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jmlease1

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Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    There isn't actually any good research that shows a substantial increase in workload season over season causes injury; that was just some Bee Ess that Tom Verducci tried to sell because he half-assed some "analysis" after seeing a couple of pitchers break down and tried to make a name for himself with his fake 20% rule. They should monitor Prielipp closely, be careful on his high stress innings and overall pitch counts, and the plan of finding him extra days off seems wise...but there's no real reason if he's feeling good that they have to shut him down early this year. Yes, it will be a significant leap if he goes from 82 2/3 innings in 2025 to 120-140 innings in 2026...but he's on that path because he's healthy. And we'll all feel better about his rotation prospects for 2027 if he pitches a full season in 2026 as a starter and actually throws over 100 MLB innings... He's always had tons of arm talent; the issue was health. Seems to be healthy. Let's roll.
  2. jmlease1
    Pretty much sums up the game in one sentence. Waiting for someone to pop in and "explain" how Zebby's last 3 games are meaningless because he gave up 7 runs each in starts 4 & 6 "proving" that he's just another Twins prospect that all hype and will never be good in 3...2,,,1... Could have used a few more baserunners in front of those homers, but any time you put up 5 runs you're giving your team a good chance to win. Caratini having a scorching June after a poor May; while I don't expect him to keep raking like this it's been nice to see him work out of a real slump. Will definitely take his season average going forward...
  3. jmlease1
    There aren't very many "young" position players on this roster. Literally 2 who are 25 or younger: Lee and Keaschall. Lee still in the infield, has potential to be very good at 3B. And of course, Keaschall can also play CF with his speed and athleticism, so not limited to just corner OF. So not exactly accurate. I've been disappointed in Keaschall's progress at 2B; he's got good enough tools to be better than what's he's shown, but the performance simply hasn't been there. Part of me still wonders if it's still mostly a matter of reps so that he stops thinking about every play and can just react and play, but maybe that's improvement that needs to be done in the offseason. He's looked fine in the OF in the minors and should be able to handle RF once he learns the oddities of Target Field a little better. But I tend to agree that he plays up better in LF or CF than RF, since his arm is still a liability.. They sure seem to be prioritizing Larnach's comfort level, and you'd think Larnach would be more suited to RF, even if he's played much better in LF this season.
  4. jmlease1
    It's been a pretty miserable season for DeBarge. Hope he can get it going at the plate again. Winokur had a scorching May, but has cooled off again in June. The good thing is this month didn't have the same kind of contact woes that wrecked his April, but the pattern does seem similar. He needs to find more consistency. Batting averages in Wichita are so bad that Marek Houston's .250 looks pretty good, but would like to see him start cracking xbhs again.
  5. jmlease1
    Prielipp is quite talented. How nice that he's finally healthy long enough to show it to everyone. We've definitely needed him. Rockies aren't very good, but last season they put the last nails into the season. Better to get the series win for sure. Morris is giving signs that he's a reliever that can be counted on, which is nice. Can we find 3 or 4 more?
  6. jmlease1
    So hard to know whether there's anything there with Sabato. He's certainly able to punish mistakes, but he also K's a lot and the OBP isn't exactly lighting the world on fire. But the power is impressive? That last jump is treacherous. Considering all the LH hitters we have lurking in AAA it'd be nice to see a RH slugger emerge, but it's taken Sabato so long to even get to this point. That said, he's been better at AAA than last season, so clearly he's a guy who can improve year over year... GG is on a heater right now, speaking of RH hitters. He's had a bit of an odd season, but seems to be rounding into form. Wouldn't mind seeing him get another look this year; we've already burned the option, so hopefully he gets a more extended look at some point. Would like to get a better idea of what he could be next season.
  7. jmlease1
    Funderburk has been ok this season, overall. Orze? meh. But there simply aren't a lot of options in the bullpen since they didn't invest anything in it. Morris is showing something though. Would have been an awful game to lose after building such a nice lead with Bradley so good through 7. But the wheels can come off quickly when you have few reliable arms in the bullpen. Maybe Raya will help.
  8. jmlease1
    You can choose to look at it however you want. If you want to look at the negative and presume that no Twin can possibly be good, go ahead. His stuff looked incredible in spring training and his last two starts were dominant. You want to believe that the first two are who he is rather than the last 2, go ahead.
  9. jmlease1
    Super bummed about this, as Abel had made a real leap forward this year. He wasn't looking like a back of the rotation guy, but a playoff-caliber starter who could really kick butt. Hope that it's a relatively minor clean-up procedure and there's nothing structural found in there. Maybe one of these days we'll catch a break on this stuff. But better to do it now than try and grind through the season on and off the IL and try and deal with it in the off-season..
  10. jmlease1
    Can't really include him until he actually gets back to pitching. I'm rooting for the dude, but he's coming back from a serious and complicated injury with poor success rates. He's closer to Matt Canterino right now than the bullpen.
