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Old Twins Cap

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Everything posted by Old Twins Cap

  1. Old Twins Cap
    I was at the game, till 12:30 a.m. I looked up in the 9th or 10th inning at the Twins box score on the jumbotron, they had no hits on the board. Every player who had a hit was out of the game. That looked really funny, at the time. Plouffe is continuing to look very sluggish. Sure he got a key hit, but everything about his body language says, "I'm beat tired". No reason he did not nail runner going to second in the ninth on Hicks' overthrow. Had him dead to rights. Mauer. If that's your superstar, if that's the guy who will carry you, the Twins are in real trouble. They lost to a last place team, and Detroit was without Cabrera, using rookie and cast-off pitchers, and the Twins managed to look listless doing it. Not a happy occasion.
  2. Old Twins Cap
    Sano better get used to curve balls and sliders because they are going to rain down on him until he proves he can handle them. Baseball, game of adjustments.
  3. Old Twins Cap
    Twins have to win games. Period. Losing to anyone at this point would be a blow.
  4. Old Twins Cap
    Thanks for posting this. I agree, Gordon is going to be a stud -- MLB pedigree in the family and a ton of tools.
  5. Old Twins Cap
    Let's trade Wilson Ramos for him. Oh, wait...
  6. Old Twins Cap
    First time all year that Plouffe looked ovematched at third. Sox hit balls to the right of him, to the left of him, bunted on him, and then, inexplicably, when Boyer tried to do a stupid, casual pickoff toss to third (first time I've seen that kind of move -- ever), Plouffe couldn't handle it and another run scored. He wrapped up his futility by dropping Mauer's cutoff throw that would have nailed a runner going to third. In all, Plouffe, for the first time, looked slow, tired, listless and ineffectual on defense. And, he does lead the Majors in GIDPs. This is a night after his two homers led the way over the Sox. Not complaining really, but it's not like the Twins could not survive without him. Pair him with Rosario and get us a real MLB catcher.
  7. Old Twins Cap
    Elephant in the room: If Twins make playoffs, they lose Santana. Wouldn't it be nice to have Phil Hughes ready to pitch big games? That's the bottom line here.
  8. Old Twins Cap
    I get that. But, still, watch a catcher like Salvador Perez and see how steady and calm and smoothly he receives the ball, even if on the other side of the zone. Umpires like quiet and reward keeping the glove still. There is a way to receive a baseball as a catcher, and it includes how to put up a target, how much to shift your feet, how big and strong you are, how limber and coordinated, how skilled you are with hand to eye coordination. There's a lot of things to it, and Zukey, as I understand the data shows as well, is not measuring up.
  9. Old Twins Cap
    CB was bad, very bad actually. But, on the flip side, several of his missed calls were directly the result of Suzuki going out with his glove, catching a strike and continuing to carry the ball and glove out of the strike zone. Particularly on fastballs from Tyler Duffey. I never understood how much of a real thing pitch framing was until I've watched Suzuke lunging for balls in the zone and managing to get them called balls.
  10. Old Twins Cap
    So, in every other matter this site and almost every analytical baseball blog examines numbers and in strict rational terms provides the best thinking about how to view the player and numbers in question. But now, because, what, it's a Twins prospect, we throw that out the window and just start clicking -- we bum-rush ABW to the top of MiLB. I kind of like it, it's old fashioned and flies in the face of what baseball statheads believe in, and I don't even know who he is up against or what they did, but I got a keyboard. Like the All-Star Game, maybe we can get the top 5 slots for Twins prospects. It's the Internet. Let's do this!
  11. Old Twins Cap
    Would not hurt, at all, to have Berrios in the pen, and when a Santana or Milone gets knocked around early or it's the 6th inning and the Twins are short on relief, give him a shot and see if he can hold his own. This last month is all about getting good pitching when you absolutely need it. He's a very good choice, and if it is short innings every fourth day, they can keep the arm strain to a minimum.
  12. Old Twins Cap
    May will be given his chance to start and win a spot next year and I expect he will be in the rotation a long time. Thing about relievers is: you can buy them in Free Agency, trade for them at the deadline and create them internally by converting a strong arm SP to relief. How easy is it to find a quality, long term starting pitcher? Twins get that and will give May every opportunity to start. Don't forget RP and Bullpens go up and down like the stock market, year to year. I think the best strategy has always been to assemble a great frontline rotation, find a closer, then piece it together from there with Free Agents, castoffs, trades, MiLB strong arms, etc. RPs are important, witness KC, but they are also easier to find or create.
  13. Old Twins Cap
    Likely, Perkins going to DL. Mix and match getting to Jepsen, new closer.
