Steve Lein

Yeah, I'm with you. One other observation I have from playing 2B most of my life, is Pedroia put himself in a bad position. Now, the throw can contribute to this too and you can't see where he set up before the slide is already there in the video, but he has his foot to make the force out on the outfield-facing side of the base, exactly where any slide into second base is going in a linear straight line. On that type of ground ball, you know there isn't going to be a double-play to turn, and he should have had it on the third-base facing side of the bag.

That's my assessment as well. I made that slide into second base enough in my life to know if you're in to deep before you start the slide the last thing you want to do is punch your spikes right into the bag so they grab it. That's how you get a hyperflexed knee injury. It's also quite common for your lead foot to simply slide across the bag because your foot didn't quite hit the bag right. That's how a friend of mine ended up with a titanium rod in his leg from a similar slide. Guy who made that slide basically spent the entire 45 minutes as we waited on the field for the ambulance to come dry heaving knowing what he had just done and seeing the aftermath. My buddy still turned the double-play though!

Since the last update, Burdi has made appearances in three more games. Against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on April 12th, the Lookouts fell behind early and never got back into the game. Burdi pitched the 8th inning in the blowout loss to finish the game for them. He gave up a single, but also picked up two swinging strikeouts in a clean inning. Of his 18 pitches, 12 went for strikes (3 swinging strikes). On April 15th against the Jumbo Shrimp, he again finished the game in a blowout, though this time it was the Lookouts on the winning end. He gave up a leadoff double and a walk to start the inning, but recovered to get the next three out, including the final out on another swinging strikeout. He threw 20 pitches in this one, with 12 going for strikes (3 swinging strikes). He didn't pitch again until the 20th against the Biloxi Shuckers, but got multiple innings this time around. With the Lookouts up 3-0 and starter Felix Jorge's day finished, Burdi went the seventh and eighth innings. Double-play balls helped him in both innings after issuing a walk, and he struck out one in the eighth. He threw 27 pitches, with just 13 going for strikes but worked around it (3 swinging strikes). Cumulative stats: 5 games, 6.1 IP, 3 H's, 3 BB, 8 K's, 0.00 ERA, 0.94 WHIP.

This is the thing. He has two pitches and one of them is significantly better than the other. His issue, is the better pitch is NOT his fastball. It didn't take long for professional hitters to figure out that you can simply not swing at his curveball and sit fastball. This is exactly why his FB zone % was so off last year compared to the year before. They weren't swinging at his curveball, and crushing his fastballs in the zone. Thus he had to try and nibble with it. It had the expected adverse effect.

Is and always has been a reliever for me. Let him start climbing the pecking order in the bullpen, or you know, do it already... This is Glen Perkins all over again. Don't overthink it.

Run-probability goes down in several situations when you fill first base. In situations where it does go up, it is actually quite marginal, almost negligible. Go into those at-bats looking to swing. Edit: Worded the above kind of poorly. The real point I'm making is: Filling first base with a walk has a negligible effect on run-probability either way (many call it run-expectancy). The difference, which is a big one to me, is there is only one situation where a walk scores a run, and it's the least common situation on the bases in baseball by a significant margin.

