just that he's only had a couple of starts, I hope you're patrolling the boards smacking down the people raging at every hitter who has started out slow too, because you can't have it both ways.
  8. jmlease1
    Lopez has looked really good to start the season, exactly what the twins were hoping for I think. If the sweeper is a for real pitch for him and lets him completely drop the less effective cutter from his arsenal that could be a big advantage. It'll be interesting to see if it mostly replaces the curveball he's thrown (with good success) or if both pitches stick around. the changeup he has still looks pretty fantastic as well, so if he's able to get a little more mileage out of his fastball and backing it up with 2 really tough swing & miss offerings in the sweeper and the changeup, he could be in for a pretty big season. I'll admit that the velocity increase will be more meaningful if he's able to keep it up at midseason.
  9. jmlease1
    This should be interesting. ChiSox have hit pretty well to start the season, but their vaunted rotation has let them down. A split with Houston is a fine result, especially on the road, but losing 2 of 3 against the unimpressive Giants at home, then dropping 2 of 3 against the always pathetic Pirates on the road is not good. Cease is an absolute beast, but the Twins rotation should be able to keep the team in the game. Hopefully Gallo is able to play in this series to add a little more LH thump to the lineup and Nick Gordon is able to break out from his slow start. I still feel like Chicago is the 3rd team in this division; I don't like their depth and I think they're going to miss Abreu's bat more than they will be helped by fixing some of the defensive issues. That bullpen looks much more vulnerable without Liam Hendriks (good luck to him on his cancer fight, and congrats on ringing the bell on his way out of hospital!). On the other hand, no LaRussa to exploit is something I will miss.
  10. jmlease1
    Perkins and Morneau are both pretty comfortable explaining these terms, and I'm enjoying hearing them talk about it. Bremer's interest and curiosity makes for a nice foil as he's usually asked reasonable questions about them that help put the stat into context without sounding dopey or grouchy about it. (BTW, here's rooting for a rapid recovery from COVID for Mr. Bremer!) It's fun seeing them talk a bit about different stats, and I think they've been doing a good job working them into the graphics. Honestly, they've been treating fans as dumb with the "rules" change explanations before the games kick off and as smart when introducing new analytics and stats. That's kinda odd.
  11. jmlease1
    I hope these weekly summaries will help smooth out some of the instant reaction/overreaction to each individual game. Inning. AB. Baseball is a long season. I hope Polanco is able to get back sooner rather than later. He's a really important part of this club and a really really good player. I would certainly like to see Buxton getting at least some run in CF, because we need more offense than Michael A. Taylor can provide. Bummer that Kirilloff is still much further away, but Larnach's start makes that much more manageable. I'm a fan of Larnach, and I'm not really surprised to see him hitting well. Very pleased to see what the rotation is doing so far. They're really generating Ks and with the exception of Mahle have done a terrific job in limited hits. And it's not like Mahle is getting knocked around; I think I counted 4 "seeing-eye" singles against him yesterday, and those will even out. Looking forward to seeing how they stack up against the ChiSox. Did not realize Nick Gordon hadn't struck out at all so far this season. That does put his struggles at the plate in a little different context, but at the same time: he's not making very good contact either. Zero barrels and a dreadful hard-hit % aren't going to get you anywhere. Hopefully he's just a little bit off and can get on track against a division foe.
  12. jmlease1
    Mahle's overall line doesn't look all that great, but watching the game he wasn't giving up a lot of hard contact: multiple bleeders bouncing through the infield, a soft liner just out of Farmer's reach, a blooper just into short right...I wouldn't say he pitched great, but he wasn't bad either. Some tough beats. The offense really struggled. 2 hits is just not enough. Brown was really good though and had them completely off balance. I'll still take a series win against Houston every time, though. I recall a bunch of negative nellies predicting total disaster in this series and we took 2 of 3. Time to get back to work against Chicago.
  13. jmlease1
    Great to see Prielipp back on the mound and pitching. I think it's going to be very interesting to see where he's at by midseason. Miller is having a nice start to the season so far.
  14. jmlease1
    He should have had more confidence in three pitchers who performed poorly enough that none of them have MLB jobs this season? Only one of whom is pitching at all right now? No thank you.
  15. jmlease1
    It's a good problem to have, frankly. Castro will be the easy cut when Polanco comes back (or if Kirilloff dominates enough to demand a spot) and it's why he was kept over a younger player in the first place: it was always going to be a temp assignment unless someone else got hurt. I don't see them cutting Kepler or Solano like some have suggested; if it gets to the point where Kirilloff is in AAA crushing it and no one else is on the injured list, or Julien is demanding a call up, etc while everyone is healthy and playing reasonably well the Twins are much more likely to make a trade with someone for either of those veterans. Gordon is still more likely to stick unless he totally collapses (he played well enough last year to have earned some rope) because of his positional flexibility. Looking forward to having Polo back; I still think he's our 3rd best position player until some of the younger guys prove it otherwise. (Maybe Miranda, Larnach, or Kirilloff will pass him...but they haven't yet.)
