Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Platoon

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,830

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Tracker: Picks & Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by Platoon

  1. Platoon
    Your point about power is well stated. Power isn’t trying to jerk every pitch towards your pull side over the fence. See Dozier, Brian. Yes, if you get a nice cookie early in the count go for it. If not, that’s where discipline comes in. Sometimes later in the count you simply must concede the advantage to the pitcher, and go with what he throws you. But since power has become so over emphasized in baseball today, hitters are still trying to pull that 1-2 slider off the corner down the line. The outcome is predictable. Guys like Cruz and Miguel Cabrera have figured this out. The Sano’s of the world may never get a handle on it. I do think the emphasis on hitting the ball in the air has compounded the problem. Players are human, and they start to hit a few HR’s and it becomes a narcotic. The temptation to think you can do it with regularity becomes hard to resist. If I am a pitcher, the guy I want to see come up late in the game with men on base is one of these wannabe power guys with 20 HR’s, all 50’ from the foul pole. He’s as good as money in my bank.
  2. Platoon
    Offensively if you think you can simply bash the ball ofer the fence regularily game after game and win playoff series that way you must have missed decades of baseball. Bombas are great fun, but they get harder to hit the further you get into the playoffs. Offense built on swinging from the heels is simply unsustainable. This teams defense may have looked somewhat better this year, but with the loss of Donaldson and Sanó at first, Polanco at SS, and Arraez at 2B this isn’t exactly a gold glove group. And as is often the case, the weak links showed up big time. Then the team gets two excellent starts and for some inexplicable reason Rocco sets them after 5. There just doesn’t seem to be any rationale for that move in a playoff game. His handling of pitchers, and pinch hitters bordered on bizarre. I don’t know if those ideas came from the spreadsheet, or a lack of experience but it certainly didn’t indicate any feel for the game. Lastly, enough with the whining about the strike zone. Yesterday it was said it was "the worlds smallest zone". If you can’t hit when a pitcher is forced to zone it, then it’s doubtful you ever will. And the umpire didn’t run into outs, kick ground balls, and jerk pitchers who were on a roll!
  3. Platoon
    The word "Ace" in MN has become synonymous with the word "Unicorn". We have heard they exist, but at least locally, haven’t see one in years. The last being Johann Santana. Our desire to find one of these rarities has led to a raft of "Is (fill in the blank) our ace? An Ace? i agree that’s Maeda is the current occupant of that elusive role. But I also appreciate that you have differentiated between Ace and ace.
  4. Platoon
    Teams based on hitting have always seemed more streaky than those based on defense and pitching, both of which are more easily replicated day to day. Hitting teams are like offensive basketball teams. When the hits (shots) fall in you win, when they don’t you lose. It’s that simple. As for those who think that last years Bomba assault was going to be a yearly occurrence? You just don’t get career years from that many players in one season. More all around teams can fall back on other aspects of the game. While I can’t define how many of the teams losses were defense related the recent White Sox series included one for sure. Regardless of a definitive number of losses tied to the glove, this isn’t a good defensive team at all. As for pitching, both starters and pen have had moments, but really, 5 ish innings from starters just ain’t gonna cut it.
  5. Platoon
    Baseball is played by people not numbers. Sometimes the numbers suffer because the people are put into situations they are not suited for. My eyes tell me that when Glenn Perkins was put into a non save game situation he didn’t seem as sharp as when in a save one. Lack of focus? Hard to say. Numbers tell us that Rogers doesn’t pitch as well on back to back days. Yet seemingly Rocco has used him in that context more often, which will not help Rogers. Now it would be great to have a rubber armed every day "closer", but trying to make a player something he isn’t generally doesn’t work. So in the Rogers situation is it him who is having a poorer year? Or is it the guy in the dugout sending him to the mound in situations he doesn’t seem compatible with?
  6. Platoon
    I always thought Bert was at his best when the games were out of hand. He was more entertaining than analytical, it’s not that he didn’t know the game, it’s that he seemed to enjoy the witty repartee more than the X’s and O’s.
