Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

jmlease1

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,745

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    32

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Tracker: Picks & Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    Amick is doing great right now, hope it continues. He needs to hit to advance, but I like how he's responded to adversity. DeBarge really needed a day like this. Hope he strings together a few more. I don't think he needs to be swinging out of his shoes and trying for homers, but he's got to hit, and it needs to be a little more than the occasional single too. 14 out of the top 20 didn't play for various reasons. That's less fun. Hope the injured guys get back to health soon. Would love to get an update on Soto for example. It's been 13 months since he pitched in a game, and if he's going to be out for much longer he really needs to be moved down as a prospect. Yes, he's still young, but if you can't play...what kind of prospect are you? I love his arm, but it's been a long absent stretch. Speaking of which: Matt Canterino is eligible to come off the 60-day IL for Saint Paul next week; any chance he might be ready and get to pitch again? I'm rooting for this dude. He's not a prospect any longer, and you can project or plan on anything for him...but he's still trying to make it happen and if he can ever get healthy he's got the tools to make it to MLB. I hope he does. (and I will never not blame Rice for wrecking his arm)
  2. jmlease1
    honestly I think that's going to depend on him. I expect they'll be very comfortable sending him out for 90 plus pitches...if they're spread over 6 innings. It's when he has those high-stress innings where he needs 25+ pitches to get through it that they'll be looking at the faster hook. If he needs 27 pitches to get through the 4th and is sitting at 70+ pitches, I wouldn't be surprised to see the bullpen take over. If he's at 75 after 5 and was efficient in his last inning, I won't be surprised to see him get the 6th. They need to push him some in order to see what he can handle, but also need to protect his arm and avoid another big injury. It's a delicate line to walk. But so far he's doing well and has been able to get through 5 in 3 out of his 4 starts, throw 80+ pitches in all of them, and given the team a chance to win. The FIP is probably a better indicator of where he is over the actual ERA right now, so it'll be interesting to see which one has the most movement. If we can get Bradley (who it sounds like is close) and Abel back the starting pitching depth starts looking solid again with Zebby also in the mix. Have to feel good about where Prielipp is right now, especially after so much injury trouble to start his career. Bullpen is not inevitable.
  3. jmlease1
    Here's the good thing: despite Tom Verducci pushing the concept, there really isn't any real research that shows that there's causation between and increase in innings pitched year over year and injury. They need to monitor his workload and make sure that his body isn't having bad reactions and they should be careful about his pitch counts and pushing him after high stress innings....but they don't have to go "welp, he's never pitched over 85 innings, so we only get him for 100 innings this season before we have to shut him down". He's done well so far. He's not dominating, but he's not getting blown up either. You can see the upside, and he hunts Ks effectively. There's a few too many baserunners and I'm a little nervous about the 3 homers in the last two starts, but there's a lot to like.
  4. jmlease1
    Great start by Zebby! Exactly what the team needed after a poor start the night before. Also very happy to see the team not sleepwalk through it on getaway day. I'm not sold on Outman, even if he had a good game. I'd still be looking to bring up Rodriguez if he gets healthy soon. But I'll take anything we get. Austin Martin is having a fine start to his season. I think I'd rather see him in LF than RF, but that's a small thing
  5. jmlease1
    Tied for 2nd behind Zebulon Matthews, right?
  6. jmlease1
    Austin Martin just keeps getting on base, doesn't he? I've been a fan for a while, glad to see him having a good start to the season.
  7. jmlease1
    Good spot for Rojas to work. Let him try to finish it, plenty of run support.
  8. jmlease1
    Guessing Zebby gets a chance to do the 7th, but might get pulled if he looks like he's flagging, which seems fine. Hopefully he cruises through it and hands off the game with a 6 run lead. He's done well today and it's be great to have 1 more inning.
  9. jmlease1
    I think part of what you're seeing is what can be accomplished as long as you have at least one elite pitch. Ober's changeup is pretty damn great. The sweeper & slider are plenty effective with good movement, so it's not like Ober's arsenal is limited to chucking the change and hoping. The fastball velocity may be at the bottom of the league, but his extension is at the top, which reduces the amount of time hitters have to figure out the pitch as well, not just having the fastball play up a bit. Throw strikes, change speeds, hit your spots...it can work. I think looking at Ober's 2025 is interesting as well: the first start was a disaster, and that was a bad call on Rocco's part: he should never have pitched that day. After that, he was a quality starter the next 2 months. June was dreadful. July was the IL. August and Sept were inconsistent, but there were quite a few good starts in there. Velocity is useful. It's valuable. It's also probably the easiest? For most pitchers, what's going to be the easiest pitch for them to command? It's the fastball. But if Ober is able to consistently command that changeup, hit his spots with the breaking stuff, and mix in the fastball in ways that guys can sit on it and try and tee off on it...maybe he's got a new formula that will hold up. It's interesting. I love a good changeup. Ober's is one of the best we've had since...Johan?
  10. jmlease1
    He seems to be turning the tools into production, and it's great to see. Very happy to see him earn the promotion to Cedar Rapids, and it should be a good test for him. He could rise quickly if he's found a consistent approach at the plate and with his swing that he can stick with. Love the arm, and he's got pretty good speed out there, so he shouldn't need to move off CF yet?
