Jham

I mean, the comments from Molitor before the series were already downplaying the importance. It's like we knew we were toast before it began. Then pitching matchups were released and confirmed this.

What's the difference between Hurlbut and Turley? Or Andrew Albers for that matter...

I always thought the ideal Buxton swing would be similar to Alphonso Soriano. Both have lengthy torsos and naturally long swings that generate power. Closing down allows him to use the lanky build and natural flexibility to generate torque and force him to stay closed. Then leg kick for timing and keeping weight (and bat) back. Look at the amount of rotation Soriano gets. Buxton has that, but loses efficiency when his swing gets too "arm-y". This should naturally give him more direct energy through the ball. This may not help him starting hips and shoulders early, as it will likely feel to him that he has to start them even sooner to get to that same position of being out front. That's just something he'd have to work through in the cage. I'm no expert, but Hageman has been tweeting about the leg kick for weeks.

Statistically, Buxton is a great defender. He's not an all time great in my mind. He has rather poor field awareness which leads to injuries. He takes some interesting routes and makes some bad reads, then makes up for them with blazing speed. His hands are average. Arm seems strong but not a hose. He's not going to get any faster. It won't be long before he starts slowing down. When his world class speed dips, it does not appear he'll have the instincts and route efficiency to make up for it. Maybe the metrics disagree. That's my eye test. 0-8 on 5 stars also fits my eye test. He's great diving, but awkward leaping, had trouble with timing, and doesn't always catch or catch cleanly when going back. It's nitpicking, but the comparison of Ozzie Smith requires it.

What question again? The whole premise is pretty tongue in cheek...

I don't have a ton of confidence in Gibson, but I kind of have a bad feeling about going to the pen...

Well, then you DON'T call up Wimmers. Oh the heartbreak. We've got quite a few Wimmers already. This is obvious. If someone gets hurt, I'm guessing it's NOT Wimmers who gets the call... We could just call it the "Justin Haley", the way to expand your roster without limiting your options or exposing guys to waiver claims or FA. Biggest problem is probably tired bullpen arms. And it's June. At first I was thinking, "why option and not outright off the 40 man?" Then I thought, the way this season is going, we may need Wimmers yet... But probably not JUST Wimmers.... And if the biggest problem is tired arms, guys literally go to the DL for tired arms. And with the DL going to 10 days instead of 15, it seems that this would be a viable way of keeping a guy you may need later on the 40 man without clogging the roster (assuming another Wimmers-like pitcher will be "tired" 10 days later) a strong likelihood with this team.

Wimmers was optioned instead of DL'd? With 10 day so, that makes more sense. Keep rotating in fresh arms instead of rotating tired ones. At least until the league stops you.

I thought Hunter gave a ton of insight from a batter's perspective after hearing decades from an HOF pitcher. His predicting pitchers and what both pitchers and hitters are trying to do in different game situations, base runners too, I find very interesting and informative.

We also used to joke about how if every pitcher through every pitch straight at A-Roid after his 2nd PED suspension, how many times would he get hit before he just retired... This was during the recession when most of us didn't have jobs or lives.

Castro was sitting outside with Kintzler the whole night. Begging him to nibble and fall behind. His ball has crazy run and can bury on the hands of righted. Even just showing that pitch prevents that walkoff home run. Ok pitch, but he threw it 3 times in a row... you can't step out and go with the pitch of you're worried about it boring in on the hands. Poorly called in my mind.

We've always joked about pulling the catcher with less than 2 strikes and no one on base. Extra in or outfielder... in catchers gear... Then move back behind the plate when the count reaches two strikes or a runner reaches. Also, the umpire would be struck by almost every strike...

What do we have in Rosario?

Wait, why no mention of Gonsalves outdueling Kopesch? Or were his numbers from a different game?

And Eric Thames is potentially All Star out of the KBO with no posting fee.... Twins are cursed.

Polanco with maybe the woody swing I've ever seen. Stepping in the bucket on a high and away fastball...

Since the league has talked expanded rosters without much traction, I wonder if we'll start seeing more significant use of a rotating line of optionable relievers. Personally, I don't think Belisle and Pressly are horrible pitchers, I just think they're overworked. We've seen it in years past. A lot has to do with our manager who continues to go to the same guys regardless of score while other arms sit unused. The only way we can go a full season with a 7 or even 8 man pen and still have something in the tank is to keep everyone well rested. This means rotations to sparing use in AAA, AA, or the DL and starters pitching effectively. The offense giving the team 10 fewer high-leverage situations per year would help too. And of course, the manager has to be willing to rest his important arms. He has no problem benching Sano for 2 games after all.

Not to derail the thread, but why do we use OPS so much when on base and slugging are not the same? wOBA seems to be a better stat for comparing players with different skills like Grossman and Vargas. Many posters prefer to separate obp and slg anyway. So why combine them in the first place?

