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jmlease1

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Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    Culpepper is very deserving. He's having a good season, proving that he can stick at SS and impressing with the bat. Earned his promotion to AA in his first full season of pro ball, and has done just fine so far at a tougher level. Congratulations to him!
  2. jmlease1
    Yeah, that was absolutely brutal. But Barreiro is notorious for covering for guys who show up on his show and burying guys who don't. National media treat Mauer better than the local guys, which is pretty abnormal, especially in baseball...unless the player gets into a real feud with a specific reporter and things get personal, which never happened with Mauer, who by most accounts is too bland to ever get into something like that. It's a shame that Mauer still doesn't get more credit, but if they're going to let fans vote StL has a much bigger fan base than MN: much longer history, much bigger tradition. St. L is still a baseball town, and in MN the Vikings & hockey outrank baseball. But the idea that Molina was better than Mauer is silly. Better defensively and more durable, sure. But not better, because hitting matters too and Mauer was an outstanding hitter, and not just "outstanding for a catcher". Stupid concussions. What an awful and unpredictable injury.
  3. jmlease1
    Truth. Led by a member of the media actively leading the charge against him and running him down at almost every opportunity (partially because Joe didn't have any interest in going on his show. Not that Mauer had much interest in going on anyone's show, really). Having the MN media whine about Mauer taking too many walks and not getting enough RBIs is still one of the dumbest things that's ever happened in MN sports. (part of my ongoing series on "Why Dan Barreiro should never talk about baseball", part XXXVII)
  4. jmlease1
    I'm on the ":send him to the IL to try and get right" train. The hip is an issue, but he mostly needs a re-set, and he's not really going to get the opportunity in MLB if he's getting his brains bashed in. This is easily the worst he's been in MLB and it almost doesn't matter what the issue is at this point: use the IL to get him a break and cite the hip. Give him some time to get a mental and physical break, and then work on the mechanics and give him a rehab start or two and let's try this against after the all-star break. Give Adams a shot. Even if he gets his brains kicked in (and he might not), it'll be valuable experience for him, and frankly he might give the team a better chance to get a win right now. Ober's been a good pitcher. I'm not letting a rotten month wipe all of that out. He needs to be protected from himself right now and the team needs him to work on things away from the rotation. It sucks that Pablo, Matthews, and Morris are hurt right now and Raya & Lewis aren't ready, but letting Ober give up moonshots isn't the answer either. Give Adams a shot, see if he has a future. Give Dobnak a look; he can certainly chew up some innings (did a good job coming in for Ober in a game Ober shouldn't have started in the first place).
  5. jmlease1
    I don't have a problem with Posey at all. Great player, will be in the Hall one day. The fact that Molina got picked over Mauer is a joke. Molina had 2 great seasons and a lot of ok to good seasons. Most of his all-star appearances were undeserving, and most of his career he was a good to great defensive catcher who didn't hit all that much. It's great that he was in St L forever and they love him, but this is why you can't have a fan vote for important things. Mauer won 3 batting titles as a freakin' catcher and they ignored it because Molina played for a million years. 10 (over half) of Molina's seasons in MLB he had a bWAR under 2 (aka, starter quality). Mauer had half as many, and most of them were after he'd moved to 1B and didn't get the advantage of positional differential that Molina had. Mauer & Posey were the best 2 catchers of the last 25 years, period. Johan's case is complicated; I think he deserves a mention, but excluding him isn't a crime considering the company. Nathan on the other hand deserves more credit, but the injuries and lack of post-season success probably dropped him out. But I'd take Nathan over Kenley Jansen every day of the week.
  6. jmlease1
    Skubal demonstrated that he's a great pitcher. I don't think his manager had anything to do with what happened out there today. Do you think Paddack would have gotten the win if we'd switched managers yesterday? This team struggles against LHP for sure but Skubal is the reigning Cy Young winner and pitching like he wants to go back to back. He's been great all season. He's put up a Game Score under 50 only 3 times this season, never had a single one under 40. by contrast, nearly half his starts he's put up a Game Score of 70 or better. He's absolutely dominant. Hope Lewis is actually ready, but won't miss Bride, who sucked. Offense is healthy, no excuses left for them.
  7. jmlease1
    Because we know he's been fighting a problem with his hip this season. He's not fully healthy, and going to the IL might position him to get right as well as fix the mechanical issues that are plaguing him. Hopefully it gets his velocity back up if he can get some rest, therapy, and heal. This isn't hard.