  7. Platoon
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/22/baseball-unwritten-rules-fernando-tatis-jr/
  8. Platoon
    It never would have occurred to me that the dropped third strike was so controversial. But shows what I know. For that matter I don’t think that’s the most important or beneficial rules change for catchers as far as Twins Territory is concerned. I think that runners shouldn’t be allowed to advance on balls to the backstop. Nor leave the base till the pitch crosses the plate. Like they do in little league. Then we could finally transition to catchers whose only claim to talent is to hit. No glove responsibilities at all. That would then make them similar to the criteria for middle IF that we now employ!
  9. Platoon
    You must have missed all the posts that 1B defense isn’t important?
  10. Platoon
    I wanted to read it also. Not all Twins news is good, but it still may be interesting. It also may bring up that Rogers seems in a tough stretch. Btw, I see that advancing Buxton to third via an out, albeit without a bunt, can be productive? Who’d a thunk it?
  11. Platoon
    Turn the warning track into an 8’ deep moat. When he hits the water at 22 mph, he will slow down quickly but safely. Btw, before you call in the backhoe, someone ask Buck if he can swim. An additional benefit to this approach is that the next time Jake Cave dives for a ball that he has no chance in getting to, he won’t tear his uniform pants, and can simply dog paddle after the inside the park HR. (Do baseballs float?)
  12. Platoon
    Well it certainly wasn’t the greatest series of balls strikes in recorded history. Nor am I in a position to evaluate Meals as a MLB umpire based on this game. But, and there is always a but. The second pitch was the epitome of what we have been calling for Twins catchers to do for years. Framing, pulling, or stealing a pitch to influence a strike. And the third wasn’t much different. Just turned out their catcher was a little more adept at it. The other is that if Meals zone was large, then what is a left handed hitter doing taking a low 0-2 floater? Finally umpires have bad days, just like players. Some days the strike zone is as easy to read as Anne of Green Gables, some days it’s War and Peace and the game takes just as long as the book, or seems to. Finally, the Twins aren’t what? 1-5 recently because of the umpiring. They are either hitting HR’s or nothing. And that’s not a sustainable approach, despite last years euphoria over Bombas. Throw in a rotation that’s a flaming mess, and you have identified the issues. But it wasn’t Meals strike zone, or Keplers AB.
  13. Platoon
    So are the Twins sitting on their prospects because the players clock will start ticking? Ticking in a season which is already an aberration, and may not come to conclusion? I am not advocating that concept but it would be in tune with the rationale many pro sports decisions, which is, follow the money!
  14. Platoon
    Garvers hot bat covered his cold glove last year. While I am not sure if his one kneed catching stance is getting us more called strikes, it’s definitely getting Garver more exercise running to the backstop. With runners on maybe he needs to return to a more basic stance. Neither his glove or his arm are good enough for him to crouch as he currently does. He is 28? 29? years old. His bat may return, but he will never be a decent defensive catcher.
  15. Platoon
    It still grates at me that pro sports resumption is predicated on consistent and frequent testing and the resulting protocols, when few others can access those privileges. And yet, with all the wealth and leverage which is obvious to anyone, they still can’t get it right. Add to that the sad comparisons of people waiting for 8 hours in AZ for a test, or LA testing sites running out of tests in "minutes" after opening and I question the whole concept and feasibility of this process. I have been a baseball and sports fan all my life, but I would think that we must have a better use of the resources consumed by this attempt to normalize life in a time when normal isn’t even a word anymore. The only thing real here is the money. The stats, the standings, even the game itself isn’t really real. It’s an asterisk waiting to happen.
  16. Platoon
    When someone says "but", after the phrase "I know you are a man of integrity", they know you really aren’t!
  17. Platoon
    The rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated! Or so it seems? Btw, I learned more about the music licensing business in your OP than I ever did.
