jimbo92107

An oversimplified metric fails to acknowledge the way Tyler Duffey uses his remarkable curve ball. "...his curveball might look good" is exactly the point. Duffey is getting consistent whiffs on his curve because its trajectory starts right down the middle, just like his modest heater. But then, as it gets about fifteen feet from the plate, it breaks down and left sharply. Very few major league hitters can compensate for a break that sharp. The problem with the metric is that Duffey is bouncing his curve a foot behind home plate on purpose, not because he lacks control. The bend is so severe that he induces ridiculous swings that miss by an average of six inches. If you can do that without throwing a called strike, why would you ever spot the ball in the zone? We have seen Duffey bounce his curve three or four times in one at-bat. Even guys that manage to check their swing or foul off one or two usually can't keep it up for as long as Duffey can, and that's the beauty of his curve. Not only are hitters hard pressed to make contact, but it also sets them up for Duffey's modest fastball, which he mixes in and spots around the periphery. Here's the other thing: Duffey and Suzuki can tell if a guy is trying to adjust by holding up or resorting to a golf swing. When the golf swing comes out, here comes a fastball up. When the guy starts hesitating looking for the curve, suddenly 90mph blows right past him. I'm guessing that Duffey is perfectly capable of muscling up his fastball to 93 or 94, but there's no need. He'd rather throw a really precise heater at 90, mixed in with his other stuff. Command is the word most would use to differentiate Duffey's curve from others. Mastery is more apt. Duffey has such total confidence in his bender (Bender, nickname??), he is completely comfortable using it in any situation, including count 3-2, game on the line situations, where 9 of 10 pitchers will go with the trusty heater, and hitters know it. With Duffey, they literally have no clue what's coming, but they won't like it. Bouncer? Fastball in a corner? Back door breaking ball? Two-seamer fading away? Change-up? I've even seen him throw his curve deliberately high to a lefty, because the hitter hesitates, no-way man, before oh-drears, it's gonna be a strike. Whiff. Now for what will sound like hype, but it's not. Duffey's curve has been compared to Kershaw's and Greinke's because of the rpm's, which sit around 1600. Given the versatility and mastery Duffey shows with his curve, I'd say his breaker is better than Kershaw's or Grenke's, both of whom use the curve as an alternate to a blazing fastball, where Duffey uses it as his foundation pitch that everything else depends on. If the two Cy Young winners don't have a feel for their curve, they can get by with other stuff for awhile. It's hard to imagine Duffey not controlling his curve, except his very first appearance against Toronto, where he simply forgot how to pitch.

Buxton drove in the winning run. Good game.

They would type Shakespeare like monkeys.

I like this Buxton kid. He's got a lean, hungry look.

Beautiful pitch calling by Suzuki on those last three guys. Good job by Jepsen.

Well, at least Jepsen has closed a few games before...

I wonder what rpm's Trevor May's curve ball has. Not as high as Duffey's, but maybe 1200 rpm? Pretty good break on those three.

One begins to wonder if Max Kepler would drive in more runs than Mauer at this point...

Wow, Baltimore sure figured out Tommy Milone.

Milone looks good tonight. Sharp control. See if the Twinks can start knocking around Chen here.

Exactly. Greg Maddux: Fastball 45, Curve 45, Control 55.... !

True, but vital to Duffey's effective use of his nasty curve is his ability to spot it reliably. Alex Meyer's curve is nasty, but he couldn't throw it in the same spot twice to save his life. I've seen Duffey drop his nasty curve a foot behind home plate in the dirt, same spot, getting hitters to whiff over it by up to a foot. I've seen him speed it up, slow it down, throw it high and low, and pick the back door with it on a consistent basis. What's funny is that in the prospect bio, Duffey's curve is rated 50, which is about the same as everybody else. Berrios and Tyler Jay have curves rated 55. Better than Duffeys?? Overall, 45...isn't that the score almost everybody gets?? Those number scores must be limited to miles per hour or something.

I agree, Graham belongs in AAA working as a starter, not in the Twins bullpen working as a so-so reliever. Make the deal with Atlanta. Graham is a live arm with potential, but possibly two years from being a competent starter.

It's not just the rpm's on Duffey's curve, it's his command and confidence that's really impressive. He's bowling for strikes and spares, putting that curve just where he wants. The other thing is that his heater, an otherwise average 90 to 92mph pitch, is moved around the zone, but rarely down the middle. Assuming that his last two performances are a baseline for what he's got to build on, Tyler Duffey could develop into a serious star pitcher. That's an ace curve ball, and he uses it to set up a well-placed two- and four-seam heater. If he also adds a good change-up, he may leave a lot of hitters looking like he just did in Cleveland and Baltimore. Duffey's curve sets up a remarkably effective dilemma. Very few hitters will swing at it on the first pitch, which means Duffey gets a lot of called strike one's. Now the batter is behind in the count. What's coming next? Duffey's command allows him to place his curve anywhere he wants, including plenty of them below the zone. The curve can make a good hitter whiff by half a foot, while the threat of it can make them late on his average fastball. