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jmlease1

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Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. jmlease1
    I'm glad we weren't the ones to break the ChiSox streak, especially since we're the last team they beat. They can get well against someone else. (or not, since some of their vets seems to have quit on the club in august) Sweeping teams isn't easy in baseball. even historically bad teams win 1 out of 3 and even rotten teams can have everything come together for a day. While we should expect the Twins to beat the ChiSox, getting a sweep is a good work. eventually this streak will end, but no one wants to be the team they finally get a W against.
  2. jmlease1
    I love winning. I especially love beating the ChiSox, no matter how crap they are this season. And, yeah, I remember how a couple of seasons ago how all the prognosticators had them as the team on the rise who were going to control the division for years to come. Turns out, 2021 was an utter fluke. They've had an awful front office, been a mess with their managers, and their owner is pretty dreadful. What a shame, lol. Nice to see the bottom half of the lineup carry the club. Got to feel good about the team's approach at the plate drawing 7 walks; as much as I look at WHIP for pitchers, I keep an eye on where the team's combined walks & hits landed for a game. Generating 15 baserunners like this should get you the runs you need. Go for the sweep!
  3. jmlease1
    I liked almost everything about this game. I was annoyed at Ryan giving up the dinger, because it felt like Ryan let them off the hook with that one, but maybe I'm being too hard on him. The other thing was I really don't like the "city connect" uniforms. blegh. Love everything about healthy Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton, though!
  4. jmlease1
    well, sort of. if every HR was a solo shot. those 2 and 3-run HRs certainly increase your run-scoring efficiency. even the solo shot does it efficiently. but the harder guys hit the ball the more likely it's going to go for a hit. Wallner is doing great. even with some regression he's still going to be a very valuable player and hitter. Yes, he's going to K a lot and it's going be frustrating at times. But he's also going to punish pitchers who try to groove one to get a strike and ways that other hitters can't.
  5. jmlease1
    Because he's 27, didn't hit in the minors all that much until last season, and isn't on the 40-man. He's got talent and might be a good fit as a 4th OF because of his skill defensively, but we've had enough OF this season that are on the 40-man that there hasn't been room to add him. If Buxton goes down with a serious injury (god forbid!), I think you might see him get his chance, and there might be a window for him next season as guys like Kepler and Margot likely move on. But he's a late bloomer dealing with a roster squeeze.
  6. jmlease1
    "I can't believe Twins fans would consider Pablo Lopez an ace after a season when he was a deserving all-star and finished 7th in Cy Young voting!" Look, "ace" is a seriously undefined label that has a wide-range for people. Some people consider a #1 starter an ace, others only consider one of the top ten pitchers in the league to be an ace. Some people just look at dominance. Some people look at a guy that would be a top pitcher on most teams in the league who could pitch Game 1 of a playoff series and you'd be happy about that while the team you're facing would not to be an ace. Pablo meets a lot of these categories, even if he's struggled more at times this season than last year. (and looking at his FIP, he's probably been a little unlucky this year too) But it's hardly crazy for Twins fans to look at Pablo Lopez and think of him as the team's ace.
  7. jmlease1
    dammit, I thought the full list was up there in print. I got too excited when I saw Priellipp on the list...
  8. jmlease1
    Best part of this week was seeing the top 20 prospect list and realizing that they all played. Huzzah for health!
  9. jmlease1
    I'd agree if he had been playing consistently in the field. Only been in CF 4 times in July, which suggests they're watching him carefully after the injury to make sure he's fully healthy. I'm ok with them doing that in Ft. Myers where they have a more extensive organization and medical setup. (we've had so many top prospects deal with significant injuries that I'm happy to be cautious there) From a hitting perspective, though I agree: he's ready for promotion. Happy to see Culpepper back; looks like he had no problems easing his way back in, so I'll be looking forward to seeing how a regular start goes. If he and Cory Lewis can stay healthy and finish the season strong it'll be a good sign for the Twins pitching pipeline.
  10. jmlease1
    Elite work by Ober. Love seeing that from him, and I don't care what kind of lineup Detroit was running out there. Dominating that much is impressive as hell. I really hope Miranda is ok; seems like the cheek guard absorbed a lot of it? But it may be an issue that MLB has to look at with the Player's Association in the offseason, because with so many guys throwing so hard now, hitters are in the firing line. Concussions are awful and ruin careers, but beaning a guy even with no intent at all can wreck a player's career too. Gotta protect them all, from themselves if they have to.
  11. jmlease1
    From a reputation standpoint at least, Margot is seen as a better fielder than say, Wallner (or Larnach) especially in terms of catching the ball (clearly Wallner has the stronger arm). I'm guessing it's partially a defensive replacement situation where they feel like they can ensure more outs this way and keep the other team from getting back into the game. I'm not sure it's all that impactful, but YMMV.
  12. jmlease1
    Thought Brooks Lee looked pretty solid at SS, that was nice to see. Nice outing for the Twins offense. Good job jumping on the Tigers early and often and never letting them up off the mat. Wallner certainly seems to be back to the guy he was last season. Hope he's worked out all the kinks!
  13. jmlease1
    What a disaster this has been. The scum who run Sinclair and generated this scheme to create Diamond/Bally in the first place need to be run out of town on a rail. I'm sure they've been able to feather their nests quite comfortably and will be untouched in the bankruptcy, of course. Terrible results for Twins fans for most of the season, huge drain on the fans. Way too many people haven't been able to watch a fun and very likable team this year. Hope that is finally over, but I never underestimate the power of greed to screw things up again.
