Dman

Eddie is a heart breaker. For every great play or clutch Home Run you also have to put up with swinging at balls a foot off the plate, running himself into an out or inexplicably missing a cutoff man. His heroics are great today until he is maligned for the next misplay. He makes games interesting I will give him that but he is not a model of consistency to be sure.

Man teams really don't seem to want to challenge Sano. He has not been getting very many pitches to hit these days. Kudos to him for laying off all the garbage teams have been throwing him. I know he wants to hit the ball but you also have to take what the other team gives you and not getting himself out still helps the team. Interestingly those two walks ended up producing the only runs scored in the game. So walks are important too. Also nice to see the big man playing some great defense as well. He really seems to be getting back to the player I always thought he was going to be. I have been really down on Perez and expected we would need to score 7 or 8 runs to win this game. I don't know how he did it but he dominated a very tough lineup tonight. Have to say I was very impressed with how he pitched tonight. I just hope he can keep pitching like that the rest of the way. My love hate relationship continues with Rosario. The one at bat I saw him take he swung at two pitches out of the zone and finally took one to make 1 and 2 but the count could have 3 and 0 if he had laid off and he would have had an opportunity to see three good pitches or god forbid actually take a walk. And yet like Eddie generally does he makes the best play of the game. Honestly I I don't understand how he did it. On the replay Devers is rounding third and Rosario has to spin around and throw home the throw has to be hard and pretty much perfectly online to beat the runner. That is a really tough play to make and it was beautiful to watch. Thank you Eddie for the play of the game and series for that matter. If this team can just hold it together and take the Cleveland series maybe they can work in some rest for some these guy before the postseason. Great all around game very happy they won and took the series in Boston for a change.

Really happy to see the low WHIP for Chalmers. I was starting to think his WHIP was going to always be closer to 2 than 1. Nice improvement for him this year hoping for even better things next year. I am typically disappointed with Stewart and his numbers but he had a real nice month. K's still a bit low but everything else looks good. I can see now why they brought him up to the big club. Donny Breek with another nice month and a great year. Young with good K numbers bodes well for his future. He really should have been in Elizabeton this year but hopefully he ends up in A ball next year. Hoping Chris Vallimont is the real deal. That would take the sting out of losing Diaz. This is the best group of starting pitching numbers I think I have seen and I sure hope some of these guys turn into top of the rotation starters or we are sunk. Chicago looks to have some young studs. Cleveland is reloading and Detroit has some good pitching prospects waiting in the wings as well. If we don't find good arms and quick we won't be able to compete. This list has good depth. Good K rates and WHIP are encouraging signs. Hopefully we have a couple of elite arms in there somewhere.

Yeah Kiriloff and Larnach are a stretch for next year as you stated they both lack Eddie's HR power and speed. Larnach arm is probably better though. He is proven and they are not and if they are like Kepler it will take them a while to transition if like Arraez then they will take someone's position. Hard to say how it will go. I really, really like Eddie but he also drives me crazy. If he let the game come to him.more I think he could have an All Star year. His aggressiveness makes him too easy to defend pull side and too easy to strike out once he has two strikes. He needs to make some adjustments to continue to be successful. If he doesn't I think next year might be his last year with the Twins. Edit: And the Eddie goes and hits a Home Run on a ball out of strike zone just to show me how wrong I am about him.

I guess we see these comments differently. I don't see people really ragging on Rosario's production as much as saying there is a clear way he could be a better player. There are two players in MiLB right now that are putting up the same type of numbers that Rosario did when he was there. Larnach was just named player of the year and his OBP is around 80 points higher than his batting average meaning he has good plate discipline. Kirilloff has a sweet swing just like Eddie and I don't believe he expands the zone like Eddie does. Can they put up his numbers at the MLB level maybe, maybe not but they both look like they have the chance to surpass his production to me. Eddie is going to need to prove he is better than they are if he wants to keep his spot. One way would be better plate discipline. I think that is all most people are saying. Yeah he is a productive player probably not playing at 100% right now but when you are hurting and not playing that well wouldn't it be nice to have a tool (i,e, Plate discipline) that allows you to work the opposing pitcher and get on base and help your team instead of flailing at something low and away for strike three? I think so. If he can't do that then maybe there are better alternatives out there. I think the Twins will have two of them possibly as early as late next year.

