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JD-TWINS

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Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    Zebby has a 1.38 ERA over his first two starts. Hasn’t exactly faced the ‘27 Yanks in those games but still very encouraging! 3 scoreless with no base runners from the PEN. Losing Jeffers has created an even deeper abyss in the line-up. Martin & Larnach are finally leveling closer to original expectations. Martin will be exposed more and more to RH pitching and that’s going to wear on his stats & effectiveness. …… I hope he can stay “selective”, he seems to be pressing with more and more swings that are out of the zone “chases”. Who comes up when Gray goes on Paternity Leave for 3-5 days???
  2. JD-TWINS
    That’s an interesting thought - I’m sure there was plenty of space on the right side……either side as they are deep playing for the 3rd out. Obviously, trying to win the game with a base hit, scoring both runners. Would really like to see more “moving runners” earlier in games - Kreidler - Keaschall - Martin - Outman should all be proficient bunters, and Caratini should also be able to be competent if the situation arises.
  3. JD-TWINS
    Buckle up - Jeffers is out until August 1 & will then be “returning from injury” - that is, unless they trade him prior to deadline - it’s a sad situation.
  4. JD-TWINS
    To me, .253 BA in what I keep reading is a “hitter friendly” level (don’t really understand why this is the case) isn’t going to project well at MLB level. Arcia can be a 45 day bridge to Culpepper OR Royce’s return around July 1. Arcia is hitting 80+ points higher than Culpepper this point. Jenkins was around #6 at a young age - still young but still not ready.
  5. JD-TWINS
    Caratini is $7M/yr through ‘27 …….. not going anywhere. I agree, he hasn’t earned any playing time at 1B over the last month. Bell would probably have to be DFA’d to get Sabato on the roster. He’s streaky - started first 3 weeks this year at a high level. They probably give him until this time in June before any serious consideration to DFA or Trade. Clemens has started against a couple lefties - doesn’t make me feel good but that’s where they are at with possibilities.
  6. JD-TWINS
    Would love to see Culpepper but the organization has deemed he needs more time SO , AS A BRIDGE, Arcia is still better than Lewis……….today in 2026.
  7. JD-TWINS
    I referenced his slash line to date at AAA (‘26) from the article above (then I reduced his average by 80-90 points)………. if Culpepper had Arcia’s stats people would take to the streets to have him promoted. If he was “good” he wouldn’t be on our AAA roster ………. my point is he’s gotta be better than Lewis!
  8. JD-TWINS
    I agree completely on Arcia ……. the bad news is that he would be a significant step UP from Royce. Sometimes (often) the lesser of two evils makes the most sense.
  9. JD-TWINS
    OUTMAN off 40 Man …….. Lewis goes down to do some serious work on himself. I’d rather have “average defense” from Arcia and solid potential to hit .240-.250 rather than Lewis at barely average D and a .165 hitter. Gotta have a reasonable replacement for Outman’s OF spot. Kreidler probably would suffice in the OF role that Outman has been filling?
  10. JD-TWINS
    They’ve known for at least 3 years that they have no good options in the organization at 1B. Bell was assumed to play a bunch more at 1B with Larnach at DH but Bell is brutal on both sides of the ball. ……… Sabato hasn’t grabbed anybody’s eye and he’s right in front of them playing 6 days/week…… not the answer in baseball people’s eyes. I have no issue with a DFA for Bell if he’s still in this spiral 3 weeks from now……….Gotta say, much to my surprise, Clemens is becoming an “OK” option v. RH pitching. I get your frustration with Outman! However, Rodriguez has been hurt big chunks of EVERY season with every injury imaginable. Roden has been hurt the vast majority of games he’s been with the organization. Jenkins got hurt again. Those 3 were the options to replace Outman with ………… gotta be available. Criticizing Zoll for his “tendencies”, or his approach, seems a bit over the top emotion to me - he’s been in charge for 5 months and he’s 7-8 weeks into his first season. With ZERO ability to spend, btw. Everyone knew the PEN was going to have spotty success back in March. Over 7 of last 8 games, (since Cleveland series started) EXCLUDING the one game SWR started in that string of games, the STAFF (not starters) has given up 11 earned runs over 63 innings. That’s a 1.57 ERA (that includes a 9 inning Bullpen game). The offense sucks, as it has since August of ‘24………scoring and HR’s are respectable for sure but the runs are often bunched into one game, while hardly scoring for 3 other games. Bell hits 4th - Keaschall plays nearly every inning and his bat is weak - Caratini is mirroring Vazquez production - Wallner has been sent down - Lewis should be sent down - Outman is playing. SIX BIG HOLES in a 13 man roster……….Obviously, I can live with sticking with Keaschall but he’s truthfully not contributing much! Kreidler was characterized as being “the worst hitter in the majors” during spring training and he’s provided a lift to the line-up. With Lopez - Abel - Bradley all being hurt prior to May 10…………rotation pieces have really been a strength …….. SWR to PEN in next 10 days when Bradley returns.
