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Dman

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Everything posted by Dman

  1. Dman
    I think Wallner had a hot streak last year around this time as well. Too bad he is wasting it away in AAA. He is doing exactly what he needs to do to get back to the big league club. Happy to see him hitting well. Keirsey looks ready for AAA but there is no room and even less room when Celestino comes back. Still it would be good for him to get some at bats at that level. Nice to see the bat showing up again this year. My guy Ortega is in a tough stretch. Wondering if maybe he is injured slightly? Just doesn't seem to be getting the results he got earlier in the year. Hopefully he finds his groove this week. Rosario is back with the big bat. 4 HR's out of his 8 hits. Would be nice to see him at AA fairly soon as it would be good to see how he handles that level. He has been a well rounded hitter this year so it would be nice to see if that translates to the next level. Happy to see some of the pitchers move up and hopefully they find their groove at the next level. Have to say I appreciate that they are moving guys a bit faster than normal when they have been dominant.
  2. Dman
    Have to say I don't usually get all that exited about the FCL team but this year is different. There are some very interesting players pretty much top to bottom this year in Mercedes, Rodriguez, Chourio, and Nova in the outfield. Isaac, Daniel and Alexander Pena, Daniel, Ortiz, and Acunca in the infield. Just a ton of young interesting bats and some noteworthy all around players. I don't know a ton about the pitching at that level but Lara was excellent last year in the DSL and is off to a good start in the FCL. Brayan Medina is supposed to have some decent stuff and hopefully there are more guys to come. The FCL will get reinforcement after the draft as well. Really hoping some of these guys excel and push their way to A ball this year. Thanks for the report. I will be watching the FCL closely this year.
  3. Dman
    I kind of felt like Fangraphs was late to the party on Rosario. He had a really good showing this spring against upper level competition and they dinged him on K rate which he has brought down. They don't seem to love his swing path either and maybe that does exposed eventually but he is number 4 in OPS for the Midwest league and the top two guys are 24 years old. The guy in third place is 22 and Rosario is 20. Rosario has more power but appears focused on approach right now and at just 20 years old he has room to grow. I think Fangraphs is off on that one but he is only at High A so a ways to go. I guess this is sort of his breakout year but is interesting how little love he gets.
  4. Dman
    The tough part about big games like Cedar Rapids had is it kind of inflates the stats for the hitters when the pitching is off for the other team. I know that it takes skill to get a hit no matter the pitcher but sometimes the task is a bit easier especially in the 9th when they had a position player pitch and Ross got two HR's that inning. That is a pretty large OPS boost against a Non pitcher. Still it all counts and you have to hit the ball but that game was a stat inflator to me. For a lineup that has been having trouble hitting a game like this is just what the doctor ordered. Also FWIW it seemed like the ump called a very tight zone last night which seemed to help hitters from both sides to 12 and 20 hits. You had to have stuff that played in the zone to be effective last night. Wallner brought his Batting average up to .302 and OPS to .982 after his two hit game in AAA. Hitting for average and power he is locked in. Seems a shame to waste that hot streak in St. Paul. Culpepper pitched really well. He has a nice stat line on the season as well. It will be interesting to see how his stuff plays when he moves up a level. Huge night for Cedar Rapids and Tanner Schobel has been getting better every month and started off June with a bang. I am keeping an eye on him as he has almost as many HR's as Rosario and his batting average is moving up with the warmer weather. Ross had been pretty quiet with the bat until this game where he got 4 hits and 2 HR's but hopefully that was a slump buster game for him. I can't speak to their defense but right now Cardenas looks as good or better with the bat than Daniel Susak who was taken in the first round by Oakland. Lot's of time left for separation but right now Cardenas looks like a good get in the 8th round. A big night for the bats and Wallner has been at his best for at least two weeks now.
  5. Dman
    Maybe I shouldn't call myself a fan as I gave up after they were down 6 to 3. So many teams have shut this team down late that comebacks especially three run comebacks seem very unlikely. I guess I will have to catch the highlights. Somehow the little guys got it done. The guys without the superstar salaries recently have been far more consistent and meaningful than than the players making the big money. Solano was huge in that game and Castro keeps proving me wrong about the hitter he is. All pitchers seem to fear Kirilloff right now but he is taking the walks they are giving him instead of flailing outside the zone and Lewis has been nothing but clutch in his start back with the team. I hope the bats keep getting better all the way around and the pitching stay top notch. Still three big games to play.
  6. Dman
    Yeah I don't get that. Also those pitches down the middle don't seem to have a ton of movement. He seems to be banking on the fact they will not be able to square that pitch up but it isn't working. He was swing and miss on the edges or called strikes but at least one batter I saw just kept fouling them off until be went to the middle yet again for single. There has to be a better approach.