When Sano first came up his rookie year I agree he had better plate discipline than I expected and he was so good that he got an All-Star nod. Since that time though his results are far more mixed with his K rate climbing due to being pretty undisciplined at the plate IMO. So in MLB he has about as many games being disciplined as undisciplined so which is he? I hope he stays more disciplined. I agree with you that his injuries had a role to play but results are results. I also agree with you that he and Rosario take completely different approaches at the plate. Sano Strikes out a lot but when he gets a hold of a baseball it is getting hit really hard or not coming back. Rosario is more about contact so he doesn't strike out a lot but he also is willing to expand the strike zone to try and get hits. Since he doesn't K that often he gets about 20% more at bats to make outs in BABIP than Sano who K's over 30% of the time. Sano does offset the K rate with more walks than Rosario as well but as you stated two different approaches. I believe the only reason some (myself included) are comparing the two is because this year once Sano layed off some low and away stuff and started taking walks he got better pitches to hit and started hitting more home runs. That same theory still applies to Rosario. If he can lay off the tough pitches he has a chance to do more damage. The ultimate comparison is Arraez who with his great eye at the plate has on OBP of 400 to Rosario's 300. Not saying Eddie has to be Arraez but you can see that with just incremental improvement he can likely up his OPS significantly. I mean Arraez who is not a power hitter has OPS of of 850 to Rosario's 800. There are certainly times when Rosario's swing at anything close can work and work well but if he can be more disciplined it would make him more unpredictable and even harder for pitchers to deal with. It is a skill he should definitely work on as in IMO if he can get better at plate discipline he will be a perennial All-Star otherwise he just is what he is and I believe that is someone who can be replaced.

The book on Eddie is pretty easy. Get ahead by throwing borderline strikes and then expand the zone considerably because he will swing at just about anything with a two strike count. His OBP could be much, much higher and he could force pitchers to work harder if was just willing to control the plate. Eddie is often times good with men on and I do love him in tough spots but it is easy to see he needs better plate discipline. That being said it seems like he has been trying to be better. I have seen him take some first pitch strikes right down the middle recently. Maybe he has been told not to swing at the first pitch so much as pitchers were usually on the edges early? Not sure but it seems like he has been using a different approach at the plate recently with the exception of when he has two strikes. Also he really hasn't been the same player since his injury so maybe he just isn't fully recovered from that and thus struggling a bit more or he is just having a second half swoon like last year. Hard to say what the issue(s) might be but I would like to see more walks from him and then just like Sano he will get good pitches to hit and then he will be very dangerous.

I thought they would call up Alcala especially since his stuff played up out of the pen in AAA. I know he had trouble giving up HR's as a starter and that is the worst thing a reliever can do in a game so maybe they just don't trust him enough. Or With May and Duffy coming on maybe they feel they have enough hard throwers. Just seemed to me that if he performed fairly well he would be a better option than Harper and possibly Romero and Hildy as well. I am hoping Hildy can turn back into the strikeout weak contact pitcher he once was. After watching him give up hard contact and HR's it is going to be hard to trust him again but if he returns to dominant form that would really help us for the stretch run.

Yeah I can't remember seeing stats like Obers from any pitcher we have had since I have been following the minors not that that is real long but all his counting stats are crazy good. Things going against him though are He only has I think 3 starts in AA so hasn't pitched much at the high levels yet. Granted he has pitched well but it is a small sample size. Also he doesn't need to be added to the 40 man this year so the team will have to potentially sacrifice someone to the rule V in order to add him and keep him on the 40. Also he has been injury prone so not sure if that is the kind of guy you want taking up a 40 man spot. You are right though he is blazing hot right now and seems to be pretty much the same pitcher no matter the level to this point.

I think Alcala gets added to the 40 man. His WHIP was high as a starter but in a small sample size it is good since he moved to the pen. He is 24 and seems ready for a shot to me. I would seriously consider adding Brusder as well. Not sure how those guys will do facing the best hitters in the game but would be nice to see them get a few chances to see if they can get the job done. I would definately bring back Thorpe, Smeltzer and Littell. I am not sure what Poppens status is but if he is still hurt then probably no reason to add him. Not sure how I feel about Kohl. I kept thinking that one day he might be an elite reliever now I am not so sure. I think it would make more sense to give guys that might be able to help us in the playoffs a chance to play. We already know who Kohl is and I am not sure he is someone who makes the roster better right now. I would like to see Hildy get some more chances and see if he can give the pen a boost. Definately need Aududillo back. Romero I just don't trust and would like see Graterol and Alcala get more chances I just don't think Romero is a good bet to help the big club this year. With Wade being out so long with injury I don't see him rounding in to shape to help and the outfield even without Buxton is looking pretty good right now. I also don't know if I trust Wades bat as he wasn't that great in AAA again this year. Honestly I don't think I would bring Harper back. While his curve is amazing his fastball is too slow and too straight and it seems all the batters are willing to wait until he throws the fastball and they are getting solid contact as well. I would never trust using him in a playoff game so what is the point of keeping him on the 40 man? The needing a spot guys all seem like bad ideas to me, but you never know. On the mend guys aren't good bets to be in top shape and unlikely to be better options than what we already have. Maybe Gonsalves could help but I think we have better options right now. Technically they could take all the guys on the 40 man if they want to but there are only a handful that can likely help make the team better.

