chpettit19
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Everything posted by chpettit19
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I used Merrifield's season stats and you told me he wasn't a .220 hitter even though he was hitting .220. You said he's better than that because he had a good month of May. Then you say I can't use Duffey's month of May to show he's been good of late and say I'm cherry picking. You see why that's a little confusing to me? Merrifield's month of May is proof he's not a .220 hitter, but Duffey's month of May is cherry picking and shouldn't be used. Interesting logic there. I agree he has subpar stuff as his breaking ball has declined over the years. Not sure why relying on breaking balls is a problem, though, considering many pitchers do it. In non 3-0 hitters counts pitchers league wide throw fastballs just 55% of the time. Last year Houston, Seattle, and Minnesota all used fastballs less than 50% of the time. Reliance on breaking balls and off speed pitches is pretty standard across the league at this point. I'm not a huge Duffey fan. I've said it time and time again in this thread. But he's blown 3 leads in 19 appearances this year. That's not "about once every third outing," it's 15.7% which is way less than 33%. They need better arms to push him down the line and get him out of 8th inning appearances and into 5th and 6th inning appearances. But he hasn't been the disaster you've suggest he's been. As demonstrated by statistics.- 70 replies
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He was the best player on the team his junior year. Maybe the best player in the country. If he could play SS he would've been playing SS. You named 2 guys who played there his freshman and sophomore years who got drafted. Makes sense that he wasn't the guy those years. If he could play SS he would've played SS his junior year when he was drafted #5 overall. In fact they started a freshman over him his junior year. He was the established player and they started a true freshman over him at SS on a team with national title hopes. I think that says a lot.
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Fine, not moved off, but couldn't play it. He was the #5 pick in the draft. If he could play SS he would've been playing SS at Vandy and not bouncing all over the field. I'm sure it's happened, but it's hard to find an example of a kid who wasn't good enough to be the SS on his college team, but is good enough to be the SS on a major league team. Players don't often move up the defensive spectrum from college to the minors to the majors. Was it worth a shot? Sure. But how long are they going to mess with trying to make him a SS when he wasn't good enough to do it in college and hasn't been good enough to do it in the pros? They've said he's good enough to defend in the OF right now. To me it makes sense to just put him out there and let him perfect that while he concentrates more on his hitting since his bat is what got him drafted #5 overall and why they traded for him. It's not some great indictment of Martin that he can't play short. Most guys can't. It was a long shot to start and it feels like the experiment has run it's course.
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
One big old "If," though. I hope they find a way to get some more shutdown arms in the pen and don't act like they have enough right now (even though they've been quite solid overall).- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Oh, 100%. My original comment in this thread stated they need help, but I don't know where that comes from in May/early June. Not a lot of teams willing to do reasonable trades at this time of year because they want a bidding war to drive up prospect prices at the deadline. Alacala back in a couple weeks (hopefully ?) and maybe Canterino in June if he's still dealing and they're willing to let him be a multi-inning guy in the bigs. But I don't know where they find more help right now even though I 100% agree they need it.- 70 replies
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I think my bigger concern is that he was moved off SS in college as well because he couldn't field/throw well enough for it. Playing SS would obviously make him more valuable, but sometimes it's just not meant to be and we could turn him into a far better OFer and just let him get comfortable out there instead of bashing our heads against the wall trying to force him into a spot that almost nobody has thought he could play since before he was drafted.