On Tuesday night two of the Twins affiliate's games were affected by rain with one being postponed, but there was still plenty of action. One hitter kept a hot streak alive in AAA while his teammate picked up his first International League win on the mound. A shutout was pitched in the Midwest League, and in Fort Myers players worked hard on a Miracle comeback. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily (photo of Tyler Beardsley) On Tuesday night two of the Twins affiliate's games were affected by rain with one being postponed, but there was still plenty of action. One hitter kept a hot streak alive in AAA while his teammate picked up his first International League win on the mound. A shutout was pitched in the Midwest League, and in Fort Myers players worked hard on a Miracle comeback. To find out how it all went down on Tuesday in the minor leagues, and if that comeback was completed, read on! RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Gwinnett 2 Box Score The Red Wings offense jumped all over Braves starter and top pitching prospect Sean Newcomb for five runs in the first two innings. His wildness loaded the bases before a ball was put in play in the first, and Kennys Vargas did so loudly with a bases-clearing triple (he thought it was a grand slam). Daniel Palka stayed hot and followed with an RBI single to make it 4-0 after one, and a Matt Hague RBI single in the second was plenty to allow Rochester to never look back. Left-hander David Hurlbut picked up his first win of the season and his first in AAA as he went 5.2 innings in the start. He allowed just one run (unearned) on three hits and three walks. He struck out seven. D.J. Baxendale came on to finish the sixth inning after Hurlbut gave up the run, and started off by walking old-friend-not-known-for-drawing-walks Adam Brett Walker, his second free pass of the game (he’s hitting .147 with a .490 OPS, if you were wondering). Trevor Hildenberger was able to record only one out in the seventh before rain came down and delayed the game. When play resumed, Drew Rucinski was the pitcher and he finished the final 2.2 innings. He allowed one run on three hits while striking out four. Palka finished 2-4 with an RBI, Leonardo Reginatto scored two runs out of the leadoff spot, and Hague also drew three walks in the win. All eyes will be on Jose Berrios on Wednesday as he makes his third start of the season, where he’s been nothing short of spectacular so far, alongside, at Target Field, a scuffling Kyle Gibson. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Biloxi 0, Chattanooga 0 (Suspended after 2 innings) Box Score The Lookouts game with the Biloxi Shuckers was suspended after two innings due to rain, and will be completed on Wednesday as a makeshift double-header starting early. The suspended game will finish its nine innings, while game two will go seven. Matt Tracy was the starter for Chattanooga, and had struck out two and allowed only a walk when play was stopped. Nick Gordon led off the bottom of the first with a double, but was stranded when the next three hitters went down on strikes. Dan Rohlfing and Dan Gamache started the second with consecutive singles and each moved up a base on a wild pitch, but still weren’t able to score. Fernando Romero is the probable starter for Chattanooga in Wednesday’s regularly scheduled contest. MIRACLE MATTERS Florida 5, Fort Myers 4 Box score Despite out-hitting the Fire Frogs 13-9 for the game, the Miracle were always playing from behind and couldn’t quite finish any comebacks in this one. Dereck Rodriguez took the mound for the home team and surrendered single runs in each of the first three innings as Fort Myers fell behind 3-0. It wasn’t all his fault however, as errors from Alex Perex at second base and Nelson Molina at shortstop led to the first two. Three singles in the third led to his only earned run on the game, and he settled in from there to finish with a quality start and retired the last eight hitters he faced. In his six innings he allowed six hits and walked two, while striking out six. Fort Myers closed the gap to 3-2 in the bottom of the third as Molina reached base on a strikeout that got away from the catcher to start the inning, and advanced all the way to third when the throw to first sailed into right field. A double from Perez drove him in, and he scored on a triple from Zander Wiel later in the frame. That score remained until the seventh when Jonny Drozd came on in relief for the Miracle. Consecutive doubles made it 4-2 in favor of Florida. Fort Myers snuffed out a double-steal attempt at home and also got force-out at home in the inning to keep the Fire Frogs from doing any more damage. Williams Ramirez pitched a one-two-three eighth inning, striking out two in the process before the Miracle got a rally started in the bottom half. Wiel and Trey Vavra started the inning with singles before Wiel took off on a steal attempt of third. The catcher's throw was off target and he came around to score to again pull within one. They had the bases loaded later in the frame with just one out, but weren’t able to tie it up. A double in the ninth added an earned run to Ramirez’s line, but he finished two innings with one hit and two walks allowed, with four strikeouts. The ninth inning again was promising at the start, as a Max Murphy double and Chris Paul made the score 5-4, but three consecutive strikeouts finished the game and the last of their comeback attempts. The four game series continues on Wednesday at 5:35PM CST with Cody Stashak on the mound for Fort Myers. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Peoria 0 Box Score The Kernels pitching staff dominated the Chiefs on Tuesday night, with starter Tyler Beardsley leading the way. He allowed five hits and one walk in his six scoreless innings, striking out six along the way. He didn’t allow a runner past second base until his final inning, and only stolen bases got a runner there before that. Andrew Vasquez and Tom Hackimer combined to finish the game with three perfect innings. Vasquez picked up a hold with a one-two-three seventh that included two strikeouts, and Hackimer picked up the save with three strikeouts of his own in the final two innings. It took until the sixth inning before the Kernels were able to strike, but Mitchell Kranson’s third double of the year was a big one to make it 2-0 in favor of the good guys. Jaylin Davis added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 3-0, and Travis Blankenhorn and Lewin Diaz added RBI singles in the top of the ninth to make the final score. Blankenhorn (2-4, 2 R’s, RBI), Diaz (2-5, RBI), and Davis (3-4, R, RBI) had multiple hit efforts in the victory. Jermaine Palacios scored two runs and stole his second base of the season. Early season standout Eduardo Del Rosario toes the rubber for Cedar Rapids in the series finale Wednesday morning. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Beardsley, Cedar Rapids Kernels (W, 6.0 IP, 5 H’s, BB, 6 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Zander Wiel, Fort Myers Miracle (2-4, R, 3B, RBI, SB) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Gwinnett (6:05PM CST) – RHP Jose Berrios (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Biloxi @ Chattanooga (5:35PM CST) – RHP Fernando Romero (0-2, 9.00 ERA) Florida @ Fort Myers (6:00PM CST) – RHP Cody Stashak (0-2, 3.00 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Peoria (11:00AM CST) – RHP Eduardo Del Rosario (1-0, 0.84 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! View full article

