greglw333

Martin's fielding has been spectacular and he’s gotten a couple hits recently but yes, a big offensive drop-off. After that really bad botched play by Keaschall at 2nd, I wonder what to do with him defensively - he’s made a lot of really bad plays this year and yet, recently some good ones too. Maybe Culpepper at SS and Kreidler at 2B? Is Houston almost ready? I’m thinking about sending Keaschall down to work on his fielding but conflicted due to his mild to moderate offensive improvement. I don’t want to block Jenkins, Mendez, Gabby Gonzalez or Roden with Keaschall in the OF though. Austin Voth not so good. It’s really an absurdity even having a $100 team playing about a half billion dollar team (including luxury tax paid) but being old school, I still blame Marvin Miller for setup up this inequitable system with no salary cap. If anything come out of new agreement, at least a floor of $170 MM escalating over the agreement. That would help some. With that the Twins could have bought 4 or 5 $15 MM relievers. I’m seeing some slippage on plate discipline from some of the hitters. I think if the Twins believe Jenkins is the real deal, (it sure seems so, his swing is a thing of beauty) sign him up to an 8 year deal and bring him up along with Culpepper and Roden. They are the future and could help now too.

I’m not sure, from watching Saints games, reading, etc. that Wallner is ready for MLB pitching. I see Alan Roden as ready now for a full shot. And I would love to see Walker Jenkins up soon as well, pending AAA performance. I also think Hendry Mendez and his .330 Saints average would warrant a look ahead of Wallner, who has clearly failed the last 2 years at the MLB level. I’m not picking up much different in his swing approach, maybe a slight more willingness to take base hits when they’re there? I agree, Clemens could go back to reserve if Roden, Jenkins, Culpepper, Mendez or even Wallner succeeds. He’s a very streaky hitter where I think Roden, Jenkins and Mendez have a chance to be more consistent players. Martin could platoon with Roden or Jenkins at first to give them a better chance at initial success. I like Gray, but realistically he should not block the level of talent we’re talking about. Get as many as possible up now and they may be above .500 at trade deadline and could add, put Sir Tom to the test! He owes it to the new coaching staff, Jeremy Zoll, Shelty, Byron Buxton, even Joe Ryan who they should absolutely keep.

time now to call up Roden

Best thing about your post "Abel to stay on the field"! I just formed my own judgement based on his last start last year, the 13 zeros in a row this year and not on statistics but watching his whole game. In my judgement, he has great stuff that needs a little refinement. And yes, he does need to stay healthy, the vexing problem of so many major league pitchers. I agree he has ace potential but whether he lives up to that is another question.

Remember Abel’s last 13 major league innings? 000 000 000 000 0

I agree with you wholeheartedly Sam! I’m salivating at Abel’s potential. It’s part of why I still have hopes for this year.

I agree with you 1000%. Derek Shelton doesn’t deserve the disrespect nor does Grady Sizemore, Latroy Hawkins, Byron Buxton and so on. Tom Pohlad said he would change, spend and be competitive so let him try to extend Jeffers in the next month or two. The Twins are sitting on a rapidly ascending Gabriel Gonzalez, a stud young hitter in Hendry Mendez, a potential perennial all star in Jenkins, a superb athlete in Kaelen Culpepper, AN on base machine in Emmanuel Rodriguez, Mick Abel, Kendry Rojas, the enticing potential of Prielipp and his slider, and maybe Zebby and they are ALL right on the cusp. Any one or more of those players could contribute to a Twins push this season and the ascendent offense needs Jeffers and, I would argue the rising Keaschall is a big key. I actually can envision a scenario where Derek Shelton wins AL Manager of the year award. He’s been beyond my wildest dreams as a manager so far.

No comparison between the send downs of Lewis and Wallner at .163 and ~.170 and Keashall, who’s up around .250 and hitting .309 since May 15. Keaschall is a key cog to this team and they need him to hit .280-.290. Not everybody has to be a power hitter. Plus he can steal at the MLB level. No way should they send him down.

It would seem that Joe needs to be comfortable with it.

I’m glad that when Cardenas threw out the Manfred Mann going to 3rd that he didn’t look up into the lights before he threw, therefore being blinded by the light!

Saturday morning, He’s back per MLBTR and CJ Baumgartner!

I watched the Saints game last night and I didn’t see anything different about his approach. It’s the same hold a long bat at the very end and swing for homer approach. Facing Jose Urquidy, Fedko had 2 homers, Culpepper homered and Lewis was 0-fer. I want Royce to do well! I think he and Wallner are both stubborn in staying with the 3 true outcome approach when they’re failing miserably. If they both would let the ball travel more, start getting base hits up the middle and to the opposite field, swing for contact and try to work walks (i.e. stop the chasing out of the zone), I think they both could become better hitters. That’s exactly the process that 3300+ hits Hall of Famer, Paul Molitor, recommended on the broadcast 2 games ago. He said to do that and the power will come soon enough.

That's the best take I’ve read, those last 3 sentences. That’s the crux of it.

That's a bold statement for a guy that has a .163 batting average in MLB this year vs a guy who’s got about a .960 OPS for a large sample in AAA. I’d bet that Sabato hits much higher than .163 in the majors.

"have to do with his defense". Nothing really but the .163 renders his defense moot. Plus Clemens has been playing a lot more 1B than Bell and at a Gold Glove level. I just am skeptical that the organization has torn down a massively failed approach at the plate and swing and built in back up more in the mold of Lyman Bostock or even what it looks like Walker Jenkins is heading toward. As the hitting legend, Paul Molitor said on last night’s broadcast, struggling hitters need to focus first on contact, using the whole field and getting base hits, then gradually the power will come. 1B is a problem whether its Bell or Lewis until and unless Lewis really changes his whole approach. Clemens is acceptable, maybe better than acceptable, but .220s and .230s batting averages don’t usually do it for me. I do like Clemens and root really hard for him but he’s so streaky. What more does Sabato need to do to get a chance? .966 OPS for Sabato. I could also see Mendez coming up and cycling through LF, DH and eventually some 1B and maybe slide Larnach to RF and DH some days until Martin gets back on track. Less AB for Bell. And Culpepper at .266, but much higher recently, w .372 OBP, .858 OPS, 13 HR, 13/14 SB and very good defense from what I’ve gathered watching/listening to some Saints games and reading about his defense too, combined with Mendez could inject the offense that Bell, Caratini aren’t providing. And the overall extra offense the team needs.