  16. jmlease1
    Nice to see the bats bust out! Would love to see the Twins sweep the series, but any series win is a good series. Ryan fought through it, which is good to see. Alvarez is going to do for a lot of pitchers this season, so no shame in that, but it was too bad Ryan's control juiced up the bases ahead of him. That's always going to be the key for Ryan: making sure he doesn't put too many ducks on the pond when he gives up a dinger. Normally, you're going to feel very good about a start where he gives up only 3 hits and a walk over 6. Nice job by the offense today. Plenty of hits, plenty of walks, and the power showed out. Moran is really the only pitcher that's looking particularly wobbly so far. I'm still a big believer in his talent and his changeup, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up spending a little time back in AAA to get things sorted.
  17. jmlease1
    Who cares about Garver? He's long gone, and seems likely to play at least half his games at DH now, assuming he can stay on the field at all. (people rip Buxton all the time for struggling to stay healthy, but Garver has played only 368 games since coming up in 2017 and Buxton has played 453) I'm liking the tandem of Vazquez and Jeffers quite a bit. If Jeffers has found his power stroke again it adds a nice dimension to the pair, and Vazquez all-around skill on defense is fun to watch. I agree, it seems to have pushed Jeffers a little. They've certainly worked with the pitchers very well so far and the starters sure look comfortable throwing to them both.
  18. jmlease1
    good starts to the year for Varland (who we will see in MLB this year and seems to be making his case to be in the rotation from Day 1 in 2024) and Festa (who took a big step forward in his first full season). Both pitchers are looking like real developmental success stories right now: not high draft picks, not heralded prospects, but they've done the work and team has supported their development and look at where they are now. Love seeing Noah Miller get some hits. How his bat develops this season is going to say a few things about his future ceiling. He already looks like a guy who can really pick it, but if he can get enough hits?
  19. jmlease1
    Some people would rather be mad and look for the worst rather than enjoy a win, I guess? Offense isn't where it needs to be yet, but we still had 11 hits and 4 BBs today and that's going to result in more runs most days. We're also missing our 3rd best player in Polanco, and Kirilloff is probably our 6th best on offense as well. Getting those guys back will make a difference. Sonny Gray was really, really good today. He really had the Astros off balance, and it was great to see him missing bats like this. Rotation is really getting it done so far.
  20. jmlease1
    Really nice win. Goodness, Sonny Gray was good! Excellent to see Miranda get cooking a little bit; I wasn't really worried about him, but I'm sure it's good for him as a younger player to get a 3-hit game and a game-winner early on for the ol' confidence. Pitching held up nicely against a team many are predicting to win it all, so that's not bad either.
  21. jmlease1
    In a surprise to basically no one, Brooks Lee looks great in his first real game of the year. Love that guy. Bummed about Raya starting the season on the IL, hope it's nothing serious. He's an exciting young pitcher! On the other hand, Enlow did well, which is nice to see. He's had some rough injury luck and missing 2020 because of the pandemic certainly hurt him as well. Glad we were able to hold on to him when they pulled him off the 40-man and maybe he can get back on track. Good to see Polanco starting a rehab assignment as well. certainly suggests that he's not all that far off and that this isn't something that's going to keep him out until June.
  22. jmlease1
    Arraez has a career OPS of .672 vs LHP and zero power vs lefties. yes, Duran is our best reliever, but Thielbar is an excellent pick to face Arraez. And De La Cruz has hit righties better than lefties so far in his short career as well, and much like Arraez shown little power against lefties. Sometimes it goes the other way.
  23. jmlease1
    Tough beat by Thielbar. Definitely a little disappointed in the offense this series. Starting pitching looked pretty great, though. That's pretty fun. It's disappointing to drop the series, but a 4-2 road trip is still pretty good.
  24. jmlease1
    Because Castro is only on the MLB roster because two guys (Kirilloff and Polanco) are out with injuries. (and now Kepler has a ding) they're seeing if Castro can be an effective/useful player in the OF for them during this time and trying to develop Wallner in the minors with consistent playing time. Celestino injured himself in spring training after only 2 games and needs to a) get healthy, and b) spend some time in AAA finding his swing. I might have had Solano play 1B and sent Gallo out of LF and asked Castro to DH, but I see no problem in slotting in the switch-hitting Willi Castro into the lineup.
  25. jmlease1
    FYI, the article lists under "Box Score" that there were no HRs in the game. Sadly, this was not the case! The link goes to the Royals game as well. Alcantara is a pretty great pitcher. Twins battled, but couldn't get anything really hard hit against the reigning Cy Young winner. They did manage to get balls into the OF against a guy who usually gives up weak ground balls, but didn't get anything to really carry. Maeda looked good, so let's hope this was a just a tweak from going max effort for the first time for real. 9 K's in 5 innings? I was impressed. I did think when Pagan came in that the rout was on, but he survived. I'm still not sold at all on him, but if they're not going to use him there's no point to having him on the roster (which would have been my preference...). Time to get the rubber game and win the series! Looking forward to Lopez pitching again.
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