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Willihammer

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Everything posted by Willihammer

  1. Willihammer
    There is mileage but what is encouraging to me is the secondary stuff. A guy can afford lose a few ticks off his fastball when the secondary stuff is there. I personally think, after looking at some of the youtubes, Tanaka has the goods. In the older clips he shows a good slider but in last spring's WBC you see him more making guys look silly with the splitter. It seems to be a trend with the Japanese pitchers, or at least the really elite ones, to learn a good split. Kuroda, Darvish, Iwakuma, , Uehara, all lean on very good splits. Dice-K and Nomo threw them too. Tanaka seems to fit right in, possibly the closest comp being Kuroda.
  2. Willihammer
    Tanner relieved Kohl Stewart for the 5th inning and recorded 3 outs while walking only 1. He went back out for the 6th, and walked 3 in a row to load the bases and was relieved by Andre Martinez. 2 of the 3 runners would score. Mendonca's ERA for the season now sits at 6.56.
  3. Willihammer
    Interesting sidenote, I was watching Liriano pitch earlier this month and Robby Inkmikowski had a sideline report where he talked about the Pirates changing shifts in the middle of at-bats. They have a second defense against some hitters once they get to two strikes. Jeff Banister is the coach in charge of it.
  4. Willihammer
    Looks like his slot has even gotten more vertical as the year has gone on. http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_bytime.php?s_type=2&time=month&player=434538&b_hand=-1&gFilt=&pFilt=FA%7CSI%7CFC%7CCU%7CSL%7CCS%7CKN%7CCH%7CFS%7CSB&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=08/20/2013&minmax=ci&var=z0 At some point he'll have to stop right?
  5. Willihammer
    Its certainly an intriguing idea on paper. He's only 34, we all know how good he is when healthy. Problem is, you'd need a qualified medical person to look him over, his surgery history, and figure out if that shoulder is physically capable of performing at a high level again. I'm not sure if the Twins have any of those.
  6. Willihammer
    I do find it amusing how indignant people can get over a friendly little wrassle in a competitive setting. These guys are out of control!
  7. Willihammer
    By all means share with us what you know about that play because as I said I'm not 100% sure how it went down. But until video of the play surfaces or more facts come to light then I'll give Doug and the team the benefit of the doubt. I don't believe they'd retaliate for a clean slide at the plate or an impact if the catcher was blocking it.
  8. Willihammer
    Who says it was okay? The league will suspend both managers and that's probably justified. After my attempt at piecing together the events and the players involved, I do sympathize with the emotional stress Doug might have been under in that moment, that's all. However he didn't handle it in the most professional manner obviously.
  9. Willihammer
    I am giving Dougie and the Miracle the benefit of the doubt here - if it warranted a retaliation, it probably was a dirty slide. But I dont know for sure TBH
  10. Willihammer
    Mike Kvasnicka had to sub for Jairo Rodriguez after he got rolled over at home plate on the 16th. The next day, Jairo didn't get off the bench - Matt Koch caught in his stead. Evidently Jairo was a little bruised or sore from the previous day and thus Doug had to sit him and probably wasn't happy about it. Rodriguez, who'll be 25 in 5 days, and is batting 255/270/273 for the year. Quite possibly could be looking at his last season of pro ball. And then for the Marauder coach to pipe up about a retaliation... all I will say is, its not hard to sympathize I think. With Sano - He had a conflict with a teammate - Bobby Lanigan, a 26 year old who like Rodriguez, probably isn't long for the pro baseball world, and who had just endured one humiliation of being released by the Twins, and a 2nd for giving up a home run to his superstar 20 year old "rival." And then Sano rubs it in further by pimping it? Totally different, IMHO.
  11. Willihammer
    Is that a football term too?
  12. Willihammer
    I'm encouraged. The Twins seem to be serious. From what I've read, Guerrero's bat falls somewhere between Alexei Ramirez and Cespedes. Something like a .760 OPS bat in the MLB, no? That would be almost a .200 point improvement over the likes of Florimon.
  13. Willihammer
    Minor League direct Brad Steil did have this to say: I'm a little sketchy on the details but I probably would have lost my lid if I were in Dougie's position. Day 1, his catcher gets bowled over at the plate (some more details here would be nice - was he blocking the plate?) Day two a Miracle pitcher "brushes back" an opposition player in clear retaliation. Ideally, the pitcher hits the Bradenton batter square in the ribs and that settles the issue, but the pitch missed and when the Bradenton manager stepped out of the dugout to yell something at Dougie, then Dougie decided to take the retaliation into his own hands I guess. I think I am fine with all of this, especially if the initial Maurader takeout of the Miracle catcher was unnecessary or vicious.
