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Old Twins Cap

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  1. Old Twins Cap
    I hope Twins don't decide this on a single weekend low radar reading at an underfunded southern university. Don't these scouts have their own velocity guns? And if the argument is that McKay is simply relying on "pitchability", and not raw stuff, I will ask how the James Hooey thing worked out for us.
  2. Old Twins Cap
    One man's mediocrity, is another man's parity. Is the Central losing that many games across the other divisions? Like to think the Central is competitve, but I've been wrong pretty much the last decade, except the Royals.
  3. Old Twins Cap
    Great to see Sano raking early and showing considerable skill. But, to maintain that, the Twins will need protection for him, or the League will simply walk Sano. Or HBP when he irritates someone. Mauer? Uh, no. That's not protection. Kepler? Well, maybe, but he's batting up in the order. Castro? No. Sorry to say it. Polanco? Could be, he does hit from both sides, but, not exactly a long ball threat. As opposing manager, I would much rather pitch to Polanco. Rosario, Buxton and Dozier not good candidates for a wealth of reasons, mainly line-up construction. So, that leaves Grossman and Vargas, the two DHs. Not going to scare many pitchers out of walking Sano. No sure answer at this point, but without protection for Sano, no viable path for him to dominate, nor for the Twins to crack .500, IMHO. Make someone besides Sano beat you, that's going to be the approach.
  4. Old Twins Cap
    Working Adrianza out in LF at AAA. Stellar shortstop, so this is looking precarious for Danny Santana as a Minnesota Twin. May the best man win.
  5. Old Twins Cap
    All this may be true, baseball players struggle. It does not however, take away the cringe-factor of watching Buxton flail and do so many things wrong and have so little chance of hitting a baseball this spring. We all hope that changes, and soon. Meanwhile the pain of watching him at the plate is a joy-kill of epic proportions, and ripples outward to the furthest shores of Twins Territory, making everyone consider how their life/play/leisure decisions could have gone so incredibly wrong.
  6. Old Twins Cap
    Well, for once the ML club was worth following so the pain on the farm is of nothing.
  7. Old Twins Cap
    Well, of course. Who here thinks the Twins will lead the league in pitching? Not a criticism of this article, which has a nice statistical base, but we all knew that the first week was a ridiculous aberration. So, the Twins regress to the norm, and lose a lot more ballgames. I think the question becomes, who steps forward and shows long-term potential to pitch above average, and who shows they don't measure up. I mean, that's all that really matters in a year they won't compete.
  8. Old Twins Cap
    First I've heard of him. But, thanks.
  9. Old Twins Cap
    Could not agree more. I looked at the Twins' lineup today against a lefty in Detroit. With Mauer and Kepler out, and Buxton unavailable to hit (sic), there just was not a path to score runs. So, they didn't. And, in the crunch, there was no one to put in or pinch hit, to put pressure on Detroit's fairly mediocre bullpen. So they lost. And that could go on and on and on and on, unless they get some RH pop.
  10. Old Twins Cap
    Polanco as protection for Sano. Beats Mauer. As much as Buxton has been poor at the plate, one thing about batting him third is that strike-outs aren't as crucial. At least, that's what I've been telling myself with absolutely no supporting data, except the Twins' record.
  11. Old Twins Cap
    It helps to open at home instead of on the road, which, because Minnesota is hailing distance to the North Pole, will happen, what, 1 out of 5 years? Don't forget the start in Baltimore, what, 2011, when they get swept, never had the lead the whole series, and were only tied 0-0 for like two innings. We've had some epic fails in season openings, so we'll take this.
  12. Old Twins Cap
    So, who did the Twins pass on that was drafted later -- besides Benintendi -- who is that lock of an Ace starting pitcher?
