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jmlease1

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Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    I don't entirely disagree, but it's a lot easier to truly give a guy a day off for a nagging injury or a mini-slump when you have a 4 man bench. With the starters going 6+ you've got 2 guys in the 'pen who aren't being used with any regularity. I get they're playing a lot of games right now and have a double-header coming up, but I still think that using a roster spot on an insurance guy who pitches no more than once a week is a bit of a waste. It's probably pretty marginal, but I'm also not a big fan of some of the deep end of the bullpen guys we're using here too. I'd also like to note that this game rolled through in 2:30. (all three of the Twins wins against Houston clocked in around that time too.) it's lovely to have some fast moving games.
  2. jmlease1
    I'd rather have the extra bat than a 13th pitcher. Happy to send Morin back down, he seems like the definition of "Just Another Guy", and looking at bullpen usage over the last 5 days we had 4 pitchers who only threw once in that time. Unless the rotation collapses (other than Pineda, we seem to be in pretty good shape there right now with Perez & odorizzi on hot streaks, berrios being berrios and Gibson starting to round into form). get back down to 12 pitchers. having an extra crappy guy at the very back end doesn't add value, but flexibility in pinch hitting might be the right counter to tough bullpens.
  3. jmlease1
    This is what gives you faith that his success may be sustainable and not just SSS random factors: the change in approach. It's the same reason why (after having given up hope) I felt like Kyle Gibson's success last year wasn't a fluke year: change in approach/pitch mix. Now, teams may start to get at him a little more as they put together more tape of him from this season, the out of zone pitches may start to add up...but he also may be able to make adjustments with our coaching staff to null that out. We'll see, but it's pretty clear that a) the team saw something in Perez, and they had a plan for how to maximize his performance. I like plans. Much better than hope. Also, now every time Martin Perez comes to the mound, I hear Fluffy calling him "Martiiiiiiin!"
  4. jmlease1
    I'm ready to start agitating for Rortvedt to move up to AA. He's hitting well in a tough environment (hes one of the top hitters for us in Ft. Myers). I want him and Jeffers to catch every day and splitting them up seems like the right move and Rortvedt has earned the nod. let's not wait. Really happy to see Kirilloff back. Looking forward to seeing how he punished AA pitching and handles guys who likely have a better feel for their breaking pitches. I think it's a smart move to have him get some exposure at 1B: positional flexibility is always good and the way things are going at the big club, there might not be a lot of ABs in the OF. While I'm not unhappy with Cron, Kirilloff feels like a special hitter.
  5. jmlease1
    Odorizzi getting through 6 more this year is a really wonderful result. Takes a lot of pressure off the bullpen, takes some of the pressure off the starters going before or after him in the rotation and just improves the team. He's landed 3 starts with a Game Score over 70 already this year; last year he only hit that mark 4 times for the entire season. Would like him to bring the BBs down a little, but I'm very happy with how he's missing bats. Great start again, he's pitching with confidence. Marwin looks like he's starting to come around at the plate; combined with his wonderful defense I think he's going to be a terrific asset this season even with the ice-cold start. I'd say Schoop was smart to bet on himself, eh? If he hits like this the rest of the year, 2017 doesn't look like a fluke year any longer, but more like a pattern and he'll get paid at 28 with a very nice deal. Cant say enough good things about Garver. He's seizing the opportunity with both hands.
  6. jmlease1
    I think we knew that offense was going to have to carry us this season, and it mostly has. But middle of the pack is better than bottom third and is certainly sustainable as a winning formula with a top 5 offense. And in the playoffs, anything can happen in a short series. Runs/game: 7th SLG%: 1st OPS+: 3rd HRs: 3rd OB%: 17th (but still above lg avg) Kinda feels like a top 5 offense, right? We're getting enough out of the starters to be competitive. berrios is legit good by any team's standard, gibson is rounding into shape now that he's had time to build back stamina, Perez & odorizzi have been more than solid enough for the middle of the rotation. (Perez has been good to great in 3 out of his 4 starts, and ok in the other one. His bad stats piled up when he was in the bullpen.) Pineda has been the bad spot. I'd agree, a bit better than expected.
  7. jmlease1
    Sutcliffe was very complimentary about Garver and the way he was receiving the ball last night. It was kinda fun to hear what the ESPN guys were saying about the Twins and who they were focusing on. (Joe Mauer's visit was, dare I say it...charming? He was amusing and generally interesting) Really nice performance by Perez last night against a really good lineup. (Anyone else hear Gabriel Iglesias yelling "Martiiiiiiiine!!!!" when Perez pitches? Just me? ok.) He really looks like he's found a mix that's working for him right now, so it will be interesting to see if he can continue with it now that the league has tape on him for this season, or if he'll have to adjust it significantly. But I agree: having the 95-97 4-seamer to back up the cutter is a nice weapon.
  8. jmlease1
    His command looks rotten too. way too many pitches that really aren't close. Making it way too easy for a hitter to wait for a 3-ball count and a grooved fastball right now. certainly didn't help it was a night where the D was discombobulated and the hitters were flailing at everything. Write it off as a bad night, hope cruz isn't injured, and run it back tonight.
