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Taildragger8791

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Everything posted by Taildragger8791

  1. Taildragger8791
    Then I guess it was a lose-lose proposition because we simply don't have enough pitching to get through the game. That's kind of where this team is right now.
  2. Taildragger8791
    Gibson was laboring to get through most of his 5 innings, and was already at 96 pitches. His track record is pretty terrible when he’s allowed to go back out after a game like that. Most posters here would lampoon Molitor for letting him go out and inevitably start a circus for the bullpen to clean up.
  3. Taildragger8791
    Are there any reports on defense this year? Looks like he has a few errors, but better than last year's rate. I'd like to see him get a shot soon but no way they'll burn an option and a 40 man roster spot for him if they think he'll be booting balls around the middle infield.
  4. Taildragger8791
    The Twins aren't simply below .500. They're regularly getting smoked by mediocre and bad ball clubs and too many games aren't even competitive. Even with those guys out they shouldn't be this bad. Comparisons to last season may help lessen the sting, but this year it might take 90 wins to snag the last wildcard spot. If it takes 2-4 weeks to get healthy and get their head on straight that won't be achievable and we'll be hosting a mid-summer yard sale. But yeah, the front office didn't do any favors by assuming Buxton & Sano would stay healthy for the first time ever. Going forward the roster should be built to better withstand loss of their playing time (especially in the field) because for them it's clearly a matter of when, not if.
  5. Taildragger8791
    To be fair, the Twins often call up their top hitting prospects directly from AA. I don't think Gordon being in Chattanooga affects his call-up timeline if they need/want him in Minnesota.
  6. Taildragger8791
    I think getting Kepler into the 3rd or 4th spot in the lineup would help the offense significantly. They need better bat control in those spots.
  7. Taildragger8791
    I'm curious what the plan is going to be if Sano can DH but can't play the field for a length of time due to hammy issues. It's going to get congested at DH/1B.
  8. Taildragger8791
    So far they haven't shown an ability to kept the walks reasonable, seeing as they're 29th in the league in walk rate (and 21st in HR rate). So they're definitely self-inflicting a lot of the damage. It's not surprise the bullpen BABIP is high, considering most of the arms out there haven't been very good and the defense has been booting balls all over the field. Over the last 14 days their BABIP is .395 so it's been getting worse instead of better, and now Hughes is going out there. It'll come down a little naturally, but it won't come all the way back to the earth until they separate out the chaff and tighten up the defense. I'm not sure we're on track to do that anytime soon. Some of those early wins were fueled by the unusually low BAPIP from the starters, maybe due to early season hitting and the cold temps or maybe just good fortune. But over the last 14 days it has been right around .300 which means we're seeing the result of that regression already.
  9. Taildragger8791
    I figured this offense would run hot and cold, like most do, but this is something else. Most of the hitters just don't have any consistency or complement each other's skills very well. Our most consistent power hitter can only hit lead-off. Our best on-base guy is a slow-footed first basemen. Kepler can't crack the top half of the lineup. Our most powerful hitter is an 80% chance of being an out, a 40% chance of being a strikeout, and can't stay healthy. Buxton can't get on base or stay healthy. And it only gets worse from there. This squad can jump on bad pitchers or get in sync for a day and put up crooked numbers, but it's going to be tough going up against legit pitching/defense unless they change something up. There's a reason they're 1-12 when giving up 4 or more runs.
  10. Taildragger8791
    Things get a whole lot easier when you accept that Mauer is a one trick pony on offense (avoiding outs at all costs). He’s very good at it, and I’d love to get more than that out of a 6’5” 225 lb first basemen. But I’ve accepted that he’s mostly a table setter and facilitator and we simply need to actual run producers behind him to score consistently. You’ll only set yourself up for trouble if you need more than 70 RBI or 8 HR out of him.
  11. Taildragger8791
    I know it’s early and baseball tends to go in streaks, but man it’s hard not be he a little disheartened by the first month all up and down the organization. At least the offense got untracked a little today. Hopefully they can carry that forward against better pitching.
  12. Taildragger8791
    Somebody needs to (re-)watch Animal House.
  13. Taildragger8791
    And this team is not equipped to win with small ball anyways. Too many low contact hitters, not a lot of speed with Buxton out, and hardly anyone these days can lay down a good bunt. Mauer's best skill is avoiding outs and giving the run-producers behind him an opportunity, which is something they need in order to maximize the chances of a big hit from the free-swingers brigade of Sano/Rosario/Morrison.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. Taildragger8791
    Over/under 2.5 Ks and 0.5 HRs for Sano?
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. Taildragger8791
    His agent - but it’ll come in the form of “No f-n way!”
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