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Dman

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Everything posted by Dman

  1. Dman
    Here is a link to his first game at high A (he starts as at 2:00:00 mark). It's hard to see much on MiLB TV and in this one the camera work was especially bad at least to start IIRC. Still on the good shots it looks like a nice easy delivery to me. I still think there are some control issues, but his stuff appears to be tough to square up and he gave up no runs in his 3 innings of work in that one. I think Stamina is something he will need to work on, but he is very young so I assume that build up will occur slowly. I am not quite as high as this Fangraphs writeup is on him, but I do see the same kind of potential they see. I think he and Soto could move through the system together, but will have to wait and see. "Bohorquez looks, rather soundly, like the best pitcher on the Twins’ Florida complex roster and like one of the higher-upside arms in the entire system. The physically mature righty will command a 92-96 mph fastball that sometimes has 19 inches of vertical break. Off of that he locates an upper-80s cutter to his glove side and then pulls the rug out from under hitters with a slower, mid-70s curveball that features 2,800 rpm of spin on average. He is going to carve up complex-level hitters all summer with this kind of stuff and, based on how advanced his feel for location is, he might not meet any resistance until he reaches High- or Double-A. Look for Bohorquez to develop something with some arm-side action like a split or changeup, something he can use to thwart lefties. That’s virtually the only thing standing between him and a contender’s no. 4 starter projection."
  2. Dman
    My immediate reaction is neither really benefited from that deal this year. Descla and Topa never made it to the regular season. I never was much of a believer in Gonzalaz and while only 20 I just don't see 'elite" bat there, It looks like it would take a ton of work for him to get there IMO. Bowan hasn't looked very good either. There are lot's of arms in the system I like better in front and behind him. Still he could make it as a reliever. but it feels like a long shot from what I have seen. The other side of me says they still have Topa for a few years and the prospects could have impact years next year. There is still hope but it is fading IMO. It feels like a nothing burger of a trade unless as @FlyingFinnsaid you add in the fact the saved money came in handy for other acquisitions this year. I guess the Twins win this one on hope and potential right now, and we'll have to wait see what the future holds to see if it looks better or if this trade is just a wash for both teams.
  3. Dman
    Prielipp's fastball looks good and the slider is a swing and miss pitch. He is still struggling to control his pitches and he doesn't appear to have much stamina yet as his pitches looked sharper in the first two innings and while he did manage two quick outs in the third his lack of control did him in. I think they keep him around 50 pitches and keep him healthy and call it good for this year. If he gets his control back he looks like he could be really good. I like his delivery and 95 MPH fastball he just needs more time to build up. Bohorquez looked good the first few innings and then seemed to tire as well. It's been a longer year for him this year. His fastball velocity is really good and if you watch him pitch it doesn't seem like it takes much effort for him to pump up the velocity. Looks like he is playing catch. Good to see them stretch him out some and give him some A ball time but I would keep the pitch count down. With better command and control he could be a fast mover next year. I don't know what to think of Langenburg. It's a different delivery and looks like it takes a lot of effort, but what a night. He gave up 4 hits but two of those were bunts as Maitan isn't fast and was playing back at third base so Peoria was bunting like crazy to get on base. With the bases loaded and no outs he K'd the next two guys and got a fly ball to end the inning. He pitched well and has been pitching well I'm just not sure if I see starter there or not. Still a great job pitching tonight. I love no walks as that seems like a pitcher that trusts his stuff and is fearless on the mound. Schobel with a 1.090 OPS in August to almost bring his season OPS to .700. I don't know if this is just a hot streak or if he has figured something out. I hope he has figured out how to barrel up those tough breaking balls and be ready to move up to the next level. He hasn't had a good month at AA yet so I am hopeful this one starts a trend like he had at High A where he was one of the top bats in the league. That was a clutch HR by Culpepper. Really nice to see him rise to the moment there. Still looks like issues chasing pitches though. I think that is something he should work on hard this offseason. He looks like a good one. I was down on Amick but he has been making contact and not worrying about power it appears. He has plenty of power and I know he will get to it in time, but I think focusing on contact is important for him given his in zone swing and miss issue's which dropped him from pick 30 to 60. If he conquers that he could end up being a steal for the Twins.
  4. Dman
    Facing Williams and his 98MPH fastball is no easy task, but this offense tends to go missing in big moments against good arms. Would have liked to see more patience at times, but Williams was not afraid to throw strikes. Needed guys to be dialed in but they just couldn't get it done. Very pleased with SWR's start despite the two solo shots. Going 7 and giving up just two runs should be enough. Offense needs to generate more runs if they want wins. A good game we just came out on the wrong end. When it comes to the pen wars Cleveland is setup to win. The Twins need to damage early and often to find wins against this club.
