Jump to content
Anyone staying up past curfew for Twins-Diamondbacks? Come join our game thread if so! ×
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

jmlease1

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,458

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    30

 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 Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    Schobel is a reminder that prospect development is not always linear. He'll need at least another month of good hitting to earn a promotion to AAA IMHO, but he's doing what he needed to do to keep advancing his career. It was starting to look like he had his the AA wall and couldn't handle more advanced pitching, but he's made adjustments and is starting to look more like the kind of player we hoped he could be. Good timing because there's a wave of infielders coming in behind from Cedar Rapids... Would not complain if Adams can turn himself into a multi-inning reliever who could go 2-3 innings twice a week; there's a real role for that in MLB now as more than just a mop up guy. Be interesting to see if he can claim that. He seems unlikely to pass Festa, Matthews, or SWR and looks to be behind Morris as well in the pecking order, so this might be the path for him.
  2. jmlease1
    Probably about right. While Ober was walking the line all day, far and away the bigger issue was the offense, which put up 1 in the first and then thought they could take the rest of the day off. 3 hits and 3 walks simply doesn't get you enough baserunners. The pitching was plenty good enough to win, but expecting to get wins with 3 hits is unrealistic. Fortunately, the Twins won the series, and if they get into a pattern of winning series after series they're going to be just fine. But they need Wallner and Buxton back, they need Lewis to get right at the plate, and they need more from Correa. That's just a reality. The pitching is there, and deserves some offensive support.
  3. jmlease1
    I'm definitely concerned about Ober, who looked good on paper today, but there was a lot of solid contact that went right at guys and some good defense that bailed him out. It doesn't feel that sustainable, but you never know. Was at the game today (nice day for it!) and felt like there was some inconsistent umpiring today, not sure what people at home thought.
  4. jmlease1
    Keirsey plays CF, plays it better than Castro by a lot, and with Bader coming off a tweak he's there to play defense until Buxton is back. He seems ticketed for AAA since he's performing so poorly at the plate, but at least he has a role. I don't really know why we called up McCusker, since Rocco's uninterested in playing him. Yesterday was the day to play McCusker, with a LHP starting and he couldn't crack the lineup then either. Wacha as a RHP at least you could understand, but if there's no room for McCusker against a LHP than he's little more than insurance on the bench. seems like a waste to me. Still a very nice win. Right now, if the Twins can just keep winning series they;re going to be in very good shape, and scratching out a win against a division rival like this is very nice work. Shame they couldn't be a little more efficient, because they're really using a lot of pitchers again, but at least that means they're competing and winning games. The increased bat speed sure seems to be making a difference for Clemens and he's doing a very nice job. Sometimes you can find a guy on the waiver wire. It's a fairly small sample so far, but he's been a lovely surprise and shows no signs of yielding his job.
  5. jmlease1
    I don't think it'll be long. He missed a little time to injury, and I'm guessing they wanted to make sure he was all the way back and comfortable first. He's doing great. I don't think it makes a ton of difference if he gets moved to AA in May or June? He's making it easy to get excited about him, though.
  6. jmlease1
    well, I just questioned whether Ty France would be able to find enough power production to deserve being a starter, so of course he hit a dinger. Hopefully he keeps it's up: I'm happy to proven wrong. A little long ball does help you get the victory. Might as well send McCusker back down now: if Rocco won't play him against a LH starter there's really very little point to having him on the team. Seems like he's not going to actually get a chance, just here to pinch hit and ride the bench. I get that he's not a "prospect", but this seems wasteful and a bit baffling, especially since Rocco was very willing to give Mickey Gasper a real chance. But a good win against a good team. Still need to find some more offense, but Cameron has been very good since coming up so nice to battle through there. Getting wins against KC is important.
  7. jmlease1
    I think that's somewhat true, but in Sabato's case he also doesn't turn 26 until June, and as first-round pick hopefully was able to sock some money away. Can't really blame a guy for continuing to chase a dream, especially when he's still in his mid-20's. He's been a professional for 5 seasons, but for a former college player he's not actually that old. No one will consider him a prospect, but if he wants to keep playing and he's hitting like he has been this season, he could end up in AAA as minor league depth as early as this season. Be fun if he turned out to be a late developer and figured it out enough to at least get a call-up to MLB. I'm certainly much happier to have minor league players paid better and put the onus on the teams to decide if they're no longer going to be in the organization over it being a question of "damn, I can't make rent if I want to keep playing the game I love" for the player.