  8. jmlease1
    He's been awful in June for sure, but has been a quality pitcher the previous 2 seasons and has been good in MLB basically every season except for this one. He's had good outings this season as well. He was quite good in April and had an inconsistent but decent May. Which is more likely: Bailey Ober is cooked after having a terrible month and will never be good again, or that his mechanics and health aren't where they need to be for him to be effective? He needs to go to IL for a couple of weeks and get right. They're doing him no favors by continuing to let him gut through the hip issue and try to battle through the mechanical adjustments. Yes, the starting pitching depth is depleted, but right now, you really can't expect Ober to do anything other than eat innings...and they probably won't be good ones. I'd rather see Adams get a shot that continuing to punish Ober, who is clearly not right and unlikely to get there by continuing to start. Props to him for battling, but time to protect a player from himself. Buxton continues to be awesome. He's worth the price of admission all by himself, I think. Love that guy.
  9. jmlease1
    Fedko is having a terrific season. Interesting player, seems to be one of those guys that needs that second look at a level in order to figure it out? He struggled in his first stint at Ft. Myers, then hit well in his second shot. Same thing at Cedar Rapids. Doing the same thing now at Wichita. The power breakout this year is intriguing, and he's always been good at grabbing walks. At his age, he's never going to make a prospect list, but he might be an intriguing late bloomer who could add some right-sided thump. Hope he gets a chance at AAA this season (especially if he stays a guy who needs an offseason or something to make adjustments to a new level!) DeBarge is doing DeGreat! Only concern is whether he's making enough contact; the low BA makes me a little nervous. Without more pop in his bat he'll get less of those easy BB's at higher levels of the minors. He's clearly got the ability to swipe bags (though pitchers in the minors are generally iffy at holding guys on and a lot of the catching isn't impressive at throwing guys out either) but that speed won't play if he's not getting on base. Still some work to do to get that promotion, I think. But he's young and doing fine for the level in his first full season of pro ball. Going to be interesting to see who gets the call back up to MLB first: Julien or Martin. Julien would likely offer more as a hitter, based on their previous exploits in MLB, and Ed looks locked in and striking the ball with confidence again. Martin gives a little more positional flexibility, and is seen as a more quality runner (though Julien has been a fine baserunner and swiper bags efficiently in the minors) which might make more sense for one of the last spots on the bench. Good problem to have? Either way, would rather have either of them back in MLB over Kiersey (who can't hit) or Bride (who can't hit).
  10. jmlease1
    Maybe if it was already 4-0 Festa gets a little more rope? I'm guessing Rocco wanted to get him the win, have him leave with that in play and maybe boost his confidence. But also with the team having gone through such a bad patch, you're trying to do everything you can to get the win. I would like to see Festa given more of a chance when his pitch count is low and he seems to be cruising pretty well, but coming off a rotten start against MKE and an inefficient start against Cincy I don't think this was a bad call. He threw a very nice game, the slider was effective in getting outs, and the sinker he's been working on showed effectiveness. Hopefully, he's back on track.
  11. jmlease1
    Very fun game to watch. Thought Festa pitched quite well. Would not mind seeing him get a little more rope when he's throwing this well to go a little deeper, but can't argue with the results. He had a nice rhythm going (and it was nice to hear the announcing team picking up on that as well). When the Twins starting pitching is going well, everything goes easier. Brooks Lee's play at 3B is one of the better ones I've seen all season, really looked great. Baez thought he had a hit and ended up out by 4 feet. That's pretty fun. All good to see a Buxton Bomb fly out of the park! He got all of it, for sure. keep it going, boys!
  12. jmlease1
    Alcantara is a guy who is likely to improve coming off a major injury, but he also looks like someone who is going to be inconsistent at best for the rest of this season, so I don't exactly see the Twins adding him when he's still owed $17M for 2026 (plus the additional costs in 2025) and a $2M buyout for 2027. There's simply no way this ownership tacks on that kind of money...and it's unclear it would even be a good idea. I dunno, not much on these teams that's acquirable is all that exciting if the Twins are buyers to me. I mean, what do we get by re-acquiring IKF? I have more hope for Keaschall when he returns. I don't see this ownership group authorizing a significant salary add for this season, so in order to add a real piece, we'd have to send money out (Castro, presumably, maybe Paddack?) which creates an additional hole to fill, and while I like the options in some of the younger guys to fill some things, I'm not sure we net out as better, really. Blegh.
  13. jmlease1
    While I don't think that would be a crazy decision...I doubt France gets dealt to open up a spot for Sabato, and the team seems to really like France. (I'm less enthusiastic; he's been fine for what we paid, but he's a below average regular. But this organization is so snakebit from late season injuries that they simply won't shed a veteran player, and they've been uninterested in clearing space for a rookie to take a shot in the past) But I would love Sabato to keep hitting and force the issue. It's a great story right now: high draft pick who struggled early, got labeled a bust, was written off by almost everyone, now on the cusp of realizing the dream of being an MLB player? Let's hope he realizes it by playing so well in AAA that they have to promote him. (things have been so negative around here lately, it almost feels like some people would prefer that Sabato collapse, because then they wouldn't be able to point to Sabato as a failed pick by the front office...)
