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JD-TWINS

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  1. There’s a big chasm between not being brought up because you can’t catch/judge a fly ball and becoming a Gold Glove OF, as was the case with Oliva. Oliva wasn’t able to be brought up because his defense was so poor. My point is a guy that Slugs at .522 will get playing time, regardless of how many HRs they hit…….my assumption/hope is for .425 Slug in the Show. Pretty sure you haven’t seen Gonzalez play defense & it takes a big imagination to think Matt Wallner is anywhere near a good RF. He has OK instincts and a very good arm …….. he struggles getting a jump too often though and he throws to wrong base &/or misses cut-off because he wants to just show off his arm. He has some upside, for sure. I don’t know that there has been much progression as a RF from Wallner over his 6 professional seasons & parts of 3 seasons in college. Wallner is 6 years older than Gonzalez. Gonzalez is awfully young to be writing him off as a guy without enough power to play in the Show……..particularly with the .522 Slug% at AA.
  2. If Murphy is a fit as a Twin, why wouldn’t an organization like the Braves keep him for the term they signed him for originally? …… they aren’t planning on tearing anything down in Atlanta. IMO, Twins had the least fragile rotation in recent memory going into ‘25. Supposedly Team had 8 guys that could slot into the rotation & a couple more fringe possibilities. Paddack’s capabilities and sustainability was certainly in question. Ober - Lopez - Matthews all hurt………SWR has done his job ……. Festa is questionable, but with nice upside going forward. 7 guys competing for 5 spots going into the year and by early July, Team was forced to pitch Travis Adams. Buxton & Correa are here for 4 more years ……. need to make the best of this and hope for reasonable performances.
  3. His Slug% is currently .522. When young, Oliva couldn’t play the OF at all, he was 4-9 in his ‘62 cup of coffee ….. went 3-7 in ‘63……couldn’t catch a fly ball or get to a fly ball ………..won a Gold Glove in ‘66. OF skills can be developed - not saying he’s going to be great but could be adequate. Bostock & Mack were pretty good hitting corner OF’s ……… not a bunch of power with either. Seems he’s earning the benefit of the doubt?
  4. He’s 20………RF or LF can be manned by someone that can hit………DH as a supplementary spot in line-up as well. He’s got time to become a near average outfielder. He’s a ‘27 call up at age 22. Needs to put in some serious work on defense w/o losing his offensive focus. He can better his launch angle on pitches over time but don’t want to coach/instruct the line drive hitter out of him. Oliva couldn’t break into the Show because he couldn’t play the OF, at all……….won a Gold Glove eventually. Can’t be chicken little on OF defensive potential, unless he just can’t run. Bunch of doubles suggests to me that he can run at least at an average level. .522 Slug% with only 2 Home Runs is just fine with most folks …….a .425 Slug% would improve the Twins corner OF depth! Not 100% sold in the guy but he sure is trending well for a young kid!
  5. The premise that Jeffer’s screw up move has anything to do with practice reps or the Front Office or the Manager is ridiculous. If Cory Provus and you at home know it was a screw up then so does Jeffers and the third baseman that should have been screaming to let it roll foul or at least see if it would!!! Everyone viewing the game knew it was a bonehead move - if you are a choke under real game pressure and you pick the bunt up on the chalk and you make a throw on a pitch you almost dropped into centerfield when a guy has the base stolen it’s on YOU - the Catcher! Can’t fix stupid. All teams emphasize same fundamentals and basic approach to defense and situations …… players gotta play and the Twins current group is mediocre when it comes to POISE & EXECUTION. Blaming the management for Jeffer’s poor play is like blaming the coach because Shaq O’Neal couldn’t make a free throw or because DeShawn Kiersey can’t bunt….. players have to execute.
  6. Cannot coach players into being star talent! Players need to adjust and get better with their abilities and with what’s between their ears. Injuries play a big role. Our guys don’t seem to grow much after leaving St Paul….. I see that as just not drafting the right guys. Really hoping Keaschall is healthy enough to get playing time soon - gotta believe that Lewis - Wallner - Keaschall become regular contributors at average or above average level. ……… I have very little confidence in Brooks Lee …… I don’t look at advanced metrics/data but I do see him rolling soft grounders to 2B & fouling out WAAAY too often!
  7. Stewart’s location on the HR - terrible. Matthews location with his fastball, too often middle-middle. Paddack, night before, 2 less mph & middle-middle. All very discouraging! Stewart made a mistake - happens. The other two repeatedly were putting it on a tee. Ober & Lopez down and others in rotation not getting it done, even remotely.
  8. He was good enough for at least 10-12 quality starts …….. he’s got to be good enough for “max effort” approach 1-2 inning stints out of the Pen. He’s not good enough, though, to keep him in the rotation!
  9. Yep - also, remember stating over & over here since last season that he’s a 90-100 inning MAX effort performer and that he’d be much better for the Club coming out of the PEN and “spot starting” a half-dozen times for 3-4 innings. he’s pretty good at Max effort for 2 innings or so at a time every 3-5 days. Preaching to the choir here, he’s 1-4 in last 5 starts and has given up 20 earned in 24 2/3 innings. He’s thrown 105 innings to date and has been poor to terrible (washed) for the past 30 innings ……..used from the PEN & he may have 60-65 nings to date? I realize he was effective for a stretch of probably 10 out of 12 starts but he also has a half-dozen clunkers to mix in and most of them, consecutively since mid-June. Matthews for Mankiewicz today on roster and then Ober for Adams in next few days & then Cowboy to the PEN. ……..Ryan - Ober - Matthews - Festa - SWR all give Team a better chance to be competitive than Paddack - that’s got to be obvious. Middle-middle fastballs on 3-2 counts don’t work in high school, let alone in The Show. ……8 days rest and four XBH to start a game …… can’t keep sending him out to start.