  5. Dman
    Part of his July drop-off even though good is I believe he was dealing with a wrist injury and the last game I watched he was limping toward the end of the game. He might have a hard time coming back strong in the back half. Hopefully he can but if not a reset next year should tell us whether he stays in the plans or not.
  6. Dman
    I have been higher than most on Severino as he can really hit and hit for power. Still I have to say the start to this season really made me question if his swing was MLB caliber. While he had a hot June with an other worldly 1.200 OPS, July dropped to to .860 and September is currently at a .440 OPS. Given his rough two month start he feels less like mister consistent and more like One hot month Severino. I still like the bat and the player, but he's going to have to have a better start next year and be more consistent month to month for me to see him breaking onto the MLB team. I feel like he could be a valuable 1st baseman in time.
  7. Dman
    Injury prone player with knee and Hamstring issues along with core muscles injuries. No thanks on a long term deal for me. I was a huge supporter of the Buxton deal the Twins got done, but given how much time he has missed and is only getting older I don't know if I'd have them do that deal again. He has been healthy this year, but I never expected him to lose so much time that early into his deal. Lewis is a dice roll the smaller market Twins just can't afford to not work out. He might have a lot left in the tank and have a 20 year career. His knee's or hamstrings might stop him from performing tomorrow. Even though I absolutely love the player It's too much risk to take on IMO.
  8. Dman
    Hall pitched really well again tonight. His line for August 1.38 ERA, .62 WHIP and 16 K's in 13 innings. Utterly dominant his last two times out. With the walks and hits way down he could be a monster mover next year. Maybe he gets a few games in at CR this year yet. Really cool to see him this dominant given his rough start to the year. Lewis seems to be back in top form. Got out of a couple of jams in this one as well. 9K's in 6 innings and he got some of those when he really needed them. I know the fastball might not blow anyone away, but when he is on he is just really tough on hitters. And of course Zebby was Zebby tonight. Gave up a HR on a high fastball but other than that did his thing. 2 hits and 1 walk over 5 innings. I think he is starting to figure out AAA using different approaches. He was using his fastball a lot in this one. Man three really great pitching performances makes me feel spoiled, but I love it. Winokur continues to hit the ball hard. Another HR and two hit night. Nice to see him not slowing down late in the season. Fun night on the pitching side and hopefully the bats will look better tomorrow.
  9. Dman
    I'd like to see him extended. The Twins have no one in the system that can do what Willie can. He can play every position infield and outfield. He is one of the few players with speed on the team who can steal a base. He only K's at a 20% rate and his walks are up this year showing a bit more plate discipline. He is the ultimate insurance policy for injuries at virtually any position. I wouldn't do a long term deal, but If they could get a near All Star on a two or three year deal they should pull the trigger. Injuries happen and with Correa\Lewis\Buxton there will be playing time.
  10. Dman
    Yeah I watched him early in the year and he looked horrible in the games I watched. I just stopped watching when he pitched it was too painful. He'd get three K's in an inning after giving up three walks and three hits or something like that so the K rate while good wasn't mitigating the damage done. I still haven't watched him since those early in the season games but the results in the box score have looked better. Kind of feels a bit like Raya. He gets amazing movement, but not for strikes and then needs a fastball or change in zone down the middle and bad things happen. Hoping he has turned a corner, but still feels like a lot of work to do there. They have the plus to plus plus change to work with so high end reliever should be the floor but the fastball has to play to make it all work. I think they'll get him there it is just gonna take more time than we might like.
  11. Dman
    Very nice article, Thanks!. His fastball velocity is still not ideal and his control was absolutely brutal to start the year though as mentioned has gotten better. If he can fix those things I agree he has a chance to be real good maybe even elite (if Fastball ticks up) because he is a K machine right now with a 28% K rate., I feel like a lot of us were very excited about the pick and his elite Changeup, but he has struggled mightily to get his pitches under control (walks) and with balls finding holes it has made for long innings and short starts. In the Twins Daily writeup for draft picks they said " Hall has an at least average slider and plus control" I'm not sure what happened to the plus control, but it wasn't there to start the season and still feels like a bit of work in progress. I think most of us were expecting him to be a fast mover with plus control and that has not proven accurate to this point. I still like the arm and slow starts often times lead to a stronger pitch mix down the road. Hopefully Matthews gives him some pointers on pounding the zone with your best stuff and seeing if they can hit it. Given the movement Hall is getting that should be pretty challenging for most hitters. As stated he is trending up with high end potential if he can put things together.
