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Same goes for nfl reviews. I think fans usually have a better view than the refs. #balls/strikes

Oh! I still think the TV crews are better at pulling up review footage than the NYC crew. Usually they have it dialed in one way or the other.

No way this gets overturned.

Challenge!

#requiredteamouting #gowild

My daughter goes to the same daycare as the king of ram (the other one). Does that make us part of the ram court?

There is an inverse relationship between the quality of Twins play and TD game threads. Sometimes I'm bummed when they actually come through. Schadenfreude?

Awesome. Love that part. I often think of it when perusing Twins box scores.

Boy, that one went a long way. Take some notes Twins hitters.

First run producing hit since Sunday. -Friday, 4/15/16

Sano! Holy crap, I didn't even think they were allowed to do that.

Well it's Joe, so a grounder. Close!

"Here is Nunez to lead off the sixth. He has the only two Twins hits." -Bremer That is a horrific sentence on several levels.

Thermos shopping huh? Must be a really special lady.

Nice turn Esco!

That is 2-week ago thinking.

12-1 odds Meyer is our closer by September?

Return of the... ? http://i.imgur.com/ZJpY73i.png

I was curious about the importance of bullpen performance. So I looked at playoff teams from the last five years and averaged their WPA and WPA/LI performance... basically how well did they do situationally and how good were they irregardless of the situation. A mix of results and "true ability". The average WPA rank for playoff teams was 11.8 and the average WPA/LI was 11.7. If the best bullpens always made the playoffs, the average would be 4.0 and if bullpen performance (in terms of ranking) made no difference, then the average would have been 15.0. Basically, playoff teams tend to have better than average bullpens. However, there's certainly many clubs who made the playoffs in spite of their bullpens. Further, World Series teams had a lower average ranking than all playoff teams, so at least for this 5-year sample, it suggests that overall bullpen quality/performance during the regular season wasn't a determining factor once teams were in the playoffs.

I have been a very vocal critic of this team's bullpen going back to the 2014/2015 offseason. I thought the bullpen would be one of the worst in the league last year, but to my surprise they were actually about average (in terms of Win Probability Added, and ranked between 11-25 in several other relevant statistics): http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=rel&lg=all&qual=0&type=3&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=2,d Further, we had 4 relievers in the top 120 WPA leaders in baseball last year. Even in terms of fastball velocity, we ranked 16/30. A thorough average bullpen, which given the expectations of many fans could be considered as huge success. This year's squad is essentially the same group as last year. Given the results of that squad from last year, the relative lack of relief depth in the FA pool, and our crop of young relievers... I can better understand TR's inactivity. Whether we started 0-7 or 7-0, I do wish that we would have brought in a few more relievers on NRI or minor league contract flyers, but this is basically the group the front office expected to have in the pen to start 2016 all along. A strong spring from an unknown (whether they came from inside/outside the system) probably wasn't going to change that.

This team doesn't deserve walk up music right now.

This painful to watch, but it might be the frostbite out here in section 133. Sun is starting to make its way through, so that's something I guess.

Nice work Jesse... very thought provoking! If the historical data exists, I think it would really interesting to make a cross-tab of scouting grades (30, 35, 40, 45, etc.) and ML WAR achievement, including prospect age. How often does the 45 prospect breakout, how often does the 60 prospect fail? I know the goal of your piece was different, but I think attaching some historical performance figures (in terms of average and distribution) to standard prospect ranking would be interesting. We all get so excited about an A or B prospect, but how much better do they end up than a guy who was given a C as a 20-year old? Food for thought.... maybe it's already been done too, but given the weight everyone puts on rankings, understanding the margin of error is very important.

Good point. I wonder if he'd have better luck not trying to pull those pitches, as it looked like he was trying to do last night. I can understand he was trying to park them, which isn't a bad thing. They were hittable pitches in a favorable count... but he can hit HRs to right and center too. Sano does an amazing job of hitting low pitches deep in the zone for power, no reason he can't do the same thing on higher pitches that are middle/out. I think he just got a little too ansy and was anticipating too much last night. Sometimes that happens when you guess right... you swing too early. It's encouraging that he is guessing right and getting into favorable counts, not it's just a matter of staying back and not jumping at pitches too early just because he guessed right.

Buxton's results were pretty good last night, but I remain very concerned. As Bert correctly pointed out last night, the problem is he is extending too early on his swing. That allows him to handle pitches that are middle/out and down (if he gets started early), but if they don't fix it he'll probably struggle with anything else. I'm still a little puzzled as to why he was so good in the minors. This is the approach/swing that generated monster numbers? Here's the only things that come to mind as an explanation: 1. Opposing pitchers/teams didn't have a strong idea about what zones he has problems with (this isn't necessarily a death knell for him... all hitters have weaknesses but it's about being able to adjust when pitchers start pounding those zones and striving to make those "weak spots" as small as possible... right now I think Buxton's weak spots look far too big). 2. Maybe minor league pitchers have less ability to hit their spots, generally with less velocity/stuff, thereby giving him more pitches he can handle. 3. Pitchers are conditioned to pitch most hitters low/away, especially pull hitters like Buxton... however, that's about the only place you don't want to pitch him. 4. His swing was shorter in the minors and has gotten longer or changed somehow now that he's in the show. Am I saying he is a sucky hitter and will not live up to the hype? Not at all. He is obviously a tremendous player and a gifted natural hitter. That he can produce anything with the mechanical flaws he has right now is incredible. It's just a matter of making adjustments and being ready to react to how pitchers are attacking him. Knowing what pitchers will try to do and being ready to pull his hands in on inside pitches and getting better at not trying to pull outside pitches. That will be critical. He seems to be picking up the "off the plate" sliders, which is a very positive step. I think he just has to shorten up his swing a bit (extend towards the pitcher, not the first baseman) and not get too ahead of himself. He's plenty quick enough to wait back and still drive the ball. Obviously, he needs to make more contact... with his speed, good things will happen. There's just some big adjustments to make, but I don't think anyone questions the raw ability. The only question in my mind is whether he'll be able to make those adjustments sooner rather than later, in Minneapolis or Rochester?