  13. Old Twins Cap
    The writing is on the wall, of the dugout: Dozier Polanco Buxton Sano Mauer Park Kepler Catcher Rosario With Grossman platooning for one of Kepler/Rosario, depending on who is hitting. If computers ran baseball lineups, it would be different. But, unfortunately, humans got involved and a guy with 42 HRs will lead off. I like Buxton at 3. SOs there will not kill a rally and oddly, I think this puts more pressure on the pitcher than Buxton. Let him live a little and be integral to the lineup's success. Mauer at 5 is also a good call. High OBP and a good at bat in the middle of the lineup, if that's what Mauer still does, is what every good team wants and has. Not the '29 Yankees but in another year or two, could produce a lot of runs.
  14. Old Twins Cap
    Batting Grossman first is icky.
  15. Old Twins Cap
    The key to pitching, even the bullpen, is the starting rotation. You get guys to throw into the 6th-7th-8th inning, now your bulllpen guys are fresh, live-arms coming in to close out the game. Kintzler, Belisle, Pressly, Rogers -- that's not a bad back half, if they are not overworked.
  16. Old Twins Cap
    I guess Twins Daily readers didn't get the memo about spring being the optimist season in regard to baseball. Nice article my friend, a well-researched counter narrative, deserving of praise for using stats as a form of jujitsu against the conformity of saber-geeks. I could literally hear thuds from heads hitting basement cielings as I drove through the northern suburbs.
  17. Old Twins Cap
    Mariano Rivera had all of one pitch. My thesis would be: quality -- meaning location/velocity/movement -- wins out over other factors, including variety, when it comes to pitching. With Santana, it may also include deception because of how smooth and easy is his delivery, and how quickly the ball arrives at the plate.
  18. Old Twins Cap
    Nah, this makes sense though. Bring Jay up quickly and let him deal with MLB hitters. NOthing wrong with that. If, in the end, he has the stuff and make-up and the stamina to be a starter, it won't be missed or ignored. He can rise to his level this way. On the draft, yeah, prolly Twins were swayed by their own need for a lefty thrower. How that got translated to Jay is another question. To a carpenter, every solution involves a hammer.
  19. Old Twins Cap
    The 'numbers people' have their thoughts about who the lead-off guy should be, whether OBP or OPS or generic threat that puts pressure on the other team. But, what about what makes sense for the culture of the team you are trying to create? Who deserves it? Who has earned it? Who goes down to mat and fights for your sides' ABs? As much as numbers matter in baseball, and they are the ultimate arbiter of W/Ls, you still need to run a team, manage, have an aspirational culture below decks -- a sense of what matters to the proletariat that feeds on possibility. Dozier has earned it and said he prefers batting leadoff. Buxton is hopefully the future. Personally, I like Polanco because he can do a lot of things, bats either handed and will drive the ball. But, this is the stuff of forming a new alchemy for the Twins and let there be some real choices to debate.
  20. Old Twins Cap
    You had me until Grossman. I figured the fourth guy would be Polanco. If they bat Grossman lead off, I will follow the Brewers this year. cheers,
  21. Old Twins Cap
    It's like the Twins bend over backwards to keep Rule 5 guys on their roster, to the expense of players they developed themselves. "Hey, it's free. Even if he loses the game for us."
  22. Old Twins Cap
    Good insight as to why we should never sweat the opening day roster. Fact is, with all the inning limits and arm concerns, if you can use a rental for $150K and get "x" number of innings at close to a respectable ERA, why wouldn't you? At the end of the day, it's the equivalent of benefitting -- avoiding costs -- by using some other corporation's asset. AKA, the American way.
  23. Old Twins Cap
    Very high quality article. Thank you. I'm glad that someone is actually writing about the new season and what is happening in Florida.
  24. Old Twins Cap
    Bad luck for sure. One of these times when the player chooses the most conservative approach of rehabbing, over the course of 7 months, it would be great if that actually worked. I understand why they do it that way, I just am not seeing much luck with rehabbing. And, it does set the player back on a longer clock to full recovery. I would bet at some point in the very near future, players and doctors will move ahead with preventive TJ surgeries, at a young age, once a kid commits to baseball.
  25. Old Twins Cap
    Weak draft? Strong draft? Looks like there are definitely options at Number One.
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