Jump to content
Joe Ryan versus the Rangers, join the conversation! ×
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

mikelink45

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    10,233

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    27

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    He is in many ways, but I really wonder how many games he has missed and how many he has played since coming up. Each one damages him, his age progression means speed regression. So what do we do to plan for the future? Who is the next Buxton? It is so sad to see his career punctuated by so many IL events.
  2. mikelink45
    Perez disappointed, but the team was great!
  3. mikelink45
    I am excited about Stashak our new rookie reliever. He could be the answer. I hope he has not been overused in the minors. But at least the team looked past Cody Allen and took the truly hot arm. Now if only it can translate to MLB. He could be better than any of the trade options. He has pitched 52 innings in 31 appearances and his stats look great. http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=664054#/career/R/pitching/2019/ALL Yesterday's game was an amazing call to the minor league pen!
  4. mikelink45
    Excellent work - but I want to emphasize how important a batter like Arraez is and now Ehire is following him as a contact and spray hitter. Getting on base is so important. 1.1 WAR in 108 ABs, .370 .444 .491 .934 Now Ehire is at 0.9 WAR 127 ABs .276 .369 .402 .771 - great utility man. It was such a fun game it is too bad that we have to single out Trevor May, but he was really bad and he had fallen so far from what we all expected. He should be right behind Rogers in the BP, but instead he is right behind Hildenberg.
  5. mikelink45
    Makes me wonder why he is so high on the prospect list.
  6. mikelink45
    I am always scared by pitcher FAs, especially relievers. When we buy relievers who have just had a great season we might also be buying someone who has already used up his arm. Look at who we have had as FA and trade reliever signings who have appeared in the big leagues last year and this: Blake Parker this year - nothing special, just an arm and an inflated anticipated value. Zack Duke Austin Adams Oliver Drake Alan Busenitz John Curtiss Addison Reed Tyler Kinley Matt Belisle And starters - Lance Lynn Michael Pineda Jake Odorizzi Martin Perez I vote for starters over relievers based on past success
  7. mikelink45
    Nice to see Lewis going so well. He is still two years away, but I want him to get hot and push for a promotion. I was curious about the slash lines for some of our prospects so I chose only those that had a game yesterday: Keoni Cavaco - .239 .256 .495 Ryan Jeffers - .255 .331 .405 Misael Urbina - .286 .391 .446 Matt Wallner - .311 .421 .453 Royce Lewis - .242 .297 .369 Luis Arraez - .370 .444 .491
  8. mikelink45
    I am not a fan of WPA but do not mind it being listed here. However I would like to have errors added to the list of call outs. Thank goodness Cleveland had its streak end. I remember there 20 game winning streak and when they start a streak I worry it will not end. Francona must do magic because his lineup does not seem good enough to win as often as they do. The Twins should be worried. One more with As and then the Yankees. Only three game lead! How do they rest Rogers when the race is this tight? But they have to because we need him to be fresh for the stretch run.
  9. mikelink45
    Small ball plays well especially when you are not going crazy with the Home Runs. I was curious to look at our HR rate since July 1 and thanks to Garver's 4 HRs we hit 1.6 per game - down from the 1.9 per game up to July 1. I do not know if that is very significant. For the month the following BA do have a big impact: Buxton only 8 games but 161 Cron 7 games 172 Cruz 12 - 205 Kepler 13 - 203 Polanco 12 - 218
  10. mikelink45
    I had to share this quote from Sid Hartman's column since I too have a concern about Buxton and his ability to be on the field. We really miss him right now and I would love to see him play 150 games a year for us, but injuries take a toll. I have no solution for him, I love his all out style, but other than a bubble wrap uniform I cannot see him as a long term player. I have had a life of outdoor adventure and the cumulative injuries I have had are all calling on my in my old age. In five years he has only played more than 100 games once. This year he is at 75 as I right this at the 95 game mark so he could do it yet, but after each injury there is a restart process. Hopefully someone can tally the injury total for me. From the Hartman column: "The big concern for the Twins and their front office is that injuries are becoming a trend for Buxton. Yes one of the great statements about sports was made by former Vikings coach Bud Grant. He always said, “Durability trumps ability.” Meaning that Grant would always want a player who was on the field over a talented player who missed a lot of games."
  11. mikelink45
    I am disappointed to see Javier with 3Ks and no hits. I was hoping he was going to break out. I know it is just one game, but it is a continuation of his season woes. Cody Allen 3 walks but escapes without giving up a run is another bad line as far as I am concerned. Please do not call him up.
  12. mikelink45
