Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Otto von Ballpark

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    20,669

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    74

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Nope. Consumed many, though. Actually I am not sure if any hot dogs were actually thrown, I just remember balled-up foil hot dog wrappers. Maybe some still had a little 'dog left in them, I suppose. Paul O'Neill claimed that "golf balls, pencils and coins" were also directed at him in RF, although that claim always seemed a bit dubious to me.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    Great recap. And no one better than Molitor to help Buxton reach his full base-stealing potential.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Gilmartin was similarly dominant against LHB last year. (Interestingly, he's been about equally effective against both LHB and RHB so far in MLB this year.)
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    O'Rourke is performing similarly this year: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=orourk001rya&type=pgl&year=2015
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Heard the broadcasters recently say that Dozier was on pace to set the Twins season record for XBH.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Yup, the strikeouts have indeed declined. K% Season - 25.7% Last 28 days - 20.0% Last 14 days - 18.2% Last 7 days - 11.8% Now, if it turns for the worse like Danny Santana, Rosario can certainly go back down.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Yup, that's my "starting 3" right now too, with the 4th OF spelling Hunter a fair amount, especially as we search for a permanent DH solution. (And Rosario and especially Buxton don't have to be "162 games" level starters yet either.)
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    There is nothing wrong with making a return trip to the minors. Trout did it. It's one of the reasons I might like to see Sano soon too -- it can help the team see what they have in the player (can they contribute this year?), and helps the player see what they have to do to succeed in MLB. Obviously, any return trips to the minors should be done judiciously.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    I was at Adam Johnson's home debut in 2001, just barely a year after him being drafted. I don't recall much buzz -- a lot of desperation trying to find another starter by that point (Thomas and Lohse had already debuted). Interestingly, I would have thought McCarty's promotion came after a Hrbek injury -- does not appear to be the case. Looks like a Shane Mack injury initially brought McCarty to the roster, then he stayed on for a Hrbek injury and a Munoz injury. McCarty even started 2 games in CF in September 1993, spelling Puckett (and Mack was out). THAT I did not recall!
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    I've spotted Schafer in the dugout recently. The Strib reported he started shagging flies a week ago: http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/mlb/5052/jordan-schafer
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Schaefer was banged up for weeks before he finally went on the DL. Nolasco was sent to DL for performance reasons last July too, so I'm guessing they just had a shorter leash for him this April. (Nolasco's current DL appearance certainly doesn't seem to be a product of roster manipulation.) Arcia was optioned to AAA from the DL in May 2014 too. The Hicks situation was quick/sudden, but I suspect they were getting ready to call up Buxton anyway. And they've kept 13 pitchers on the roster, usually with Tonkin at the back (5 trips between Minneapolis and Rochester already this season), so that's gave them the flexibility to add a position player regardless of Hicks' status.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Schafer was banged up with his injuries for several weeks before he went on the DL. Actually he didn't play at all his final week on the roster before hitting the DL.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    Oh, and when I say Hicks should be the 4th OF, it's not really a knock on Hicks. I just think/hope we will have 3 better options soon. And Hicks could be an asset in that role, and still see significant playing time.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Chris Parmelee, 2012. Although if Hicks could someday manage his 85-95 OPS+, he would be a solid asset in CF. Doesn't help that Hicks was not asked to sustain that AAA performance. (Not that I wanted him to stay down longer, just that it isn't clear that's his AAA true talent level from just 123 PA.) HIs power in that small sample was also mostly of the 2B/3B variety, which might be harder to translate to MLB (yesterday's 3B-fest in Texas notwithstanding ). From the same year as Parmelee (2012), there's also Jordan Danks, Tim Fedroff, and Alex Presley atop the AAA leaderboards, just noting a trio of OFers of similar age to Hicks now.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    I was at that game. $5 general admission student tickets for the LF home run porch! Makes me miss the Dome...
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    Thought this article was going to be about Roy Smalley or Butch Wynegar. (Although I guess neither of those two demanded their trade to the Yankees.) Great work as usual, John!
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    He already hit the DL earlier this year for "elbow inflammation" so that's not surprising: http://blogs.twincities.com/twins/2015/04/23/twinsights-pitching-prospect-kohl-stewart-elbow-lands-on-disabled-list/ His 2014 also basically ended in July due to a "shoulder impingement" (although he did return for 5.1 innings over 2 starts in August): http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140725&content_id=86250298&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb Given that, I would be surprised if there wasn't a health and/or performance issue that he has yet to overcome.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Yeah, the power drop was huge. My theory is that he had to make an adjustment after his 2011 injuries, becoming more aggressive and a bit more of a "guess" hitter at times, and that led to more strikeouts. But he kept his production. After 2013, he had to make an additional adjustment, and has thus far been unable to do so.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Justin Morneau never was Justin Morneau again, at least in terms of pre-2011 on-field performance. See my post above.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Mauer's 2012-2013 seasons were Mauer-eque in overall production, but they also saw a significant bump in K%. Morneau's 2014 in Colorado was actually very much like his 2012-2013 Twins seasons, just with a dramatic cut in K% (and a full season career high BABIP). Drop Mauer's K% to 10% and his 2014 line improves to .302/.390/.402, .792 OPS or roughly 120 OPS+. Not far off his career numbers minus the power.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    Yeah, 1992 should have been a major red flag for projecting McCarty. He barely out-OPS'd Matt Walbeck, at the same age and in the same league. Still probably shouldn't have been *quite* the disaster that he was in Minnesota (46 OPS+ as a rookie, 55 OPS+ in his Twins career -- interestingly close to Matt Walbeck's MLB numbers!), but his minor league numbers and later career very much suggest a Chris Parmelee type. Or, looked at another way, the hitting version of Adam Johnson (3rd overall pick 2000).
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    Sure, but that is still a shift from his past and once-projected usage. Suggests he is even further out of the Twins bullpen plans than his spring waiving implied.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    Looking at our lineup, I can't help but think the Twins should have gotten a multiple flyer discount and called up Sano too. Greedy, I know. Seriously, though, I wonder if calling them up together would help their MLB adjustments.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    It was his 4th start, Seth. It seems pretty clear there is some effort by the team and/or player to use him in more of a long/swing man role, probably because he was no longer being considered for a middle relief role in MLB. Not unlike Mark Hamburger's role change a few years ago.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    It's not as if Stewart is the first raw pitcher ever drafted, or the first 18 year old draftee handled with kid gloves in the modern era.
×
×
  • Create New...