Because a .150 Isolated Discipline in RBI situations is on the side of the curve that's in the red, not the black. I would trade 25 points of batting average for 50 points of OBP all day every day in those situations. It scores more runs.

Wells made it into the Baseball America prospect mentions for his efforts yesterday: "Lachlan Wells, lhp, Twins. Acuna’s club lost because it was going up against Wells and Co. The slight (5-foot-8, 165 pounds) lefthander dominated the Fire Frogs, blanking them on three hits over seven innings with eight whiffs and no walks. The Australian native isn’t big but has a lightning-quick arm, a sharp curveball and a changeup that can lock up hitters. In 14 innings so far, he’s struck out 17 and walked one."

I'd argue they have the best CF-backup plan they've ever had. Their names are Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler. I don't think they're the type you want to rely on in CF over a full season, but they are capable there.

I'd still rather have Hicks. He'd be doing the same thing here as he is for the Yankees now (4th OF-er). I thought the trade was stupid at the time because for a team that had a bunch of catching prospects that were blocked, and good ones at that, the Twins went after the worst of them.

The straight fastball he'll top out at 96-97MPH on. It's the 91-92MPH two-seamer that moves a ton that he couldn't control, but is also the pitch that dominates these AAA hitters.

You're contradicting yourself here. Yes he is a known quantity, but that's the crux...He is NOT a prospect who will have to work his way up through the minors first.The line in the sand I'm talking about is MLB is literally trying to say that Otani has to be treated differently. I don't think that can hold up.

Exactly. They're not going to stop something that benefits everyone involved (This has also been said in several articles I've read on the topic).

This type of outing is nothing new for Kohl, and I'm not saying that in a bad way. I'll demonstrate: He made his AA-debut on June 4th of last year. He gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in 1.2 innings. In his next two starts he gave up 3 runs in 12.2 innings. Then he gave up 5 runs in 4.1 innings. In his two starts after that he gave up 3 runs in 14 innings. His following start was 7 runs (4 earned) in 3.2 innings. Then he basically was fantastic in his last 9 starts, going from 2-4 as a starter to finish 9-6. My point is: you're going to get burned on Kohl if you lose all hope after one bad game.

Again, that article spends all of its time pointing out that this is an extremely weird line for the MLB to try and draw in the sand, and that in reality they wouldn't have a case to stand on if everything went right for the player. That's fine all you guys think the MLB has all the power here, but I don't think they actually do. Just my opinion.

That articles spends its entirety telling you that this way of thinking about it is wrong.

