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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    How much are they giving back through poor performance? Belisle actually blew a lead in his only appearance in Cleveland this past weekend, and was bailed out by the offense, Rogers, and Kintzler. And how much are they complicating the roster? Breslow was unavailable for the series opener in Cleveland after an inefficient attempt at mop-up relief on Thursday, which necessitated adding Gee apparently and playing with a very short / nonexistent bench. And even if they had a positive effect, at what point can they remove one or both of these training wheels from the roster?
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    I think Hildenberger and Busenitz have already met the Breslow standard -- any lingering doubt about them being unable to replicate Breslow's recent results is almost certainly outweighed by both of them being optionable. Boshers too. So they can be rotated for a fresh arm as needed. This is only going to get more important as Hughes returns and we try to roster Haley again, without any SP upgrades on the immediate horizon (and more doubleheaders). And again I dispute your assertion that Belisle has the ability to pitch effectively in the highest leverage situations, but give up multiple runs on a regular basis otherwise. His outings may have followed this general pattern so far in 2017, but that does not prove this specious ability exists. Relying on it to continue is a bad bet. If they want to keep Belisle in the Breslow mop-up role for a bit, that's fine, but again I'd be ready to drop him for a fresh optionable arm as needed. Maybe Reed or Curtiss or even Romero for a look before the trade deadline.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    I totally get the argument that one bad game can torpedo a reliever's ERA for while. But Belisle has had multiple bad games, evenly spaced through the season. Capable MLB relievers don't just give up multiple runs in close games every other week. And they certainly aren't capable of "pitching to the score" by only giving up runs when we're already behind. We should consider ourselves lucky that it hasn't burned us more up to this point and move on. I'm not sure Belisle and Molitor can keep up this jujitsu for much longer.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Sorry for the analogy, it was just a joke. Was navigating around some neighborhood kids today (didn't hit any, for the record!). Belisle has in fact blown 3 leads this year, in his 32 appearances. And he has given up a run in ~30% of his appearances. And he has a 6.99 ERA. Jason Grilli just got DFA'd, with a 6.97 ERA, 2 blown saves in 26 appearances, having allowed runs in ~30% of his appearances. I don't expect perfection, but the fact that he is still on the team is rather unusual given his performance, much less being run out in high leverage situations still, no matter how you slice it.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    The Blue Jays just DFA'd Jason Grilli and his 6.97 ERA. Grilli's plea that he hasn't allowed in run in ~70% of his appearances must have fallen on deaf ears. Belisle and his 6.99 ERA must be feeling the heat!
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Of course, Hawkins started out great in the closer's role too. Converted his first 23 save opportunities, a MLB record (at least at the time).
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Still, the Twins haven't trusted him to do anything but short mop-up work.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Thanks, sorry, I somehow misread. In any case, if you count extended spring from 2016, don't you have to count actual spring from 2017? It would be cool to get a range from the Twins, because as much as they will hem and haw about not having a hard limit, you know they have a fairly firm range.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    And the last one came against RHP Matt Barnes...
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Why would they shut down or limit Romero to 90 innings last year, just to give him more in instructs? Wouldn't they rather those innings came in actual games? Also, if you are weighting instruct innings equally, don't you also have to weight major and minor league spring training innings? He probably had more of those in 2017 than 2016, given his late start last year. I don't know much about instructs either, so I am not sure of the numbers or how they should be weighted.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Correct. Stewart too, if they want to keep him out of Rule 5.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    I should have clarified, I agree it was a bad decision not to PH Mauer. I just think Molitor's explanation of why he didn't is even worse. I'd pinch hit him either way, but I think it is slightly more important with runners at 1st and 2nd, rather than 2nd and 3rd. But, better for Molitor to blame Polanco...
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    That would have left a base open for them to walk Mauer (or at least pitch around him) and face Rosario and Buxton.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Yates looks very Tonkin-esque, right down to being available on waivers 2 months ago and his current low-leverage assignment. I probably wouldn't bother with him, except perhaps if he was a throw-in with Brad Hand or something.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    The previous call ups (save perhaps Rosario jumping up after only 30 career innings at AA) were all obviously worse pitchers too. Seriously, I don't think game situation is what was holding Wimmers back in 2017.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    And it's not just the job, it's the role -- no team has asked Belisle to pitch this many high leverage situations since the 2012 Rockies (and they weren't a good team). The 2014 Rockies and 2016 Nationals in particular used him in more of a Breslow mop-up role. But the 2017 Twins have him as our second highest leveraged reliever, behind only Kintzler.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Glad to see Gee sent out. He can come back Saturday as the 26th man, and the rest of the bullpen spots (hopefully? finally?) can be decided on merit.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    As the article says, Gimenez hit his 5th last night.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    I worry that Hughes might offer the same "help" as Breslow -- low leverage mop-up work, and generally limited to an inning or two per appearance, with ample rest in between. In any case, I would hesitate to trust him with more than that.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Platoon splits are meaningless in Breslow's strict mop-up role.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    "Yes, your honor, I ran over a few kids with my car -- but think of all the kids I didn't run over! Far from a problem -- I am an asset to this community!" And is last night another tally in Belisle's "no runs allowed" counter?
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    Romero probably has about 50 innings left this season, so that might work, depending on his pen role. And he's already on the 40-man, so it wouldn't hurt much to try.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    On the free agent question, if he finishes this season strong at closer, he probably could match or possibly beat the Neshek/Gregerson deals from a couple years ago, 3/21 or better.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Interesting questions. Also, he will just barely eclipse 6 years service time at the end of the season. I wonder if we could have left him in Rochester for another week or two last year and gotten another year of control? Obviously that's not usually a concern with minor league signings, but Kintzler wasn't quite a run of the mill minor league signing either -- he was a pretty effective pen piece for the Brewers who got injured, no one expected him to be a great closer but he profiled like a potentially solid setup man. Maybe he had an opt out date last year? Not sure...
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    Yes, I understood that. But when the front office decided not to add Park back to the roster, they still kept him and kept a 40-man spot free for other use. There was no risk of losing any players there -- actually adding Park back to the roster would have risked losing someone else. Their choice was actually the risk-averse option. That's not the case here -- Melotakis is at risk of being lost. Might ultimately be a fine decision, but it's not really comparable to keeping Park off the roster.
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