    You are right - I have the correct count in the top and somehow made a egregious error, but I can no longer edit it. Thanks for catching it.
  13. mikelink45
    One of the most fun games of the year. But the other commentators have already emphasized the other side of the coin - errors - physical and mental. Why is this continuing. It seems like it is increasing instead of being fixed. What can be done? Is Schoop now a bench player? When are Buxton and Wade coming off the IL?
  14. mikelink45
    No question about - I said that in my third paragraph. But the point is that the As who are third in the league in HRs have also concentrated on other points of hitting that has given them the ability to challenge in the West. http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/league/al/sort/homeRuns/order/true
  15. mikelink45
    So what is the confidence level of the fans? I suspect Twin Tension is rampant. When do we get the turtle back? We need him as a good luck charm. Are the A's once again about to teach baseball a lesson. After everyone read Moneyball the advantage was completely over. The other teams all knew what they were doing and now the teams have as many on their statistical team as they do on the field, but are there new lessons to learn to offset those advantages - is there an advantage when everyone is doing the same thing? The A's are 5th in the league in runs, but only 22 behind the Twins, which equals two of our blow out games. They are third in home runs - the Twins are first. The difference is 16. In OPS Minnesota leads the league with 828 and Oakland is 6th with 774 - a big difference. The As are putting the ball in play with the 13th most Ks by batters, but the Twins are 12th so the difference is only 22. Thanks to Arraez and Astudillo for putting the ball in play. However, the drive to not strike out is really an interesting new part of the As strategy and I think that might be the new trend. How many times do we praise an Arraez AB and anguish over a Sano K? Oakland is 8th in walks 324 and Minnesota is 11th with 285 that is a whopping 39 difference. Strike out less, walk more sounds like a good strategy. Oakland has 1093 ground balls hit by their batters and are 7th in the league. Minnesota is 13th with 979. So how are we swinging the bats - for HRs of course. We lead the league in fly balls hit - 1626. Oakland is 3rd - 1527. So what does that say about the Oakland offense? We have 99 more HRs but with their commitment to not strikeout and to walk they are still third just 22 HRs less than us. Hits of any kind put pressure on the opposing pitcher, on base by walk is almost as good as a hit. Despite their no name pitching rotation (outside of MN how many could name our rotation?) their era is just 0.03 behind us. They have figured out the BP like KC did during their championship seasons. I will not analyze other pitching stats or fielding except to end on this point - when I look at the difference between runs allowed and ER - Oakland has a 24 run difference, Minnesota has 48. I consider that as good an indicator of fielding influence as anything and our fielding has really gotten sloppy. So pull it together Twins - we need this series.
  16. mikelink45
    I actually like the way this team looks!
  17. mikelink45
    I would love Bauer, but the relief names do not really interest me. Beyond Smith and Watson.
  18. mikelink45
    I would love to see them dip down into the talent below AAA.
  19. mikelink45
    I do not call this a hard luck loss. Errors, wild pitches, caught stealing are just bad baseball. As is Sano's last two strikeouts. If he is not getting all the calls he should it could be that he has set the expectations. Arraez at bat should be studied by all the Twins. Magnificent.
  20. mikelink45
    When I read of Cody Allen giving up a run as the opener it brings two things to mind: 1. Cody Allen is not ready to help in MLB. 2. How frustrating must it be for the "primary" to have a one or more run deficit before throwing their first pitch. Anxious to see Larnach at this new level, as well as Albie!
  21. mikelink45
    Very nice summary. I am impressed overall, but have to say that AAA rotation seems to be of lower quality than Fort Myers.
  22. mikelink45
    I think that if we lose it is a big deal. It will create a narrative that will take a few weeks to erase and that is not good for a team that is just finding its way to the heights.
  23. mikelink45
    I am not sure about this and the other Schoop posts I have seen. Are we sure that we are not going to start seeing the early season Schoop again? Unless we have someone who is pushing his way onto the bench Schoop is a good player for us.
  24. mikelink45
    Seeing Javier's line was a real treat this morning. I do hope he goes on a tear and that he justifies his high ranking among prospects. I love it when the prospects are trying to tear down the barrier between them and MLB. Isn't it time to challenge Larnach in AA?
  25. mikelink45
    My biggest worry is Rogers. Can he handle the frequency of use for the rest of the season. I know why Baldelli calls on him, but we either need Parker to step up or we need another pitcher we can rely on the way we do Rogers. I am fine with the idea of bringing up minor league arms, but we have to try them all, regardless of league level until we find what we need.
×
×
  • Create New...