Jump to content
Tigers-Twins game thread is live — talk the game with us! ×
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

jmlease1

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,642

  • 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 Tracker: Picks & Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by jmlease1

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. jmlease1
    Or Brad Radke.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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."
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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...
  12. jmlease1
    He's been great and really improved his prospect stock. But it's still a relatively small sample and he's already rising very fast in the organization. It won't impact things significantly to have him roll a while longer in AA and figure out his defensive options, which are still a little unclear. He's not getting called up to MLB unless utter catastrophe happens so whether he's playing every day in AA or AAA for an extra month or two won't really matter much. He jumped up 2 levels in like 20 minutes last season after he was drafted, and been promoted already this year. He's doing great.
  13. jmlease1
    Feels like catcher development is something that MLB is struggling with overall. It's so physically demanding, requires a diverse and well-rounded set of skills, and there's a huge mental component on top of it...and that's just the defensive side of things. You also need these guys to develop as hitters and because of the demands of the position it's harder to get them in the lineup as often, so they might not get as many consistent ABs. Tough one to crack from a development standpoint. I think the Twins have a few options in the system now, but all of them are incomplete in one way or another. But at least they have some guys with upside and possibilities now; things got real thin for a while in the system. Interesting question on how much impact a quality catcher has on pitching development: The Bull Durham Theory?
  14. jmlease1
    What a great game by Miranda! He's definitely playing like he never wants to go back to AAA. Good to see Kepler get a couple of knocks as well; he'd been scrabbling for a while. The offense really picked it up. Just keep winning series, boys. If they keep on that path they'll be in the playoffs and be a team to contend. You can't control what Cleveland or anyone else is doing, so just keep winning series. Brooks Lee doesn't look scared, either. Keep it up, make the decision as hard as possible mah dude.
  15. jmlease1
    Glad to see GG back and doing well. He's having a solid season, needs to show better strike zone control and draw some walks, but he's developing and showing good pop in his bat. Doncon had a nice night. Seeing him flash that power stroke is important; he had been hammering the ball in Ft Myers so it's good to see him starting to swing with authority more in Cedar Rapids. Lot of upside here. Gotta love what we're seeing from Zebby Matthews. The utter lack of walks is great (lot of guys at that level are still having trouble commanding the zone) but what's better is that he's not giving up hits either. That WHIP is fantastic. He's getting Ks, he's eating up innings, and he's having a great season. I expect him in AAA next year as one of the top potential callups
  16. jmlease1
    Bummer for Royce going to the IL again, but good luck to Brooks Lee. I hope he plays so well they can't send him down. I think he's going to do just fine and it's going to be fun to see him up. I have tickets for sunday, hope he starts!
  17. jmlease1
    It's always complicated: you want guys getting stronger, being in the best possible shape, but that combined with the grind and strain of playing can lead to injuries. Some of it can be about the way they play: you love seeing a guy make a great play in the field by stretching way out and doing something amazing...but sometimes guys end up pulling something when they try to beat out a throw. I find the idea that the twins have been ignoring conditioning or not investing time in trying to keep players healthy baffling: despite what many around here may think, they're not objectively stupid and they haven't been trying to run things like their medical and training operations on the cheap (even if they have had a long history of going cheap on payroll).
  18. jmlease1
    Wallner makes sense in that we could use a LH bat with real power to balance the lineup a little against RHP, he's performing well at AAA, and played very well last season for the team. The only real call for Julien right now (who hasn't been great in AAA) is to go INF for INF without adding anyone to the 40-man. I'd add Brooks Lee to the 40-man and give him a chance to show what he can do. He could play both 2B and 3B and Castro could still get plenty of time in the OF. I'm not worried about burning an option year with him; if we need to run him back down to the minors in 2025 and 2026, then we have bigger problems. He looks ready, so let's see what we've got if Royce has to miss 3-4 weeks. But calling up Wallner wouldn't be a crime with Miranda playing so well and able to slot in at 3B again, and Castro able to drop in there too.
  19. jmlease1
