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jimbo92107

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Everything posted by jimbo92107

  1. jimbo92107
    Not sure what comps people are using for Louie Varland now, but his ceiling seems a lot higher at the moment. Against a very dangerous Houston lineup, Varland looked like one of the best young pitchers in the league, bar none. He doesn't throw as hard as some, but (like Joe Ryan) Varland commands the zone well enough to throw strikes pretty much where he wants the ball to go. Maybe that's what he meant when he said he was schooling off Ryan's approach. Not the mechanics, but the strategy. If Varland continues to pitch like this, he could wind up being a perennial All Star. I wouldn't yet say a Cy Young candidate...not quite yet. But a top of the ro starter? Hell yes.
  2. jimbo92107
    Wow, that swing of Andrew Cossetti's will get him promoted very quickly. See that bat whip through the zone? See how the ball rockets all the way to the wall? See his speed, and his muscular build? Outstanding mlb catcher is his future. I hope he's a good catcher...
  3. jimbo92107
    Spark requested, 05/28/2023 Request granted, 05/29/2023 Welcome home, Mr. Lewis.
  4. jimbo92107
    I see a handful of glowing embers that could throw off sparks at any moment. One is Eddie Julien, one is Alex Kirilloff, then Royce Lewis, and finally Brooks Lee. Other sparks are possible, but the Twins need to load up on their most promising talent, then stand back and watch the fun.
  5. jimbo92107
    Emilio Pagan is a prime example of what a manager and FO are NOT supposed to do: Give a guy a free baseball education at the cost of losing games. First we heard he had "electric stuff," but he needed to work on his command. Okay, send him down to AAA to...Oh wait, let's stick him in the major league bullpen and just see what happens. Disaster, of course. Low leverage situations? Hey, now he looks pretty good! Let's try to work him back into... Walk walk, BOOM BOOM, the Pagan Sacrifice comes back. Sometimes a guy just doesn't work out. DFA him, and if he clears waivers (any other stooopid FO's out there?), send him back to the Saints. If he mows down hitters for the rest of the season with almost no walks, then consider...trading him. Jax is completely different. Weakly hit balls will regress to the mean. However, he should polish up his change-up. A heater and a slider are not enough to fool hitters 1 through 9. That is, unless Jax can peg the four corners with his heater, which so far he does not do.
  6. jimbo92107
    Did you see Brock Stewart's final pitch? 100 mph, low inside corner. Strike three, waiter, I'll have the chicken, thank you.
  7. jimbo92107
    Don't look now, but Willie Castro is fixing to take Nick Gordon's job, and Matt Wallner is fixing to take Max Kepler's job.
  8. jimbo92107
    I can't wait to see him play live. Get him up there, Twins!
  9. jimbo92107
    I had to rewind and watch Matt Walner's throw from right field over and over. What a bazooka! Is that the strongest OF arm on the Twins since Aaron Hicks? Wallner may not have Max Kepler's footspeed, but the rest of his game may be better. Reminded me of Michael Cuddyer, who also had a major rifle in right.
  10. jimbo92107
    Totally agree. It's one thing if the hitters earn their way on base, but if your pitchers can't or won't throw strikes, that's like some kind of emotional hangup. I say that because if you remove the game pressure, pretty much all these guys can throw strike after strike.
  11. jimbo92107
    I agree, but after his little emotional tiff, the pitching coach came out and appeared to say exactly the right thing. Whatever it was, it got Lopez to crack a little smile. After that, he got back to being a happy tiger, striking out two of the league's toughest hitters with a clever mix of pitches. His slider to K Ohtani was absolutely filthy, nearly hit the batter in the foot. What a difference when your pitcher has the right attitude.
  12. jimbo92107
    Good to see Jorge Lopez out there competing and having a good time. Clearly he was enjoying himself when he got Trout and Ohtani to end his inning. That was some good pitching.
  13. jimbo92107
    Of the five guys in these videos, the one that intrigues me most as a possible steal is Joe Whitman. Looked very professional on the mound, good poise, repeatable motion. Gotta be a way to teach him a good change-up to go with that nice heater. Twins system coaches can give his fastball a couple added ticks, you've got at least a good arm for the pen, maybe more.
  14. jimbo92107
    Willie Castro may be "stretched" in CF as far as footspeed, but I've seen his arm, and it's a true gun. If you're playing Gallo in one corner, Castro CF and Garlick or Larnach in the other corner, that's not a bad fielding OF.