  14. jmlease1
    Miranda is a more than reasonable choice to backup Santana this season (while backing up 3B and DHing) and should be back this weekend. He looks like a fine choice to start next season and has pretty neutral splits. Severino could get his chance if Kirilloff falls out of the picture (that will be a shame, but if you can't stay healthy and aren't producing it doesn't matter how pretty your swing is, and the hidden back injury isn't going to play in his favor), and regardless of Julien's improvement at 2B he's a better fit at 1B than Brooks Lee, who will need a spot next season, either at 2B or 3B. I'm not super worried about it; I suspect Wallner or Larnach could learn the position as well.
  15. jmlease1
    nice promotion for Mercedes. Interesting prospect there and was hitting very well in rookie ball. Looking forward to seeing how he manages in Ft. Myers.
  16. jmlease1
    nice day on the farm for a bunch of guys. It's going to be very interesting to see if Olivar can stick as a catcher. Obviously, it's his bat that's going to get him to MLB if he makes it, but if he can become a solid catcher, good enough to split time with someone there and not frighten the horses with his defense it's be a significant developmental win. He's having a very nice season in Cedar Rapids at the plate after an impressive season in Ft. Myers. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets a later season call up to AA. Jenkins is rocking a 12-game hitting streak right now in which he's also collected 15 walks. I think this kid understands the strike zone! I'm assuming they're DHing him more right now since he missed a big chunk of time early and want to keep him healthy? No arguments from me. I suspect the lower power output has more to do with seeing fewer pitches to drive. Glad he's healthy and playing. The talent is massive and he seems to know what he's doing out there. GG has been in a bit of a dry spell, so nice to see him have a big day at the plate. Hoping he can get back in a good groove in august after an unimpressive July. Real power outage for him since the injury put him on the shelf, so that's worth watching. Severino is an interesting player to track. awful start to the season. Got on track a bit in May. Went nuclear in June. Real power outage in July overall. Hard to go to guys whose seasons are predicated on one great month; he needs to find more consistency, I think. August could be a very important month for him.
  17. jmlease1
    Or Brad Radke.
  18. jmlease1
    Overall it's a fair issue to have concerns about, I agree. In this specific case, it doesn't seem to apply. first, because he's just moving to AAA, and second they have promoted Matthews pretty aggressively, having him go from low A to AAA in 1 1/2 seasons. If he was sitting in AAA while bad/retread veterans were flailing in MLB, then I think there's a better case. I preferred the Twins go with the kids rather than bring in vets like Margot or Santana. I was clearly wrong on Santana (especially considering how Kirilloff has run this season) and while the record on Margot is decidedly mixed (at best)...he has hit LHP like he was supposed to. I'm trying to be a little more judicious in my second-guessing, especially as it runs to prospects.
  19. jmlease1
    This is a weird shot to take at the front office. They moved him through 2 levels in his first professional season, which was LAST YEAR. He's now jumped 3 levels in year two, and has moved into AAA. How exactly is the front office holding him back? Sure seems like they've handled him well: promoted him aggressively while improving his stuff, increasing his workload while trying to avoid overstressing his arm.
  20. jmlease1
    Well, it's a lot easier to get excited when you're picking in the top 10. or top 5. As a second round pick, Hill should put about as much charge into you as Soto, but YMMV. Looks like a good Day 1 to me, but they're prospects so Goldman's advice on Hollywood applies here too: "Remember, no one knows anything."
  21. jmlease1
    Looks like a very solid pick. I don't mind rolling the dice on a high school pitcher, you just can't put all your eggs in the basket. Twins have been careful to not load up too much on HS players recently, and seem to be pretty judicious about when they go that way. Hopefully it works out, but there's a lot to like about how this kid could project and there are definitely traits in him that they've had success in building on before. But high school pitchers will need time, so gotta be patient here. I certainly don't mind some investment in a LHP prospect.
  22. jmlease1
    Maybe this will calm people who think the Twins only take big slow strikeout prone sluggers? (Probably not) See how he lands once he gets in the pros. I kind of like using comp picks to take fliers on high school pitchers, high-risk, high reward guys, but continuing to add players who are likely to have positional flexibility and at least one known high-level skill works too. So much of the draft is an unknown and depends on development and luck.
  23. jmlease1
    I thought KLaw's analysis of Culpepper was interesting. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5638783/2024/07/15/mlb-draft-2024-analysis-first-round/ Seems like he's got the defensive chops to stick at SS and the kind of swing that will get a lot of hits, and if the Twins can work on getting him to be more selective on what he offers at, they'll have a real player. A reasonable choice at 21. Janek might have been an interesting pick in a weak catching class, Caminiti is a higher-risk, higher reward player, but Culpepper looks to fit a lot of what the Twins try to do and has a lot of potential. I never mind drafting position guys at SS, C, or even CF; where they finally land defensively works itself out and I don't know that you can ever have too many options in the system at those spots.
  24. jmlease1
    Keaschall has been doing everything you'd hope for in his first full pro year. He's hitting like crazy, looks polished and is handling the changes in level without a problem. It's absolutely great. Full marks. Is he the fill-in for Brooks Lee in the Futures Game? He deserves it, though there are other contenders. I'm going to be very interested to see how Severino finishes out July. he had a monster June, but he's drifted back down (not that he's been bad). If he puts up an OPS over .800 for July, that would be a good sign for him. I mostly want good healthy stretches for as many of our top prospects as possible TBH.
  25. jmlease1
    They've always seemed to prefer projection over production as much as anyone too, which I'm less enamored of, considering how many obstacles are on the path for most players as they rise through the ranks. It's understandable that you might get excited about a young athletic pitching prospect who is hitting 97 on the gun at 19, but when they are only 12 starts and less than 60 innings into their career at rookie ball I have to wonder a little. At the same time, once you start getting into the teens on prospect lists the difference between 17 and 25 really might just be personal preferences on which prime skill they have that you like...
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