  11. jmlease1
    Seriously. It's a damn shame what happened to him, and I hope he turns it around. Considering how miserable his season was last year in Saint Paul I can't blame him for looking for a fresh start and it would have been even more roster malpractice for the Twins to try and carry him. He's doing ok at SD's AAA so far (not great, but no longer anywhere near disaster zone) so maybe he'll get another chance in MLB.
  12. jmlease1
    Welcome to Wichita Eli Jones! Not a bad introduction after jumping a level. Twins have been pretty aggressive with him (despite the production maybe not being there) so I'm curious as to what they're seeing. Did a nice job in his first start. Mendez doesn't seem to be having any trouble adjusting to AAA. Like seeing that too. Amick is doing just fine so far in AA, which was a real question after his brutal AFL stint. But it's starting to look like the power is legit? There's a lot of K's in there, which will be worrisome, but he's taking his walks and hitting the ball hard while splitting time between 3B/1B, which seems like a good plan. I'm higher on him than others; I can see the upside, but recognize there are still some red flags. Much more concerned with DeBarge, who people really fell in love with last season with all the steals and the minor league GG. I was never as much of a fan, and sadly his bat seems to have vanished. he's got to hit better than this. AA can be a real separator for players: the pitching takes a real leap. Nice to see Yasser Mercedes putting those tools to work. I'll be curious to see where his bat is in a month, but I'm happy to see him at Cedar Rapids. GG needs to get rolling at AAA. He's been struggling so far this season. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road, but expectations were growing after he had such a strong showing in 2025. A fast start might have put him in contention to be the wallner replacement, but he hasn't earned it.
  13. jmlease1
    I thought they would wait until Rodriguez was back and had some games under him to make the move; Kreidler is a low impact choice, but at least adds some utility in being right handed and his defensively ability around the diamond. Maybe Outman gets dumped once Emma is back on the field and gets a few games to show he's hitting again. Twins are getting some decent offense even with Wallner being awful and getting nothing from outman, so maybe an improvement on defense and not exposing LH hitters as much will be a net benefit. I hope a re-set gets Wallner going again. He's a streaky hitter, but the power is real and when he's locked in he gets on base and hits bombs, two things that produce runs.
  14. jmlease1
    really showing how closely you're paying attention to the twins minor league system here.
  15. jmlease1
    I think the fact that he's not on the 40-man is a small barrier to Fedko getting a shot, especially since he's not seen as being as much of a prospect. It's sort of the Sabato problem. In order to bring him up to MLB they'd have to kick someone off the 40-man, which exposes them to waivers. Now, YMMV on how significant an issue that should be, but it's probably keeping Fedko from easily getting a shot. And while I agree on Rodriguez, I'm sure they're going to want him to get some AAA games in again to show he's ok and swinging the bat well first; it would be unusual for someone to go from the IL in AAA to go directly to the active MLB roster... But it's getting late early for Wallner and Lewis IMHO. And I've backed them both; I really thought Wallner in particular would have a bounce back season, and it just hasn't happened. Maybe it's they figured him out, maybe the previous seasons were more of a mirage than the stats showed, maybe having to face all those LHP early in the season screwed him up...but whatever it is, he's a mess now and showing no signs of pulling out of it. I think it's more complicated with Lewis (and he can still be useful in ways that Wallner can't) but if he's not in the same boat quite yet then he's bought a ticket, put on the life vest, and is checking out the seating...
  16. jmlease1
    I believe I said that. Roden is injured, Rodriguez hasn't played in 2 weeks, Jenkins is on the IL, Gonzalez has struggled, Mendez just got promoted, so really the only option would be Fedko...who isn't on the 40-man. That's why we're still riding with Wallner for sure. Lewis is probably has more to do with managing the player and the psychology of it; it's easy for someone to sit at the keyboard and say "demote him! who cares what he thinks? Who care what any of the players think!" but Twins management has to actually live in the world. SWR would likely be in the bullpen if they hadn't already lost Abel and Bradley, or if Festa wasn't slow in his recovery, but with those guys unavailable we're already trying to fill a spot with Morris/Adams/Rojas piggybacking and praying Priellipp doesn't get hurt...even if Zebby gets called up SWR probably doesn't head to the bullpen until Bradley is back on the field. Oof.
  17. jmlease1
    Rough one for SWR. He simply has not looked like the same pitcher this season and he's not getting it done. Sure, Adams couldn't shut it down when they asked him to come in and kill the rally, but he didn't put those runners on. Way too many walks issued by the Twins pitchers, but SWR just looked bad. Again. Only reason he hasn't been banished to the bullpen is Abel and Bradley getting hurt. Buxton is still awesome and the best reason to watch this team. He's a monster. Ball is still finding Keaschall when we need him to make a play. It'd be easier to live with if he were hitting, but he's still not really doing that either. (he's having another bad week, after finally having a good one) Only thing saving Wallner from a demotion is the AAA injuries, but he looks as awful as Royce. Amazing how fast the 3-game winning streak flies out the window after a pretty ugly loss. Hopefully they can flush it and take the series.