  9. jmlease1
    If Jax turns out to be Scott Baker, that's a pretty good thing! People forget how effective he was before the elbow blew out on him: 15 bWAR in 5 full seasons (20 starts or more) is pretty darn good. I like Jax, hope he continues to do well. I suspect he'll spend the year in AA, but that's fine: he needs innings against solid competition and AA is the right spot for him to develop and refine his pitches and approach.
  10. jmlease1
    Odorizzi was terrific last night, really fun to watch. I'm really happy for him to have gotten through 7, and not having one of his "cruising along, until we hit the 5th, which takes 35 pitches to survive, oh great, now he's at 94 pitches starting the 6th" outings. He really did a nice job finishing off hitters last night. Twins hitters battled against Verlander, and didn't get a lot of great results for it but you have to think that a lot of those balls they were fouling off are the sort of swings resulting in hard-hit balls against other pitchers. No problem with the approach. And Marwin may be still scuffling at the plate, but he sure doesn't take it with him into the field. That play he made hustling into RF for a sliding back-to-the-plate catch was fantastic.
  11. jmlease1
    Smeltzer is interesting. His performance so far is easily his best as a pro but he has shown previously that he can miss bats, keep the ball in the park, and avoid handing out too many free passes. This is the first time he's repeated a level, so I'm guessing that's helping him a little. Twins had him closing games last season, so I'm wondering what drove the decision to move him back into the rotation? Whatever it was, sure seems like a smart one. Seth, where do you think he ranks right now as a prospect? Just outside the top 20?
  12. jmlease1
    I think this is right on Gibson. Most of his pitching woes early on makes sense in the context of his odd off-season; dropping that much weight that fast due to illness does a number on your stamina and it takes some time to bring that back up. He's looking more like the pitcher he was last season again and should be a guy we can count on the rest of the way. Sweeping the O's is great. Yeah, they stink, but even a bad team will steal some games and it's nice that they weren't against us. (remember, they took 2 of 3 from the damn Yankees to open the season and split with the BoSox already, both on the road. Those games count too) Marwin is still scuffling at the plate, but everyone else is doing a really nice job, not a lot of breaks in the lineup. Even Castro is doing well, showing patience paired with pop (he's got the same OPS+ as Astudillo right now) Very happy to see Kepler heating up. Hopefully he can sustain it. he was super unlucky last year (BABIP of .236) and so far this year he's more inline with his (relatively low) career averages. The power potential has always been there, and it'll be interesting to see if he's really unlocked something or not. I do find it interesting that all of his HRs have been in exactly 2 series, and in both of those series he hit one out in every single game. That's a super-weird "that's baseball" stat, yo.
  13. jmlease1
    Very happy with how Rortvedt is hitting so far this year. The patience and power are very good and he''s showing progress from last year. Just wish he was playing more; I don't think sharing time is best for either Rortvedt or Jeffers, personally. Hopefully Rortvedt will be in line for the promotion to AA sooner rather than later?
  14. jmlease1
    Just imagine if we'd had the internet in 1989 to have this argument over Tim Laudner vs Brian Harper. Fortunately, Astudillo has plenty of positional flexibility and even Garver can slot in to other spots on the field (he's ok at 1B and can survive in RF if needed) so its not like we're wasting a roster spot by holding three catchers and not being able to get them all time. Castro doesn't hit well, but he does a lot for the staff and the team. I have no problems with playing out his contract, especially because we have some hitters on the team. But moreover, I don't believe in overreacting to 20 games. There's a reason you rarely see deals in April.
  15. jmlease1
    That certainly what Morneau was comparing it to on the broadcast! Kepler's blast did have that same majestic arc we used to see from Thome, that's for sure. Petrez looked pretty good last night. I tend to be more encouraged by guys who make some specific and consistent adjustments in looking at whether it will be sustainable. Much like with Gibson last year, Perez is doing it differently this year and getting better results.
  16. jmlease1
    1) I'm happy with Cron so far. I've been very impressed with his defense, but I wouldn't put him in the conversation with Mauer yet. Joe should have won 1-2 GG's at 1B and Cron isn't quite at that level. But it's looking like a smart pickup overall. Need to see that OBP start sliding up, though. 2) Schoop does play a nice 2B, and has made some very nice plays that show good awareness of what's going on around him. (That throw he made after chasing down a wild throw into short right was fantastic, would have loved to see him rewarded with the out) He's healthy this year, which is a big deal. He's looking good. I doubt anyone is on track for a sudden contract extension right now: Schoop bet on himself and I'm sure is going to want to test the market. If he hits like this, he'll get a nice deal. But thr reality is we're still in SSS territory, so the guys who might be struggling aren't going to accept a "buy low" offer, and management isn't going to buy high on the guys who are killing it right now until they see more.