  12. Dman
    Morris looked really good last night. He must have thrown 70 to 80 percent strikes last night. He had their guys swinging early and if they didn't swing it was a three pitch punch out. He wasn't messing around. That caused them to swing early and often and while he made it 7 innings he could have gone 8 if needed, but there was no reason to push it. I will say I was wondering how he would do in the later innings and he gave up a fair number of long fly balls but he kept everything in the park. His ERA and most other numbers are better at AA than HIgh A right now. So he is getting better as he moves up levels. I agree with those above that it is time to move him to AAA and see how he handles that level. I was also very impressed with Soto. I think he has a 2.00 ERA his last 4 times out. Obviously still plenty of room to get even better, but he is rounding into form and with Bengard moved up looking like the best pitcher the Muscles have. Maybe Bohorquez will challenge him? Have to wait and see. Soto is still just 18 so he is in good shape to take things level by level. Eeles continues to prove he can play at AAA. Given all the infield talent they brought in I was surprised they kept him there and Shuffiled to boot, but it has been fun watching both of them play there. If Eeles can find a bit more power he could be a legit MLB player IMO. We'll see how he does into September, but if he keeps this up with more walks than strikeouts, a pretty normalized BABIP and good batting average he looks like the real deal right now. Keaschal has been slumping so nice to see him with the HR. His slugging like most players is down at AA. Hopefully he can find more barrels this week. Other than A ball with the new draftee's it seems like no one is hitting that well in the other systems. Hopefully the bats wake up a bit more this week.
  13. Dman
    Jullien is kind of an odd one. He was rated inside the top 100 with some 1st round buzz, but had a bad year mainly due to lack of contact (sound familiar) his Sophmore year. Once outside the top 100 there were concerns he might not sign as he could have gone back for his Junior year so he fell outside the top 10 rounds where the Twins took a chance on him signing him for I think 4th or 5th round money which he did. He is an outlier in the process in those regards IMO, but too your point yes taken outside the top 100. Still with the major league time he has logged he would count as "making it" IMO. Holland also started the year in 1st round pick territory but also fell to the 5th round due to contact issues. It's been a tough climb but I agree with you that he showed signs of being a better hitter this year until he got injured. It is interesting that both were in the 1st round convo's even though picked later they had some 1st round traits. Holland with 5 tool potential if the hit tool went plus. Contact concerns dropped them though. With the exception of Amick it seems like all the guys they picked this year have pretty good contact skills so I am more hopeful than normal that some of those guys will work out. Gonna take some time to find out though.
  14. Dman
    I don't think the narrative was wrong as 60 to 70 was pretty much the end for projected plus hitters. There were still a lot of 50 rated hit tools left that with some polish could be plus hitters as these ratings are pretty subjective and pundits can't watch every prospect. Still finding a diamond in the rough is rare and pretty much any bat outside the top 100 picks is in that category. While I have hope that all the hitters work out that the Twins picked history tells us anyone picked outside the top 100 picks or so is unlikely to be an impact bat. Even guys picked higher like Miller and Schobel have struggled to become good hitters as they move up. You look at previous Twins drafts and pretty much everyone taken outside the top 100 has flamed out. CES at 128 which is close to top 100 is about the only one I can think of to make it to the MLB level and stick. Lot's of lower picks look good through high A and falter at AA and beyond. Even those that make it all the way to AAA often times fail at that level. You have to be the best of the best of the best and find your way at the MLB level. That's really hard to do even for the most highly rated players. To your point I think they took some interesting risks on perceived under the radar type hitters that might just find a way and like you I hope they all turn out to be MLB players even if it is against the odds for those later picks. I'll be rooting for all of them, but I wouldn't bank on many making it all the way.
  15. Dman
    Really nice to see all the draftee's have good nights at the plate. I hope they just keep on hitting all the way up. It's a SSS but in August, Schobel is hitting 273/333/909 for a 1.200 OPS. There was a time back at High A when he looked like a better hitter than the Dodgers number one prospect Dalton Rushing. Maybe he can get his Mojo back in AA and get back to top 10 prospect status for the Twins. Hopefully he has figured out how to find more barrels and get more consistent hard contact. AA is a tough level. Another nice game for MaCleod. He is making the transition to AA look easy. He seemed so rocky to start the year, but now seems to really trust his stuff. My only major concern with him is the long ball. If he can keep it in the park I think he will be OK.
  16. Dman
    Yeah and looking at the replay it looked like he had plenty of time to get the runner at home. It's great to get two, but giving us a run that late was really gonna make it hard for them to come back. I would have tried to keep it a two run game. Felt pretty do or die there for them IMO.
  17. Dman
    I didn't get to watch Festa pitch, but it sure was nice for him to get through 5 giving up zero runs and striking out 9 was impressive. I hope he continues to pitch this well at the MLB level as that would give us another impressive starter. Got just enough offense to get the win and with Cleveland finally losing a close game they gain another game. Hoping for a sweep and to take that home series against Cleveland to make it a tight race.