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Alcala has been throwing pens and is doing a live BP session today. Expected back in middle of June, but no definitive timeline at this point.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
See, when you kept it to just the Merrifield stats you were onto something. Then you went and did what I did and used season long stats instead of the recent stats to try to prove a bullpen arm is terrible. 11 May appearances for Duffey. 5 holds. 1 save. 1 win when he held the score in the 8th in the big comeback against KC. He'd held a 2-0 lead in the 8th 2 days before the meltdown. Hadn't blown a lead since April 19th actually. Although, he did have a bad outing in KC last week so maybe the argument is he shouldn't pitch with a lead against KC. But, no, he hasn't been prone to coughing up leads. And I've said multiple times that I'd like him to be pushed down the line. Alcala is hopefully back in a couple weeks and that's 1 arm that will move him down. My original post in this thread was that they needed help in the pen. The point is that taking 1 blown lead and making it sound like he's blowing them all the time while you ignore the 7 wins, holds, or saves he'd had in the month prior to that is confirmation bias at it's finest. I don't want Duffey throwing high leverage situations. I've said that. But he's been able to be successful far more often than not in those situations this year, even if they're not always comfortable outings and I get nervous when I see he's coming in. Rocco should be ready to have someone else up and throwing quick when Duffey comes in because he's either 1-2-3 or it's all a mess. And I've agreed he should've had someone ready Thursday night. But Duffey has been solid more than he hasn't for the last month. 11 appearances 7 of them didn't allow a baserunner at all and an 8th where he faced just 3 hitters in his first inning of work before having to face 5 in his second inning. So 8 out of 11 appearances that he faced 3 hitters in his first inning of work. He's not great and I want him moved down the pecking order, but let's not act like he's out there giving up runs every time out either.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Agreed, and I've said throughout this thread that I want to see him pushed down the leverage line. But his May appearances have been in high leverage situations and he'd been pretty solid in them until the other night. Before Thursday's meltdown he'd had 10 other appearances in May and came out of it with 5 holds, 1 save, and the W in the big comeback in KC. He'd held a 2-0 lead in the 8th on Tuesday. I want him pushed down the line because he's not the same guy he was a couple years ago, but it's not absurd to think he can hold a 2-0 lead in the 8th since he's been doing similar things for a month. That's my thing. People don't like Duffey (and I don't want him as an 8th inning guy either) so when he does blow a lead (which every reliever will do throughout the year) they pounce and suddenly it was obvious he shouldn't be in and can never hold a lead and should be cut and all this stuff, but they ignore the 7 leads (or down by 1 in that comeback situation) before the bad outing and act like those never happened.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Fair enough.- 70 replies
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That makes way more sense. Sending him down would've been real frustrating.
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Of course they talked about a plan the day before! You think that's a new thing? You think they used to show up to the park and just wing it and these crazy, young, know-it-alls are getting crazy and sketching out plans the day before games instead of just waiting until they show up to the park on gameday? I'm not even defending Baldelli! I have, multiple times in this very thread, said he should've left Smeltzer in and had someone ready for Benintendi and that he made mistakes. What I've said is that it's not as blatantly egregious as people are making it sound. I've complained about Rocco constantly changing lineups. I've said he should've run for Sanchez last night. I've said I don't think Rocco is great and wouldn't be heartbroken if they replaced him, but also point out that you're not going to get someone in there that does things drastically different. I've been bashing the FO everyday since they sent Lewis down. I've been complaining about the rest days for stars all season. I've complained about their 3 true outcome building of a lineup. I've said, multiple times in this very thread, that I want Duffey replaced. But I've also provided real world actual happenings from the 2022 major league baseball season as an explanation of why allowing Duffey to even step foot on the field isn't the travesty you'd like to make it out to be. It's almost like I don't have a hardened stance on all things Rocco and FO and can both praise and be critical as different things happen instead of just labeling them as either just good or just bad.