Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

JD-TWINS

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,421

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Tracker: Picks & Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    You know what the FO & Rocco see when they look at the spreadsheet…….? Miranda - terrible, not rebounding quickly Kepler - worst Batted Ball BA in baseball-DFA Larnach - pretty swing, barely watchable Buxton - UP & down & Up & doowwn & up & DOWN Kirriloff - decent player Polanco - decent player Gallo - being Gallo Farmer & Taylor - have played 2X as many games as anticipated going in & justly, fading Correa - Still struggling & now recurring injury Jeffers - decent platoon player (relative to expectations) Lewis - nice 3-4 game stretch…..now brutal Walner - gotta DFA Kepler to get him up long-term Vazquez - didn’t think he’d be a problem Castro - decent platoon player (based on expectations) Gordon - always available…..HURT Julien - .210 BA in opportunities given so far in SHOW Solano - decent platoon/reserve WHAT’s A MANAGER TO DO WITH THIS GROUP?????
  2. JD-TWINS
    Walner is hot & has been for 2-3 weeks. Julien is hitting .210 in the Show. Walner displaces Kepler (worst batted ball average in the sport) & Julien displaces Polanco on his notably better side (LH) which makes little .sense. Walner appears to be a solid option in right & at DH v. RH pitching. One seems clear & the other seems to be wish thinking from the March Baseball Classic.
  3. JD-TWINS
    Author states, before getting into the debate, that using the 3 day retroactive approach is commonly used around the league!! The PLAYER & the TRAINING STAFF need to be more decisive in the process to allow guys sitting in an office (or in their basements at home) to be able to discern what the best course of action is when a guy gets nicked (not injured). A, let’s wait 12-24 hours if the guy’s not injured, seems to be standard logic. A rib bruise, depth of bruise - player pain tolerance - what’s visible on x-ray - repeat of similar “nicks” v. new issue - are all part of each decision and we need to think that the guys making decisions are human and don’t have hindsight to rely on for their opinions.
  4. JD-TWINS
    Headrick - Maeda Jax - Thielbar Balazovic - Duran J. Lopez - E. Pagan…Moran in Wings in St. Paul JUNE 15 Bullpen……..fingers crossed!! Gotta use arms like Headrick & Balazovic to win now, not when somebody gets hurt, at some point.
  5. JD-TWINS
    I think it may be coaching…… coaching guys between the ears. Subtle mental/confidence stuff. …………. Lopez had good stuff when he made the All-Star game staff last summer and he looked great in April in ‘23 in MN. He still throws hard and his pitches move well - he just has lapses in his Focus & throws pitches that end up middle/middle & gets rocked!??
  6. JD-TWINS
    Can’t read another one of these w/o commenting. Buxton is fragile - that’s who he is…..who he’s going to be. It’s like asking Bob Hayes to run half of his pass routes as slant patterns. Gotta be old to get that one. Anyway, the plan was to play Taylor v. LH pitching & another 15 games maybe in ‘23 - that’s it. Gordon was going to start 75 games in CF v. RH pitching. He couldn’t do that in April because Polanco needed someone to fill in for him. Gordon started to pick it up by mid-May & was playing CF - he’s hurt for probably another 6 weeks. Gotta ride it out with Taylor (a little Castro) and expect to see Buxton for maybe 20 starts in July - September just to have potential flexibility in playoffs. Saying he’s an average DH isn’t accurate since he’s 6th statistically a day or two ago. He’s been in a downward swoon - he’s streaky. Period. Dreaming - wish thinking that if he could just run a ball down in the gap (that excites you as a fan) would turn him into Joe DiMaggio is nuts! He needs to be protected & it doesn’t matter how much money he gets paid during the year. It’s not a “we need to maximize his value” situation ……..so we’ll ignore the fact that he’s played 90% of the games this year v. 46% average in 7 of 8 years of his career. We are finally getting his value - just not as evenly as anyone would like.
  7. JD-TWINS
    Agreed - in Cincinnati so I have MLB package ………………..my kids have Apple TV & found the game. No choice but to use Sands tonight if there are more than 3 innings left. Jax & potentially Pagan. I’d think with last year’s history with Lopez/Pagan v. Cleveland they would be well down the list of options. Where’s Thielbar?? How is Maeda progressing??
  8. JD-TWINS
    Sano - Kepler - Escobar - Garver - Rosario - Miranda - Gordon are all below average players if we look at their careers. 2-3 had really good season or two. Kirilloff - Larnach - Correa - Lee - Lewis will be 5 number 1 picks in the line-up in ‘24!
