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JD-TWINS

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Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    How about the number of crimes he’s come on and done a fantastic job with zero credit? Lopez threw 7 2/3 Friday and left with 2 guys on - Jax comes in & throws 3 pitches to extinguish any momentum the Jays may have had. Lopez the win - Duran the save - Jax the key out! I get he didn’t do well today but I respect what he’s done & the great results 90+ % of the time he enters a game.
  2. JD-TWINS
    Looks like they are keeping Varland in St Paul until Zebby throws again, as Louie might need to be moved back into the 5th spot? Castillo up today with roster expansion. Varland has to be up in one role or another by next weekend…..can’t burn up his available innings at AAA at this point.
  3. JD-TWINS
    If Funderburk can throw hard in another week or so he may help a touch. Varland to the Pen as of today is my assumption. Maybe Paddack in October - he seems motivated to make that happen - reality of health will drive that - Festa to the Oen in October is also a real potentially positive move. I think the Pen can be sharp in post season……..can Team get in is the question. Kepler always seems sharper after an IL stint - if they act today he could be back in 10 days. Having him at less than nearly 100% is a waste of a spot in the order. Buxton in another 6-10 days will help a bit - even at just OK offense. Lewis coming around to just average would be really nice. Shouldn’t be a weak spot in line-up. Hopefully, Lee could add a bit of positive offense starting today as well!
  4. JD-TWINS
    Are people supposed to believe you proposed a trade for Jarren Duran in offseason? He had 1.3 WAR combined over parts of 3 seasons in Boston (he hit .295 last year and was the last guy they were trading with years of control left) and this year he’s got a WAR of 8.5. You must be related to Nostradamus.
  5. JD-TWINS
    They can’t be bothered to play - that’s your take - really? They’ll swoop in for notoriety in the playoffs - you mean there’s not enough media coverage EVERY DAY of the season? Come on man! Everybody is frustrated with injuries……….is Ryan and his $770K salary sitting out just because he’s lazy as well or maybe not paid enough - he just decided to fake it in the MRI? Over a dozen thumbs down is hard to accomplish.
  6. JD-TWINS
    You use 2 relievers so you have your most effective guy, Jax, available again tonight. 2 run lead for Duran is a 90-95% certainty…..that’s as good as it gets in pro sports.
  7. JD-TWINS
    Jays got 6 hits off Lopez over 7 2/3 and literally, 5 of them were SOFT contact. 2 tappers to third that were a lot like swinging bunts - a flare off the hands into right field 25 feet behind dirt - a grounder by a LH batter 30 feet left of 2B……. he was dominant. His fastball velocity at 96mph most of the time and his command of fastball were impressive. Griffin Jax for 3 pitches was equally impressive - with his wiffleball stuff/pitch mix, he looks completely unhittable some nights. His HOLD seems to be getting overlooked here, IMO.
  8. JD-TWINS
    Kepler played defense in 9th so he must be able to run - I guess they used Wallner in Right to get Miranda & Larnach both in the line-up. All worked out but Max v. RH pitching seems like it should be status quo after a day off - right?
  9. JD-TWINS
    Miranda had 3 different doubles/triples robbed from him in the previous series - all 3 circus catches - he hit the ball like a rocket off the wall last night. Can’t hit .325 forever. He seems stable to me - pops up sometimes when hoping for/expecting a hit but who doesn’t. Castro had a really good AB and ended up 4-5 feet short of an opposite field HR on his sac fly. He has regressed back to what he is - a .260 hitter with decent occasional pop. Good speed - good arm - multi dimensional on defense. Royce Lewis looks like he doesn’t feel comfortable really going hard to first on ground balls. Concerning, as you point out! Looked OK charging ball in defense but seems tentative running bases - scary. Jeffers - Larnach - Santana - Julien are the guys that need to help keep things afloat in my mind. Couple of those guys per game. CC & Byron are certainly missed on the depth front!