  11. jmlease1
    Quentin Young is going to be a divisive prospect over the next couple of years, I think. He's very much a high ceiling, low floor prospect with impressive physical gifts and intriguing tools that may take a while to translate into consistent production on the field (if they ever do). He's very young, very unpolished, and very frustrating. Patience required. I kind of feel like putting him in the bottom quartile of the prospect lists and mostly ignoring him except for like check ins and reports every 2 months or so. The day to day won't tell us much. I don't think he'll stick at SS, but there's probably little harm right now in letting him play out a season there. Diaw is a player I like. I really would love to get some insider info on what the organization thinks of him as a catcher and what his future position might be. Someone that has the ability to play both catcher and CF is an unusual combo of athleticism and it's fun. It's been all singles so far at AA, but not terribly worried about that; power develops later anyways, and he seems to have a good line drive approach that will generate enough xbh even if he's not a significant homer threat. Maybe he can start unlocking something on the basepaths? Intriguing player. But I like his progress so far, and he gets on base.
  12. jmlease1
    Much rather see them take a look at Raya, figure out what works and what might not, see if he's ready or needs more work in AAA than throw games and innings away with guys like Voth. There's real upside here. I expect him to impress at times and struggle as well, but he could be a very useful piece going forward and it's something we need to start figuring out now so we can try and get some of these pieces locked down in the bullpen.
  13. jmlease1
    He's organizational depth. Probably too many limitations (rough contact rates, poor defense) to take the next step, but you never know. No problems with him moving up to AAA, and maybe he'll be able to keep refining things, getting better, and positioning himself to get a chip, a chair, and a chance. Good for him to keep forcing the issue, and working his way up. But he's still behind Jenkins, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, and Mendez in the OF prospect pecking order and is unlikely to be thought of more highly than Fedko, just for different reasons.
  14. jmlease1
    I don't think so: he's really talented, but also pitched very little in college, so has a lot of work to do in refining his game. It's why I've been fine with him being in Cedar Rapids, when some people were pushing for a promotion to AA after a couple of good outings early. He needs innings and experience right now to work on his command. But he's rated pretty appropriately, IMHO. Nice debut for Rosario. Always happy when a guy gets a couple of hits upon promotion, I'm sure that's helpful for their confidence. GG had a poor start to the season, and wasn't exactly lighting it up in May, but he's on a real heater right now. Hope this means he's gotten locked in, is feeling good, and starts pushing for promotion as well.
  15. jmlease1
    It's possible that he's the sort of player that keeps making incremental improvement as he gets more experience and makes adjustments? The question then is at what point does that top off and whether or not the growth is enough to support his roster spot. He was always seen as a high floor player, and we may be seeing some of that now, especially if he's off SS for good and can start generating some defensive value to go along with improvements at the plate. A league average switch hitter who can add defensive value and positional flexibility around the infield has real value, even if it's not star power.
  16. jmlease1
    Wallner still needs to show he can catch up to not just fastballs but the faster ball. He's punishing mistakes, and hitting lower velocity fastballs, but hasn't shown that he can catch up to stuff in the upper 90's which is where he will get hunted in MLB. Martin isn't hitting but has started getting on base again over the last couple of weeks in his reduced role; he might have earned more time. Fedko has played so little since coming up it's hard to say what he deserves or doesn't, but his RH bat helps balance the squad a bit. He's the most likely candidate to get dropped again, but replacing him with Roden does raise some issues of lineup balance and vulnerability to LHP. Not sure there's that much urgency yet; the offense was humming until the Dodgers shut things down. For, you know, one game.
  17. jmlease1
    I'm a big fan of Tait, but I don't think it will be a problem for is development to stay in A-ball longer. I like seeing the hot bat, but would like to see more consistency and control of the strike zone. The upside is high, and at his age it'll be a perfectly fine result for him to have an excellent season in Cedar Rapids and start next year in Wichita. Whether he gets an early push to AA isn't that important to me. Cossetti is interesting; he really hit the AA wall hard, but seems to have pushed through it. If there's a position where development really isn';t linear it's probably catcher, so who knows. Happy to have him in AAA, but I think he's more organizational depth than a real contender to make it to MLB. CJ Culpepper is more interesting. He's struggled to stay on the field the last couple of years and hasn't cleared 60 innings in either of the last 2 despite still starting. I think the move to relief in AAA makes sense, and hopefully that keeps him on the field and throwing. He's got some arm talent and could be a real option for the twins bullpen in the future. Would rather see them take a look at him later this season than churn any more castoffs; that was the mistake of last season after the sell-off, IMHO. They grabbed up guys with no future with the club off the street rather than try younger players in bullpen roles at the end of the season to set up the next year. (I'm fine with churning some vets early in the season because even dumpster diving you have a lot more to choose from; by august finding the diamond in the rough is much less likely)
  18. jmlease1
    You get points in the NHL even if you lose if you push the game to OT. They have a very silly points system right now. Almost as bad as their playoff system, which seems designed to ensure that some of the best teams will lose early in the playoffs and worse teams advance...