  18. Platoon
    Thanks, during the last three months I think of this clip often. There is nothing wrong with having problems to fix. There is something wrong with refusing to admit it.
  19. Platoon
    >>>>>>" Our community is broken. Our country is broken." We live in the greatest country on earth. Our community/country is not broken. You are stating your opinion as fact. A tragic death lead to a protest which lead to planned riots and anarchists coming to Mpls and many large cities throughout the nation." There are things wrong with Nicks post, but "Our community is broken. Our country is broken.", isn’t one of them. The assertion that a tragic death led to this protest is somewhat simplistic. It disregards the totality of not only the last three months of news stories related to this issue, but the last 400 years as well. Toss in the Covid, and the resultant financial crisis, and you have far more than a "tragic death" in play here. We do live in a great country, but it’s not quite as great as we like to believe. Members of this site love metrics. And a precursory dive into a list of metrics that quantify our standings in the issues that define "great country" isn’t as pretty as some seem fo believe. Nicks piece and your response do have some positive points, and do have some of which I disagree with, But, until we all take a deep unvarnished look at what has and is happening in this country, we will never have the wherewithal to make it what we, in our wishful thinking, believe it now is.
  20. Platoon
    Well, this makes the first time I have ever saw Green Bay, magical, and glorious in one place, let alone one sentence! I have been in Green Bay, in January, in March, in July, and in November. Magical and glorious did not come to mind...... but Bloomington and Waite Park did.
  21. Platoon
    I know it’s not exciting to watch pitchers hit early in a game, but it is interesting to watch the moves made by managers after the 6th inning. It also makes the manager, the bench players and middle relievers more important. It’s just simply a different game. One which personally I prefer. While the DH rule probably improves the offense, the NFL could do the same by making one cornerback position be manned by an offensive tackle. . Just because you can mandate rule changes, doesn’t mean they improve the game.
  22. Platoon
    Every IF and every catcher from day one is encouraged to throw the ball 'over the top'. Dropping down causes balls to sail, sink, and slide up the line into the runner. Sidearm throwers generally generate less velocity also. Polanco’s arm is basically mediocre velocity wise, and subpar accuracy wise. I am surprised little has been said about his difficulties with the 3 hop ground ball? He plays short like a 3rd baseman, does well on rockets, struggles to adjust to the bouncing ball. I have made the following point before, and it fits Jorge to a 'T': The old saw in BB is that if you can hit they will find a place for you to play. I doubt the guy who first uttered those words ever intended that 'place' to be SS.
  23. Platoon
    I would trade Max Kepler for him even up. Cleveland would find out that Max aint gonna hit 5 HR’s, or whatever it was, in a row off him anymore. Ps: Please don’t question my mental acuity on the Kepler trade, or anything else. That horse has left the paddock.
  24. Platoon
    Numerous! And in depth!
  25. Platoon
    While a MLB season would be nice, and certainly a feel good tale at a time of few feel good anything’s, there are bigger fish to fry. Unless and until, everyone who needs a test for health reasons has one readily available MLB simply cannot be seen as appropriating tests so the owners and players can profit. If they cannot see that from a moral standpoint, maybe the public relations problems inherent to such a move would be enough to convince them of the heartlessness of such a decision. At least if a 3M plant is in operation to make masks, or a ventilator plant is running, the public good is being served. The rest of us will be able to get by not knowing who would be the winner of a faux World Series. On one other point. Please! Stop using WW2 as a comparison to the Covid. It’s apples to oranges, or worse broccoli. When baseball was played during the war, none of the players, umpires, staff, vendors or fans risked their lives by playing or attending. Nor did they risk the lives of others who did not attend by dispersing after the game. How long would it be before a visible participant, player, umpire, or broadcaster would be hospitalized, or worse die from that decision? Then what? Soldier on as we did during the war? Or admit the folly and suffer the repercussions? This isn’t WW2 which was fought across the ponds. This is right here, right now. There really is no correlation.
×
×
  • Create New...