  14. Old Twins Cap
    Looks to me like he's got two different curves. One is a kind of 12 to 6 which I see most often on the outside to LH hitters. The other breaks more like a slider, almost like a Corey Kluber slider, sharp and away from RH hitters. The key for him is to throw the curve for strikes early in the count, get ahead, and then throw it out of the zone when he has the hitters behind. The fastball is there to keep them honest. Most amazing thing so far is that he has not hung many curves, the cement mixer that spins high in the zone and ends up deep in the stands.
  15. Old Twins Cap
    Let the record show that the Twins implosion in 2015 started -- started -- with Glen Perkins blowing a couple of games and being generally knocked around by batters, left and right. And it continues. That's why they aren't going anywhere, no matter what they do on offense, SP or the bullpen. Perkins' stuff has never been elite and when it's in the middle of the plate, it gets driven hard. Not the end of the world, just the end of playoff hopes. STill, a much more entertaining team to watch because of Hicks, Dozier, Rosario, Sano and hopefully, Buxton.
  16. Old Twins Cap
    The only likely trades are with teams in contention who want to round out their roster for the playoffs. That eliminates rookies like Santana and Arcia. You don't add inexperience heading into the playoffs. Nunez, maybe. Pelfrey, only for depth. The Twins honestly don't have much to offer a playoff team, sadly. Which is why no one in baseball could figure out how they were winning so many games into July.
  17. Old Twins Cap
    We got a half year of competitive baseball. After four years without a competitive team, or many interesting players to watch, we have to see the progress and embrace it. How long did KC have "potential" until their young players matured and became solid pros? And, KC did make a deal to add some pitching. And now several deals. I think the Twins will have to first establish a solid lineup, which is pretty close, except for catcher and SS, and then they can go out and add pitching. Right now, it's like '84 again. Play the Gaettis, Hrbeks and Pucketts and let them grow. This is excellent experience for Rosario, Hicks, Sano, to be thought of as being in contention and coming up short is how you eventually become a champion.
  18. Old Twins Cap
    They had a chance to trade Pelfrey at the deadline and get something for him, low-level reliever likely, and they passed on it, so now he's just a sunk cost on a .500 ballclub who won't be around next year and blocks young starters on their way up. It's definitely poor FO management but maybe a 6' 6" dude with a rugged expression and some New York swagger is worth something in the clubhouse. Or something.
  19. Old Twins Cap
    Only hope for Mauer is that Boston takes him because all his fly balls to left are singles and doubles at Fenway. Otherwise, it will be a long slow motion death of a baseball player. Sad and eventually destructive of the team that made him a star.
  20. Old Twins Cap
    Twins bench thin and thinner. Who would you pinch-hit for? And with what? So, load up hurlers in the Pen and see who has ammo left at this point. What else can they do?
  21. Old Twins Cap
    Guys, Perkins is not that good. He needs to hit his spots and do it from the first pitch. He had a great first half, way better than his career norms. He's falling back to earth. That's it. He ain't going to win us a World Series. He should have walked Cruz in the 9th. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. But, it's not a pretty picture for him or the team.
  22. Old Twins Cap
    Perkins raw stuff has never been that good. He failed as a starter, over and over. He surprised in relief, and earned the right to close. But, in the end, he is not a great pitcher. Sure, he can hit 95, and he has a slide ball, but in the final analysis, neither pitch is dominant and if his control wavers, in the least, it's a hittable ball. Even when the batter has 2 strikes, which seems to happen a lot these days. There is not an automatic wipe out pitch in his arsenal.
  23. Old Twins Cap
    If somebody wants him, trade him for a reliever. The reliever goes to the Pen, May to the rotation. It's pretty simple. We lose Pelfrey in two months anyway. If we trade him, we get a possible useable piece. It feels like Twins FO are more dumbfounded by success than the bloggers and are so stupified they can't make any moves.
  24. Old Twins Cap
    Paulino might well become Eric Fryer if Suzuki ever gets injured. Which brings up the whole catching thing in another light: Didn't the Twins think it important to have a backup plan at the backstop? Catchers do get hurt, tough as they are. That's why the veteran, grisled catcher is worth so much, even in the minor leagues.
  25. Old Twins Cap
    It comes down to: Do Twins get the big hit with runners in scoring situations? And: Who gets the big hit with runners in scoring position? Traditionally, on the road, that has been the problem, not so much their pitching. This year, between Dozier, Mauer, Plouffe, they have been able to hang around .500 on the road, a touch below. I really like having the young guys, Sano, Rosario and Hicks playing up and seeming somewhat oblivious to the idea of pressure on the road. And having Hunter, whatever his frailities, he is in leadership mode and could be a difference maker by getting big hits when needed. All that said, if they can win 4 of 9, that keeps them in serious contender mode. Above that is gravy. Below that is living to fight another day. I
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