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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Scroll down to the Relief Pitching table here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2017-pitching.shtml After today, Pressly will be at 31% inherited runners scored. That's pretty much right in line with league average (30%).
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    They chased down Detroit in 2006, obviously, but they didn't "have" to. Had they not caught Detroit, the Twins could/would have won the wild card by a decent margin (as Detroit did, and they actually made the World Series that year). That finish was more fun than it was meaningful. Basically just playoff seeding by mid-September. 2009 was the more meaningful September chase of Detroit (and the one that Detroit would regret).
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    What do you mean, back in the day? Hawk and Eddie are still around! Both were at the game today, in fact!
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Yes. Duffey has 2 option years left, the only one he used so far was 2016. (2015 he was optioned too, but for less than 20 days.)
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    League average for second half bullpens is a 3.84 ERA, so there is room for improvement. In second half bullpen ERA, our Twins trail the Yankees, Rays, Orioles, Mariners, Indians, Angels, Red Sox, and even the Rangers.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Because he's going to bring a championship to Chattanooga?
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't know. If he's pitching bad, he's likely fatigued, and you're increasing his injury risk and maybe even encouraging bad form/mechanics by continuing to send him out there. Seems like a pretty risky move just to get him from ~120 IP to ~140 or whatever.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Partial season platoon splits are a ridiculously small sample size -- it's 55 PA. His K% and BB% are virtually the same from both sides this season. Last year he had a monster 1.262 OPS in 52 PA vs LHP. And he had a 3 run HR and a walk against Derek Holland earlier this very season, on June 20. To the extent that maybe he has "looked" worse against LHP this season, maybe seeing Holland again would help him get back on track in that regard. When the alternative is starting Gimenez, Granite, Adrianza, and Garver (plus Escobar at DH), all in the same lineup, I sure as heck wouldn't want to sit Vargas vs Derek Holland because of small sample platoon splits. Actually the best order almost certainly should have had Vargas and Mauer and 1B/DH (let Mauer DH if you're concerned about rest), and Escobar at 3B -- Adrianza is pretty inexperienced over there too.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    We actually didn't "have" to chase down Detroit that September. We were basically tied for the wild card spot at the start of the month, and finished up 6 games in that race. An important month for sure, and one that Santana excelled in, but not clear to me that it was more important/impressive than June, when our season was basically on the line and we rescued it, with large help from Santana -- the team was 6-0 in his June starts, with Santana only allowing 6 runs TOTAL that month, versus 3-2 in his September starts, with 4 runs charged to Santana in each of the two losses. (In fairness, he also had a very nice start on August 31st ).
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    While I probably would have preferred Mauer to Garver at 1B last night -- why didn't Vargas start? He's no Mauer but he seems like a fair glove at 1B -- he's certainly no novice like Garver -- and he's got pretty even splits for his career. 3 career PA against Holland, with a walk, strikeout, and 3 run HR (talk about three true outcomes!). That would have improved the 1B defense and probably improved the lineup offensively too, given Garver's inexperience. And since we pinch-hit for Garver with Mauer late in the game anyway, starting Vargas instead would have kept Garver on the bench and allowed Mauer to pinch-hit for someone else, possibly even Gimenez if necessary.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Did I miss something, why Vargas wasn't starting tonight, with Mauer sitting vs a LHP and Sano and Grossman both injured?
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    My point was, we got into this weird zone where our third catcher (and now our backup) had zero MLB experience (okay, 1 inning caught). I rather would have gotten him a couple games experience before this point. Not a huge deal, but you could have had more freedom to picked his initial matchups (battery mate), had a bit more flexibility to sub him out in the late innings, etc. I imagine the first few games caught can be more challenging than the first few games at other positions in MLB. Now we're in a tight spot of not daring to pinch hit for Gimenez for awhile.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    Apparently Garver in the lineup at 1B tonight.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    I wasn't saying they should have dropped Gimenez, but they probably could have worked in a couple appearances for Garver in their various roster machinations. Give him a couple games caught in case of this contingency.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Yup. He finally said, "Put me in, coach! I'm ready to play, today."
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    I think the poster was just confused about the timeline. The bad stretch for Rogers was the week before Kintzler was traded, 10 runs allowed in 5 games.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    But Koufax also pitched in a smaller league with less talent dilution. And also slightly lower strikeout rates? It gets pretty complicated trying to make cross-era comparisons. Best to just compare them relative to their contemporaries (which ERA+ and WAR are doing).
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    This is an example why we probably should have had Garver up earlier, if only to get his feet wet a little more.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Piranhas are not known as picky eaters.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, and acquiring/developing those players in the first place. Kluber was 29 when Cleveland signed him to his extension. And he had already won a Cy Young award. The fact that it was "early" in terms of his career was more of an accident related to his late start. (Which also probably made him more willing to sign such a deal.)
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    Dozier and his agent were pretty adament when he signed his current contract that they were not interested in signing away any free agent years. Maybe they would change their tune now as they see the 2B market, but maybe not. As you say, he already has his millions, so he is not risking much by waiting a year to test the open market.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually, I think it is only the second bullpen loss since the trade.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    I'd be very careful about ascribing streaks to off-field "catalysts" (even some on-field ones too). Streaks start and stop all the time without definable reason, it's just the nature of a game with so many moving parts. Not everything is neatly explainable. The same would go for saying "the Twins win last night with Kintzler" which may not be true either. Although over the long haul, I think they will be better off with more good players than fewer.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Bryce Harper cleared waivers too. August trade waivers aren't always a meaningful snapshot of value. I did admit Kiriloff would be the wild card there. Not sure where he is at, also he's a corner player so someone may have to think his bat is elite to headline a major trade package.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    Pretty sure the Tigers would hang up on that first. Kiriloff would be the wild card. The other 3 listed are interesting but not particularly impressive or high-ceiling. Like most trade situations, the Tigers are likely looking for quality over quantity in prospects (or Verlander would probably have been dealt by now). A handful of C+/B- prospects generally don't move the needle much.
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