rwilfong86

The Good:
The ballpark was amazing. It had such a nice feel, the people were friendly and the cost of concessions were far less than an MLB game. I think the ballpark fit around 10,000 people and I think the attendance was around 7,000.  Most of the players were no names, but the fans definitely get behind their team. The players I did recognize were Seth Gray, Yunior Severino and obviously Brooks Lee.  One player I hadn't heard of was a young kid from the DR Yoyner Fajardo. He had 4 hits and scored 2 runs and was aggressive on the basepaths, one at bat he dug for 2 right out of the box and slid in safe with a double. He also stole 2 bases, which was quite enjoyable. He may never make it to the majors but I became a fan of his. He plays the game the way I like, always looking for the extra base. The Bad:
To say I was disappointed that Brooks Lee didn't get the start would be an understatement. He came in as a pinch hitter where he walked and then was caught stealing which really killed the little bit of momentum the team had. He ended up taking another walk in the bottom of the 10th. The 10th inning. It was ugly. A 2-2 game quickly became an 8-2 final due to 2 HBP, a walk, a fielders choice that ended with 0 outs. a sac fly, a single, a double, another walk, and yet another walk before they were finally out of the inning. The bullpen was wild and ineffective. The Wind Surge weren't able to get a run across in the bottom of the inning. What was a close guys quickly became a blow out and most fans were heading to the exit before the top of the 10th ended.  
My take:
Great place to catch a game! I will definitely be going back and hope to see some of the names in the big leagues in the future. 

The Good:
The ballpark was amazing. It had such a nice feel, the people were friendly and the cost of concessions were far less than an MLB game. I think the ballpark fit around 10,000 people and I think the attendance was around 7,000.  Most of the players were no names, but the fans definitely get behind their team. The players I did recognize were Seth Gray, Yunior Severino and obviously Brooks Lee.  One player I hadn't heard of was a young kid from the DR Yoyner Fajardo. He had 4 hits and scored 2 runs and was aggressive on the basepaths, one at bat he dug for 2 right out of the box and slid in safe with a double. He also stole 2 bases, which was quite enjoyable. He may never make it to the majors but I became a fan of his. He plays the game the way I like, always looking for the extra base. The Bad:
To say I was disappointed that Brooks Lee didn't get the start would be an understatement. He came in as a pinch hitter where he walked and then was caught stealing which really killed the little bit of momentum the team had. He ended up taking another walk in the bottom of the 10th. The 10th inning. It was ugly. A 2-2 game quickly became an 8-2 final due to 2 HBP, a walk, a fielders choice that ended with 0 outs. a sac fly, a single, a double, another walk, and yet another walk before they were finally out of the inning. The bullpen was wild and ineffective. The Wind Surge weren't able to get a run across in the bottom of the inning. What was a close guys quickly became a blow out and most fans were heading to the exit before the top of the 10th ended.  
My take:
Great place to catch a game! I will definitely be going back and hope to see some of the names in the big leagues in the future. 

The Good:
The ballpark was amazing. It had such a nice feel, the people were friendly and the cost of concessions were far less than an MLB game. I think the ballpark fit around 10,000 people and I think the attendance was around 7,000.  Most of the players were no names, but the fans definitely get behind their team. The players I did recognize were Seth Gray, Yunior Severino and obviously Brooks Lee.  One player I hadn't heard of was a young kid from the DR Yoyner Fajardo. He had 4 hits and scored 2 runs and was aggressive on the basepaths, one at bat he dug for 2 right out of the box and slid in safe with a double. He also stole 2 bases, which was quite enjoyable. He may never make it to the majors but I became a fan of his. He plays the game the way I like, always looking for the extra base. The Bad:
To say I was disappointed that Brooks Lee didn't get the start would be an understatement. He came in as a pinch hitter where he walked and then was caught stealing which really killed the little bit of momentum the team had. He ended up taking another walk in the bottom of the 10th. The 10th inning. It was ugly. A 2-2 game quickly became an 8-2 final due to 2 HBP, a walk, a fielders choice that ended with 0 outs. a sac fly, a single, a double, another walk, and yet another walk before they were finally out of the inning. The bullpen was wild and ineffective. The Wind Surge weren't able to get a run across in the bottom of the inning. What was a close guys quickly became a blow out and most fans were heading to the exit before the top of the 10th ended.  
My take:
Great place to catch a game! I will definitely be going back and hope to see some of the names in the big leagues in the future. 