  7. Dman
    I never saw Castro being this good with the bat. The ultra aggressive approach is usually to volatile to be consistent. And yet here he is on the list as one of the Twins best hitters. If he can keep this going what a stoke of luck for the Twins to have found such an integral player and giving up nothing in return. I never give Jeffers props so just have to this time. I have really enjoyed his approach this year. He is willing to take pitches and or jump on the first pitch. He is hitting pretty much everything hard and he can take a walk. Looking very well rounded at the plate this year. Kudos to him on great start to the year. Kirilloff sure does seem special and I am really happy to see the walks this year. It makes him a complete hitter IMO. Pitchers fear him and don't want to throw him strikes and he needs to take advantage of that and make them throw in the zone. He has been doing that and the results speak for his great approach at the plate. He keeps this up and it will be all star status in the future.
  8. Dman
    Stewart has been great for the pen. Coming in with two on he strikes out the next three guys. That is some good stuff. Not sure what is wrong with Lopez but can't see him in high leverage until he figures it out. Would have been nice if a few more of his changeups went for strikes. He also has trouble getting guys to strike three. His stuff is generally tough to square up although he has been giving out homers like crazy this year. Have to believe the pitching coaches need to get with him and form a better plan. At any rate a much needed win for the month of May. If the Twins can take the Cleveland series they should be in solid shape to start the month of June.
  9. Dman
    Really nice to see Miranda with a three hit game. His bat has been so empty for so long hopefully this game was a confidence builder. Man Wallner showing the FO he is ready for more MLB. BA just under .300 and OPS at .956. Those are dominant numbers for AAA. If you are Kepler or Gallo you better make sure those hammies are rock solid or Wallner might get another 15 day tryout and never look back. He really looks dialed in right now. They tried to pitch Severino inside. I don't think the home run ball he hit was even a strike but legend of Severino grows. HIs numbers are similar to Wallners dominant for the level. His BABIP is at .402 right now and I have been saying regression is coming for the last two weeks but he keeps on hitting. Rosario with two more hits. HIs batting line looks really well rounded. He will be at AA sometime in June. Right now Cedar Rapids needs his bat in the lineup as he is the best hitter on that team IMO. All three of those hitters are having exceptional years at the plate and look like future Twins.
  10. Dman
    Twins have had issues with 1st round picks but have been good in the later rounds. 2019 shows that with Headrick, Jullien and Varland. If Wallner works out that was quite a good draft. Add Steer and Legumina and it looks even better. It doesn't look like any of guys will be super stars but they all could be really good players.
  11. Dman
    The only bright side to this game for me was Sands looked pretty darn good out of the pen. Maybe he can be a solution there if he can throw more strikes and keep hitters off balance.
  12. Dman
    Man Wallner with a double, triple and HR to get the hard part of the cycle out of the way. He just needs to get that OPS in the 1.000 range and keep it there and he will force the FO to bring him back up. Headrick seems to be back on track with another good outing. Enlow was cruising through 4 innings absolutely dominant and then the wheels fell off. It still feels like as the pitch count mounts he has more trouble. Just wasn't able to wriggle out of this one though. I keep saying Severino is going to come down to earth and he just keeps on getting hits. He looks like a promotion candidate sometime in June if he keeps this up. Schobel with a 3 for 5 night all singles but he finally has his OPS for the year at .700. It seems like he is starting to adjust to this level. Hopefully June is a big month for him. Hopefully more guys start having big nights.
  13. Dman
    I haven't heard anything connecting the Twins to Max Clark. Either they don't like something, don't think he will make it to them or they are setting up a smoke screen hard to say. I agree with the OP that Clark seems the odd man out for them at number 5. I agree with the OP on the top three as they all have power\hit profiles with a good eye at the plate to boot. They all run pretty well and have solid arms so they have defensive value. The Twins love those types of hitters but I could see all of them gone before pick number 5. Gonzalaz has been called the best Shortstop in this class by some scouts granted with his 40 rated run time he is not a burner and likely ends up at third or maybe second. Minnesota doesn't have enough 2nd\third basemen at the big league level or the minors so grabbing another is imperative? Actually the system is loaded with guys like this. Jullien, Lee, Lewis, Castro, Miranda, Polanco, Schobel, Ross, Ortega if you want to include Helman than him too. It is an area of great strength so much so they traded away Arraez and Steer to make room. Grabbing Gonzalaz over Clark would be a huge head scratcher IMO. I get Gonzalaz has some real nice numbers. More walks than K's. Hits the ball to all fields, has power and apparently he is a metrics darling with the bat and also a slow runner. Lot's of things to like but who gets bumped to play him? Also he has actually been moving down draft boards not up. He is the 8 to 12 area right now. I don't have all the info but I don't like the pick at number 5. If Skenes were to fall to 5 it seems like a best case scenario for this team. He is a power pitcher. Likely a fast mover and a team need to boot. Not grabbing him would seem incredibly odd considering he could go as high as number 2 and has been about as elite a pitcher as you can find. If Skenes is there at 5 he has to be the pick. There will still be good bats down the board that the Twins can pick next anyway. Will have to wait and see how the board falls but if Skenes makes it to number 5 that would be the ideal pick to me.