  10. These 3 are hurt too much & you think Baldelli should be fired based on Wallner & Lewis’ performance????
  11. OR the players get healthy……..&/or play to their capabilities going forward Wallner - Lewis - Lopez, etc,
  12. I have to say that it’s amusing to see all the various comments on “lack of trust” of those in the public eye, i.e. Manfred - Pohlad’s - New Owners……… one print writer v. another …. etc. But somehow the base of knowledge, hunches, opinions, of the contributors here at TD deserve complete trust. OK.
  13. Moved from the state in ‘91 …… are there many Billionaires that have ties to Minnesota? Seriously, have no idea. I think A-Rod would be a natural to partner with a group but that’s a lot of commitment, 2 sports franchises + Lynx!
  14. I really don’t know how (any) fans in general think they know much about who any Team should draft. Teams have scouting departments and data savvy people pouring over players year after year from 15 years old to Jr.’s in college. Hope this year’s draft yields a few helpful options for the Big Club. Nothing really happens, from a potential success standpoint, until a player gets to AA in my opinion.
  15. Agree on draft strategy comments …… Festa & Matthews are fine for the amount of time in the organization! They both can be #2-#5 guys over another year or two - health is always a key. They just have to master the hardest part of pitching - command.
  16. First of all, just binged The Wire in past couple weeks - had never seen. Couldn’t figure out how I recognized one of main character’s names? Anyway, I’m not happy with CC to date but he’s hitting in the .265 range (steady ascent for 8 weeks) and I gotta think he’ll continue to improve & hit into fewer DP’s in key situations! Keaschall will be all gravy after displacing the essentially non-contributor, Kiersey. Can’t get healthy soon enough - I think he’ll be an injection of Energy to the bench! Wallner & Lewis are the Keys!! They are supposed to be the “middle of the line-up punch” and they have been, generally, way underperforming! If they play to expectations - not perfect - but to expectations, the Team will thrive. When those two are hitting, the Line-up gets very loooong. Fingers crossed for those two!
  17. Pretty sure NOBODY gets rested with 4 “off days” to follow today’s game - right? Keller on the mound (RH) for Pirates so our best LH hitting line-up should be out there. 5 Top relievers all available for an inning as well! Good luck to the Club!
  18. Baldelli is thinking about getting wins today and going forward. If pulling Buxton gets him a touch of rest to have him more fresh on Sunday & so he might be more fresh in Atlanta …..he’s going to do/consider. It would have been messed up in this case but I can see why, a Manager, might miss the details on the cycle …….that’s one of the reasons there are 3-6 other coaches in the dugout. He’s human & trying to do his job - his job isn’t pleasing the crowd, no matter how many here think that should be a big consideration.
  19. Adam’s gave up 5 runs in 4 innings his first time out……run(s) every inning ……his stuff didn’t look like MLB stuff to me. Saturday, honestly, he was probably more relaxed and he was facing a line-up in the midst of losing its 8th game in a row……not exactly the ‘27 Yanks! He needs another outing to tip the scales one way or the other. “Stuff” doesn’t vault forward in a week or two so, I personally, do not have high hopes.
  20. Buxton, through today ……38 XBH of which 21 are HR’s. .286 BA. ….. over .350 OBP ……145ish OPS+. Still a very good CF. If he stays healthy he can have one of the best seasons in Team History for an outfielder (Puckett - Oliva - Hunter - Mack - Bostock - Cuddyer…….etc.) The guy deserves fans support because he’s finally playing up to his capabilities. Wish him well in Atlanta!!
  21. Big psychological opportunity on Sunday….. Sweep to .500 could help propel a positive attitude going forward after the break. Excited to get Keaschall back in another 10-12 days. Hopefully, Matthews will be ready to at least go as an opener for 3-4 innings in next 10-12 days as well! Need some runs to let SWR breathe on Sunday………he’s been sharp over last 3 starts! 🤞
  22. What’s the obvious reason for Jax to be traded? ……,if we’re being honest. It’s the only thing, IMO, less sully than trying to make him a Top 2-3 guy in the rotation. It’s like saying “……Varland is successful now, why don’t we make him a starter?……..”
  23. I think your “formula” fits baseball Teams everywhere. Matthews/Lopez/Ober all hurt ……. needing Adams to eat bulk innings……not good! Sands - Coulombe - Stewart - Varland - Topa make up the vast majority of the “front end” ……can’t be much better than this group on average. They have had some stinkers but that’s going to happen over 162 …….. through 93 games they probably have 160 appearances between them so if 15 aren’t great, that’s 90% pretty good. Now, if we roll Alcala - Wentz - Funderburk - etc. (the 8th guy) into the mix, it hasn’t been pretty. Line-up is a problem - the problem in my estimation. Can’t score 2 or less runs in 1/3 of games played and gave much of a chance to be over .500! Lewis & Wallner need to light it up in a hurry and could really use Keaschall ASAP (couple weeks?) for some energy……..displacing Kiersey.
  24. Gotta get Ober/Matthews back to take at least the 5th spot……..,Paddack is no longer living the charmed life ……… last 4-5 weeks have generally been very rough with him in the mound. Adams isn’t the answer. Paddack is the 8th guy in the PEN by mid-August…….may be too late at that point? If Team has to run Adams & Paddack out there another 2-3 times they might as well punt. 3 starters out may just be too much to overcome…….accompanied by an often anemic offense.
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