Larnach appears to be as good a hitter as Kirilloff. His numbers are better this year than Alex's are although Alex was hurt early in the year so that impacts his numbers some for this year. Last year Alex's numbers at high A would have beat Larnachs numbers this year by a mile and he did it while being two years younger but this year Larnach is having the better year. Not to pick on the player of the year but I did think he was going to have a bit more HR power than he has shown so far. Everything else he does should help him as he moves up. His K rate is under 30% his walk rate is around 10% so a pretty good eye at the plate. He can hit to the opposite field so shifting on him should be harder. There is a lot to like about what he brings to the table. We have two elite hitting outfielders now if we could just find a spot for them on the big league club. I guess we have a little bit of time before we have to worry about that as they need to dominate AAA pitching yet but they both could push to be called up as early as next year. I wouldn't bet against either of them as it looks like they have what it takes to get there.

Is it possible that the Twins will add both Graterol and Alcala to the 40 man and see what they can do in September and if they do well then have them available for the playoffs? They are both hard throwers something our current pen lacks and I think they both need to be added to the 40 man after this year anyway. They would need bump Diplan off to make it work but I think both of them have a chance to really help down the stretch. Just need to see how their stuff plays at the MLB level.

Man Giolotto is a good pitcher. He doesn't nibble just throws right at the plate and dare's you to hit it. It is not going to be fun facing him the next 6 years. Big Mike was better last night though and the pen held on. That was a big win getting past their best pitcher. Now they just need to stay focused and win the next couple of games as well.

I totally agree that Ober is legit. He has never had a WHIP over one in his MiLB career. His K rate has always been really good. I don't know how this guy does it but as a stat counter I can't remember a pitcher that we have had put up better numbers. The only knock and it is a pretty big one is that he hasn't made it through a full season of MiLB baseball yet as he has been injury prone. He has only pitched three games at the AA level and only 13 games total this year totaling just 75 innings so far this year. So while I am cautiously optimistic about his future I am not certain he is quite ready for MLB just yet.

I don't understand what happened to Romero. He was lights out in AA until the end of the season two years ago and a year ago he was OK in AAA I wouldn't say he was dominant there and he got a taste of MLB ball and was sensational a couple of games and then hit hard. Whatever he is throwing isn't fooling anyone anymore. It seemed like he always had stamina problems coming up and many scouts pegged him as a reliever. I agree with that assessment. I mean in the upper levels he wasn't a great starter and the thought was that in the pen his heater would play up but that hasn't happened and he currently owns a 4.7 ERA and his FIP and XFIP essentially support those numbers. Right now unless something changes he just isn't that good. I was hoping the new pitching coach we have was going to help him take that last leap but so far that hasn't happened. He has the velocity he just needs more movement or better control or something. His K rate in AAA is good right now but his WHIP is too high. He needs something else to get guys out with, to be more elite, if he doesn't find it soon he might have to try and find it somewhere else.

So Lawyerson struck out almost everyone he faced 15 out of 18 batters? I guess he gave up the three hits as well but that is still darn impressive. I don't think I have read a line like that before. This guy was a bit of an afterthought for me as I figured it would take until at least next year before he showed much of anything. I thought the draft profile had him throwing low 90's so he must have good secondaries. Anyone else know more about this guy?

I was wondering the same thing. I thought in the prospect handbook they had him with a low 90's fastball so must have good secondaries and good control? I mean his K9 and WHIP have been outstanding since he has been with Twins. His ERA has been good too. He seems to be a guy that just gets the job done all the way around. Does anyone know if the stuff he has will play in MLB? Sure seems like with the WHIP and K9 his stuff should translate I just hope he can stay healthy as I don't think he has made it a full season yet.

I am glad they moved Sands to AA. His K rate and WHIP were really good in High A so no reason to stay there. He had a tough first inning but he belongs in AA and should be a part of the next wave of young pitching heading toward the big club. Was very surprised the Rochester team was no hit. They have been a good hitting team all year. To keep that entire lineup is an accomplishment. Good to see Kiriloff and Larnach keeping things going. Maybe it won't be a completely lost year for Kiriloff as his number are rounding into his more normal numbers. Seems like his multi hit games are back.