  19. jmlease1
    Congrats to Rosario on the promotion! He's worked hard to try and add things to his game, and while I think he's still a flawed player who might not be more than organizational depth, he's earned the promotion to AAA. You never know, he could figure some more things out, and his power production is real. Having a RH OF/DH slugger in AAA is not a bad thing. Congrats to Marek Houston on his promotion, who has done a wonderful job of quelling my fears about his bat. Here's hoping he continues to make me look like a fool in AA while continuing to showcase his wonderful glove. AA should be a good challenge for him, will be interested to see how his hitting does. Definitely earned his promotion, no scholarships here, and I approve. Glad to see Walker Jenkins back in Saint Paul. Here's hoping he stays healthy and starts forcing some decision-making about the future of the OF by crushing every pitcher he sees and avoiding things like walls. Let hope spring eternal!
  20. jmlease1
    This. these volunteer charity deals are great business for the company (they save on wages & sometimes benefits while getting a charitable write-off) and don't actually raise all that much for the charity...but the non-profits that do this are usually small, don't have a professional fundraising operation, and have a limited audience to raise from (frequently you see school/sports groups doing this) so they don't see a lot of good options. But it eats up a lot of volunteer time and it's real work. It's framed up nicely by companies like Delaware North (and the Twins go along with it) but it's not really a very good deal for the charity and not very charitable by the company. Not a surprise Delaware North would focus on this and call the union "greedy"; they don't have a lot else to stand on so they're trying to get people mad at the workers. I'm with the union. Never trust corporates when they whine like this, until they open their books to a forensic accountant.
  21. jmlease1
    A good week for the Twins. Honestly, this is about where I had thought the team would be hanging around, maybe a bit closer to .500. Did I expect that to be enough to stay in the WC or within striking distance of the division at this point? No, but who had the Motor City Kitties 11 games under .500 on their bingo card? The offense has been showing out...but not always for the reasons I thought it could. The defense is still not up to snuff (though it's better with how things have shuffled around lately). The bullpen still isn't where it needs to be, but this is also around when I thought it would start improving as they sorted through some guys. get the starting pitching healthier and who knows? I'd like the twins to be competitive enough where a sell-off feels wrong. But a big losing streak at the wrong time could sink the season again. Twins are still operating on thin margins. But it was a good week, nice to see a road trip go in our favor.
  22. jmlease1
    It could happen if Cholowsky & Lackey go 1-2 in some order? I think the Twins are a little less high on Emerson than others, and if either Roch or Vahn fall to them at 3 they're taking them regardless of who is available for pitching. I think at the end of the day, CWS take Cholowsky. I'm hoping TB goes with Emerson and leaves us with Lackey...but you never know with this stuff. The MLB draft is weird.
  23. jmlease1
    Unfortunately, that kind of puts the Twins back in the imbalanced roster problem they had to start the season. But Roden looks ready for another try at MLB; he certainly seems healthy. He's an interesting player: has absolutely murdered AAA pitching, but struggled in a fairly lengthy first stint in MLB (50+ games and 150 ABs isn't a cup of coffee). He's stretched at CF but would be a very good defender in either corner. There's nothing left for him to do in AAA except wait for a roster opening, and there really isn't one without taking time away from Larnach and Clemens, both of who are doing a fine job mashing RHP in the corner OF slots. Maybe Walker Jenkins is a Rain God? The clouds and rain follow him around because they love him and want to make sure that he remains well-watered. (10 pts for anyone that gets that literary reference) Wichita is still having offensive issues, but Diaw seems up to the challenge. Only flaw since his promotion is no xbh yet, but I'm pretty confident that will come. I'm always impressed when a hitter shows good patience and takes their walks upon promotion. It's a sign that they're not getting caught up in it and can stick with their plans.
  24. jmlease1
    Nice series win as part of a very good roadtrip. Always have to feel good about winning a road series, and the team did just enough on offense to get it done. Bullpen may not be strong, but they held it together for the win. Hopefully we're starting to find some guys we can rely on there. I had thought Jackson was just an insurance policy, but he seems like he may be a bit more. It'll be less painful if Jeffers gets traded at least. The upcoming series is a pretty big one: getting run over by the Buy A Title Dodgers will hurt. Hope the crew can at least take one.
  25. jmlease1
    I'm much less bothered about Young playing SS this season, but it seems nonsensical for Winokur to still be logging time there. Might be right about Wallner. I think there's a lot of people around here that never want to see him in a Twins uniform ever again, but I'd rather not sell low on him. But he probably doesn't get another look unless someone like Bell or Clemens gets hurt. And the reality is we have other OF in the system that need a look sooner rather than later and have more complete player profiles. Good to see DeBarge back on the field. Anyone know why he was out?
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