  18. jmlease1
    Greene has been great...when healthy. Notably, he hasn't pitched in 2026. But he was seen as the favorite for 1-1. Gore who got picked at 3 has been good, but somehow traded twice already. McKay was seen as being a sure thing to hit and was going to do an Ohtani thing before Ohtani...and bombed so badly he's out of baseball. But no one could have predicted 2 ACL tears for Lewis, which is why the draft remains a crapshoot.
  19. jmlease1
    well, do you count all the time he spent on the IL as opportunity to figure it out? Because dude has missed epic amounts of time. I'm sure there's more than a few other guys who have gotten 2 seasons worth of time over 3 seasons to try and figure it out. What's disheartening is how much he's struggling and how lost he often looks up there. When you can't hit fastballs in MLB it gets really really hard, because almost everyone can throw the fastball. Rooting for him. But finding a way to send him down to AAA without a) messing up his confidence even more, and 2) turning him against the franchise might have to be on the table. They're trying some stuff for sure. It's also starting to sound like he's hearing footsteps and it's not helping him.
  20. jmlease1
    Hrbek had an OPS+ of 85 he first taste of MLB. Gaetti only got a cup of coffee, but looked rough (did fine, if not quite starting quality in '82, his first real season). Brunansky crushed it. Laudner of course was never a quality starter and often a poor backup, really. (a historically bad all-star, there only under the kindness of Tom Kelly, who frankly should have been ashamed of himself) Viola was bad in both of his first 2 tries at MLB; he actually gave up more earned runs than anyone in 1983. Bush? A marginal player I'm afraid. gagne? Did nothing in his 2 cups of coffee, then struggled to be more than a backup getting starting time for a couple of seasons, before blossoming into an excellent fielder. A mixed record in their starts, for sure. I think you could argue there was some real failure there.
  21. jmlease1
    I'm not sure he's ready to crack the top 20 list IMHO; he looks more like a relief arm that still needs work on his command & control. But it was still a good trade, since the Twins weren't going to re-sign Castro. 16 seems pretty high, but that may have to do with a bunch of guys being hurt? Regardless, the difference between 16 and 25 for most teams is often more a matter of preference. Do you like production or tools? Do you favor projection at A-ball or clarity in AA or AAA? I think it's good to have him in AAA figuring things out, but I'd probably look to move him to the 'pen sooner rather than later.
  22. jmlease1
    Very happy to see Mercedes get promoted; it seemed to be due. Hopefully he continues to hit in Cedar Rapids and start his ascension. Who knows, maybe this is the season that his big bucket of tools turns into production? Hope that it's just a blister or a hangnail or something on Quick. Would be very very sad if he's got something more significant because he was off to such a wonderful start. Congrats to Hendry Mendez and Ben Ross on having a good beginning to their time in AAA. Mendez isn't showing any power yet, but I feel like it's a good sign when a guy gets promoted and is still taking his walks, even when he's also rapping out singles. Sometimes guys get a little swing-happy on promotion. Ross is doing very very well so far too: he's forcing his way into the Twins plans, and I wouldn't mind one bit to see him show he can be the next utility guy on the roster. Really hoping more of these prospects in the upper minors can become roster options.
  23. jmlease1
    So how do you decide when they're ready? Are they only allowed to come up when they're never going to get sent back down? How do you know when that will occur? Part of how their time occurs is when you give them a roster spot. development isn't linear, and you're better off not burning off too many option years in AAA because you've philosophically decided that you don't trust rookies or something. When a team isn't good enough to compete, it's also a good time to test those young players and actually find out if they are ready by the only sure means: let them play. It's still only mid-May, so it's not like we've only got 20 games left in the season to give someone a tryout for next year. But end of May/Early June you have to start making some calls if you want to give promising players a real look and not just a cup of coffee. And sometimes guys play well, put a charge into a team, and they go on a run...
  24. jmlease1
    Ober was absolutely excellent. He's finding a way to be effective with an 89mph fastball, and it's because that changeup is so deadly and he's spotting his sweeper effectives outside the zone and getting guys to chase and mixing in a good slider. He's throwing all the junk in the world and it's working. Good for him! His fastball isn't great, but he can throw it for strikes when he needs it, and the reality is he's throwing a "positive" fastball: everyone is positive they can hit it. Spoiler alert: they can't. Perez was really good and his stuff was dominant early. That fastball had excellent movement with superior velocity. But the Twins battled, and pushed a couple of runs across. When the Twins are drawing walks, they are at their best. I also liked the aggression on the basepaths to try and manufacture some runs. 2:07 time of game. kind of nice to have one zipping through like that!
  25. jmlease1
    I expect the only way Sabato gets a chance in MLB this season is if they sell off some parts at the deadline or there's a wave of injuries at 1B. All credit to him for turning his career around and getting himself up to AAA in the first place when he looked like a real bust, but it's going to take something significant for the Twins to add him to the 40-man and give him a chance in MLB. He didn't exactly light it up in April. And it may be significant that he has utterly destroyed younger pitchers while being more like pretty good against older ones... He did have a damn hot week though!
×
×
  • Create New...