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Except, as I've already laid out in this thread, Duffey isn't "prone to coughing up leads." He literally pitched a scoreless 8th inning of a 2-0 game 3 days ago. And he pitched a scoreless 8th against this very Royals team 2 days before that. So I'll go ahead and call you crazy I guess. Although I feel biased is probably the better term here. Whit Merrifield is a .220 hitter this year. Why would we argue that what he's done in the current season doesn't matter? Whit Merrifield didn't have a positive OPS+ last year either. And he's 33. Is it possible he's declined as a baseball player? I'm sorry I'm taking actual happenings from this actual major league baseball season and forming opinions on that instead of just "Whit Merrifield is not a .220 hitter, I don't care what's happened so far (in 2022)" <- assuming that was a typing error there. What a weird argument. "Hey, this guy used to be good so let's ignore what he's been like this season and assume what he's a better hitter than he can show us he is. I mean he is hitting a whopping .231 against the Twins this year so I guess he's really slaughtering them while struggling against everyone else.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I missed the part of his quote that he said they'd decided the day before Smeltzer was only going 7. Like I've even gone back and watched it again now and don't hear him at any point mention that the decision was made the day previous. Is it possible that when he says "once the decision is made" he's talking about in the dugout during the 7th inning and by the time Smeltzer gets to the dugout the in game decision has been made? For the record I would've kept Smeltzer in as well. Disagreed with taking him out. Doesn't change the fact that Duffey, and anyone else in the pen, needs to be able to get a guy hitting .220 and slugging .318 out in the 8th, or any, inning. If the Twins only have 2 guys who can get that guy out (Duran and Smith apparently) they're screwed. What you're describing here is your, very frequently stated, bias against Rocco and the way he and the organization manage the bullpen, and pitchers in general. And also your bias for Duffey. Duffey got through the 8th inning of a 2-0 game on 5/24, but it was crazy to throw him in the 8th inning of a 2-0 game on 5/26? Is it possible that you just don't like Duffey and are ignoring his positive outings to then rage on his bad ones? I've said multiple times now that I would've had someone up and ready for Benintendi and that mistakes were made. I've said I'd like to see other arms brought in to push Duffey down the leverage spectrum. But I'm also able to take 1 blown lead by the pen as just 1 blown lead by the pen and not act like the Rocco is blowing games because the offense can't score more than 2 runs in a game.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
You're just as biased about Duffey as Rocco and the FO seem to be, just in the opposite direction. It's more than reasonable that he pitched to Merrifield. Merrifield is slugging .318 this year. That's the same as Nick Gordon. If Duran is the only guy in the pen who can get a guy hitting .220 and slugging .318 out in the 8th the team is doomed anyways. Not having someone ready for Benintendi was the mistake. And I've said that multiple times now.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Why are we assuming Rocco was going to do something he hasn't done with Duffey last night? He hasn't had a 2 inning save all year. Being convinced that was the plan is simply not based on any real evidence. Yes, I agree the 8th in a 2-0 game is high leverage. That's my point. That's the role Duffey has had in most of his appearances. High leverage. I'm not a big fan. I want Alcala back to push Duffey down the line another spot, and I'd like another arm brought in to push him down further. I don't think his success is sustainable anymore. I'm just pointing out that he has been used in high leverage situations in 9 of 11 May appearances. You had stated that Rocco wasn't using him that way since the first week and that isn't accurate. That's exactly how he's been used. The only times he wasn't used in high leverage situations was 5/12 and 5/14 when he hadn't pitched since 5/8 so they had to get him in a game and then he's basically on an every other day schedule so threw in the 5/14 loss as well. I don't like that he's a high leverage guy, but he has been and he's done well more often than not.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
He wasn't in a save situation last night he was in a hold situation. Don't get me wrong, I'd like an upgrade on Duffey. Not trying to make this into something it isn't. But Duffey's last 5 outings, including last night, have been in high leverage situations. 5/16 Save in 3-1 win, 5/20 7th inning hold in 6-4 win, 5/22 8th inning win in 7-6 win (he held the score in that comeback), 5/24 8th inning hold in 2-0 win, then last night he was thrown in the 8th inning with a 2-0 lead again.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I agree they should've run for Sanchez. Jeffers would've gone to C and they would've lost the DH. I'm not sure what makes it "in all likelihood, Rocco was hoping he would close out the game." There's no reason to believe that. Duffey has thrown more than 1 inning twice in 18 appearances. There's no reason at all to suggest Duffey was getting a 2 inning save when he hasn't been used like that all season. Closest situation was against the Orioles with a 3 run lead when he finished the 7th before pitching the 8th. The other situation was when they were down 4-0 against the Astros and he pitched the 6th and 7th. Suggesting there was any reason to believe he was getting a 6 out save isn't based on anything that's happened. Again, I would've pulled him after the Merrifield double and I'm not saying the was the right choice to leave him in or that he deserves no heat. Just saying the game was tied before anyone can say they'd have pulled him.