  14. jmlease1
    lol. It is the issue, isn't it? But Sabato has had a good start at AAA, following promotion from AA where he finally put together a good half season. He's still got a lot more failure on his record than success, and I'd think the Twins will want to see more to show this isn't just a small sample size success in AAA. That said, I tend to agree that if Martin can keep hitting for another few weeks he should get some real consideration to come up and replace Kiersey (since he can pinch run, play OF, and might actually be able to get a hit). Much as I don't think Bride deserves a spot on the roster, I think he hangs on until Lewis is back. I think it's a mistake, but Twins management would prefer to keep a crappy player on the end of the bench than lose the depth.
  15. jmlease1
    Nice to see Martin back and doing well out the gate. He was playing really well before getting hurt and would have almost certainly gotten a call-up if he'd hadn't gone on the injury list. Bummer for him to miss that window, but hopefully he can pick up where he left off. Looking forward to seeing where he's at in a month or so after he gets some ABs back under him. Sabato has been a pleasant surprise this season and he's continued his hot hitting in AAA. Good for him! Nice to see him make people pay attention to him again. The next leap is a big one, but he's gone from being seen as a bust to a possibility again. Bohorquez has the stuff to be an interesting pitcher, but he's got to improve his command, because the walks are unsustainable. But he's still pretty young, and it's usually the last thing that comes together. Would like to see him get to a point where he earns the promotion to Cedar Rapids, rather than get there on scholarship.
  16. jmlease1
    I don't exactly understand why people come to a game thread, after a Twins win to make note of various former Twins that are doing ok in other places. Just have to find every opportunity to take a poke at the front office? Got to rain on the parade of anyone who enjoyed the win? It was a very good win, and making Seattle give up on the game is great to see. Finally managed to have some runners on base when the big flies went out too. SWR pitched well. Threw strikes, missed some bats, and got through his innings. I'm definitely a little concerned about Sands at this point; he has really regressed this season. The K's are way down and he's yielding way too many baserunners. You can tell that he's gone from being trusted to handle high leverage situations to no leverage situations, and you have to wonder what's going on with him. Mechanical? Fighting an undisclosed injury? Or is he like a lot of relievers: not consistently good year over year?
  17. jmlease1
    I hope Lewis gets back on track; I'm always rooting for a knuckleballer. But he's been rotten so far this season, and the large number of xbh's he's surrendered suggests that the really high BABIP isn't a result of bad luck/weak contact/poor positioning etc but instead a result of guys teeing off on him. When they hit him, they're hitting him hard. He's got to find the zone more consistently, because the walk rate is awful. The K's are good and make him look viable, but his WHIP is unplayable. He's got a lot of work to do, and his prospect stock is dropping rapidly. He fooled guys plenty in the lower minors, but AAA hitters aren't being confused by it right now and are able to wait on pitches in the zone that they're crushing.
  18. jmlease1
    Rosario has been on a heater for a while, and it's great to see. Pretty rough start (he was awful in April), but he definitely seems back on track. Hope he can sustain it. Be great to have his right-handed power be a real option, even if he's not much of a fielder. I think AA is a major speed bump for a lot of players. You see guys all the time where their athleticism carried them through A ball and when they started facing more advanced players struggled. Or the older, college guys with more experience beating up on younger kids in A ball fall off when they hit AA and are facing more of their peers all the time. But it doesn't apply to everyone. Culpepper is doing great and showing why he was the Twins first round pick. And the toughest jump has always been AAA to MLB.
  19. jmlease1
    I generally feel that people overrate the impact of a manager in baseball, and in todays game a lot of what the manager does is behind the scenes in managing the personalities and the clubhouse in ways that aren't seen by the fans (and with players more careful about what they let loose in public it's harder than ever to really get info about what anyone really thinks). But at the same time, the manager is the face of the franchise in many ways, and extending Rocco during what has been pretty rough play going back to last season is remarkably tone deaf. I don't hate the manager, and some of the hate directed his way has often been very overheated and frequently based on things that seem to exist only in people's heads that despise the manager. But at the same time Rocco hasn't shown he's a superior manager, just one that falls into that mushy middle in MLB where is the players are healthy and playing well, the team wins and he looks good. When they have injuries and are playing poorly, he looks bad. Well, they're playing poorly and have a key injury (Pablo). He's done nothing to show that he deserves an extension. It's an insult to the fans, which this franchise shows little concern about year over year. Can't wait for the team to be sold, but it sounds like it's not happening any time soon. Sigh.