  17. jmlease1
    It's nice that the Twins are relevant enough for people to wildly overreact to the results of a game and/or every managerial decision again. Stewart was the logical guy to start, and had some success last year. And despite his poor command, he showed some flashes of how he could do that in MLB even last night, inducing some weak contact with that sinker. But he has to hit his spots to be successful and he couldn't do it last night and has struggled with it so far this season. He needs more work, but there's some interesting talent there. It's not like this was an "abandon all hope" lineup; Astudillo is someone people clamoring to play more, so he got a start. And I'm totally on board with giving Buxton a day off against Verlander's slider. Heck, half of our hits came from the bottom three guys: the top 6 are the clear starters right now, so why not complain that Nelson Cruz left his boomstick at the hotel? Gonzalez isn't hitting right now, but Seth is right: he's been making better contact lately and doesn't look like he's flailing at the plate. Moreover, he's been playing pretty excellent defense overall. (yes, he had the throwing error, but he's also the only guy on the team that would have been in a position to make that throw in the first place) The reason it felt like a give up game is the offense produced 4 freakin' hits. Against Verlander, being down 4 runs can seem like 40. Let's come home and get well against Baltimore.
  18. jmlease1
    Jax might my favorite prospect outside of the consensus top 20. I really like this guy, and this feels like it's going to be a major breakout year for him. The fact that he can concentrate on baseball full-time and not have any of that uncertainty hanging over him is bigger than people realize, I think. And he can really pitch. No need to muck around with him right now, just keep running him out there on his turn in the rotation and evaluate around midseason whether to fast track him up a level.
  19. jmlease1
    FSL has traditionally been considered a pitcher's league, which is why it was so amazing to see Kirilloff just destroy it last season. I'm not too worried about Royce Lewis yet. Great news on Thorpe, nice to see him having success at AAA. He keeps going like this, we'll be seeing him in MN sooner rather than later.
  20. jmlease1
    Kimbrel is a reasonable fit on this team because the offense appears to be good enough to keep the twins in most games even when the starters aren't clicking. So even if he only wants to be out there in save situations, he's going to get used this year (we hope) and not have too many of those weeks where he only gets in 1 game. I suspect he can still pitch, and the extra month or so off probably isn't going to hurt him much (and might even help keep him fresh down the stretch). But again: what the hell does he actually want, and would he be willing to come here? is it 1 year and $15M? $18M? $20M? $13M? I have no idea at this point. (hell, it might be 1 year $18M, but it's pro-rata and we'd only have to pay $14M.) Is it a multi-year deal of at least 3 years? Where's the AAV on that one? I wouldn't mind adding him at all, he'd be a guy you'd be hard-pressed not to rely on. But I have no idea if what he wants is even in the ballpark or if he'd come here.
  21. jmlease1
    Littell seems the most likely? Stewart has struggled out the gate, so i'm not sure they'd swing him up to start right now, otherwise he'd be the next most likely. I think we'll see Thorpe at some point this year, but I suspect they're not looking for him to make his MLB debut on a Rochester-Houston-Rochester shuttle job.
  22. jmlease1
    Schoop made a really nice play after the error on Gonzalez in the 7th (which was a really tough play in the first place) chasing down the carom and nearly nailing Springer at 2B. Really heads up play, even if he didn't get the out. Am I crazy or does Trevor May just not really look right out there? His command and control look out of whack, and I'm wondering if it's a confidence issue. Kinda feels like he needed another 2 weeks of spring training, just throwing at guys. Hope he pulls out of it, because he has the ability to be a terrific reliever. That contract extension for Polanco just keeps looking better all the time. I know he's not going to hit .420, I know he's going to get into a slump at some point. I know he's probably going to drive me crazy by air-mailing a couple of relatively easy throws, but I still love the guy.
  23. jmlease1
    Because it matters for recruiting via free agency. It matters for retaining our own guys. If success in the twin Cities can't get you any sort of national recognition, it means it's much harder for those players to generate significant income through endorsements and build their own brand. Agents know it and so do the clubs in the bigger media markets. Plus, people get sick of hearing about "Yankees win" or "Yankees lose" leading every sportscenter.
  24. jmlease1
    Oof, dunno if i can get with the Blyleven-Kaat pairing. waaay too much "In my day..." in regards to how coddled pitchers are today. Did not love. I did appreciate Dick making sure people knew who some of the players they were talking about; I know who Earl Battey was and when he caught for the Twins, but a lot of people watching would have missed on stuff like that. Agree on Garver. He's hitting so well that you can forgive his lesser ability at blocking pitches. A strong bat is really an advantage at catcher, and he's good enough behind the plate that I'm not worried about anything else. he seems to set up well back there and the pitchers don't seem to struggle with the way he calls a game. I was on board with Cron from the start, and while he was a bit slow-starting with the bat, he can definitely hit. His defense is better than advertised and he's really made a lot of very fine plays around the bag. I would think the left side of the infield is going to have a similar level of confidence gunning the ball over to 1B that they did when Mauer was there. He's doing a nice job and I'd take him over Austin 10 out of 10.
  25. jmlease1
    well, outings like this will do wonders to put Poppen on people's radar. Hard to tell what kind of prospect he really is: he seems to be moving his way up through the minors at a pretty steady pace, but he's not been particularly dominant? Really want to see Kirilloff, Javier, Gonsalves, and Gordon playing soon.
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