  14. Dman
    I think that is a fair comp. Wilson might end up with more power hard to say though. Still before Madrigal was hurt he OPS'd .745 and .775 in MLB not bad numbers IMO. He was close to walking about as much as he K'd granted all in a SSS. It just depends on how you want to get to around an .800 OPS IMO. Through batting average or power. Maybe those high school players will do better than that or maybe they won't. Maybe like Steer Wilson finds his power later on. Hard to say. No one thought Neto would have enough power and I believe he is the first one in that class to see the majors and he seems to be holding his own.
  15. Dman
    I agree with you that Wilson isn't a typical Twins pick as he doesn't have the power profile they like. I think, however, that given the dearth of power hitters they have accumulated they hopefully see the value of contact bats as well. They got to see how Arraez impacted the team and if they ever read this board they should know how boring all the K's are. The Guardians used contact hitters to great effect last year although they are starting slow again this year. I think reports of them looking hard at Wilson reflect they understand they need a better balance\different types of hitters. Also just like Steer I think Wilson could develop more power as he ages but likely will never have elite power. Wilson doesn't play elite competition so hard to gauge the low K numbers but I wouldn't mind them picking him especially if he was willing to go under slot at number 5. Hard to say what will be available and what they decide to do. I just hope they pick the right guy. It feels like Wilson might be a fairly safe bet.
  16. Dman
    I like all the players mentioned but let me start with who I like the least. I could regret saying this but I don't love Jenkins as a pick for Minnesota. We have young outfielders on the rise in Rosario and Rodriguez and a ton of guys right behind him in Mercedes, Jose Rodriguez, Nova and Churio. If you believe in Aguiar he might be Jenkins right now with less plate discipline. Maybe Jenkins is the next Crews but I don't love him at number 5 for the Twins. Gonzalaz doesn't seem to have great power nor does he have great speed. That alone should take him out of the top 5 IMO but the fact we we have a slightly better version of him in Lee makes me even less interested. I want more upside at 5 than he provides. Langford might also be redundant in the system but if he fell he has a power speed profile that is intriguing to me. I think the Twins would scoop him up in a hurry if he was there. The bat and the fact he runs well make him a good get at number 5. I think Clark fits upside and team need the best of any player in the top 5. We don't have a player with elite speed in center in the system. He is a pretty solid 5 tool player with only power being a question mark. Hearing some rumblings about makeup but he still would be my pick if available at number 5. Teel is growing on me. A catcher that can move well on the bases with a good eye at the plate and solid hit tool with power at a position with few offensive standouts seems like a nice get. I don't know a ton about his defense and if they don't think he sticks at that position I would prefer other players. If they do see catching as his future I like him at number 5 just fine. I still like Wilson if Clark is gone and maybe even if Clark is there as well. He could be this years Zach Neto. With only 5 K's this year and only 7 last year he gets the bat to the ball. He could be an Arraez type hitter if those numbers come close to holding. He is not facing elite competition but I don't think Neto did either. It looks like he can probably stick at short and the only real question has been power. There are going to be lot's of good hitters to choose from at number 5. We just need to get the one that is going to reach their ceiling.
  17. Dman
    I don't think it makes him "better" but he is a vet so a known quantity. He plays good defense. He has no options so if DFA'd likely lost for good. He has been about league average so not horrible but not great either. We have no idea who Wallner is and lot's of young guys start out hot until teams find weaknesses to exploit. Wallner needs to play everyday. I don't think Gallo or Max are on this team next year so Wallner will get a real chance next year for sure. Also given the tender Hammies on Both Kepler and Gallo he might see more action this year as well. I wish they would have left the hot bat alone until it cooled off at least for one game but vet's get their spots back when ready. That's just the way it works.
  18. Dman
    Count me in the bummed category with Wallner fresh off a 6 for 6, 2 walk stretch 2 game hot streak. Kepler has been better this year in general so far so I get them bringing back once healthy. Still a hot bat generally isn't something to mess with. If a guy is seeing the ball well making solid contact you want to ride that out. Matts day will come and he could be starting as early as next year so not too worried about him. After being sent back down he can still work on K rate and or bring that AAA OPS to a level that can no longer be ignored. Happy to see him not lost at the MLB level and am hoping he is another difference making bat. Will have to wait a bit longer to find out.