  20. jmlease1
    Excellent job by Ryan. Cal Raleigh had been on such a trail of destruction against the Twins that I was basically in a "just walk that guy!" mode, but Ryan wasn't scared. Pretty impressive K-ing him 3 times! Bullpen did the job too, though it definitely highlighted who was trusted and who was not in a close game. Sands has clearly fallen out of favor (not unreasonably based on recent performance) and Topa isn't trusted in higher leverage situations right now either. Considering how badly this team needed a win, I can't really complain about going for it that way. Not much offense, but Seattle has pitching too. Tonight was a gain where you didn't need much and they scratched 2 across. I have some concerns that Clemens is a streaky all or nothing guy at the plate, but he's doing enough to make a difference, at least until Keaschall gets back. We've been losing in every possible way recently. Hopefully, this starts a run where things fall the other way for a while. Much more fun watching a game like this.
  21. jmlease1
    I think this is basically it. With a couple of guys in the AAA rotation struggling and/or fighting an injury, there was room to add another guy. They probably have him as one of those "hey, if we can fix XX, maybe he could do something" guys; I'm sure there's something they like about him. But I doubt there's any real expectation there, and if he get called up for a start it's because other guys are still injured/ineffective at AAA. Seems like a normal depth move to me, I doubt they're expecting him to be in the rotation in a few weeks and are probably hoping Zebby is back before they ever "need" him.
  22. jmlease1
    I don't think they hate starters going deep into games as much as they fear their starters ability to get through innings 5-6-7. But they do seem to be pursuing this as a developmental strategy to try and move pitchers through the system without wrecking their arms. I've heard they're not the only team digging in on this, but might be one of the ones that's more advanced on the implementation of trying this strategy in the minors where they're running starters 3 innings or so at a time, but getting them out there more frequently. It's an interesting idea, but it's unclear if they're intending this to move into the MLB program as well, or if this is primarily developmental strategy to keep a young pitcher's elbow/shoulder from exploding before they hit AA. It could lead to an interesting pitching staff design where you have 3-4 traditional starters, 6 1-inning type relievers, and 3-4 "bulk" inning pitchers that are designed to piggy back with each other and/or one of the other starters. It also might be an area where they expect to lengthen starting pitcher candidates more in the upper minors and MLB. will it work? I don't know, but I appreciate investigating new designs to keep pitchers healthy.
  23. jmlease1
    Wallner is not getting traded, no matter how happy that would make some people around here. He's been too good overall the past two years and is still plenty cheap. Castro makes a fair amount of sense because he's a pending free agent and isn't likely to return without a real bump in payroll, plus he's hitting well this season. It would definitely hurt to lose him. Larnach is an interesting one; I honestly don't know what his return looks like. He's been solid, but never quite breaks out. He's not a butcher in LF, but he's not particularly good there either. He's still relatively cheap, but he's getting more expensive. If I were more confident in Rodriguez's ability to stay healthy, I'd be more excited to move an OF bat. (I haven't given up on the season yet, though this rotten run of play is making it less and less likely that it can be saved) I think moving Larnach might be the right play? Feels like a team could talk themselves into seeing more of a ceiling with him and the floor right now is pretty good. The years of control probably gets you a better return than Castro? Even if Rodriguez doesn't get tapped, I wouldn't mind seeing McCusker get a real chance to show if he's a real player or just a Quad-A guy, and the only way that's going to happen is if Larnach or Castro get dealt, I think.
  24. jmlease1
    Another day, another multi-hit game for GG. that's (checks notes) 12 since being called up to Wichita in 28 games. Dude is just raking. Nice to see some xbh's in the mix lately too. Really impressed with him this season, and Twins have to be thrilled with his development at the plate. Julien does seem to have himself back on track at the plate. He's showing his customary patience, is making good contact, and has added some pop back in so it's not just slapping singles around. I'm not sure many will agree, but I'd rather see Julien back up than keep dinking around with Bride, who has 1 hit in June, isn't in the team's plans, and most impactful role seems to be soft-tossing a few innings in a blowout. Happy to see Amick back in Cedar Rapids. Looking forward to seeing what some of those hitters do in the second half and if anyone else gets promoted to Wichita. (DeBarge? He keeps swiping bases too)
  25. jmlease1
    Could have been; it certainly looked like Lee wanted it and was close enough to make the play. But I'd say Paddack had more of a brain freeze than an actual freeze because he didn't really stop and fielded the ball cleanly. It would have been better if he'd left it to Lee, who was moving towards 1B, rather than away, which Paddack was. But he still had plenty of time to set and throw and just air-mailed it. (really was a nice fundamental play by a hustling Clemens to back up 1B there and save a run)
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