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Western SD Fan

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Everything posted by Western SD Fan

  1. Western SD Fan
    Grades look pretty good from my perspective. Maybe you tweak the lineup to B+. The hitting itself deserves an A to A-, but you have to consider baserunning as part of the lineup grading. Someone will give me the correct ranking, but I believe that the Twins are at or near the bottom in baserunning. They are still a bit reckless on the basepaths and that will drag down the lineup grade. As for RISP, it's logical to think there will eventually be some regression. I would like to point out that the Twins have improved in reducing strikeouts over the course of the season. Just making contact should improve your RISP numbers. I just watched a video where someone was analyzing the Rays and their inability to hit home runs this year. What they do very well is put the ball in play and run. Constantly putting pressure on a defense (as we have seen first-hand) definitely helps out a team. I don't think that a team can be clutch, but certain individuals certainly can be. Clemens and Bell are currently the best on the team. They are willing to sacrifice power in order to drive in the run. We have seen that over the years from some of the best like Miguel Cabrera, Wade Boggs, Joe Mauer, Paul Konerko, and Jim Thome. I still remember Bert Blyleven describing Cabrera as always being able to "smell" that RBI. I know modern analytics don't think the RBI is a real stat, but your approach on how you get that RBI certainly makes a difference.
  2. Western SD Fan
    Never suggested he would be a gold glove winner. Neither did all the doomers when we signed France and Santana. I'm not sure if he will ever win one. He is not butchering the position. I still think he is better than the alternative, which would be Bell. He made a misplay that setup the rest of the inning. I'm still going to stand on the position that it takes more than 3 weeks to be proficient at a position.
  3. Western SD Fan
    I do believe that that Larnach has been taken out for defensive purposes late in games. The Twins know that he is not a good defender. No different than Bell, when he was playing 1st, would get taken out for defensive purposes. I'm willing to live with the offense until someone comes along that is better.
  4. Western SD Fan
    I would also add that it took how many years for Ty France and Carlos Santana to get gold gloves in their career? Ty France took 7 years. Carlos Santana took 15 years. I think I'm going to give Lewis a bit more time than 3 weeks to figure out first base.
  5. Western SD Fan
    Not necessarily when everything is opposite of what you learned. All of your muscle memory is going the wrong way. Plus, you have the added tasks of positioning yourself to hold runners. There is a lot more footwork than meets the eye to play first and he is learning it all on the fly.
  6. Western SD Fan
    I agree. I was one of the proponents of trying to get Lewis to work on a new position in the offseason. Falvey, Zoll, or Shelton didn't call and ask my opinion. Sometimes we have to live with mistakes with a player learning a new position. Every new bounce and play is a new experience for him. You can't train for every possible outcome. You take them as you find out. That's how you get experience. He hasn't butchered the position and I think he is still better than the potential alternatives (Bell) and leave Clemens to his flexibility around the field.
  7. Western SD Fan
    I rewatched the 4th inning. I'm not sure why Caratini didn't challenge the pitch to Delgado to load the bases. I guess he didn't think he could win it. He should have to try to get Ryan out of the inning. With Trammel running, I don't think, even if Lewis did field it, that he could have turned a double play. We have seen gold glovers this year make inexplicable errors so I'm going to give Lewis a bit more grace on a position that he hasn't been at all that long. Ryan was his own worst enemy tonight. He had a ton of 3 ball counts. His first pitch was a strike to less than 50% of the batters. His control seemed to be off. We have seen him muddle through 5 innings before. After throwing nearly 40 pitches in the 4th inning, even the best pitchers will wear down. He just didn't have a good start. It happens. But to blame everyone but Ryan is being a bit disingenuous.
  8. Western SD Fan
    Offense showing signs of life again. Lewis could make up some ground right now.
  9. Western SD Fan
    Nice play by Lee/Lewis combo to get out of the inning.
  10. Western SD Fan
    And he didn't even have to swing the bat to drive in a run. That's how good he currently is. Almost....Kreidler-like? 😉
  11. Western SD Fan
    I'm ok with the team being near .500 as many people on this site would have called a .500 season a success before the season started. Being a rudderless .500 is frustrating. The White Sox are on the opposite side of .500 and seem to have a core that can play together. I don't see Zoll being gone until after the new CBA is signed.
  12. Western SD Fan
    Unfortunately, that is the obsession with Gray being a LH bat. At the beginning of the season, we had too many LH bats. Now it seems like we don't have enough and Shelton is convinced that we need that extra LH bat in the lineup.
  13. Western SD Fan
    Kreidler in CF is out of necessity since Buxton is out. You could have Fedko play CF, but Kreidler's bat is currently playing. When Culpepper is called up, Gray should see the unemployment line and Kreidler should be the backup SS/OF.
  14. Western SD Fan
    Balls are flying out in Baltimore too. The White Sox have an 8-1 and chased the O's pitcher in the 3rd inning.
  15. Western SD Fan
    There's always a chance they get back to .500. I've always said this is the perfect year to make low-wattage additions or apply a method of buying and selling pieces or acquiring extra lottery tickets. You're not looking for Aroldis Chapman. You're just looking for someone that doesn't immediately make you take glycerin pills when they enter the game. While bullpen help at the deadline is typically expensive, they just need to get someone who is better than Trevor Richards. That shouldn't be a monumental task. Some of that may come from within (Rojas) and some of them Zoll will have get creative on. We have movable pieces in Larnach, Bell, and Jeffers which could free up the likes of seeing Culpepper, Roden, and Jenkins. The good news is that the Twins have the 19th ranked SOS at .495 the rest of the season so there is always a chance.
  16. Western SD Fan
    Unfortunately, they do not. In reality, the only pitchers left in St. Paul to call up would be CJ Culpepper, Rojas, and Klein. Rojas was just sent back down and likely will be kept there to build up his arm after just coming off the IL. Klein has had mixed results and likely isn't much of an improvement over Adams. Culpepper is the last person. Culpepper is currently not on the 40-man roster. I know that is a simple procedure to move someone to the 60-day IL, but it is still a consideration. I can see them not wanting to trip that wire until they absolutely have to (injury) rather than poor performance. Especially now that it appears that Banda is done for the year, Rojas will probably be the next pitcher called up when they feel that he has built his arm back up. That leaves Zoll and Company fighting the raccoons in the dumpster fire bin. Sans Gomez, that has not turned out well for us this year. When even our scrap heaps are being picked up (Lawrence by DC, SWR and Topa by Toronto), I'm not sure we want to fight the raccoons anymore.
  17. Western SD Fan
    How Espada did not get tossed surprises me.
  18. Western SD Fan
    Caratini needs a mound visit to tell Adams. "Don't throw that pitch again"
  19. Western SD Fan
    The ball will find you when you are learning a new position.
  20. Western SD Fan
    Adams appears to be making an appearance sometime during the 8th as he was warming in the bullpen.
  21. Western SD Fan
    Now the fear begins. Where does Shelton get itchy and spin the Bullpen Wheel of Regrets?
  22. Western SD Fan
    I'm surprised you haven't changed your username yet to the Church of Kreidler.
  23. Western SD Fan
    I thought they hired Oscar the Grouch and his trashcan orchestra to supplement the fan noise.
  24. Western SD Fan
    He actually had to come in and pitch. With adding the stress of getting hot off the mound, he'll likely need a few days off to rest.
  25. Western SD Fan
    Good thing Gomez has warmed up the two previous days for a nice, tidy 9th inning.
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