  8. jmlease1
    Happy Correa doesn't appear to have any lingering issues and has recovered well. Hopefully some of what's going on with Buxton is precautionary and being properly concerned about a player's overall and long-term health. It is a big weekend for the Twins: they need to show they're not going to fall over now that the streak is done. got to find some offense to go with the good pitching, and Correa can be a real difference maker there. Looking forward to getting Wallner back too.
  9. jmlease1
    bWAR isn't hard to find: https://www.baseball-reference.com/ I usually use it for that fact: it's not pay-walled. You are correct: Sano was not particularly good after 2019. Almost all of his value was in his first 5 seasons. Who does that also look like right now? Ty France. By the way, 2020 Sano played roughly about as much as France has to date this season...and provided about the same value. (Sano hit quite a bit better and provided no defensive value. France has been a below average hitter and ok at 1B) My point isn't that Sano was some kind of great player (he was a dangerous hitter who stunk on defense and had injury problems). It's that he produced overall value not dissimilar from Ty France, but in a way that was less well-received. Healthy, he was a feared hitter at the plate. Ty France isn't feared by anyone right now. He's barely above replacement level. The idea that Ty France has "saved" us from someone like Sano just doesn't really work. It's great that Ty France isn't costing the Twins much, but it's not great that he's producing relatively little. His contact skills make him useful with runners in scoring position, but his lack of power makes it hard for him to help put a crooked number on the board. He's been fine defensively, but is slow and adds little on the bases. He needs to find more pop in his bat, but this has been the problem with him for what's now the 3rd season in a row. Not good.
  10. jmlease1
    Sano is an easy target for some people, but the reality is when Sano was healthy he hit, and produced on offense. It might not have been in a style that you approve of, but the production was there and the contract he signed wasn't a terrible one...he just couldn't stay healthy. Was some of that maybe his own fault, due to less than elite conditioning? Maybe, but no one can prove it one way or the other. (there's no questions about Buxton or Correa's conditioning, or Joe Mauer's, but they've struggled to stay healthy too) BTW? through 7 seasons Sano was worth 8.9 bWAR. Ty France is currently at 8.3 in his 7th season, with basically the same number of games, PA, etc.
  11. jmlease1
    Ty France has been...meh. He's playing like an acceptable reserve, not a starter, but he's getting starter's time. That's not thrilling. The defense has been fine, a bit better than originally advertised (he does do a nice job scooping the low throw, but doesn't cover much ground out there and occasionally looks lost trying to track a pop-up in foul territory) but not exactly something to crow about. As a hitter, he's still showing the power outage that made it easy for Seattle to move on from him. At the plate, he looks a lot like the same Ty France we've seen the last few years. The WPA has been nice, showcasing good hitting in important spots, and hopefully he starts getting a bit luckier at the plate...but he looks a lot like a reserve-quality player taking a full-time role that he isn't producing for. Especially if he can't find some more pop in his bat. It's not a disaster or anything, but this is exactly the kind of player that people start trying to talk up intangibles for because the stats just don't merit the playing time.
  12. jmlease1
    Yeah, I saw this and immediately thought "uh-oh." Hope this is just part of their plan to build him up carefully and not an indicator of a problem.
  13. jmlease1
    He's not long for the league, so not much point in getting too hung up about him. If Bader were fully healthy, we'd be seeing less of him in the field and he'd be a defensive replacement/pinch-runner again. The defense is certainly better than Larnach, McCusker, or even Castro in the OF and he's useful as a pinch runner. Problem is, he hasn't shown he can hit at all at this level. It's notable that he's played in 39 games but only has 53 ABs. But who's the replacement for him right now? Rodriguez? He's showing he needs more time in AAA, not that he's ready to hit in MLB. Morales? a .770 OPS isn't impressive at Saint Paul and he's not on the 40-man. Until Wallner or Buxton are back we need an OF, especially if Bader is still a little a little touch and go. If Austin Martin was healthy he'd already be up and Keirsey would be back in AAA. Yes, it sucks having a guy who is a black hole on offense, but injuries are pushing him into a role he's not capable of, not desire to have him get starts.
  14. jmlease1
    Culpepper has a much better chance at sticking at SS defensively. Winokur might have a higher ceiling on offense (also has a substantially lower floor), but if I was going to be on who is the guy more likely to being playing SS in MLB, it's Culpepper. Winokur has impressive athleticism, but as the competition levels have increased, he's struggled to make consistent contact. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy and he's a fine prospect, heating up this week and maybe starting to get comfortable in high A, but he's got a long ways to go and I think he's more likely to end up in CF than SS. Culpepper might actually be a real live SS and will probably be in Wichita soon.
