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Taildragger8791

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Everything posted by Taildragger8791

  1. Taildragger8791
    I don't mind the Mauer bunt if he were trying to steal a hit, but I sure wish he was capable of just pulling a ball to that wide open right field instead. He's too talented and vital to the lineup to be sacrificing in the first inning against a powerful offense. I also don't see the point in playing small ball in front of Sano and Rosario. Dozier is capable of stealing a base or scoring from first with the way those two swing anyways, but they're also likely to give an unproductive out which means Mauer's sac became a wasted out.
  2. Taildragger8791
    I'm growing more concerned with the offense than the pitching at this point. I always expect our pitching to be chaotic with spurts of competency, but this offense was supposed to carry the team yet they're only averaging 4 runs per game. They're in the bottom half or third of the league in most metrics. They have plenty of guys capable of exploding, and if they get in sync it can be pretty awesome. But outside of Mauer, Dozier, and Kepler there isn't anyone giving the consistently productive at-bats needed to build rallies.
  3. Taildragger8791
    On the bright side, we have real depth for a change and once Santana is back Gibson could be on the bubble to get replaced Romero/Gonsalves/Slegers/etc. Gibson as a #5 is a lot easier to stomach.
  4. Taildragger8791
    Until last year, 35% was the highest rate for a single season in many years (other than Sano) and it was hardly even close. Sano is over 36% for his career. Last year 3 guys were around that: Chris Davis, Joey Gallo, and Trevor Story. None regularly batted higher than 4th. Even Judge and Stanton keep it around 30% or less, and they're poster boys for the strikeout vs. power argument.
  5. Taildragger8791
    I don't assume it will. It'll probably sink back down to 35% which is still too high for the top 3rd of the lineup. Unless he's going to mash 50 taters and carry a .450 BABIP.
  6. Taildragger8791
    By what measure? He's made some big hits and is drawing walks, but the .462 BABIP and early homerun binge is masking a lingering problem. His current production isn't sustainable if he doesn't considerably improve his contact rate. He's already left a small army on base because good strikeout pitchers tie him up so regularly. Molitor clearly thought the same thing because he's getting a mental break with McCullers pitching today.
  7. Taildragger8791
    I'm not sure it's just plate discipline with him since he's proven he can draw a lot of full counts and walks. He misses a lot of pitches in the zone as well. That makes me think he's up there guessing a little bit, and he simply doesn't have great bat control to adjust when he guesses wrong.
  8. Taildragger8791
    Dozier ranged to his right and slid behind second to glove a ground ball, flipping it with his glove to Escobar to get the lead runner and nearly complete the double play.
  9. Taildragger8791
    Wow. What a defensive play.
  10. Taildragger8791
    Absolutely. I assume he'll come back down to his 35% career average, but in my opinion even that is probably too high for the 3 hole. It's great when he gets hot or runs into some hangers, but otherwise it's just a rally killer. Now if he got that strikeout rate down to 30% or less while keeping the production up...then we're cooking with gas and he can choose his own lineup spot every day.
  11. Taildragger8791
    I mentioned this a week ago but Sano was in the middle of a remarkable (and unsustainable) tear of big hits, so the idea fell flat. After some predictable BABIP regression we're really feeling the pain of all those K's in a critical lineup spot. I personally like the idea of Kepler hitting in front of Sano.
  12. Taildragger8791
    May is awfully hyperbolic considering he'll probably pitch in the next few days if he's ready. The likely explanation is Romero is 3rd or 4th in line for an early season call-up if the Twins suddenly need a starter, whereas Gonsalves and others are on the shortlist and need to stay ready. Gonsalves also needs to build innings after having an injury-shortened season last year. There wasn't room for Romero in AA unless you want to send someone else down to A ball that doesn't belong there, or you want to bump a shortlister to AAA where he wouldn't be able to stay ready. Ultimatley this is at most a week of slippage for his first start and is a lot of heartburn over nothing. If anything, now we get to have him for another week later in the season when he might be helping the big league club.
