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JD-TWINS

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  1. JD-TWINS
    Correa will get going - ‘23 not that different than ‘22 start. The thing that needs to happen with CC is time……..more reps & he’ll figure it out. Can’t be a career .275 hitter & then only hit .200 in your physical prime. Jorge López, as was mentioned above, has slipped noticeably in his last 2 outings - nobody’s going to be perfect but we can’t have him revert back to last summer.
  2. JD-TWINS
    The reality flip side is that if you build a lead you don’t want to change your players…….maybe a guy or two in the bullpen?
  3. JD-TWINS
    Good list - fun to have guys with these types of stats! I wrote in TD about 7-8 days ago about how I was a new believer in Jorge López after wanting he & Pagan gone after last summer …..he had pitched 10 1/3 at that time & looked flawless to that point. I’m nervous now though. I get that guys aren’t going to be perfect nor even average all the time. However, I’ve seen his last couple appearances and they harken back to his time last year with Twins. He loaded the bases & narrowly escaped 2 outings ago - last time out he gave up a runner that Jax had walked, needing one out in 8th………..he’s just looked a little different trying to locate in recent couple appearances……he’s going to give up runs eventually I just hope he doesn’t revert to 2022 Jorge, his stuff is too good for that. Great pitching month!
  4. JD-TWINS
    Alcala, if healthy, will be back to help Pen. Headrick & Winder will combine for long relief help in Pen. Moran needs to throw strikes or be demoted - can’t start outings with a walk and put yourself in a hole every 3 of 4 appearances. Stewart looks like a better 8th guy than Pagan! Maeda will/should go to the Pen in a month when he feels ready to throw. Pagan is our harmless innings 8th guy but I still wish he were gone, no upside. I think Solano, due to a lack of defensive effectiveness, will be DFA’d if/when we run out of roster space. Started season with 1B & 2B on continued spring re-hab……Polanco has provided nice shot in the arm over the last week & it was needed. Kiriloff will help at some point in May. Farmer will bring back the stable depth he provided the first 3 weeks of the season. Balazovic as another arm in Pen by June could be helpful. Steady start for May this week in Division & we’ll know more about the roster in 3-4 weeks. Farmer will get a couple starts at 3B & SS as soon as he’s ready - both CC & Miranda could use an off day or two. We’ll be better in May with CC starting to thaw out at the plate! 27 games in May ……can we go 15-12 for the month? Nice goal that is attainable. Play some good clubs throughout the month! PEN by May 20: Duran - Stewart - Jax - Winder - Headrick - Thielbar - López - Maeda……… guys in wings ….Moran, Alcala, or Balazovic
  5. JD-TWINS
    Buxton is 7-23 over last handful of games with 4 HR & 10 RBI. He’s started 25 of 29 games and PH in a 26th. Playing 90% of the time in ‘23. Has played 46% of the time in 7 of 8 seasons up until ‘23. Seems we should have tried something different? We have a Gold Glove CF 80% of the time with Taylor. Nick Gordon or Joey Gallo (former G Glove OF) the balance of time in CF. Byron is on pace to hit 39 HR if he keeps playing at this pace…….he’ll be in 145 games at this pace. Buxton will get 30 starts throughout the summer in CF……..it’s May 1, we’re on pace to win 95 games and everything seems to be going fine!
  6. JD-TWINS
    Castro has Farmer’s spot on the roster…..he’s 2-3 weeks away. Gordon - Solano - Larnach & his own ability to prove he’s healthy are the issues blocking Kiriloff from being brought up. Larnach being sent down while at a pace for 110 RBI seems slim. Gordon hit 27 doubles & 8 HR & batted .289 after May last year……plays 4 positions. Solano is mediocre on defense at either 2B or 1B………an asset against LH pitching! ………….to me, Solano gets optioned before Gordon. Farmer & Miranda can pick up his slack on the roster. Injury to someone is Kiriloff’s other path.
  7. JD-TWINS
    Now that Mahle is definitely out through most of June, at a minimum, Headrick will be in the staff & not bouncing up & down. Still a long man though, as that is our need, stable long man!!
  8. JD-TWINS
    $35M per year & one of the faces of organization is plenty enough pressure. Batting 2-3-4 in our line-up is CC’s expectation, no more pressure with position in order. Anything lower than 5 is a showing of lack of confidence - last thing any struggling hitter needs. Correa’s start to ‘22 wasn’t significantly different than his start to ‘23. He’ll be fine……….until 8 days ago Miranda & Kepler were both pretty bad as well - now they’re hot. It will come for Correa.
  9. JD-TWINS
    Wow - out for 7 or 8 weeks minimum. Maybe done? Time to start paying attention to Paddack’s recovery/timeline. Scouting trade partners for July should ramp up soon…….who are we willing to part with in 3 months? This is probable due to Paddack probably not being ready for any real stress or workload & Maeda being unreliable as well, even if he comes back in 3-4 weeks. Ober looks more than capable but how long does he last with recent injury issues and never throwing more than 15-20 games worth of starts? Varland is firmly in the mix now. Hope Winder can get his act together so he and Headrick can support our rotation as the long guys!