  15. jmlease1
    Congrats to GG on his first AA hit! Nice to see him up in Wichita; I thought they might give him another few weeks in Cedar Rapids since he missed so much time with injury last season, but clearly they had seen enough and gave him the promotion. He certainly was looking ready. Should be fun to see how he does there: AA can be a big change. So happy to see Prielipp staying on the mound and getting the opportunity to show his talent. Can't blame the Twins at all for being cautious with him considering the significant arm injuries and surgeries he's already had, but the talent is clearly there. Just hope it's not going to be a Canterino situation where every time he starts showing off his skill and stuff another arm injury sends him back to the IL. With the way they're trying to build him back up, it's probably a little more complicated to make decisions on when to promote him. While I'm super excited by his talent, we do need to remember that his career high for innings pitched is 23 1/3, including college. He's 1/3 of an inning away from that.
  16. jmlease1
    Good news on Wallner. Would very much like to get his power production back in the lineup, add some real danger behind guys scratching out singles. I hope Coulombe is right about his injury, but I'm so used to players being overly optimistic/wrong about their health that part of me is simply uninterested in what a player has to say about their own status, unless they're repeating what the training medical staff has told them (since those people will almost never say anything on or off the record any longer, which while frustrating for fans is correct from a medical privacy standpoint). Tonkin's status would be more concerning if guys like Stewart and Topa were still fighting to get healthy. Right now, there isn't an obvious guy to drop for him even if he was ready. Would love to know where Buxton, Correa, and Keaschall are on their rehab timelines.
  17. jmlease1
    The bullpen is rounding into shape nicely, but hope that Coulombe isn't out long. He's been excellent, very capable of getting that last out with runners on base or attacking an inning where he'd be facing 2+ LH hitters. I do agree, we're missing a guy who can consistently be asked to go more than 1 inning at time (I actually think Varland could do it, but they clearly like him as a guy who is going max effort for one inning and are testing him to be a late inning guy, which isn't unreasonable at all). But there's an argument that role is the new pitching unicorn; most long men are guys that aren't good enough to be starters and seem unsuited to be in high leverage roles and aren't weapons but mop-up guys. But if the Twins starters are consistently getting into/through 6, the bullpen is well-suited to finishing it off without getting overloaded. Duran, Jax, Stewart, and Sands give them 4 high-leverage arms, and Topa & Varland are guys you're increasingly comfortable pitching close and late. That six arms you feel great about, and Coulombe will make it 7. When Alcala is your worst reliever, you're in excellent shape.
  18. jmlease1
    I'm expecting his K-rate to be north of 30%. If he keeps it south of 40% while dropping in a bomb every 20 PA's, then it'll be pretty good in this first go around. He's going to swing and miss. A lot. Hopefully he gets some full games to show what he can do and not just some 1-2 PA appearances. Let him get a start or 3 while we wait for wallner, buxton, and correa to get back.
  19. jmlease1
    I think Schobel's going to have to show it for at least another month or more; this is the first time he's hit in AA, and I suspect that the Twins are going to want more time to see if he can sustain the power production and contact rates at this level, when his prior track record has frankly been pretty disappointing to date. He's not a bad fielder, but he needs to swing the bat to keep moving up. It's encouraging to see the K's coming down to a much more reasonable level, but I'd also like to see him taking a few more free passes and really showing better mastery of the zone. But it's a nice rebound year for him, which he badly needed.
  20. jmlease1
    He just turned 21 this year and is 1.3 years younger than the average for his league. Just because he's a bit more experienced in professional baseball doesn't mean he's not still young. Seattle was aggressive with him in his promotions; unclear if that helped his development. I strongly suspect the reason he's back in High A this season was because he missed quite a lot of time with injury last season...which almost certainly was part of why his power production was down. He's doing a nice job this year and looks like a real hitter. I think it's a good sign that he's had pretty neutral splits so far this season too, though the samples are small. Absent a sudden slump or injury, I would expect to see him in AA in June. (where he'll be about 3 years younger than the competition) The disappointing part about the trade was how little Topa was able to contribute last season, when we certainly could have used him. Always felt like DeScalfani was more of the throw-in to get the salaries close enough for Seattle; I never expected a lot, but it was disappointing to get nothing. But Topa has been good this year so far and looks like a useful middle to late inning bullpen piece. Unfortunately, as much as I loved the guy, Polanco's value to the rest of the league had really dipped as the injuries piled up. Happy for him that he's been healthy this season, even if it seems that his days in the field are going to be more limited from now on.