As well you should be! They don't just give ace away. If we didn't get ideal return, keep him. As of now he's platooning.

We have to be in win now territory. We have Erv pitching like an ace for how long? We've got a healthy Berrios breaking out. We have Buxton in his defensive prime, Sano in his prime, Dozier in his prime, Kepler, Polanco, Rosario putting together nice seasons and figuring things out. Sano will likely cool a little, but Dozier will carry this team at some point. Mauer's quietly getting his bat speed back. We've got a little bit of offensive depth. I think we've got enough depth in the rotation to hold things together in case of injury. We've got roster flexibility with an expendable Rule 5 spot. A LOT depends on Berrios and Mejia. If Berrios is a difference maker and Mejia is inconsistent but flashy, then Gibson can be a 5 and Santiago doesn't have to be a 2. Then we have Wilk, Duffey, as well as some lesser depth in AAA. I would want to see what Burdi can do, how Shaggy and Jay come back before trading for help in the pen. Kintzler has been nasty. Over-use is my biggest concern with this pen. First trade I'd make would be for Haley. I value that roster spot over a "hey, free player!" at the end of the year at this point. As I've said many times, this is the group we've been waiting for. We have to support them and look to win every year this core is contributing. And if you don't think this core is good enough, then the core isn't really a core and our most tradeable asset, the one that could bring about a franchise changing return, is Sano. But I'd rather see them try to win with this core before deciding they are or aren't good enough. To me, they're showing they are. Sano doesn't care when Gonsalves will be ready to contribute. I don't want to waste a year of the core we have now waiting for middling prospects. The good ones need to be up yet this year, ideally Granite and Burdi (sooner than later). The rest are expendable. As is Escobar, Vargas, Rosario, and Grossman, in my mind. Kepler is probably the piece that could fetch the biggest return without killing this team... Do we think he'll hit lefties? He'd have to be the cornerstone of a trade for an ace. Sucks, but I think Granite and Grossman could be a functional platoon...

He was hitting 95 last night... Does he normally throw that hard?

I figured that part might get some people, that's why I put the IMO in there! Fangraphs had him projected like this when we drafted him: Hit GamePower RawPower Speed Field Throws Future Value 20 / 55 20 / 50 45 / 50 50 / 50+ 50 / 55 60 / 60 55 Good, not necessarily a star. He started 2 games at 2nd last year compared to 103 at SS. This year he's started 14 at 2nd already with 26 at SS. I haven't seen him play enough to say he can or can't stick at short, but I haven't heard many scouts say that he certainly will. He's hitting well this year, offsetting a career high K% (21% not bad) with career high BB%. His BABIP is 30 points higher despite moving up a level, while his slugging % is 100 points higher (3HR this year compared to 3 all of last year) This is often the way a young prospects grow as hitters. However, I'm still not sure he'll hit enough to be above average. And if he can't stick at short, his value plummets. If his last name were Nishioka instead of Gordon, would people be so high on him? To me, he's an obvious candidate to be overvalued by outside organizations.

Can't like this post enough Chief. Good starting pitching is the hardest thing to find in baseball. Unless you want to pin the hopes of Sano, Buxton, Kep, et al on an expensive reclamation project like Hughes, Nolasco, Santana, or Pelfrey, A trade is the only way to acquire an actual quality arm without having to pay over-the-top prices for more years than you will contend. I'm not saying those aren't good investments, what with insurance and the ability to trade players midway through expensive contracts, but our team doesn't do that. I think the part of Pettit's post that struck the wrong nerve was use of the term ANY PROSPECT in suggesting that the Twins simply hold out and cross our fingers. A good organization will always look to add value and talent. One name left of his list was Kohl Stewart. Twins fans have been nervous about him for 3 years. MLB followers for about 1.5. Now he's not really named among our future pieces. Maybe we missed the opportunity to trade him, maybe someone else thinks they can turn him around. If Stewart never makes it, if Wimmer never makes it, well, it's better to get something rather than nothing, especially with first rounders. Kiriloff is coming off surgery. Jay is by no means a sure thing. Gonsalves has limited upside, and a big reputation. Ditto Nick Gordon and Zack Granite (IMO). We have some pieces. I don't want to get rid of them, but they're not all going to be better than league average players, and some of them will probably be bad or not make it all.

Sometimes managers play hunches also. Or look at matchups beyond left vs right. On this thread he's been called out for pinch hitting for Bux with one of our hottest hitters, Grossman, even though he did it the other night with Varg, and it saved us. Hey wait, he pinch hit Varg in a big spot? Maybe Molly trusts him a bit afterall and this isn't really a deal. I've been critical of Molly the last couple years. But he's pushing the right buttons right now.

Switched to hard liquor apparently. Maybe that's not such a bad plan...