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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    The Nationals will try to get back in the race tonight behind Tommy Milone, starting in place of Strasburg who is back on the DL: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/07/nationals-to-select-contract-of-tommy-milone.html
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    Need to tell Belisle to pretend these are inherited runners...
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Where was Matt "Inherited Runner Strander" Belisle?
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Why promote him at 28%, when you need him to get it down to 25%?
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    More extreme, but I remember hearing "ratio" defenses of Adam Brett Walker too. I don't think BB% is particularly meaningful at that level when you are whiffing that much. I suspect he is getting pitched around like he wouldn't in MLB (and the walk rate increasing as his bat heats up seems to align with that). I am not dismissing Rooker, but I think he needs K% improvement at these levels to become an impact player in MLB. I suspect that's why he hasn't gotten a promotion yet.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Morris? Cressend? Kralick (RIP)? Do they owe their French speaking fans Jacque (Jones)?
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Mejia would probably be available in emergency relief now, and Addison Reed is almost ready to return, so that's my guess at the next transaction. If they demoted Mejia now, about all they could do is call up Moya, Curtiss, or Duffey for a couple days, but the pen isn't too taxed at the moment anyway. (Busenitz and Astudillo are still ineligible for recall due to the 10 day rule themselves.)
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Still a 28.2% K rate in that time, though.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't think Erv is that likely to be claimed, especially if he shows any rust his first 2 starts back. (They can put him waivers as soon as August 1st.)
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    There is still plenty of time for September ticket prices to drop enough so even a minor league salary can afford them.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Jay still isn't generating many K's, 16 in 14.2 IP over the last 28 days. League K/9 is an even 9.0, and it is probably higher among just relievers. Jay is still giving up hits too -- fewer than in May and June, but he's given up at least one hit in all but 2 games this year, including his last 6 games. I'm pretty sure he will make MLB as well, but for how long? He is a very interesting Rule 5 case this winter.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Stewart is not a free agent yet, still just Rule 5 this offseason . Eligible for minor league free agency after next season.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    We lost 2 games on Cleveland over the weekend during the KC sweep -- but now we've gained 2 over the next two games. So we're back where we were at the all-star break (7.5 back), just with 5 fewer games left...
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    A biiiiiiig lunch! Mofongo, wasakaka con questo frito... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luWBghJpx9I
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Rimmel, The Desert Fox?
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    As long as he doesn't get picked in Rule 5, it will cost the Twins virtually nothing to keep Stewart another year (just the AAA roster spot), so perhaps this is the plan.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Keep in mind, Belisle's inherited runners have been in low leverage. He's only seen 1 inherited runner with less than a 3 run lead/deficit. His average game-entering leverage index for the Twins this year is .32. That's not a role which Belisle has carved out, it's just where you stash your clear mop-up guys. He has zero high leverage appearances, 2 medium leverage, and a whopping 13 low leverage. By comparison, Hildeberger and Duke have 1.26 and 1.23 leverage index, 17 and 18 high leverage, and even 14 and 7 medium leverage appearances, respectively. They've entered 17 tie games between them; Belisle zero. They are far more likely to be pitching in competitive games, against competitive teams/lineups. Belisle has been far more likely to pitch against teams that have given up -- yeah, the bases were loaded last night, but the Jays trailed by 7 with 11 outs remaining. They let their #9 hitting backup catcher stay in the game to hit in that situation against Belisle, if that gives you an idea about how competitive they were being.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    I like the collection of old folks sitting right behind the plate, in the TV broadcast. Probably millionaires like at every other stadium, but I like to imagine they are charming old Canadian millionaires...
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    You have to consider the complete package. You'd get the same tradeoff with other options too, maybe not quite so extreme (or difficult to watch ). But Grossman appears to be a replacement-level MLB outfielder, with the upside of an average-ish DH. That may not be sexy (sorry Robbie), but it can be useful.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    If Astudillo isn't even an option as an *emergency* catcher in MLB when Bobby Wilson gets heat stroke, then I don't even know why we added him to the roster at all. As interesting as his bat looks, I can't see him being much of an asset as a 3B/DH "utility" type.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    If they are actually utility players with interesting bats, who cares? Nobody is saying Astudillo has to be our future full-time catcher, but if he can go back there and not embarrass himself every once in a while when needed, maybe it informs our decision about what kind of pinch-hitting we can leverage, what kind of backup to carry, what kind of guy to pair with Castro next year, what kind of complementary utility guy would be best, etc. Plus no-look pickup throws. Those are awesome. In any case, Plouffe didn't play SS in MLB except as a emergency measure replacing Nishioka. (Talk about scouting failures.) He was pretty much a utility guy from day 1 in the majors, and he even received some reps at 2B/3B in the minors, although I understand why you'd want to stick with SS as long as you could. Pinto obviously was not a utility guy, he had no other purpose than catcher, so it's quite a bit different than taking a peek at Astudillo behind the plate as the lineup/roster allows.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    I'm glad they didn't just roll with Granite, which is how they started spring training. Adding Cave as a viable alternative was a good move, even if it wasn't the RH outfielder most of us were looking for. Have the Twins been particularly hurt by a lack of RH production? 87 wRC+ vs LHP, 97 vs RHP. Any RH outfielder would have likely taken opportunities away from Kepler (127), Grossman (115), and perhaps even Rosario (100), as well as LaMarre. I think this offense was destined to sputter anyway. (An aside: super small sample sizes, but Adrianza has been much better vs LHP than RHP with the Twins. Maybe we'll see him get a few games in the outfield, as long as the infield is full?)
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    I'm not so sure, while every team "needs" 5 SP, they also usually have a lot of guys moving through those spots, so there might be more tradeable SP floating around at any given time. There were some outfielders available in trade. Corey Dickerson and Denard Span from the Rays -- but they are both left-handed. Matt Kemp, I suppose, but did anyone see that coming from him? McCutchen was overkill for a 4th outfielder, and anyway by that point you're down in the 1 WAR or less territory, not meaningfully different than the production the Twins received anyway. It just seems like a relatively minor issue to me.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    I know much of the concern was about finding a potential platoon for Kepler -- but Kepler has a 127 wRC+ versus LHP. Rosario's got a 100. Grossman's got a 115.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    As far as Belisle, I am not sure what you expect. Here's what they said when they signed him: http://www.startribune.com/veteran-pitcher-matt-belisle-will-rejoin-twins/485257651/ I mean, we can ask them again, but I'm not sure you'll get a measurably different response. "We still like him, even though he's had a couple rough outings, we're seeing some mentorship with Busenitz". Maybe now you'll get a "we'll re-evaluate on August 1st" kind of thing.
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