  18. Dman
    Yeah I like that pitch to Vaughn as well. Sometimes you just lose those battles. I also liked watching him battle back to K the first guy who he totally locked up on that pitch. The non-competitive walk after that really irked me and down the middle to Robert who was swinging at low and away outside pitches was a head scratcher for me and those two at bat's were where he got into trouble IMO. After the Vaughn double even though a good pitch it became too much and his day was done. I am a Randy believer, but he needs to be better than he was to stay IMO. I'm not sure they played to his strengths with the pitch sequencing and while I get the strategy of going wide on pitch in an at bat just to give a guy another look walking a guy with a .212 BA is not a recipe for success. He can't afford to mess around at this level. Needs to be on his game. There is no one on base if you need to groove one. groove one. A free pass is on the pitcher IMO. A couple of mistakes after the walk (unforced error) ended his day before the job was done and cost two runs.
  19. Dman
    I like the idea of putting him in the pen instead of starter. He doesn't have to worry about going through the order a second time and if he locates his stuff it should work pretty well out of the pen (though I still worry about the long ball with him). Given how Dobnak looked yesterday it feels like they could really use Louie in the pen. Still with SWR tiring and Paddack not back yet and not knowing what we can really get from Festa they might need to wait a bit longer.
  20. Dman
    I agree, but yesterday I felt embarrassed for him. Multiple non competitive pitches a foot off the plate. Walking the number 9 batter. When he went in zone he got crushed and he couldn't even finish his inning and had to be replaced. If it's gonna take the level of smoke and mirrors it looks like it is going to take he's not gonna make it at the MLB level. I will say every reliever has their bad outing. Jax and Duran have walked guys and been punished for it. Alcala got hit yesterday. Bad outings happen. Maybe he was too jacked up and over throwing or mentally just not focused enough. Whatever the case he won't survive many more outings like that with the Twins in a playoff race. He needs to prove he belongs and that outing against essentially a AAA club did not help him at all.
  21. Dman
    I've been watching MaCleod all season long and after a tough start he is really looking good. My only concern as with all of our lefties is that he tends to give up HR's at too high a rate. If he can limit those he certainly has a chance to make it. I have been surprised by Morris's dominance all year and most outlets are not giving him the accolades that Matthews is getting. Morris still sits in the teens in most top 30's with Culpepper ahead of him. I know his xFIP is a solid run to run and a half higher than his ERA and he's not s huge ground ball guy but still pretty solid. As mentioned in the article he doesn't give up many HR's. His hits are under his innings pitched with a 1.10 WHIP. It just seems like he is underrated for reasons I don't understand. Happy to see him number 1 on this list. Been wanting Bengard moved up for a long time, but I guess there just weren't enough healthy arms at A ball to make it work earlier. Will be interesting to see how well he does moving up a level and if he does well could be a fast mover next year. If the K rate and ground ball rates were higher Plutko he would be on an MLB team IMO. Still he has been pitching really well. Will have to see if he can keep it up. He should try and miss a few more bats and I bet teams will be more interested in him next year.
  22. Dman
    Yeah getting tired early makes some sense given he is just coming back from TJ and hasn't pitched much in the last three years. I had high hopes he might just dominate his way up, but looks like the process is just gonna take more time. Have to say I was surprised they left him out there as long as they did in the third for an arm they are supposedly being careful with that was a fair amount of pitches..
  23. Dman
    Looking forward to seeing what Beltre can do in the FCL next year. His writeup from BA seemed to indicate a lot of swing and miss but his strikeouts to walk ratio is really good and he has hit for power all season so far. Kind of hoping for a Right handed Rodriguez, but we'll have to wait and see. Nice to see a super young guy topping the list.
  24. Dman
    There are no excuses as the numbers are what the numbers are. I simply pointed out what often happens to pitchers later in games that they tire out and tend to give up more contact. He also has a pretty long track record of being really good game in and game out. Does one bad game suddenly make him a bad pitcher? Not sure what you are getting at?
  25. Dman
    Yeah I am pretty excited about Bohorquez as well and am glad they are giving him some games in A ball. He has some wicked stuff from what I understand. Just has to gain a bit more control of it. Fangraphs has him rated 17 in a getting to be pretty stacked Twins system and this is part of what they have to say about him. If you want to read more I would recommend going to their site. "Bohorquez looks, rather soundly, like the best pitcher on the Twins’ Florida complex roster and like one of the higher-upside arms in the entire system. The physically mature righty will command a 92-96 mph fastball that sometimes has 19 inches of vertical break. Off of that he locates an upper-80s cutter to his glove side and then pulls the rug out from under hitters with a slower, mid-70s curveball that features 2,800 rpm of spin on average. He is going to carve up complex-level hitters all summer with this kind of stuff and, based on how advanced his feel for location is, he might not meet any resistance until he reaches High- or Double-A." That's a pretty exciting writeup for a guy they likely didn't see coming.
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