    Beating Skubal is a very nice way to start the series. he's a terrific pitcher, shame Detroit isn't being stupid and dumping him for a coupe of prospects that probably won't pan out. :P Correa had a good game last night; the dinger was important but the long AB he had with Skubal in the 3rd was good too. Skubal won the battle, but Correa really made him work for it, and who knows it might have helped Lewis a little get that double. Bullpen did well to slam the door; Alcala seems to be finding a nice groove and Jax is pitching well. It's funny to worry about Duran's velocity when he's still throwing 101mph but when you've hit 104, it's still fair. but he did well too. SWR kept us in the in the game and dueled with Skubal fairly well, but he can't be very happy with giving up a dinger to Kreidler who had 1 career HR before last night and has been a bad hitter his whole career. the Malloy shot is a little more forgivable; he's got a better track record in the minors and there was no one on base but the Kreidler one made me very nervous that we were going to throw a winnable game away. I'm still leery of Margot (let a ball drop that a better OF could have made a play on, and I have zero faith in him against a righty) but he certainly did the job at the plate against Skubal.
  20. jmlease1
    It's working out well and was worth the risk. Even with the down year last season as Correa battle through plantar fasciitis, he's very likely to finish his 3rd year with the Twins having put up a ton of value for us. And while I know the idea of 1 WAR = $9M in value is just shorthand, I do think it's important to realize that it's a lot easier to find a player with 1 or 2 bWAR than it is to get one who puts up 5 or 6 bWAR, so the value really shouldn't be treated as linear. We dodged a bullet on Story, who I admittedly wanted and thought might be a viable option for the Twins, since I didn't think Correa was ever coming here. we're paying Correa big money, but we're paying it in the years where he's the most likely to produce at these kinds of levels. I love the fact that the contract declines in the out years and if it vests the team should be pretty thrilled to pay the next season. It's a fantastic structure to keep a team leader on for a long time without punishing the budget with our self-imposed payroll limits. And Correa's skill set should age fairly well, since he's not reliant on speed to begin with and a move to 3B in a few years still takes advantage of his superior arm and smart positioning. I think they bet on the right guy.
  21. jmlease1
    wow, did Joe Ryan run you over on his bicycle or something? He was clearly hurt; he went on the IL for 3 weeks so it's not like they brought him back in the minimum time. In the month before he went on the IL he gave up 17 HRs. after he came back he gave up 7 (and 3 were in a meaningless game in Colorado). So don't pretend there was no difference. Accusing a player of faking an injury is pretty big talk, especially when you have absolutely nothing to back it up. Weird flex.
  22. jmlease1
    He also got injured last season and tried to hide it/play through it. which was a dumb mistake but the sort of one that at least has a good mentality behind it. But it seems unlikely he'd eff up like that again. He's doing very well this season, and I was pleased to see him handle the early baserunners against Seattle in his last start. 3 starts with a Game Score more than 70, 9 starts with a Game Score more than 60. Only 4 with a Game Score under 50. That's a playoff caliber starter to me.
  23. jmlease1
    well, he did hit the snot out of the ball at 2 levels last season. If he could have kept that up, you'd have to consider him a top prospect because of how difficult it is to find catchers who can hit their weight these days. He's really struggling to actually get the bat on the ball this year so far, but it's the first bump in the road for him in pro ball. Let's see how he responds. Olivar is doing very well in his first try at high A this season, and I hope he can stick at catcher. the fact that he's playing 2/3 of his games there is a good sign, but he's going to need to work on controlling the running game.
  24. jmlease1
    I'll admit, I had forgotten that Larnach had gotten up into the Top 100 and as high as some had him rated. Of course the pore-2021 rankings were basically guesswork from everyone because of the pandemic since there was no minor league season. Larnach also might have been one of those guys whose development cycle got messed up because of losing the 2020 season. He ended up getting less than half a season in AA and might have benefitted from having that time to hone his approach on breaking pitches before getting thrown into the fire in MLB. he's also dealt with some injuries too. Miranda I never really worried about his ability, just whether other players had passed him on the depth chart because of his injury year in 2023. Never felt like last year's struggles were anything other than health related, but when you're playing positions that have a lot of high-level competition it doesn't take much to get pushed down. (Look at what happened to Nick Gordon, who was playing very well in AAA before another injury hit and Arraez took the opportunity and ran with it. Gordon never really got much of a chance on the dirt again in MLB) I hope Miranda spends a lot of time in the off-season working at 1B; there's a real opportunity for him there and if he can be a 1B who occasionally fills in at 3B and plays some DH he'll have a very significant role if he keeps hitting like this. The last option year really helped Larnach stick with the Twins: they didn't HAVE to decide if he was a MLB player at the start of the season and could let him recover from the turf toe, get healthy, and wait for an opportunity in the minors. Without that, there's a good chance he would have been lost on waivers.
  25. jmlease1
    Right now I'm less concerned with the results than just having Lewis pitching in games right now. Hopefully he can shake the rust off and get through a few games pain-free. Been a bit of a lost season so far, and it would great if he can get on track with a strong second half. Keaschall is doing a nice job in AA. I'll be watching to see if he can find that power stroke he flashed in A-ball, but he's doing everything else very well. Seems to be rotating between CF, 2B, and DH right now, which is good to see. Would love to know where he's looking better, on the grass or on the dirt?
×
×
  • Create New...