  10. JD-TWINS
    On paper, this guy looks like a real stud. PLUS curveball - PLUS fastball - no real 3rd pitch with any effectiveness though. On paper, I thought over the past off-season that he may develop a third pitch. Maybe a cutter at 93Mph seemed feasible. 98 - 100Mph four seam 93 Mph cutter 86 Mph (12-6) curveball Sounds like a lock for stardom in a Pen. Lack of any control lets guys ignore the curveball & sit on the straight fastball in the zone. The fact that the cutter is a fantasy is the nail in the coffin. Too many free passes and too many hard hit fastballs. Thought Twins would coach him up but apparently any progress was too slow or too frustrating for organization to deal with any longer. Great illustration of how getting 8 talented guys, that can be effective in a Pen, is so difficult. (i. e. E. Pagan)
  11. JD-TWINS
    Once Farmer is back, he won’t see infield again. Hope he keeps chipping away with the bat!
  12. JD-TWINS
    Agreed - not sure who is going to pull hamstring, the nagging injury! Maybe Solano? Taylor exposes us maybe too much? Good thought on how to get it done!
  13. JD-TWINS
    I live in Cincinnati and am not a huge Mahle fan. However, he only had 1 poor outing this year for Twins. He only pitched 4 innings last time out but his ERA is just above 3.00 for the season over 5 starts………he’s a solid option if he’s healthy for sure.
  14. JD-TWINS
    They knew he was just average going forward. Too many pitches per inning (no guts) & too many HR. Not Great American Ballpark’s fault - he gave up 3 HR in his Target Field debut last year…….leading Twin’s starter this year with 5 HR. Live in Cincinnati - last summer I was hoping we’d trade whoever needed to get Castillo instead of Mahle. They are completely different guys………..if that happens, we re-signed Castillo - don’t have López & still have Arraez. Now we’re hoping we can replace Arraez’ offense with a guy (prospect) we could have traded to Cinti. Live & learn - I like our FO & we did what we thought would work out. Mahle wouldn’t have helped enough last year - no foul. This new issue seems to be elbow & not shoulder……have to just wait & see. He’s thrown well enough for a 4/5 starter this year. He can help us even if he sits a couple times this year for 3 weeks. 12-18 quality starts helps us keep pace, not the end of the world. Surely doesn’t feel like a guy we want to try & extend. Extend Gray while he’ll still talk to us. Always risk but 2 years at $42M seems to make sense. We can see that after Pablo signed his extension he’s not really Superman, just another 2-3 starter like Gray & Ryan. ALL 3 are really valuable!!! On pace for 95 wins after April & our offense has been anemic at times (2B & 1B began year at AAA) & two starting pitchers have had mediocre to bad starts to the season. Blew a game in the Pen yesterday. Best platoon player got hit by pitch in the face. Still winning……… Looking good for a successful year!!
  15. JD-TWINS
    Maeda could be out most of May. Same story or worse for Mahle. That said, we should have a long-term plan and not just who’s going to start next couple starts. My rotation starting tomorrow: Ryan - Varland - López - Ober - Gray Pen stable by May 15: Headrick - Winder - Stewart - Maeda - Duran - Jax - Thielbar - López……….Balazavic & Alcala in wings
  16. JD-TWINS
    Max is exceptional in RF! Gallo has been a Gold Glove outfielder and Max hasn’t. There’s no drop-off with Gallo in RF. There’s no real drop-off in CF with Taylor there - Twins fans think there is because Byron oozes athleticism. Taylor has won a Gold Glove in CF. Gallo plays a really solid 1B. Solano is mediocre at both 1B & 2B …….shown that over the last week…….he may be the guy that’s expendable. Farmer comes back - Miranda can play 1B v. LH pitching. The issue I was hoping the author may have some insight on “How to make room for Alex Kiriloff” was not regarding how to pencil him in the line-up it was regarding how to fit him on the 26 man. No such insight here. Taylor getting any at bats v. RH pitching at the beginning of the year would have been due to no other options. Anyone else playing CF & reducing Taylor AB’s is fine with the Twins. (Gordon or Gallo or Buxton) Farmer will be back in 1-2, weeks & Castro will go down & we’ll be back at the March 30th, 26 man roster. How do we fit Kiriloff? Kepler is hot over last dozen games. Gordon is showing signs of coming around & can play 4 positions. Can’t imagine either of them being moved. It appears we’ll go 17-12 by end of April and are on a 95 game win pace……..good problems to have when you’ve got too many good players!
  17. JD-TWINS
    Beat the White Sox & the Yankees 4-3 each - so, we really have 6 wins with 4 runs or less. Putting on a hitting clinic on Sunday……8 runs and still at bat in the 3rd. Kepler - Gordon - Castro - Vasquez all contributing. Kepler just struck out and got to 1st on pitch that went to backstop. Buxton hit a middle-middle fastball into the upper deck in left field. Pagan may get to pitch later today, Oh boy! I just heard on the Broadcast that Joe Ryan has as many wins as A’s at this point. A thought - hope maybe for May: Stewart - Headrick - Winder - Maeda - Duran - Jax - López - Thielbar……….nobody in that mix that makes you ill - right?!!