  9. JD-TWINS
    Pretty big deal having four guys with these numbers on a staff! Gray wasn’t bad he just wasn’t excellent - as these other 4 certainly were. Jorge with Pablo not far behind, were at the other end of the Spectrum.
  10. JD-TWINS
    To hit .265 for the year he’ll need to hit .295 the balance of the season - seems reasonable. I see a career BA of .279 and a traditionally slow starter. Seems to make sense.
  11. JD-TWINS
    Come on……seriously? He’ll hit .265 plus by year end & will be a threat in the middle of a good line-up come September/October. Lewis - CC - Polanco/Farmer - Kirilloff/Gallo is maybe the best all-around offensive infield in the game! Not every game or even to this point in May. But ultimately they are very good!
  12. JD-TWINS
    Lopez had 75 good days in Baltimore & they were ready to trade him. Not a great testimonial for his future! He’s a disappointment. Need Gordon to heal and play at least 50% of the games in CF flanked by Gallo - Larnach - Kirilloff - Walner v. RH pitching. Lewis - CC - Polanco - Kirilloff/Gallo & we have plenty of offense v. RH pitching. Need health & most of all we need to lose Kepler. He’s brutal at the plate - his defense can’t make-up for his feeble offense! He’s had two months w/o the shift and has maybe 4 extra hits because of that new rule. He contributes very little at the plate!
  13. JD-TWINS
    Taylor was never intended to start more than 50 games in ‘23. 35-40 of them v. LH pitching & then plugging some holes another 10-15 starts. Pinch hitter - pinch runner - late inning Defense. Polanco was hurt - Gordon had to play 2B for most of a month. He had a terrible start but was coming around & starting many games in CF v. RH starters. ’24 Outfield: Larnach - Gordon - Walner v. RH pitching Castro - Taylor - Kirilloff v. LH pitching ’24 Infield: Lewis - CC - Polanco - Kirilloff v. RH pitching Lewis - CC - Lee - Farmer v. LH pitching Buxton primarily at DH Catchers: Vazquez & Jeffers
  14. JD-TWINS
    That’s never happening.
  15. JD-TWINS
    Not sure how bad the defense might be? Anyway, Kepler, unless he goes crazy with the bat, is done after ‘23. Potentially, a trade piece with a prospect in July. Walner will have a chance with this organization in the next 8 weeks or from the beginning next season. Larnach still leads the team in RBI & he’s not on the roster either.
  16. JD-TWINS
    Same as Odorizzi, as well Mahle! Too many pitches in an attempt to strike guys out. Jax needs to throw (start) his slider over inside 1/3 of the plate to break off outside edge. He wastes too many good pitches that are never competitive in the zone. Starts a slider 2” off plate & it breaks 18” more left. Often there’s two of those in an at bat - used energy & walks.
  17. JD-TWINS
    Gallo is more likely an everyday CF to relieve Taylor. Taylor is back to his norm and it’s glaring now because he plays so often. Gallo has a hamstring problem and may not be able to play OF for a few weeks? Kiriloff - Walner are in the corners for the short term with Garlick playing v. LH pitching. Makes sense Castro may play between Kirilloff - Walner/Kepler in the short-term. He’s actually shown that there’s some merit to treat him like a switch hitter - not just on paper. Encouraging! Can bunt to move runners, not always perfect but capable. Can steal a base. He brings value! 3 weeks ago I wouldn’t have considered promoting his abilities. it he’s earned some respect.
  18. JD-TWINS
    Exactly - Lee will play when they think he’s ready for AAA pitching & no reason to move him up swiftly…….needs confidence. Polanco - Julien & Castro (if the latter keep hitting) are all in front of him & Farmer would be as well at all 3 infield spots. Lewis at 3B & CC at Short.
  19. JD-TWINS
    So for all the metrics guys out there that think walks are just as good as base hits, take a hard look at last night & realize BA really matters when trying to score runs - hits matter!! Blue Jays had 7 hits & zero walks - 3 runs. Twins had 4 hits & 9 walks - 1 run…….OBP doesn’t win games - moving runners forward scores runs and that’s done by putting the ball in play & getting base hits. We could have signed Eovaldi or Bassitt in free agency & paid Luis $12M a season for a while. Should have - could have - would have……….hope Pablo gets going today!!!
  20. JD-TWINS
    Kirilloff started hot and is now down to a normal .275 BA……pinch hitting was a little odd but he’s not Mickey Mantle - need to give Castro a chance from the right side. Solano got a hit the other night when he pinch hit. No complaint there.