I like Duran and hius K9 numbers but his WHIP worries me. I know he just moved up to another level and it later in the season where the arn can wear down but his WHIP throughout his career has been a bit to high IMO. Hoping he can refine those pitches a bit more and look more like a frontline starter. I don't completely understand how Dobnak does it but he keeps performing well no what level the Twins out him at. Can someone tell me if he has great spin rate or something because for an average pitcher he seems better than average. Really nice to see Celistino heat up. He has a chance to be special if the hit tool works out. Congrats to Chalmers for making pitcher of the weeek. If he can learn to control the ball a bit better his stuff will play.

I was curious about the Gallen trade. He looked good against us but when teams don't have great scouting reports sometimes pitchers look better than they are. It is so early in his career that this could be the best he ever pitches or he could be a solid rotation piece for years to come. Obviously Miami think they are selling high and Arizona thinks it has solved a piece of their rotation. Who gets the better end of that deal we will have to wait and see.

Thank you for this write up!!! I wanted to be excited about Vallimont but really don't know much about his stuff. It was nice to get a first hand account of what his stuff looks like.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I actually went and saw a game that Wander played in and came away very unimpressed. Granted he is only 20 but he was swinging at a lot of air and his defense was horrible the night I saw him. If you don't believe my eye witness account check out his stats this year on MILB.com He has a 40% K rate in A ball and his average is .162 and his OPS is a whopping .567. Gordon was never that bad at that level. Maybe Javier is hurt or not fully recovered from injury but his stats are horrible and he doesn't look good in person either. With the lack of power Gordon looks destined for a utility role but right now today I would take him over Javier any day of the week. Hopefully Wander gets it together soon and becomes what we all hoped he would become but this has been an ugly year for him the way he playing right now I wouldn't even have him in my top 30.

OK I'll bite. At least in 2019 Gordon wasn't ranked that much higher than Arraez. Often after the top 10 you can rank the next 10 to 15 in almost any order based on how bullish you are on their skill set. While offense (hit tool) remains the most important tool defense is pretty important too as is positional flexibility. While Arraez has the superior bat and eye at the plate he suffers with the remaining tools that are measured. The main reason I can see why Gordon would be ahead of Arraez would be that he grades out better for Speed, arm, and fielding. Both players lack power in their game but Arraez has only hit 6 total HR's in his minors career whereas Gordon has hit 25 so he seems to have more power potential than Arraez though likely not much. So in my opinion while Arraez has the better bat Gordon isn't too far off as he was hitting around 300 at AAA before being injured and an 800 OPS so it's not like he is a horrible offensive player. Gordon also has a bit more power potential to help offset some of that average and on base percentage that Arraez has. Gordon has the arm, speed and fielding to play all 3 positions in the infield without being a defensive liability whereas I don't believe Arraez has that same ability. I would say Arraez can play second base well but would be a defensive liability at Short and third as he lacks speed, and the arm to play those well. So it comes down to what you value in a player as to where you rank them. If you only value offense then I would agree that Arraez appears to be the superior player but if you add up all the tools I think it is harder put Arraez ahead of Gordon. From a prospect perspective does that mean Gordon will be better than Arraez in MLB possibly not. Tools and potential don't always translate the way we think they should but for prospect rating I don't have an issue with Gordon being ranked higher than Arraez because I can see a case for it.

Did I see the box score correctly? did Rodriguez have 39 pitches and 39 pitches pitches for strikes or is that a misprint? I don't think I have ever seen such aggressiveness from a pitcher before. He also had 9 K's if I remember correctly. This guy has a future, I know he gave up four hits but holy heck he must have some good stuff if all he threw were strikes and that is the best the other team could do.

Pensacola has s pretty nice lineup with Lewis, Kirollof, Larnach, Blankenhorn, Jeffers and or Rortvedt and Costello's bat isn't too bad either. If they bring up Maciel from high A then that makes them even better. Not a lot of weaknesses in the lineup. Pitching is good there too in Colina, Graterol (when Healthy), Duran, Jax and Alcala. With some high A arms ready to promote in Sands, Balazovic and maybe Ober, Enlow and if as good as advertised Vallimont to fill in any gaps. When you look at it I think half of the top thirty could be at double by next year for sure. Granted might not be quite enough room for all of them but phase 2 is working their way up the system with some guys likely ready for 2020 or 2021. It is nice to have a good chunk of our talent at the top instead of the bottom.