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I said I wasn't saying it's the right decision. The game was tied before anyone can say they'd have pulled Duffey. I said having someone ready for Benintendi would've made sense. Duffey has made 18 appearances this season. He's allowed even 1 run in 5 of those. Can we not act like he's been getting shelled left and right? He hasn't allowed a single run in 73% of his outings. Before last night he'd allowed runs in 2 of his last 13 appearance. 3 runs in 13.1 innings. It's more than reasonable to have expected him to get out of an inning that started Out, 1B, Out unscathed. After the double I'd have pulled him. All I'm saying is it's not some crazy situation. The Royals pulled their guy after he loaded the bases with no outs. That's very different than 1 on 2 outs after 3 hitters. Rocco should've pulled him before they lost the lead, but Duffey has been good at not giving up runs so it wasn't like he left me out there to give up 15 runs with a 14 run lead.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Dang, I missed that. Thanks for the info! I certainly won't say it was the right decision last night, but I don't think it's as egregious as others do. It was 2 outs guy on first after the first 3 hitters. No reason to get anyone up and throwing then, right? Then you get a single. 2 out, guys on 1st and 2nd. Certainly a little nervous, but just needs 1 out and inning over. Whit Merrifield is a good baseball player, but he's also hitting like .220 this year. No problem with letting Duffey face him, but definitely a point in time that you'd think it's probably good to get someone up just in case he doesn't get Merrifield and things start getting ugly. After Merrifield doubles I'd definitely have someone up and throwing and I don't believe that happened so Rocco deserves some heat there. I think it's also reasonable if people think he should've had a lefty ready for Benintendi. Witt is also hitting about .220 this year so you'd expect him to get the out there. Then he gets Dozier. I get why people are upset, but I think when you look at how it played out it's not a terribly egregious decision. Guy on first, 2 outs turned into 3 runs in in a matter of 4 more hitters. If your relievers can't get 1 out in 4 hitters you're in trouble no matter what. Certainly reasonable that people would want someone ready for Benintendi, but by then the game was already tied. Tied is certainly better than trailing, but nobody can argue in good faith that they'd have taken Duffey out with 1 on 2 outs or 2 on 2 outs before Merrifield doubled. Offense not scoring with the bases loaded 0 outs is far more egregious in my mind.- 70 replies
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The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help
chpettit19 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Buxton playing through injury and getting mandatory rest/completely out of the game days, Correa getting rest days, and now Polanco being out for multiple days in a row is why they don't have 14 pitchers. If you're going to shorten your bench by 1 guy every game you need an extra bench guy. But they need to be at 13 pitchers after this weekend anyways. I do agree it's not great that they haven't been carrying 14 arms when they could be with these 18 games in 17 days or whatever the number is.- 70 replies
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I can understand getting him some work in left since he's never played it before, but don't agree that he needs to get extra work at 3B if he's ready to hit in the majors. He's a better 3B now than Arraez is and they play Arraez there to get his bat in the lineup (before he was forced to 1B where they were ok with him playing a new position to get his bat in the lineup). Don't think it's the end of the world to get Lewis more work, but if Gordon continues to look like he does or Polanco continues to struggle with his ankle hurting or Urshela doesn't get his OPS up to at least .700 or Miranda keeps struggling and they start losing games while Lewis is mashing in AAA it's a massive mistake. This offense isn't good enough to ignore Lewis if he's one of their best bats.
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Will be very interesting to see what they do with Lewis and Kirilloff. What will it take for Kirilloff to convince the FO that he's healthy/ready? If they feel he's ready would he replace Miranda even though he's not a righty? What does it take for Lewis to supplant Gordon knowing Gordon is likely lost to a rebuilding team if they try to send him back down? Is the only hope for either of them an injury to a current big leaguer? Be interesting to follow for sure. Hajjar looks like he's mastered A ball and is ready for a bump up to A+. As a 2nd round pick college arm I'd think they'd be willing to make that move pretty quick and challenge him a bit with relatively quick promotions as earned. Has anyone been watching games and know what Martin has been looking like? Are there changes to his swing and/or approach? That'd make me less concerned with his overall numbers if he's trying to make adjustments on the fly.
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I'm all for asset management in lost seasons. Like last year. But will never understand the stance when the team is in the heart of the playoff hunt.