  11. JD-TWINS
    They certainly have thrown away 3 games to date just with giving up unearned runs……. actually, Friday night and both of Prielipp’s last 2 starts unearned runs have killed them (3 of last 7) They have at least 3-4 other games (minimum) with excellent pitching and no run production. Both of these things happen in baseball with all of the Clubs…..I understand. If the TWINS had engineered 3 more wins over their first 46 games, they would be at .500 and most here would be pretty satisfied. The doom & gloom isn’t the only reality going forward: They may need to DFA Bell or figure out a way to get him on the IL for a month……. Lewis needs to follow Wallner to St. Paul …… Gotta figure out who could come up and not have a similar performance to Lewis …. it may be Arcia for a few weeks? Really think Culpepper needs a bit more time. Need a LH hitting OF to replace Outman unless he keeps playing reasonably over next couple weeks…….. PEN is spotty at best but they aren’t blowing lead after lead ……… they do not score enough runs!!! 11-13-8 in 3 games & 2-2-2-3-1-3-1 isn’t a winning formula relative to Run Production! Offense has been the problem since August of ‘24.
  12. JD-TWINS
    Wisconsin isn’t that far away, regarding the size of crowd. Typically, I would list the same names you did but honestly, I have to defend Clemens because he no longer deserves to be lumped in with these others. BELL, batting 4th (or at all), is as big if a problem the Team has over the last month.
  13. JD-TWINS
    All the hitters have the same coaches. Over the Winter Royce chose to hire a personal hitting coach to help him improve. I don’t know if abandoning that to get back to where he was last year makes much sense? (not exactly stellar results in ‘25) I do know that hitting coaches do not promote moving your feet away from the plate and toward the plate nearly simultaneously while the ball is nearing the plate. He looks like a fool on many pitches and HE’s the guy that needs to fix himself!
  14. JD-TWINS
    Understood. My central point is that if a Team has a challenge to review the play, the play should be “reviewable”. To me, the umpire should make a single call………not a call and then deciding to 2nd guess himself, confer with the other 3 and change his call.
  15. JD-TWINS
    Hi is ERA is 3.32 ……….. not sure how much more effective he can be over his first handful of starts?
  16. JD-TWINS
    Salary, yes…….it’s May 15th though ……..and on April 15th he could have been in the MVP conversation. I’m not very pleased with his last month! His bat path to the ball often looks like a golfer. His track record shows that it’s highly probable that he rights himself sometime in the next 30 days. 3 weeks ago Clemens was nearly unplayable ………things change. Lewis & Wallner got lots of leash and they have Options. Bell isn’t going anywhere until the “change of scenery trade” somewhere prior to deadline. Caratini is the new Vazquez ……. he’s here at least until July of ‘27.
  17. JD-TWINS
    How about $$ on Luis Arraez with Jackson as 2nd Catcher? Best bullpen in baseball can’t win or save games when offense scores 1, 2, & 3 runs! There are options to strengthen the PEN with SWR making a move - Prielipp or Matthews landing there - Klein - Sands coming back. Combination of these 5 guys displaces at least 3-4 of the current PEN.
  18. JD-TWINS
    The umpire on top of the play called the runner out - right call as tag was applied when runner’s foot was 10-12” from Lewis foot. THEN the umpire noticed Lewis got spiked & it then occurred to him that Lewis foot must have been in the base path. The 3rd base umpire drove the decision & plead his case for reversing his own call t……. the flaw is that it can’t be reviewed. If a Team that this call goes against can challenge, it’s a tolerable rule, IMO. Can’t review every umpire call but can Challenge for a review when needed. Out of challenges, you are then SOL.
