Danchat

With Parker's fastball maxing out at 91 today, I wonder if a stint on the IL might be a good idea? I'm starting to worry he's going down the Addison Reed path. Maybe some rest would do him some good. Other than that, I can't remember the last time the Twins were able to crush bad teams like this more often than not. It feels like they've been near-perfect at that, at least since that series we lost to the Jays 3 of 4.

IMO Duran is justifying his high ranking Twins Daily gave him on the prospects rankings. He's consistently going 6-7 innings and has the stuff to be a really good starter. Right now I'd like to get some of those AAA bats some chances in the majors, like Cave and Wiel. Methinks Wiel is ready for a chance. Unfortunately, our major league hitters are doing so well we really don't need reinforcements. I could see Astudillo getting optioned for Cave. Update:

For those who may be new to this game, I’ll give a detailed breakdown. So when a pitcher faces a batter, three dice are rolled. The white die determines which card will be used; 1 to 3 summons the hitter card, and 4 to 6 summons the pitcher card. The two red dice will determine the outcome of the play. In a standard game, one would switch out the hitter cards for each batter and the pitcher cards during any pitching change. However, for my setup, I will be using the Master Hitting and Master Pitching cards. This prevents the need for a card for each player, which is also great because I’m cheap and hate spending money to buy more stuff! Here’s part of my custom-made hitting card: But how random and how varied can each player be if they’re all using the same card? The answer to that would be in the player’s skill level. At the current moment, here are the skills that are recorded: Hitting 1 to 8 (higher number being the better value) Power 1 to 8 Speed E to AA Fielding 1 to 5 Drawing walks 1 to 5 Strikeout tendency 1 to 5 And for the pitchers: Preventing hits 1 to 8 Preventing HRs 1 to 5 Allowing walks 1 to 5 Getting strikeouts 1 to 5 Here is an example; the current Twins squad: This roster was created with stats from Baseball-Reference with specific cutoffs for each rank for each skill. Now here is a picture of some of the cuttoffs: It can take a little while to come up with the teams since I have to research every single player, but this process helps me becoming more informed about other teams’ players If you’re unfamiliar with Strat-O-Matic baseball, there are also a few supplemental charts. There’s the X-Chart, which either sees a groundball or flyball get hit at a certain position that will be difficult to play. Great defenders will almost always make the play, but the poorer the fielder, the higher chance of an error or a hit (lack of range, I guess). Here’s a screenshot of the X-Chart: And there’s also the Strategy Chart. This determines how groundballs and flyouts will be fielded, and allows for managers to try bunting, hit-and-run, bringing the infield in, and more. Since I’m playing alone (is that weird to you guys?), I get to decide what strategy for each team might be the best. This also applies to pitching changes and offensive substitutions. Here’s part of the chart: With all this put together, let’s test a plate appearance and see how things work: In this scenario, Jorge Polanco faces Ryan Yarbrough. He rolls a 4-5, which goes to the pitching card, with the number 5. With this roll, the batter will groundout (though all runners on base will advance); however, if the pitcher is a #4 or 5 in strikeouts, the batter will strike out. Also, if the pitcher is a #1 or #2 hitting-wise, the batter will hit a single. Since Ryan Yarbrough is a #3 strikeout-wise and #5 hitting-wise, Polanco grounds out. I hope you understand how the Strat-O-System works a little better now, and I’ll be bringing you another game this weekend. Post any questions or suggestions you may have!

It feels like Larnach is having the year Kiriloff did last year. Perhaps he'd make for a key trade piece since his stock has got to be high right now...

Apparently Carrasco won’t be starting tonight’s game as he’s been diagnosed with a “blood condition”. The Indians are out of starters with so many injured now...

But can Rooker throw 97 MPH? Wallner's got some Gimenez potential!

They lose any draft pool money they don't spend, so it can't be funnelled to sign free agents. They will be able to draft and sign better players in later rounds with more money to give, as Tom has already stated.