  21. jmlease1
    Eventually, the streak was going to end. the trick is to make sure we don't fall into a losing streak. Just keep winning series, Twins. You can do it, especially with this pitching. Not sure I loved the decision to yank Matthews; yes, he had a very wobbly inning and gave up a crooked number, but his stuff was good and he finished off the inning. Since the Twins immediately responded with a longer inning, I wouldn't think Zebby was necessarily gassed, and I would have liked to see how he would have responded. It's a long season, and sometimes you have to take that risk for player development. And keep the bullpen from getting worn out. Good job by Sands coming in and handling 2 innings, though. Bummer for Royce in not collecting the dinger; great play by Chourio, who has been dreadful at the plate this series. But it does seem like Royce is finding his swing again. Peralta's a good pitcher, and the Twins hitters did a solid job in grinding out ABs on him, but just couldn't get enough.
  22. jmlease1
    Hopefully it ends up being a mild concussion with no lingering effects, but you just never know with these things. At least we're past the point where people question a player's "toughness" if they don't stay in the lineup after "having their bell rung". This is brain trauma and it's effing serious. Really hope these guys are ok. Glad the Twins moved Buxton to the IL and didn't wait any longer. They've had a history of doing the "wait & see" game with guys that leaves their bench awfully thin at times.
  23. jmlease1
    This is the scary scenario for the O's. One of the things that torched CWS was they had a class of players arrive and then it kind of stopped. Add in relatively low levels of investment (and what did happen didn't pan out very well) along with some truly baffling managerial choices and CWS is the laughingstock of the AL. The O's could follow suit. Twins have made some very good decisions on the pitching side of things that have positioned them well: they've been adding pitching talent in volume with a development plan to grow them. They've avoided pouring too many resources into the bullpen. They've identified trade options in other organizations that could be long-term solutions for the team. The O's haven't been doing that, and going all in last year on Burnes and not being able to re-sign him has really hurt them, especially since the playoffs crapped out on them. They brought him in the lead a deep playoff run, and instead got swept out by the Royals. But right now the O's lineup, which has been their strength, has been scrabbling. Henderson is still a terrific player, but he's not playing like an MVP right now. Instead of having 1-2 guys taking another step forwards and looking like a potential all-star, they've got more players looking like Just Another Guy. It's a tough combo: bad pitching and a lineup that's slipped back. The O's probably aren't as bad as they've been so far this season talent-wise, much as the Twins weren't truly as dreadful as their start indicated. It's bad luck to be scrabbling and then run into a team like the Twins who is on fire twice in a short span, but that's how you fall into the hole. But they need to be concerned that their position players made have taken a step back at a time where they don't seem to be seem to be producing any pitching from their system. Balto's pitching isn't just bad, it's also pretty old. Povich is the only starter they've got that you could call young, and he's been bad again. Eflin can't be counted on to be healthy, and while Sugano has been quite good...he's already 35 in his rookie season.
  24. jmlease1
    Good for McCusker! Hope he does well. Rooting for him. First it's Fitzgerald, now McCusker: two guys that probably have wondered more than a few times if they were ever going to get a chance. Now both of them will always be able to say they played in the majors. (I'm jumping the gun a bit on McCusker, but I'm pretty confident that Rocco won't just park him on the bench for whatever time Buxton is on the IL) Good for the Twins in scouting Indy ball for players like this and giving them a chance. I like how they're also not fussing around with them for long periods in the low minors: once in the system, it didn't take long for McCusker and Eeles to get moved up to AAA, really. I assume McCusker is going to K a lot. I'm not expecting him to don the super hero cape. But if he makes contact good things will happen. Here's hoping he makes some for the MLB club.
  25. jmlease1
    A very nice win. 6 excellent innings from Pablo plenty of offense to let the Twins roll out the bottom 3 of the bullpen and give everyone else a nice day of rest. Very odd to see the Twins not get a crooked number in any inning, but no complaints about them continuing to increase the lead and wear MKE out. Watkins foolishly sending Lee home was the only real blemish. (seemed doomed from the jump, and Watkins sure seems to have this in him too often) Nice to see Alcala, Topa, & Funderburk able to close this out with little stress. Funderburk will be heading out for another starter shortly so good to see him do the job on his way out. Top arms get a day that's needed. Good chance for a sweep! Team can do little wrong right now, and it's fun to watch.
×
×
  • Create New...