  10. JD-TWINS
    Baltimore/Twins series could be for the #1 Wildcard spot as well. Tampa, at one game under .500 and playing at home will be formidable - that’s 4 of our softer games. My assumption is that this mix is pretty comparable or even harder than most months. 13 of 27 games against clubs over .500 and all directly competing with Team for playoff spot seems very challenging to me. I know the view is mostly based on % but playing for post-season in September ratchets the competitive juices up and The Orioles on the last weekend makes me feel uneasy.
  11. JD-TWINS
    To me, the only logical thoughts on Farmer remaining on 26-man is due to, continuity - the 3rd string catcher option - (both, ridiculously weak reasons) - to protect against Lee coming back and hurting his shoulder in the 6th inning on Saturday and not having Farmer as an option going forward. They’ll risk the outcome of two more games w/o Lee to maintain the depth option. Lee up on Sunday.
  12. JD-TWINS
    Let alone Wallner not contributing until August - Julien doing zero after April - Kirilloff being nowhere near the 117 OPS+ guy of ‘23 - Paddack being out even more than Ryan - Thielbar being close to the DFA line for weeks on end. With all these obstacles, I doubt many would have predicted even a .500 season. Still sucks to lose after being 17 games over .500 a brief time ago. Just saw on MLB network PASQUANTINO is out for 6-8 weeks with a broken finger - 4th highest RBI total in baseball……..that levels out the K.C. line-up. That’s areal blow to them!
  13. JD-TWINS
    The talk about moving him to 2B, at some point, is 3-4 days old…….his struggles don’t stem from that discussion. Agreed, Hit the ball the other way and quit trying to be a hero with a home run. Quit swinging at first pitch breaking balls followed up by taking 2nd pitch fastballs. Look at the video of your last 50 AB’s.
  14. JD-TWINS
    I pointed out this base running gaffe the day following - others immediately protected Kepler and pointed to Watkins. There was a replay from Press Box angle shown immediately after the play and Provus even commented on Kepler’s approach - he turned his head and nearly stopped going around 2B and then cruised to 3B. The Camera picks up Kepler 35 feet or so from 3B getting conflicting signs from Watkins. IF HE HAD HUSTLED THROUGH 2B and picked up his coach instead of taking some wandering approach, he would have scored easily and there would have been zero issues with Watkins. Watkins certainly deserves criticism after sending Margot, after a terrible jump from 2B, with no outs the very next night. I don’t think he deserves any criticism at all for the Kepler play.
  15. JD-TWINS
    It’s about blocking balls and keeping pitches in front of you, as a catcher. Vazquez is superior. I think it may come down to whom the organization want each guy to hit against (history, LH v. RH, etc.) ……they’ll both play unless Vazquez regresses deeply in September……who starts the first game doesn’t really matter in the play-offs as each game is essentially a must.
  16. JD-TWINS
    Mike, the article clearly states his poor/blow-up starts are in the bottom 13% of 60 qualified pitchers……..3 starts in a season (25 starts) & you really think he’s tipping his pitches? You don’t think that maybe the Royals are choosing to hunt a certain pitch? He gave up 7 runs over previous 4 starts - he averaged 6.25 innings per start over those 4 games - 15 hits in 4 games. In his recent start, he gave up 7 hits & 9 runs in 2 innings……I really doubt that’s a result of pitch stealing. As I mentioned before, at least one of the drives I saw, catching up in the 2nd, was on a waist high change-up. Guys hit those.
  17. JD-TWINS
    Nobody has to steal a sign or see a tendency to hit a waist high change-up. I think it’s coincidental bad pitching v. Royals. If it were able to be picked up in video all of baseball would be lighting him up. Some days a pitcher’s command isn’t there ……..3 terrible outings out of maybe 26 so far this year - understandable.
  18. JD-TWINS
    Gotta think Varland is up by Sunday or sooner. need to pitch Alcala every other day at a maximum. Varland can be his alternative. Getting the ball to Sands/Jax in 7th/8th would be a nice routine.