  19. Dman
    Happy to see Miller getting the bat going again. Once he establishes the hit tool he will be a legit MLB shortstop. Still a long ways to go but making contact with good results is very encouraging. I don't know much about Matthews but I do love to see dominant pitchers move up. High A should be a better challenge for him. Moving up early he will have a shot at AA late in the year if he continues to perform. Olivar sure can hit but he does need to work on that K rate. I think he was in a slump there for a bit but hopefully he continues to perform more consistently as he adjusts to this level. Pitching hasn't been as good in the system this year especially at the upper levels. Hopefully that will change. Short season is close to starting and I am very interested to see how some of those players perform.
  20. Dman
    Yeah I was going to mention Lopez as well. It was a nice innings work. Game wasn't on the line though as the Twins were behind. He seems to do better when he isn't worried about giving up the lead especially a tight lead. Still he did well and I hope he continues to trust himself more when the game is on the line. He was an important part of the win not giving up any runs so that they could tie it in the 9th.
  21. Dman
    When Houston went up by one on the Grand slam I figured the game was over because I thought there was an unwritten rule that the Twins can't come back after the other team takes the lead late. Kidding aside it was a great game down to their last out they found a way to tie it and with a mighty swing in the 10th found enough runs to win the game. I know Lewis essentially won this one coming up clutch with 4 of 5 RBI's in regulation. I know Jeffers won the game with a big home run in extra's but I have to say I was also very impressed with Kirilloff going 2 for 2 with 3 walks. I didn't think he could walk three times in one week let alone one game. If he maintains that discipline good things will happen eventually. Castro continues to hit and went 2 for 5. Jeffers though was 3 for 5 with the game winning homer. I Haven't given him the recognition he deserves I guess somewhat because of last year but he has been a force at the plate. I hope he keeps it going. Nothing against Kepler and maybe they had to call him back up from IL no matter what but why not stay with the hot bat Wallner had going? He was 6 for 6 with two walks the last two games. Showing contact and patience at the plate. I get that he wasn't going to keep that going forever and maybe not even the next game but it just makes you second guess this FO when they do things like that. Why not ride a guy who is hot instead of bringing in someone cold like Kepler? At any rate thankfully they won this one and hopefully they stay over the 500 mark as they are the only team in the central over 500. If they fall below the 500 mark it is going to be incredibly embarrassing for all the teams in the central.
  22. Dman
    I am still not sold that what he is doing is sustainable up the levels and even less so at the MLB level. HIs K rate was 43% last year and still a beefy 31% this year. It is a Rooker\Wallner type profile which isn't horrible but he will have to find a way to K less and make more contact to make it work. That being said he is still a very interesting prospect. He is young enough to find the patience he will need to succeed and he has a really good power stroke and runs fairly well. Just needs to keep improving and moving up levels and maybe something clicks that moves him from good to great. I don't see him needing to be protected this year as the aggressive style with a less than 10% walk rate at the minors lowest level isn't likely to translate well at the big league level. There are things to dream on and warts in his numbers gonna have to wait and see.
  23. Dman
    Castro can drive me crazy swinging at stuff far outside the zone but when he is on he is a difference maker. He has a ton of tools switch hitter, can play almost every position, runs the bases well and can steal bases. If he had a bit better plate discipline you would say he is an every day player. I just hope the bat keeps producing as that is what we need the most but no question he is a valuable player in the field. I think Gordon is on the hot seat with Castro around as the switch hitting ability plus good defense in the infield and outfield make him more valuable. If he continues to hit I can't see the Twins sending him down.
  24. Dman
    Incredibly impressed by Brock Stewart. He trusted his stuff got ahead in counts and got the job done. Lopez feels like a bit of head case to me. Why he was throwing straight down the middle on the Home Run ball I do not know. He needs to be better than that. Both teams seemed to hit balls that were good pitches and managed to do damage. Pedro pitched pretty well but Bichette was really on today and managed to beat the plan the Twins had for him. Happy to see Castro hitting better lately. He was a real difference maker today. Kirilloff another two hit game. Jullien continues do what he does at whatever level and Wallner with the 4 for 4 day was outstanding at the plate. If these young guys continue to perform this team is going to be OK. We need a series win so hoping they can win tomorrow but will have to wait and see.
  25. Dman
    Rosario is approaching an elite .900 OPS. Most everyone else is struggling with the bat at High A. Feels like the arms might be tiring already for some guys as the starting pitching hasn't been as sharp the last week or so. Nice to see Lee hitting again.
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