The Good:
The ballpark was amazing. It had such a nice feel, the people were friendly and the cost of concessions were far less than an MLB game. I think the ballpark fit around 10,000 people and I think the attendance was around 7,000.  Most of the players were no names, but the fans definitely get behind their team. The players I did recognize were Seth Gray, Yunior Severino and obviously Brooks Lee.  One player I hadn't heard of was a young kid from the DR Yoyner Fajardo. He had 4 hits and scored 2 runs and was aggressive on the basepaths, one at bat he dug for 2 right out of the box and slid in safe with a double. He also stole 2 bases, which was quite enjoyable. He may never make it to the majors but I became a fan of his. He plays the game the way I like, always looking for the extra base. The Bad:
To say I was disappointed that Brooks Lee didn't get the start would be an understatement. He came in as a pinch hitter where he walked and then was caught stealing which really killed the little bit of momentum the team had. He ended up taking another walk in the bottom of the 10th. The 10th inning. It was ugly. A 2-2 game quickly became an 8-2 final due to 2 HBP, a walk, a fielders choice that ended with 0 outs. a sac fly, a single, a double, another walk, and yet another walk before they were finally out of the inning. The bullpen was wild and ineffective. The Wind Surge weren't able to get a run across in the bottom of the inning. What was a close guys quickly became a blow out and most fans were heading to the exit before the top of the 10th ended.  
My take:
Great place to catch a game! I will definitely be going back and hope to see some of the names in the big leagues in the future. 

As a kid, I remember looking at batting average as the key to the value of a player. OK, not every player, as I was a Harmon Killebrew fan, and he never really hit for average. That should have alerted me to the fact that not all base hits are created equal - and those that sail over the fences are far more valuable than a single to center field.
There are a lot of people who complain about trading away last year's AL batting champion, Louis Arreaz. That said, while he hits for a very high average, just how impactful is he? I would argue not that impactful.
Let's compare two players so far this year - and they are night and day difference makers. Introducing Joey Gallo. 
Gallo is an all or nothing player offensively. He strikes out a lot, but when he gets hit, he hits the ball hard. Many of those get out of the ballpark or at least produce extra base hits.
Arraez is the oppposite - he doesn't really hit the ball hard, but he gets a lot of base hits. Through tonight, his batting average is a gaudy .379. By contrast, Gallo is at .209.
So who is more effective? I would argue it is about a wash, and, given the many more at bats for Arraez, Gallo is more impactful
In 132 at bats, Arraez has scored just 14 runs. That is largely because it takes a lot to score a run when you just hit a single or walk, and that is what Arraez mostly does. With 132 at bats, Arraez' 50 hits are mostly singles (7 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run), so his OPS is.905. That's pretty good, but remember the runs scored thing.
In just 86 at bats, Gallo has scored 16 runs, and has a similar .903 OPS. The difference is he drives the ball - he has 18 hits, and nearly all are extra base hits (5 doubles, 1 triple, and 8 home runs). So Gallo is hitting .209, and Arraez is hitting .379 - but the impact factors in baseball suggest Gallo has been more valuable offensively.

Back for a winning team. Let's get into the first month and a half.
- Buxton is all world and the Twins got a hell of a deal on his contract. Games played matters obviously, but the production outweighs the risk ten-fold in this situation. 
- The Taylor Rogers trade sure looks like a big L right now. Paddack TJ surgery. Pagan has been decent. Rogers leads the league in saves and has a .52 era with 15k in 17.1 IP
- Duffey has been bad. 93 and straight isn't fooling anyone. I'm not sure if his fastball used to have more movement but right now it is straight as a string. his curveball has great motion, he just leaves it up too often. I would like to see him out of high leverage situations for awhile.
- Correa is getting a little too much hate for my liking because he had a slow start at the plate like most of the league. His D at short has been gold glove worthy and his bat has came back. Anyone saying trade him and start Royce at SS needs to watch a little closer. 
- Speaking of Royce, I think his comeback to baseball in general has been amazing. I am very happy to see all the work he has put in pay off with success in the bigs on his first trip up. I could definitely see him taking over 3rd for the rest of the season. Miranda needs more AB's in AAA. 
- Celestino passes the eye test. The kid can play in the league and looks a whole lot better than last year. It might just be a confidence thing or the experience from last year paying off, but I think he has earned a starting spot. I also like Gordon as the main utility guy. He looks like he belongs too.
- Joe Ryan has been exceptional. I think he has legit ace potential and he has pitched that way so far this year. I was at his first start at target field last year and sat a section over from his people. It was a great time.
That's all for now. Let me know what you think!
Troy Kelley