  15. jimbo92107
    How about a list of the top ten "snake bit" players or prospects in the Twins system? That would include guys that never quite made the bigs.
  16. jimbo92107
    The advantage I give to Joe Ryan is that his pitching style does not appear to require a massive amount of energy. Sonny Gray looks and sounds like he's expending max effort with each pitch. If I'm right, then Ryan's game is more likely to last the season than Gray's game is. Still, as many have said, there's a lot of baseball yet to be played.
  17. jimbo92107
    Remember his thumb injury? Trevor Plouffe was a major reason players now wear a rubber gasket on their front thumb when hitting. If he'd worn one from the start, he might have been a monster power hitter. Great guy, all the best to him.
  18. jimbo92107
    That was Phil Cuzzi, too?? The infamous Mauer foul ball double. Ball was two feet inside the line, ump calls it foul. After that, Mauer was out easily. That one blown call convinced me that umps were being bribed. Figures it would be Cuzzi.
  19. jimbo92107
    Congrats to Louie Varland. He says he schools off Joe Ryan...might be better if he finds a few vids of 3-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. Varland's delivery does resemble Sherzer's, so anything he can do to make the resemblance stronger probably would be good. Remember when a few mlb players tried to copy Rod Carew's hitting style? Question for the TD folks: I suppose it can be fun watching major leaguers tee off on a position player pitching, but honestly, doesn't that make a mockery of the game? I would rather see the umpires call it a day and simply say, "game over," than see players going through the motions, especially at what's supposed to be the pinnacle of professional competition.
  20. jimbo92107
    I think Ryan could get some cheap strike one's by starting with his sweeper, 80 percent out of the zone, then hooking into the zone the last 20 percent. Betcha he could do it. Batters would just stand there, like, "I ain't swinging at that."
  21. jimbo92107
    Yes, Joe Ryan is now an ace-caliber pitcher. His off-season addition of a good sweeper and a great splitter has given him an assortment of pitches each of which is difficult to hit, but combined amount to an extremely hard pitcher to predict. Ryan built this trio of great pitches on a foundation of excellent poise, that dynamic balance that allows him to generate hand-speed while keeping the rest of his body quiet. He glides through his motion with the same physical ease we used to see from guys like Kevin Tapani, Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios. None of these guys looks like they're muscling up to exert force. They do it with rhythm and perfect mechanics. This ease of motion also allows them to be very precise with their location inside and outside the strike zone. Finally, it allows them to tinker with grips, letting them bend the ball in various directions from the same release point. The best part about Joe Ryan is that he's dominating without a mid- to upper-90's heater. Through his career, I fully expect him to keep adding pitches to his arsenal. A slow curve for strike one would be nice...
  22. jimbo92107
    I like this pitching staff. Each starter is capable of putting up multiple innings with no runs. Each one can keep his team in the game. The relievers are pretty good, too. Not bulletproof, but all of them are fighters, and each one has talent. Excellent closers with Lopez and Duran. The offense isn't really clicking yet, but it's showing signs of life. Polanco provided some inspiration, and now Kiriloff is doing the same. Correa and Kepler are starting to apply more pressure. The team as it is right now could be capable of making the playoffs. However, to go further, they're going to need more from the rest of the guys. That, or from prospects like Lewis and Lee. The Twins system has the talent to do some postseason damage. But first they have to get here.
  23. jimbo92107
    Brett Headrick appears to be another large factor. The big lefty has shown a very pleasing ability to get hitters out quickly. He should get many more opportunities at the mlb level. Chris Paddack's star has dimmed considerably since first I saw him pitch for the Padres. Now I'm wondering if he'll have enough velocity and durability to be a starter at all, or just another arm in the pen. If his heater doesn't revive, he's a middling reliever. To me the next up now is Headrick and SWR. Then Balasovic. Of them, Headrick looks the most ready to become a starter.
  24. jimbo92107
    Nah, I vote for robo-ump. Don't pressure players or pitchers to get just three chances right. In a typical mlb game I watch, there are a lot more than three bad calls at the plate. Only a couple times have I seen an ump get it right the whole game. I was shocked. If you are going to have a challenge system, the penalty for a failed challenge should be an added strike, not some arbitrary countdown. Also, it must also incorporate a count of how many calls are blown by each plate umpire, so that the worst of them can be culled from the herd. Umpires are there to ensure fair play. If they can't call balls and strikes, they should find a different job.
  25. jimbo92107
    Not only did Ober pitch seven complete shutout innings, he out-pitched a guy that was working on a perfect game. Bailey Ober is an excellent mlb starter.
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