singlesoverwalks

I really respect the scuff level on Berrios's shoes in the picture. Hopefully that doesn't change after he hits arbitration.

Looking at the 2019 Fangraphs "Inside Edge" fielding stats, Thames was actually arguably better than Moreland. Moreland made slightly more of the routine plays (and that would average out to like 2 more over a full season), but Thames made substantially more of the difficult plays. Moreland's reputation for defense is well founded if you go back to 2018, but he slipped last year. Neither is super exciting. But if I had a choice between those two at roughly similar costs, I'd choose Thames. He's one year younger and was injured less than Moreland last year. And I'd prefer either of them to any other first baseman still on the market. Here's that data for all the first basemen still on the market: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=1b&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=0&type=3&season=2019&month=0&season1=2019&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=9393,2530,11850,2502,7185,3086,9205,9957,3312,7619,3711,7539&startdate=&enddate=

Watch video of Rosario from May. Watch, say, that game where they hit 8 home runs against the Angels. He's noticeably faster than he was at the end of the year. He burns down the line for an infield hit, scores from third on a sacrifice fly to shortstop, and does a pretty good job cutting off a double in the corner. He had that ankle injury, and that slowed him down. That's why he looked so awful in the outfield. If you've ever had an ankle injury, you know they don't get better if you run on them. And I have another theory. I think he gets bored. He's a bit of a space cadet, and if the situation isn't dramatic, he spaces out. Once the Twins had the playoffs more or less in hand and were playing that long string of games against mediocre teams, he checked out mentally. But when it came time to play the Yankees in the playoffs, he was really good again. He is such a clutch player. He just is. If you need statistical evidence of that, here's a Fangraphs custom table listing all Twins with over 20 PA sorted by WPA (win probability added). Rosario, despite his relatively pedestrian aggregate numbers (reflected in his paltry WAR), still comes out 6th. That shows that he performs well in high-leverage situations. Name | PA | WAR | WPA Nelson Cruz | 521 | 4.3 | 3.62 Max Kepler | 596 | 4.4 | 3.01 Luis Arraez | 366 | 2.1 | 1.85 Jorge Polanco | 704 | 4 | 1.77 Miguel Sano | 439 | 2.7 | 1.29 Eddie Rosario | 590 | 1.2 | 1.28 Mitch Garver | 359 | 3.9 | 1.27 Marwin Gonzalez | 463 | 1.4 | 1.23 Byron Buxton | 295 | 2.7 | 1.03 LaMonte Wade | 69 | -0.2 | 0.47 Ehire Adrianza | 236 | 0.6 | 0.42 Willians Astudillo | 204 | -0.2 | 0.04 Jake Cave | 228 | 0.9 | -0.12 Ryan LaMarre | 26 | 0.1 | -0.12 Jason Castro | 275 | 1.6 | -0.47 Jonathan Schoop | 464 | 1.3 | -1.1 C.J. Cron | 499 | 0.3 | -1.59 If you want to know how bad WPA can get with a player with lots of plate appearances, check out C. J. Cron and Jonathan Schoop. lol.

I immediately thought of my dad saying "Never make the third out at third base." That was what pissed me off. That being said, a lot of Twins didn't get two hits last night.

(To be clear, just kidding.)

*Chuck Berry is not ragtime. You could have gone with No Particular Place to Go. Downbound Train. Try harder next time.

Claim to fame: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/on-this-date-20-years-ago-david-ortiz-was-a-player-to-be-named-later-in-a-trade/

This aged well.

The Twins' 9th-best home run hitter (Marwin Gonzalez) has as many home runs (14) as the Tigers' best home run hitter (Brandon Dixon). They could field a lineup in which every player save one had more homers than anyone on the Tigers.

If he were a Tiger, Buxton's 8 home runs would lead the team.

Is the whole Mauer-at-third thing utter fantasy?