  19. JD-TWINS
    July 1st potential PEN ……. for 2nd half of season: Assuming Abel & Bradley are OK in upcoming weeks. Orze - Festa - SWR - Rojas - Morris - Funderburk - Sands - Rogers(?) - Klein or Culpepper - Matthews or Prielipp …….. these guys are options based on their own & others health…………..Festa - Prielipp - Morris - Rojas - Matthews are all potential 2 innings guys x 2 outings per week. Banda & Topa will be gone at some point in July. SWR has to transfer to PEN as soon as Bradley is back! ………hopefully, just days away. Loose end vets like Garcia & Gomez will be DFA’d in the not too distant future. Bowman & Brebbia can’t crack the squad now, so I don’t see it happening going forward.
  20. JD-TWINS
    Simple, if he (Kreidler) shows up as a decent Big League hitter, he’s in the line-up at 3B or SS or CF, 4 of 6 games per week. Just 7-8 weeks ago I repeatedly saw here that Kreidler was maybe the worst hitter in professional baseball - right?? ………use him while he’s hot - I agree. The offense may be fleeting? He needs to face LH starting pitching 100% & an occasional starter v. RH pitching. Later game defensive replacement, as needed. I think he could take Outman’s spot, longer term, due to versatility as other LH outfielders become healthy and are performing at AAA. He looks more athletic than Lee or Gray and seems comfortable in the OF. He seems to add to this group of 13.
  21. JD-TWINS
    So, my point is that starting the year and up until 1-2 weeks ago, I didn’t think Clemens should be in the Major Leagues - at all. He, to me, has elevated himself to #11-12 guy on the roster, squarely, in a platoon role being shielded from LH pitching. He’s actually #4 or #5 offensively on the roster currently because 4-6 other guys are underperforming. Hoping Caratini & Bell get to 0.00 WAR is a terribly low bar - BUT it’s better than where they are at today. Same with the bar for Clemens……..he’s hitting .233 with a 104 OPS+ ……….waaay better than where I thought he was headed at .188 & 68 OPS+ a few weeks ago!! CERTAINLY, the bar should be much higher for the organization BUT they can win games with him playing 1B 70% of the time exclusively v. RH pitching……. I did not think this would ever be the case with Kody.
  22. JD-TWINS
    Clemens ….. he’s now 4th on the Club in OBP (excluding Kreidler’s short stints) & his OPS is 104 ……..he’s elevated to an average to just above average MLB hitter ……. he picks the ball up and moves pretty good at 1B - getting better around the bag. 3-4 weeks ago I didn’t think he had a prayer of being on the Roster after June 1st. He’s doing everything the Team could have expected of him IMO. Never been a fan but both he and LEE have got things going in the right direction, for now. If Bell & Caratini can get to anything above 0.00 WAR the line-up is capable. Moved a BIG hole by allowing Wallner to go to AAA to work on things for a couple months. He’s done it before (‘23 & ‘24) so am hoping for good things……….Culpepper for Lewis in 3-4 weeks OR a healthy Rodriguez. Kreidler & Gray can platoon while Lewis works stuff out at AAA. …….the Kreidler/Gray combo almost will certainly blow up offensively over more & more at bats but hopefully they can provide a bridge until Lewis is sorted out.
  23. JD-TWINS
    Kreidler can play 3B as needed as well - also better at SS than Gray ………. it’s not some bologna about how players got into the organization.
  24. JD-TWINS
    He’s 23 ……. the 24% walk rate is from 5 1/3 innings of MLB work. …….as I pointed out earlier this week, Louie debuted in MLB at age 24 ……… at age 26 he was 0-5 with a 7.61 ERA…… he’s now 28 and performing at a top level in MLB. In June of ‘24 he was a major disappointment as a starter. Gotta take a breath. Is Rojas a guaranteed success story, nope………but he’s got talent, coaches to help, & time to develop.
  25. JD-TWINS
    I hear ya. 9th in baseball at 28.2% Chase this year. Martin is at 12.6% & Buxton is at 36.6% ……. Larnach is essentially the same rate as Team average…………”average Chase” is 23.5-25.5%.
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