  21. JD-TWINS
    Reasons why we try to keep performers like Polanco for as long as we can. There’s always a shiny new guy with some success and “he just needs a chance to show what he can do……..” nothing new. Players come & some that are touted as sure things, are going to wash out OR take 4-5 years to get to the right consistency level.
  22. JD-TWINS
    Looking forward to Lewis just like everybody else. He’s going through what is essentially his Spring Training this month. I assume he will be up by mid-June to July 1 at latest. 3B is not a problem since Miranda went down. Farmer is sufficient defensively & our 2nd/3rd best hitter per statistics. Polanco comes back we’re solid at 2B. CC is at SS. Kirilloff is playing great. Catchers are doing a decent job on both sides of the plate. Infield is set, near-term. I see Lewis at 3B by July 1 with Farmer back into resting guys around the infield & playing 60-70% of the time. Current Line-up v. RH starters: OPS+ Gallo - 139 CF Buxton - 124 DH Correa - 92 SS Kirilloff - 184 1B Polanco - 122 2B Farmer - 119 3B Larnach - 96 LF Jeffers - 109 C Kepler - 103 RF If 100 is essentially a baseline for reasonable production we aren’t as in terrible need for help as we all think. TIMELY hitting helps……..we all expect Larnach & Correa to hit at least 40 points higher BA by end of July……..decent line-up. With Gordon out I’d opt for Gallo or Kepler in CF v. Castro. Castro doesn’t have the bat to start & provides nice flexibility off the bench in various roles. HELP is needed in the Pen!! Maeda - Headrick - Balazovic are all worth looks in the Pen….IMO.
  23. JD-TWINS
    It seems the They we are referring to is principally Jorge Lopez. First 10 plus innings of the season dominant/perfection! Since then, still looks to have good stuff but not getting outs in tough situations. Discouraging. Need bullpen depth with trying a AAA reliever or two. New guys. Funderburk - Balazovic - somebody. Sands is never used so why have him take up a roster spot?……..really hopeful Maeda may help in Pen soon - in June! Maybe Headrick - why not, he’s effective?………..can’t worry about keeping him stretched out in case of injury to someone else. Need to utilize him!
  24. JD-TWINS
    Balazovic to Twins to pick up that middle-leverage type of role. Replacing Alcala in his role. A parallel to Stewart. Duran - Lopez Thielbar - Jax - Stewart - Balazovic - Maeda - Moran by June 5th. ……………………………………. Headrick should be first up to help by July 1st. Henriquez - Sands - Winder - Funderburk as/if needed. Anybody the TWINS don’t have at AAA isn’t worth commenting on as a fan! Who knows.
  25. JD-TWINS
    I do not get the burning need to see Buxton in CF other than just as an “exciting visual possibility.” We have had a Gold Glove CF start 70% of the games. Buxton has been in the line-up 41 of 45 games. ………..he’s averaged playing in 46% of the games in 7 of 8 years in big leagues………He has an OPS of .835 & has helped carry us to 6-7 of our 25 wins. Things seem to be working. I see fans here clamoring for Kiriloff as the DH. Seems we just create a hitting deficiency at 1B then? Again, since he’s been up he’s doing well, including 2 spot uses as a pinch hitter in the last 2 games with great success! As of this morning, Buxton was pinch hit for last night due to “upper leg stiffness”. He’s going to play CF maybe 30 games this year when it’s nice & warm in the evenings. Maybe. In the meantime, Taylor looks fine on defense even though his back may be bothering him. He was robbed of a straightaway centerfield HR on Friday night. V. RH pitching, Gallo or Castro or Taylor in CF until Gordon re-habs in 5-6 weeks. Typically Larnach in LF & Kepler in RF. Kepler is back this week apparently. IF Buxton needs some time off, Julien can DH v. RH pitching while Castro fills in for Polanco. How about Kyle Farmer!!! 10 games since he took over for Miranda & he’s got 9 RBI & hit .395 over those games. The Garlick - Solano - Farmer RH bats v. LH pitching went 6 for 11 last night in 6-2 win. FO has done a nice job building depth in ‘23! Who would have thought that on May 21st Gordon - Polanco - Miranda - Kepler - Buxton may all be out of the line-up and nobody is freaking out? We are taking FO for granted with the guys we have available & their level of ability to step up & perform. Hoping Gordon is back by July 1 !!!
×
×
  • Create New...