Welcome, readers! In past years, I’ve taken control of a game thread once or twice a year and ran a Strat-O-Matic game in real time alongside the Twins game in real life. With the game threads headed in a different direction, I’ve thought about how I might deliver some Strat-O-Matic content to Twins Daily in a better-suited format. After some deliberation, I decided to start a blog here and see if this format will satisfy the masses. Just so you know, I work a 9 to 5 job Monday through Friday and I’m also a content creator at Purple Pain, a Vikings forum, so my time is limited, but I hope to bring a somewhat consistent source of simulations this season. And with that out of the way... Today I will lead off with a box score from my simulation of Sunday’s (6/2/19) game against the Rays. In my next blog posts I’ll explain my system of simulation in detail - I don’t actually use the cards that came with the game, I’m using my own custom version that I’ve been working on for the past 8-9 years. Strat-O-Matic sets are expensive and I don’t want to wait a full year after the 2019 season ends to get my hands on the 2019 cards. While my simulation isn’t going to have the pinpoint accuracy and realism that the original game provides, I think it can work as a quick-and-dirty version that is far more flexible than the original game could ever be. Now, onto the game itself: Summary: This game went very similarly to the actual one, with the Twins getting a 8-0 lead at one point, as compared to a 7-0 lead in real life. However, no bullpen collapse happened and it was a rather uneventful outing. Mitch Garver kicked some serious butt in his first game back, and Sano hit a 1B, 2B, and HR. We'll have to see if Garver can stay hot and if guys like Polanco can have better games next time out. To-Do List: Too many errors. The X Chart, which determines whether a fielder will make a play or not, is rather harsh on fielders who aren’t elite. The chances of rolling an error are far too high for my liking. Also, I’m not sure what happened with walks - we saw just 2 in the game and both happened in the 9th inning. There is a solid 8.5% chance of a walk happening on any normal plate appearance, though that varies with the batter’s and pitcher’s tendencies. I won’t tinker anything in this category... yet. Next Time: A intricate breakdown on my unique Strat-O-Matic setup, and possibly another game simulated. I'm not sure how many games I'll get to, but I'd like to do a whole bunch (10 to 20?) and be able to see which players are doing the best in this simulation.

Eh, I don't love the pick, but that's more because it'll probably take 4-5 years to see the kid as a Twin, and I want my instant gratification. It would be wise for them to draft an overslot pitcher in the 2nd/3rd round. We need more arms that have the potential to be good starters; I'm pretty content with our talent at the major position groups in the minors.

I'm hoping for Rutledge. Thompson would be nice too.

Watching chess can actually be entertaining, if the players aren't taking 20 minutes per move. I've played some rounds of 4 player chess, they're fast-paced and also fun to watch with so many pieces on the board.

Did this start at 6:00pm? If so, oof, I think I'll pass waiting 10 minutes per pick. For the NFL Draft? Yes. For the MLB draft? No.

I’m not going to pretend I know anything about the mlb draft, but personally after going with 4 position players in the 1st round in the last 3 drafts I’d to see them draft the best pitcher available.

Boy, Fort Myers has quite the rotation - Duran, Ober, Sammons, Balazovic... that's pretty solid. The Escobar for Duran and others trade is looking pretty good, especially with our higher up starting prospects looking rather shaky (Littell, Thorpe, Gonsalves).

I didn't realize Keuchel gave up the most hits in baseball last year - that could certainly be a reason for why teams have stayed away.

I think he's actually been rule 5 eligible for the past two rule 5 drafts... if he keeps this up, he's going to join a long line of guys the Twins need to add to the 40 man roster. I wouldn't mind if they traded Diaz in a package for a pitcher. Not sure how much value he has at this point, however.

IMO he’s been a very good defensive catcher, which is a nice thing to have.

I don't see the Indians making an against-the-odds rally to win the division. Still, that doesn't mean the Twins are going to have a great rest of the season. They could easily lose steam and make a quick exit from the playoffs.

It's good to see Duran is staying healthy and throwing filth.

Oh no, we'll probably get 6 innings with 2 to 3 solo HRs... we can overcome that!

Wow... 20 games over .500. Just ridiculous at this point! I don't anythign left to say about this team right now. I'm just excited! A bit of news to anyone going to a Twins game on a weekend where it's going to be busy... make sure to show up to the game early, the lines just to get in to Target Field are 30-50 minutes long. Many people didn't get in until the 2nd-3rd inning because so many were trying to get in through very slow security checks. I wonder if Cruz is going to be activated very soon? It's sounded like he's nearly ready.

I think Arraez goes to AAA because he should be getting everyday ABs. Adrianza has looked better as of late and can stay as the utility infielder for now.

Here's a thought... should we start having Alcala throw as a reliever to see if he might be able to crack the majors by the end of the year? Reading his profiles and seeing his performances, methinks he's going to end up as a reliever anyways, so why not try that out now? Lamonte Wade may not be getting many hits this year, but boy, he just finds ways to get on base. I wonder when we'll get to see him as a Twin (not that we need to see him soon, just wondering when).

Well, to be more specific, Polanco was brought up for a cup of coffee when they needed a body, and they had already used an option on Polanco to start him at Fort Myers, so calling him up for a few games in 2014 did not use an option. A lot of folks seem to misunderstand that scenario.

Just because the Capps trade happened doesn’t mean they shouldn’t ever attempt to trade for a reliever again. Not to mention this FO is way different than it was back then.