  18. JD-TWINS
    Duran - López - Jax - Thielbar - Headrick - Winder - Stewart - Morán ……..not a perfect group but pretty high ceiling if guys are going right!!……..Alcala & Balazavic in the wings. Broken record, we need to free ourselves of Pagan. 1B - C - DH - 2B are our solid spots offensively at this point, through April. Kepler & Miranda seem to be warming. If we believe CC will hit .270 for the year, we can expect two months of him hitting .300 coming this summer. CJ Cron, because of his positive history with the club, is the only potential guy in this group of 4 that could bring a shot in the arm for team in July. Kiriloff should up our offensive game & only if Solano drops like a rock do we entertain Cron. Don’t see any offensive adds going forward this year from outside the organization.
  19. JD-TWINS
    Twins have two wins with score of 3-1 & two other wins 2-0. That’s 25% of our current wins. One day all fans are down on offense and then the criticism, as it should be, is on the Pen for lack of focus and difficulty throwing strikes. No perfect clubs out there!! If it’s not pitching/it’s lack of timely offense. Gotta roll forward in a 162 game season and hope things balance out & you’re good enough.
  20. JD-TWINS
    Completely agree in principal as an OG. It’s not 1969 though, when the fundamentals were being introduced to me. Also, some guy named Charlie Hustle was who you should emulate your playing habits after at that time ………..have lived in Cincinnati now for 32 years & Pete’s off the field habits are nothing to be emulated. Cant ride guys anymore - just can’t. It’s considered abusive and divisive. Players have no fear of Manager because the player is the star. Upper management doesn’t back discipline unless the player has been caught, for some off the field indiscretion - then the press leads the way and management is cool to pursue discipline. Not running out a fly ball or a grounder to short - minor issue in today’s game. Not right, but that’s the way it is.
  21. JD-TWINS
    After Thielbar came in there’s no need for Winder. Coming to get a 3rd out in 6th isn’t a fair spot for Winder either. Management of staff/Pen wasn’t the problem - Jax walking the first guy in the 8th was the problem!! He had him 0-2……..I did not agree with bringing López in just after Jax retired 2 guys in a row. Guys have to execute & all 3 of our late inning guys didn’t execute! I do agree that when throwing 100Mph plus and there are control issues, we could probably lay off the splinker as a surprise to the batter. Throw strikes! There is no doubt that Pagán creates a dead spot in our Pen when we need something good to happen. Can’t go there.
  22. JD-TWINS
    So Gordon has started horribly. Last year he hit .289 with 27 doubles after May. We are 27 games in and Taylor is due to collapse offensively v. RH pitching - Buxton is starting to thrive at DH & he’s in the line-up 90% of the time while not playing CF. He’s our CF v. RH pitching - just needs a little momentum. CC is hitting .195. To me, no doubt that they option Castro before DFAing Gordon. Farmer displaces Castro. Castro isn’t hitting any better than Gordon & doesn’t have the success in ‘22 that Gordon can point to. Kiriloff coming up is the difficulty. Larnach has his spot on the 26 man & he’s leading the team in RBI…….as crazy as it seems…….they may slow roll Kiriloff’s return expecting an inevitable injury that would allow hanging in to Nick. Other even crazier idea is they option Larnach for a couple weeks to buy time (doubtful). One way or another, they are going to try & get to July to at least trade Gordon with a prospect for some return. Tough to DFA a guy that in ‘22 had 28 doubles - hit .279 - 8 HR & plays 2B - SS - LF - CF, in his first, truly healthy season………..He’s had 52 AB’s in ‘23.
  23. JD-TWINS
    You lost me. Kiriloff being tied to Buxton playing CF has no connection I can get behind. Taylor plays CF v. LH pitching & when Buxton is unable to play and/or Gordon is struggling v. RH pitching. Gordon has been ice cold & Buxton has been designated to resting his body while DHing for the first 5-6 weeks of the season. Kiriloff has to displace Larnach or Solano from the 26 man. One is leading team in RBI and the other has played pretty well and has no options to be sent down - we’d have to DFA Solano. Kiriloff has to be at a high level to displace either of these guys!
  24. JD-TWINS
    No matter what Alex does (I think our roster is great - just a point of interest here) he won’t be able to touch Luis Arraez 2023 start to the season. Happy for Luis!! As of 4/27 games: .483 OBP I he goes 0-20 in his next 20 AB’s, he’ll still be hitting .340! He’s 34-80 and currently batting .425 …….25 games into the season. What a fantastic hitter!! Hope he wins another title this year in NL……only been done a couple times - Batting Crown in each league.
  25. JD-TWINS
    Oliva earned a Gold Glove one year - won some batting titles - in the HOF. My assumption is the reference was strictly limited to defense. Brunansky put up some good numbers for a few years as well. He’s pretty affordable for the defensive excellence but his ineffectiveness at the plate has made him tough to carry - not really a financial decision but without production, a little production in future for $8-$9M less will be the obvious choice.
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