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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    From the original article, there is no claim that they refused to provide Mientkiewicz with a reason. They refused to divulge any specific reasons in public, though. http://m.startribune.com/doug-mientkiewicz-is-fired-as-minor-league-manager-for-twins/444772903/ What they didn't give Mientkiewicz was an answer to his question, "whose decision was it?" Which I don't think is an appropriate or constructive question to begin with, in that situation. Mientkiewicz was just searching for a villain to blame.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    Seems like this has been happening a lot lately, though. At what point are you concerned? When Molitor bunts with Sano down 3 runs or something ridiculous? That's not going to happen, but mildly questionable bunts every other day should add up to something...
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Sure. But, just saying the Polanco's overall 2017 numbers shouldn't really be used as any kind of benchmark for grading other players. Not that I think Castro's performance is problematic, especially if we are willing to pinch hit/run for him as needed.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    And Polanco's been a disappointment too, and his offensive performance was problematic for 4 months.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    And league average is only in the .250s these days, so while .230 isn't great, it's not terrible either. Still, I don't mind pinch hitting or especially pinch running, but I don't think I'd be so eager to bunt.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Sorry, I missed the Sano thing. But notice that Dozier isn't bunting weekly. Also notice that you didn't say anything now about bunting just for the sake of bunting experience. Again, no one here is quibbling with the idea of fast guys bunting for a hit sometimes, or a guy like Dozier catching the defense napping twice a season. But your "weekly experience" thing seemed to be arguing for more than that, which sounds like a good way for a lot of guys to give up regular PAs (and potential XBH) without much gain. Also have to factor in that regular bunt attempts will probably make defenses better at handling bunts, more than it will make any individual hunter better.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Buxton is one of the fastest guys in the league. No one here has disputed he should be bunting for a hit sometimes. What about Dozier? Mauer? Stanton? You want them bunting weekly, regardless of results?
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Lol, to think I would ever look at premium seats! Just get me in the ballpark, I will move down as far as the moat will allow.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    What else could we have done at the catcher position?
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Good point. I was just looking at Seatgeek, and Yankees tickets were as cheap as the upcoming Tigers series in Detroit. Cheaper than Target Field right now for sure.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually, quite a few of them have. Rosario and Escobar were both in the lineup in August 2015 when we went to Yankee Stadium in a pennant race. Buxton rejoined the team shortly thereafter. Only Polanco in our lineup tonight is a young player who hasn't previously been part of a MLB pennant race. (Grossman hasn't either, and I guess Kepler came off the bench.) Pitching side, obviously Hildenberger and Rogers haven't, but Duffey has (and obviously Ervin too). Of those that didn't pitch tonight, Gibson, Colon, Belisle, Perkins, Gee, and Tonkin all pitched in September pennant races before (obviously not all young guys!).
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Did it come with a gift receipt?
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    To be fair, Garcia has a 100 ERA+ since the trade (before tonight). His peripherals aren't great, and he is a little short on innings, but the Yankees have had a quick hook with him too (as they should, with their pen investments).
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Gonsalves topped 100 pitches in 4 of 13 starts for Mientkiewicz after his midseason promotion last year, and 3 of 15 starts in Chattanooga this year (starting late due to injury).
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Cedar Rapids had Hackimer throw 36 and 38 pitches in April and May. Mientkiewicz only had him exceed that twice, 42 pitches on June 1st and then 45 in the playoff game you mention, his last appearance of the year. Jay's season debut back in May saw him throw 31 pitches in one inning for AA Chattanooga. 36 over 2.1, again in his final appearance of the year, coming on the heels of 3 other 2 inning stints (including a 40-pitcher), seems fairly reasonable by comparison. Just eyeballing it, but it seems like most of the top relievers at Cedar Rapids and Chattanooga had similar high pitch count games too.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    Wells threw over 100 pitches in consecutive starts with Cedar Rapids last year. After those 3 starts for Thorpe, the org sent him to AA for a 96 pitch spot start. Seems like pretty scant evidence, at this point.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    It was 100 and 101 pitches. Thorpe got promoted to AA for a spot start and threw 96 pitches. Is the AA manager in danger now too?
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Orioles called up prospect Tanner Scott, who had a 2.22 ERA in 24 starts at AA this year -- but only 69 IP. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=scott-000tan They basically capped him to a max of 3 IP per start, for a whole season. His W-L record was 0-2, across 24 starts.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    I suspect they are both fringe guys, but who would you rather lose at this point, Vielma or Palka? Maybe "both" will be the answer before too long. I will miss the autocorrected "Velma" though, and its Scooby Doo connotations.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Twins fans absolutely believe them. If anything, they might seem low. Although I guess some of those series were pretty brief...
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    You want good hitters to be bunting, in actual games, weekly?
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    I think the experience value of "periodic" (meaning infrequent) bunts is pretty much non-existent. Just like you don't become a meaningfully better defender at a position if you only play it once every couple months. That experience is just too infrequent to be meaningful. Even if it's not "high pressure game situations", it probably comes down to practice plus innate skill and comfort. And that's going to show up in the data -- a guy like Dozier who just isn't comfortable bunting isn't going to do it, even just once every couple months. Also, for a good hitter, bunting is virtually never "needed" in a game situation. Guys like Adrianza, Gimenez, rookie Granite, pitchers, sure. But not good hitters.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    Yes, the difference is primarily defense (and how to split credit/blame between pitchers and defenders). Most notably, Fangraphs uses FIP to calculate pitcher WAR rather than actual runs allowed. So pitchers with better peripherals (Berrios) will generally get a boost over what their ERA/RA would suggest, and pitchers with worse peripherals (Ervin) will get dinged. Also, Fangraphs uses UZR for defense, while B-Ref uses DRS. Curious how that will change in the age of Statcast...
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Have you considered that your bias here might be on just as much display as the writer's? Imagine if the question was about buying Trevor Cahill, and the chat response was "No. I don't know what the Royals did to him, but it wasn't good." Is that really a statement alleging "an act perpetrated" against Cahill by the Royals, or is it really just one way to say the earlier performance of this marginal player was not sustainable? Maybe not the perfect way, but virtually the same idea comes up constantly in baseball chats and it becomes a bit of a struggle to try expressing it in a new, creative way. Maybe my hypothetical writer has previously criticized the Royals too, just like some Fangraphs folk have picked on the Twins, and that colored their choice of words. But to reject it and denounce the writer for a literal accusation of malfeasance is almost to deny the basic facts involved (marginal player, common regression scenario).
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    Going into 2020 (after 2019), as you deduced, is correct. Think of it as "first FA season".
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