  14. Willihammer
    Tanner relieved Ryan Eades to start the Greenville Astros 7th on Sunday, and promptly walked the first 3 batters he faced to load the bases. He was taken out of the game without recording an out.
  15. Willihammer
    Hughes throws a good portion of his sliders, curveballs, and changeups out of the zone low, but hitters aren't swinging at them. This behavior I believe evidences the weakness of the action on those pitches. Moreover, when hitters do swing at these pitches, particularly when they're in the zone, they rarely miss. By contrast, batters swing at more of Lincecum's sliders, changeups (Splitters), and curveballs, specifically the ones that are low and out of the zone where any contact is likely to be weak. Moreover, they are whiffing much more frequently. This, I believe, evidences the strength of the action on these pitches.
  16. Willihammer
    And just to complete the argument, the pitches that hitters are swinging at - primarily pitches in the zone, they aren't missing: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CH%7CFS%7CSB&player=461833&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=whiffswing&b_hand=-1 http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CU%7CSL%7CCS%7CKN&player=461833&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=whiffswing&b_hand=-1 http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CH%7CFS%7CSB&player=453311&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=whiffswing&b_hand=-1 http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CU%7CSL%7CCS%7CKN&player=453311&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=whiffswing&b_hand=-1
  17. Willihammer
    Lincecum (Pitchf/x calls it a splitter. I believe Lincecum calls it a change). http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=FS&player=453311&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=count&b_hand=-1 http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=FS&player=453311&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=swing&b_hand=-1 Curveballs. Hughes: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CU&player=461833&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=count&b_hand=-1 http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CU&player=461833&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=swing&b_hand=-1 Same as slider. Hughes throws that curve in the low-right corner a lot but isn't baiting anyone with it. Lincecum: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CU&player=453311&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=count&b_hand=-1 http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CU&player=453311&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=swing&b_hand=-1 Lincecum got swings on 88 of 212 curveballs below the zone (41.5%), Hughes got 120 swings on 325 pitches (36.9%).
  18. Willihammer
    They're not very good pitches. Especially to some of the other FAs like Lincecum. The sample is all pitches in the 2012-2013 seasons. Sliders thrown: Hughes http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=SL&player=461833&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=count&b_hand=-1 Hughes throws nearly half his sliders low-out of the zone. But hitters only bite 33.9% of the time: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=SL&player=461833&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=swing&b_hand=-1 By comparison, Lincecum throws about the same proportion of sliders below the zone, but hitters bite 47.4% of the time. He also throws a lot more of them - 298 to 500, in those zones. That translated to 136 more swings at sliders low and out of the zone: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=SL&player=453311&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=count&b_hand=-1 http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=SL&player=453311&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=swing&b_hand=-1 Changeups, the same thing. Hughes: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CH&player=461833&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=count&b_hand=-1 http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_profile.php?gFilt=&pFilt=CH&player=461833&startDate=01%2F01%2F2012&endDate=08%2F19%2F2013&var=swing&b_hand=-1
  19. Willihammer
    I don't know if they'll need to wait that long necessarily. I could see this lineup out of ST 2014: Dozier Mauer 1B Hammer Sano Arcia Plouffe DH Doumit C Mastroianni Florigroan / Escobar / Bernier / Free Agent That lineup could struggle, or, with a few breaks, right they could put up some crooked numbers I think.
  20. Willihammer
    I would like to squash this idea. ESPN Home Run Tracker :: Player and Field Detail Phil Hughes is another bullpen talent, over-reliant on his fastball due to ineffective secondary offerings. We have about 10 of those guys already. edit: with the HR tracker link, select Target Field as an overlay. By my eye, Hughes would be no better off.
  21. Willihammer
    Would it be fair to say that you view the 2013 Twins' position similarly to the 2010 Astros or the 2012 Marlins'?
  22. Willihammer
    I usually projectile to contact. The contact keeps my upchuck count down.
  23. Willihammer
    Just as soon as Bremer says "the White Sox are scoring like the Pirhanas used to!" they hit a couple moonshots.
  24. Willihammer
    One theory: by allowing so many baserunners, defenders are more preoccupied holding runners on base, and are out of position when balls are pitched, have their momentum moving the wrong way, feet aren't set, whatever. As a check I pulled team pitching BABIPs (the inverse of Defensive Efficiency) for seasons 2011-2013 and correl'ed to team WHIPs. The correlation is .728 edit: It occured to me that by failing to turn batted balls into outs directly impacts WHIP, so I ran the BABIP correlation against walk rate instead. That is only .108
  25. Willihammer
    Cletus still here? Free Antoan
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