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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Where's the evidence that "more often than not it went against the favor of the Minnesota Twins"? I'm not claiming it didn't, but wouldn't you also need to show the zone the Twins pitchers received to make that claim? EDIT: Found it! Select "All Away Pitchers" in the first drop down (or "All Home Pitchers" if that is what you want), then "Pitch Description" in the last drop-down, and then in the unlabeled box next to that, you can type/select "Called Strike". Can't get the "Save as Image" function to work, but here's the link: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?game_pk=631483&game_date=2020-9-15&type=team_away&chart_view=pitch&chart_type=description&inning=&count=&batter_hand=&pitcher_hand=&filter=Called%20Strike&player=home-pitchers_605240&view=Umpire&coloring=Pitch%20Type (And before anyone jumps down my throat, no, this is not a defense of the umpire or human umpiring in general. Just a response to the author's statement that the umpiring favored the White Sox.)
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    What's your source for following this scenario? I just added up all the 2+ runner on base splits for the 2020 season at B-Ref: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/split.cgi?t=b&lg=MLB&year=2020#bases::none Looking at hits minus HR, divided by AB minus HR, with 2+ runners on base, the Twins rank 11th in MLB this year. Ranking behind us include playoff-bound teams like TBR, NYY, CHW, LAD, and OAK. Keep in mind, MLB batting average overall is at its lowest point since 1972, and isolated power is higher in 2019-2020 than it has ever been in Twins franchise history (since 1961) -- so everybody is getting fewer non-HR base hits than before, in all situations: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2020&month=0&season1=1961&ind=0&team=0,ss&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=1961-01-01&enddate=2020-12-31&sort=12,a
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    More importantly, no off-days except between series. Even if you sweep the first two rounds, you may need 4 starters to do so.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    At the same time, if other owners are conservative about 2021 payroll, a willingness to spend -- even just on short-term deals -- could really land some good players this offseason. But I would be surprised if we invested in outfielders, or arguably any position players other than re-signing Cruz and maybe finding replacements for Marwin and Adrianza. Trevor Bauer is obviously a top target on the pitching side. Tanaka? Taijuan Walker? Some bounceback candidates... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/03/2020-21-mlb-free-agents.html
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Robert had a called strike and swinging strike consecutively in the 3rd inning. Mazara in the 4th. You can click on the counts in the play-by-play here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA202009140.shtml
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Obviously a tough result, but I thought this was a fun game! Maybe a little long/slow (I mostly listened on radio, which helps), but close, tense, meaningful -- one of the more entertaining Twins/White Sox matchups in years. Hopefully games 2-4 keep it up (with improved results).
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Only twice -- his last two PAs. In the 6th, he struck out, in the 8th, he grounded out. He also K'd in the 1st with a runner on 1st and 1 out, and he DP'd with runners at the corners and 1 out in the 3rd. But an intentional walk in the 5th!
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    But the Bills are due for some postseason success!
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    I tend to agree, although it's worth keeping in mind how small of a sample that is. Also worth remembering that the Twins came into the season more "fully formed" than the White Sox. For example, the Twins didn't plan to spend any time in 2020 sorting through guys like Reynaldo Lopez, who was the starter (and loser) in the Twins two most lopsided wins vs the White Sox so far. And now that the postseason is in sight, the White Sox have called up a top SP prospect in Dunning and are mostly phasing Lopez out (at least they bounced him from the rotation a couple weeks ago and don't intend to throw him vs the Twins again this week). Decisions like that don't mean the White Sox are the equals of the Twins, but they can easily distort the small sample records we look at. Although tonight's White Sox starter Dylan Cease is still pretty shaky, and evidence that the White Sox aren't quite at the Twins level yet. And the White Sox definitely look worse in a 4-game series as compared to a 3-game series!