That fangraphs article is making the exact points I have been: "But it brings up an interesting question; for how long must Otani and the MLB team that signed him stick with the standard pre-arb contract? At what point could the league no longer argue that a long-term extension was a pre-arranged deal designed to circumvent the rules? Because it is no longer unusual for players to sign long-term extensions very early in their careers." ... "we actually saw something not too different from that when Stephen Strasburg made his MLB debut on June 8th, 2010; he went 7 IP, allowed just 4 hits, didn’t walk anyone, and struck out 14. If the Nationals had started negotiating a new long-term deal with Strasburg immediately after that start, the league wouldn’t have had any leg to stand on to say “nope, you can’t do that.” So if Otani has some kind of spectacular debut, could the league really say that the team couldn’t have altered their risk assessment, and thought their best move was to give him a long-term deal before his price for an extension went up even more? Would owners really go for the league telling them just how long Otani has to play in the big leagues before a long-term extension would no longer be considered a circumvention of the bonus pools, when that restriction wouldn’t apply to any other player? If the Astros can sign Jon Singleton to an extension before he’s ever played in an MLB game, how could the league forbid whoever signed Otani from giving him a new long-term deal after he’s shown what he can do against MLB talent?" ... "And I just don’t know how the league would police something like this. No one is going to be dumb enough to write any of this down, but it seems pretty easy for the team executives and Otani’s representatives to just talk in hypotheticals about what kind of value they might see in a long-term extension after Otani has proven what he can do in MLB. The league will do whatever they can to make sure there’s no actual guarantee in place, but as long as there’s nothing actually promised, I don’t know what the league could really do." ... "But if Otani doesn’t want to wait two more years, and is confident that he’ll play well and stay healthy enough to make at least a few good starts in the big leagues, I don’t know how MLB can tell him or the team he signs with that they can’t do a long-term extension after he’s shown that he’s going to live up to the hype. Otani can’t be the only player in MLB not allowed to sign a long-term extension. The “circumvention of the rules” clause has to have an expiration date, and it’s not clear to me how that date would be able to carry past his first MLB start, or at least past his first few starts." ... "I don’t know how MLB is going to prevent a sign-and-extend-in-a-few-months situation. They can definitely stop it from being a legally binding agreement in the actual contract, but given how prevalent early-career extensions have become, Otani might just be able to arrive in MLB in 2018 and still get a pretty large guaranteed contract not that long after. And while it might look like whoever got him circumvented the signing bonus rules with the extension, I don’t know you that the league could really stop a team from signing a player to a long-term deal once they’re already performing in the big leagues." This is why I don't see this as a big of problem as it's being made out for Otani.

Agree on all counts - as I said I don't think it's a great rule beyond rookie leagues, but it's not a big deal to me there. If it's like the rules I know (which I would think is likely), the runner put on 2B would be the last hitter to be put out (e.g.: You struck out to end the 9th, you'd go to 2B in the 10th). Not sure on the ER-part, but I'd assume that one would be unearned. Have seen the inning start with 1 out, but not all the time.

It's Tonkin for me. While I can't explain the way they've used him in the majors, it's clear that Molitor doesn't trust him enough. Why keep pushing the inevitable off? You leave Duffey in the bullpen. I've said throughout his career that's where he should be, even when he was having success as a starter. Good chance he's closing for Twins before season's end.

Game did not go extra innings, but the new rules are only being applied in the rookie leagues. They're going to put a runner on 2B to start every inning when it goes extras. Everyone around the game seems to call this rule "radical" but it's been around forever in amateur league's, specifically during tournament play. Has no place beyond the rookie league's if you ask me (certainly not the majors), but I have no problem with it there.

