Jump to content
Our free agent ranking is up to 100 names, and now you can filter by player position! Click here to check it out! ×
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
    No ace, but the 3 starters they have lined up are pretty good.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    White Sox down 5-0, pulling their starter in the top of the 2nd, still only 1 out. Yankees trail 3-0 as Toronto takes a 1-0 lead. Cleveland now trails 1-0 as well.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Yankees down 2-0 in the 2nd. Toronto and Cleveland still scoreless in their respective games, 0-0.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Cubs up 3-0, 4 batters in to the second inning vs the ChiSox
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    To be fair, I'm guessing similar sentiments were once expressed about the 1987 Twins (and later the 2006 Cardinals, etc.). Baseball survived! Also, while baseball is inherently more underdog-friendly, I don't think it's necessarily bad to challenge the better teams to "put up or shut up" so to speak in the postseason. The Dodgers may lose 2 random games in a row to the Giants in July with nothing on the line, but if they know elimination is at stake, they should be able to step up in October and get it done. And it would be compelling baseball -- lose the first game, and now all of a sudden we see a very good team in the Dodgers pulling out all the stops to win game 2 -- all their best pitchers available at any point in the game, situational hitting instead of just swinging for the fences, etc. Agree that we wouldn't want to put teams through that gauntlet all the time, and like I said I don't think the 2020 format will continue exactly the same going forward.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    FWIW, I doubt we will see this exact playoff format applied to a 162 game season. Manfred has suggested some form of expanded playoffs will continue, but I suspect it may not be 16 teams, and/or there will be stronger incentives for winning divisions (like byes or getting to start a series up 1-0).
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    In addition to the above posts about the extremely unbalanced schedules (Houston played 7 games, 5 on the road, against NL West teams with better records than any Twins opponent), also note that incentive to win impacts a team's overall W-L record. Houston hasn't had much incentive to push to 32-33 wins -- they weren't likely to catch Oakland or the top 2nd place team in the AL, and they didn't have a strong threat pushing them from behind either. So their decisions -- pitcher usage, IL placements, even trades before the deadline -- have been made under different criteria. That's not likely to swing a team's record too much, but it could easily impact a smaller gap. HOU and TOR were both 28-27 just a few days ago. With different incentives, maybe HOU approaches the last 5 games differently. I'm definitely open to the argument that Houston is a worse club than the others this year, but I don't particularly mind if they are the 6th seed -- the 7th and 8th seeds knew the rules going in and each had numerous chances to defeat the 2nd place teams in their divisions head-to-head.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Just for the record, I'm not relishing any particular opponent! Just presenting the information. Oakland loses game 1, 5-1. Now tied with the Twins at 35-23, although Oakland holds the tiebreaker (better divisional record) so they are still #2 seed and Twins still sit at #3.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Oakland and Seattle are tied at 1 thru 6 innings, game 1 of doubleheader. Oakland wins make it more likely the Central division winner will be the #3 seed and play Houston...
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    I saw that speculated, although Gray is in an odd spot — he missed some time on the IL, then returned last Tuesday. His next turn would be Sunday, and if that game is meaningful (if they could pass the Cardinals for 2nd place), maybe they start him then? He could actually still pitch in the wild card game 3 on regular rest then... Edit: Gray on Sunday is now official: https://twitter.com/nightengalejr/status/1309951244719489026?s=20
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    From today’s Twins Notebook article: Luis Arraez has been activated from the injured list and Devin Smeltzer has been recalled. To make room on the roster, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Edwar Colina were optioned.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    In case anyone is wondering, it is same thing that happens if they finish with 37 wins.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    So the Reds are guaranteed a playoff spot now, currently sit in the #7 seed. Looks like 1 more win would guarantee they don't get the #8 seed (and draw the Dodgers in the first round). If they win 1 more than Miami over the last 2 games, the Reds could jump up to the #6 seed and draw the Cubs. (Although it's still fairly complicated with St. Louis.)
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    You're right that we won't likely see Trevor Bauer on Sunday on short rest anymore. But keep in mind, the NL has an extra off day before their wild card round (starts Wednesday) compared to the AL (starts Tuesday), so the Reds could still start Sonny Gray on Sunday and use any and all of their relievers with minimal impact on their playoff staff. (Gray would be available on full rest for game 3 if they wanted, but they'd also still have Bauer-Mahle-Castillo lined up too.)
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    It's not a question of being more trustworthy than our best pen guys. I think they were curious if they could tack Colina on to the end of the pen, like they did with Graterol last October (and tried to do with Alcala last year too). I'm guessing they weren't as confident about it as they were with Graterol though, or we probably would have seen Colina earlier in September.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    Better to bring in the rookie then make it a 4 run (5 run) game — two birds with one stone!
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    At least Colina made about $3500 before taxes today.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    I don’t see it that way at all! I see it as a nightmare relief appearance.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    I was going to say, passing the Cardinals wouldn’t do much, but I guess it would let them go to San Diego or the Cubs, instead of the Dodgers or Atlanta.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Homer Bailey must be laughing from... hey, can DFA’d players leave quarantine?
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    I am sure the KC Royals would also like to win the Central!
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    Isn’t “Non-Wahoo” the new Cleveland mascot?
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    They added Jeffers, a little before the deadline!
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    You certainly don’t have the time anymore.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    I don’t know if I completely endorse this expanded playoff format, but I heartily endorse this obsessive level of detail about it!
×
×
  • Create New...