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Sure there is. Rooker to the 45-day IL could let us activate Bailey without cutting anyone from the 40-man, if he is ready and we want to get a look at him. Or if Garver has a setback this week, we could add another catcher for insurance. In other years, a team might use it to add a fireballing prospect to the 40-man a couple months early and see if they can catch lightning in bottle. Maybe if another outfielder gets hurt this week, we could add Kirilloff in a similar fashion?
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Marwin is actually up to .619 after the game today.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Turtles can float!
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    Nope! 45-day IL (normally 60-day IL) guys don't have to be activated until after the World Series. (Only 10/15 day IL guys are activated at the end of the regular season.) BUT, you can't place a guy on the 45/60 day IL during the postseason.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    When they are hitting, just watch them reflected in a mirror -- problem solved!
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, every team needs 4+ outfielders. And Cave's demonstrated ability to play CF plus his option year remaining could be appealing to almost any team. Wade should have an option year left too. Not that either would fetch a great haul, but we could find a decent match. On a surprising tangent, the 3 primary OF listed for the Giants on B-Ref right now have OPS+ figures of 138, 159, and 179. Plus a 102 guy on the bench who has primarily played CF this year, and a 149 "utility" guy who has gotten most of his reps in LF this year. And all of those guys are controlled for 2-5 more seasons. (Now, a few of them might be stone gloves or playing out of position, but still...) The Giants altogether are very surprising -- 23-22, in the #7 playoff spot, team OPS+ of 116. Pitching has been weaker but still has some solid performers in Cueto, Gausman, etc.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    Yup, and I edited my post accordingly! Thanks for helping me see the error of my ways.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    They could put Rooker on the 45-day IL and add Kirilloff to the 40-man in his place -- Kirilloff has to be added to the 40-man this offseason anyway, and he can't burn an option year anymore. Although that could leave them with slightly less flexibility to add another player later -- say, if they want a spot for an emergency catcher. (Especially if Nick Gordon starts counting against the 40-man again at some point.)
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Agreed. I was just pointing out that one could like and endorse the "fun" Romo brings, while also understanding the league's stance on what happened Friday night. But re-reading it, I think I misunderstood Brock...
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Love the turtle, but I think that's debatable, and perhaps more importantly, playing Astudillo at 2B right now is kind of a waste unless you actually want him there during the postseason. Also, didn't Marwin "crush the ball" even more than Astudillo yesterday?
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Tough break for Rooker. But I was wondering -- on that HBP, does the check swing count as an effort to avoid getting hit? Otherwise, he didn't really move, so I think it could be a dead ball and called a ball rather than a HBP. I know a check swing doesn't feel like much of an attempt to avoid getting hit, but it's such a subjective determination and is so rarely made, maybe umps do consider that. Just curious.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    No. Unlike the 40-man roster, the 60-man pool includes players on the injured lists. The only way to add a player to the 60-man pool is to trade, release, or waive a player currently in the 60-man pool. They could put Rooker on the 45-day IL, and take a player from the 60-man pool and add him to the 40-man roster in Rooker's place. But they probably just leave the spot open until they need it (i.e. for an emergency catcher).
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    What about a pitcher stalking a baserunner up the first base line after the inning is over, like Friday night? Is that still fun? Or did that cross a line when the league is enforcing distancing rules? Edit: I think I understand you now. You're not complaining about the suspension as others were doing, but rather you're complaining about players taking exception with each other and escalating things like on Friday night. So, Romo should yell into his glove, and Lindor should celebrate in the dugout with his teammates, and neither should feel the need to confront each other physically. Right? I can get behind that.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    Romo's bullpen cart:
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Blankenhorn is in a tough spot right now. Almost nothing he could do in the next 10 days would be enough to convince you he belongs in the postseason, or that he's not worth keeping on the 40-man this winter. Probably better just to keep playing Gonzalez and Adrianza, get their steady play as veterans in the field, and hope that consistent ABs help them get sharper for the postseason.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    I think it is track record more than wins. Maeda has been great this year, but only this year — 9 starts. Bieber and Giolito were aces last year too. Hopefully Maeda has nice deep postseason run to make his case this year, though!
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