  13. Taildragger8791
    Which is why I said "as the season goes along". Morrison will hopefully come around soon. Buxton has struggled a little but also had some bad luck with hard outfield liners getting snagged. Kepler is looking really good. It'll be hard to keep those last two out of the top 6 spots at some point. Of course Sano is making me look dumb here now, which which is cool with me (and I'm plenty used to). If he can somehow keep hitting (and running the bases!) like this I'm more than happy with him at #3. It just seems too flukey with his strikeout frequency. Something has to give.
  14. Taildragger8791
    I think as the season goes along we'll find 4-5 out of Dozier, Mauer, Buxton, Kepler, Rosario, and Morrison that would be better fits for building rallies at the top of the lineup. Unless of course Sano can keep getting an extra base hit nearly every game, in which case the 2-4 Ks are a lot easier to stomach. Doesn't seem sustainable though.
  15. Taildragger8791
    Sano needs to be moved down to the 6th spot until he can keep his K rate solidly below 35% or his AVG/OBP so high it doesn't matter.
  16. Taildragger8791
    Over/under 2.5 Ks and 0.5 HRs for Sano?
  17. Taildragger8791
    That's fair. If it wasn't for Mauer/Morrison/Rosario all being lefties I'd be in favor of swapping Sano for LoMo, assuming LoMo can continue his 2017 production. I just hate seeing the 3 hitter regularly swing through in-zone strikes and flail at bendy stuff. I think the hitting will come around soon but it's going to be a frustrating April if Sano, Buxton, and Dozier start slow. I was encouraged by Odorizzi and Reed, and Duke was decent. If Castro blocks that pitch it really changes way the complexion of the game.
  18. Taildragger8791
    Overall it was a rusty but well-fought game by our guys. I didn't see too many things that concerned me, and I saw enough good things to believe they'll eventually be solid. Having to pinch hit for Buxton isn't a good sign, but hopefully he and Sano get their heads screwed on straight quickly. One thought on the lineup: I know the best hitters are being pushed to the front of the order these days but I'm not sure it makes sense to have a potential 250-strikeout guy in the 3-hole. Sano is a "3 true outcomes" type right now, and that sounds much more like a prototypical cleanup or #5 guy to me. At a minimum I'd want to swap him and Rosario. With the depth of talented hitters on this team, there could be a point this season where Buxton and LoMo surpass him If he doesn't show progress in that department.
  19. Taildragger8791
    His agent - but it’ll come in the form of “No f-n way!”
  20. Taildragger8791
    Probably because we still have at least 4 more innings to pitch and we're in the bottom half of their lineup.
  21. Taildragger8791
    Has there been any sightings of Tyler Jay this spring? I saw he had one rough outing with the big league club but has been off the radar otherwise. I thought they would be evaluating him for a push to the majors (which was the purpose of switching him back to relief in the first place).
  22. Taildragger8791
    Probably meant he could be traded by then, or lost to free agency in 3 years. Alex being fully MLB-ready in 3 years would be fast for a guy who hasn't played in A ball yet. He'd have to conquer at least 1 level per year. Doable, but it would require good health and mean that he's on an elite prospect development timeline.
  23. Taildragger8791
    A guy with as much power as Sano shouldn't need to sell-out to swing for the fences. 420 feet counts the same as a 480 feet almost everywhere. Maybe he can improve his bat control/contact ability/pitch recognition by dialing in an appropriate swing effort for the pitch count & situation. That could be a very beneficial tradeoff if it works. Might help avoid nasty back back problems and muscle strains as he ages, too.
  24. Taildragger8791
    It's hard to be sold on Cousins at that price. This is going to cost the Vikings a key player or two elsewhere on the roster and Cousins hasn't proven to be the type of QB to cover up deficiencies elsewhere. If you could get Teddy at half that price and he provides at least 80% of the production he'd go so much further.
  25. Taildragger8791
    Here come the Jamie Moyer comps...
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