While none of the affiliates actually completed a no-hitter on Tuesday, two pitchers did put up impressive no-hit outings. A starter’s no-hit effort lasted for all of his six innings, while a reliever closed out another game with four of his own. On the offensive side, a top hitting prospect in Cedar Rapids continued his hot start and a DH candidate for the Twins slugged his first home run of the year. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily (photos of Aaron Slegers, Travis Blankenhorn) While none of the affiliates actually completed a no-hitter on Tuesday, two pitchers did put up impressive no-hit outings. A starter’s no-hit effort lasted for all of his six innings, while a reliever closed out another game with four of his own. On the offensive side, a top hitting prospect in Cedar Rapids continued his hot start and a DH candidate for the Twins slugged his first home run of the year. To find out how all of the Twins affiliates fared on Tuesday, keep reading! RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Buffalo 0 Box Score 6-10 right-hander and former Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Aaron Slegers took to the hill for the Red Wings Tuesday afternoon, and he pitched like he did for the Indiana Hoosiers back in 2013 when he won that award. In six innings, he walked three and struck out seven in a no-hit effort to keep the Bisons off the board. He struck out three of the last four hitters he faced and ended his day after eighty-one pitches to pick up his first win of 2017. When his day was finished the Red Wings were leading just 1-0, but their lineup got to Buffalo’s bullpen for a run in each of the last four innings. Kennys Vargas gave them the lead with his first home run of the year in the sixth and consecutive doubles from Niko Goodrum and J.B. Shuck in the seventh made it 2-0. A Goodrum double with the bases loaded in the eighth scored two more and the shutout win was punctuated with Tommy Field’s first home run of the year in the ninth. Travor Hildenberger was the first reliever summoned from the bullpen for the seventh inning, and he pitched two scoreless frames allowing two singles and striking out one. Alan Busenitz came on for the ninth and got a double-play ball after a walk to end the game. Goodrum led the offense as he went 3-4 with two doubles, a run scored, and two RBI. He also switched from shortstop to center field in the eighth inning, displaying his ability to be trusted at multiple up-the-middle positions. Ben Paulsen added two hits, including a double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga – Scheduled day off. The Lookout’s had Tuesday off as they travel to Florida for a five-game series with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp starting at 6:05PM (CST) Wednesday night. Kohl Stewart will make his second start of the season in the series opener. (If the nickname “Jumbo Shrimp” is a new one to you too, they switched to this name for the 2017 season. They were formerly the “Suns” and are the AA-affiliate of the Miami Marlins) MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Tampa 2 Box score Left-hander Lachlan Wells made his first start of the year for Fort Myers after pitching two scoreless innings of relief on April 6th against the Jupiter Hammerheads. He went the first five innings and despite allowing seven hits and a walk, gave up just two runs (one earned) and struck out six. Fort Myers jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Casey Scoggins reached base on an error to start the game, and singles from Chris Paul and Alex Perez got him around the bases. The Miracle bats went pretty quiet after that, as it was Paul and Perez who accounted for all seven of their hits on the game. Wells surrendered his two runs in the third inning as a leadoff double was followed by a sacrifice bunt, two singles, and a throwing error from Paul at third base before he took it upon himself to strike out the next two batters and end the threat. Sam Clay pitched the sixth and seventh innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out three. Williams Ramirez pitched a scoreless eighth, giving up a double but striking out the next two hitters to keep the Miracle within one. Paul went 4-4 with two doubles while Perez was 3-4 with the Miracle’s lone RBI. It is kind of a strange lineup to look at in the box score, as three hitters (Daniel Kihle, Paul, and Perez) have a small-sample-size season average of .400 or above, but no one else above .154. This likely contributes to their 1-5 record on the season. The Miracle look to avoid the sweep against the Yankees on Wednesday, as Dereck Rodriguez takes the mound in the series finale. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Kane County 1 Box Score Cedar Rapids scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back as they cruised to the 6-1 victory on Tuesday afternoon. It was the first loss of the season for the Kane County Cougars. Jermaine Palacios started the game with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error, and then scored on an error off the bat of Lewin Diaz to start the scoring in the first. A Shane Carrier double and Brandon Lopez single scored two more runs and the Kernels spotted starter Tyler Beardsley a 3-0 lead before he took the mound. He retired the Cougar lineup in order the first turn through as the Kernels built their lead to 5-0 with single runs in the second and third innings. It was a Travis Blankenhorn double in the second and a Lopez ground out in the third that scored those runs. Beardsley finally gave up a hit to the leadoff man in the fourth and got into some more trouble from there. After a walk and a single brought in the Cougars first run, a passed ball and hit-batter around a strikeout loaded the bases with two outs. Beardsley buckled down and got a ground out to end the inning. Kane County hardly threatened from there. Blankenhorn continued his early display of power in the Midwest League (pssst) when he added a solo home run in the seventh inning, his third of the season already to stretch the lead to 6-1. Reliever Brady Anderson came on for Beardsley in the sixth inning, and faced the minimum over the final four innings. Only an error in the eighth kept him from a perfect pitching line while picking up the save. He struck out three. On offense, Blankenhorn and Carrier led the way with two hits apiece, and Lopez added two RBI. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Rochester Red Wings (W, 6.0 IP, 0 H’s, 3 BB’s, 7 K’s) Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn, Cedar Rapids Kernels (2-4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Buffalo (6:05PM CST) – LHP David Hurlbut (0-0, -.-- ERA) Chattanooga @ Jacksonville (6:05PM CST) – RHP Kohl Stewart (0-1, 0.00 ERA) Fort Myers @ Tampa (6:00PM CST) – RHP Dereck Rodriguez (0-1, 8.31 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (11:00AM CST) – RHP Eduardo Del Rosario (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Tuesday’s games! View full article

This is one instance I read, doesn't sound likely but also isn't "no otani exceptions": http://www.bleachernation.com/2016/12/02/the-new-cba-the-cubs-and-the-shohei-otani-problem/ I don't think he would, either. But that's why this is in the "other baseball" forum