  19. JD-TWINS
    When he got sent down they still had a full slate with of relievers with Henriquez coming up along with Richards & Okert. He’s not eligible until Saturday to come back - my sssumption is he’s the roster expansion pitcher come Sunday the 1st. 9.00 innings in the Show this year - 10 K’s & 1 Walk - .889 WHIP - 3.00 ERA……anything close to that would be very helpful!
  20. JD-TWINS
    As someone mentioned - the goal is to get to the playoffs and fending off those behind us is the reality……not running down Cleveland nor K.C. ……..who would have guessed that winning the Detroit Series may have value in the Wildcard race as they are now 4.5 games back. Going into February, Team thought DeSclafani/Varland would battle or at least cover the 5th slot in rotation…….Paddack in the 4th slot most of the year………Ryan obviously being a key piece. None of that is working or has worked. Team has 3 rookies in the rotation and they are, to date, holding their own. Julien disappeared as an offensive weapon after April. Wallner was brutal and didn’t start contributing until approximately August 1. Kirilloff became his old hurt self and not anywhere near the .270 BA - 117 OPS+ guy from ‘23. Farmer fell off a cliff! Correa has played 75 games. Buxton is hurt again. Topa & Stewart are non-existent. There’s more on the injury side - nearly endless. An awfully lot of adversity ……..don’t think blaming front office for lack of appropriate depth nor ownership for not spending at deadline is the real issue. Stuff happens and gotta find a way to deal with it and keep grinding. Hope they can turn it around quickly - Jays are playing much better lately.
  21. JD-TWINS
    Varland to the Pen could/should keep Alcala away from pitching consecutive days. This should be a help. Winder can assume the traditionally medium leverage spots that Sands was used in through most of the year. Sands - Alcala - Varland - Jax - Duran need to get it done. Winder - Henriquez Thielbar - Blewett - Tonkin (one needs to go?) Funderburk ……….no other options left. Paddack if they get to October.
  22. JD-TWINS
    Assuming Lee is added Sunday with roster expansion. Won’t DFA Farmer 2 games prior to expansion. I heard Lee was 0 for 5 one game so your more broad news is uplifting. Varland is probably a Sunday add as well……if not sooner. Pen needs a shot in the arm!! I too am concerned about the level of contribution from Byron & Carlos upon returning. Buxton’s gotta be as good as Martin & Correa will displace Farmer/Julien with Castro back to 2B. Need some runs!!!
  23. JD-TWINS
    Is there substantiation of anyone coming back Friday - or is this just wishful thinking? I’m in Cincinnati and don’t see local stuff from Tribune or CCO.
  24. JD-TWINS
    Watkins sending Margot with no outs was a fireable offense……could not believe it with the poor jump Margot had ……out by 10-15 feet. NO OUTS - Watkins void of thought/reason??? Desperate? Team’s pitching could have been perfect and still can’t win the game without scoring runs. I thought having Festa pitch to start the 7th was a right v. right deal and then bring Thielbar to face Olsen. His stuff hadn’t diminished as he only threw about 6-7 pitches in prior inning. He walked the 1st guy but not a terrible strategic move IMO. Thielbar gave up the double on a great piece of hitting by Olsen……ball was 4-5” below the zone and he crushed it…….I was pissed at Thielbar but the replay showed it wasn’t a bad pitch, maybe not sharp enough but really good location, on paper. Margot’s blunder was on a ball that’s not an easy play for anyone but he took a mediocre route and it hit his glove - gotta make that play. Still, we couldn’t/can’t score!!!
  25. JD-TWINS
    I agree with most everything …..the one angle that is assumed to not exist or isn’t considered at all, is the difficulty there is in getting to a top 5 minor league system. There is good fortune involved as well on some level. If the two guys are comfortable financially, they might opt for pride and commitment to what they have put in place……continuing to build upon what they have started. Maybe naive to think that? Maybe not.
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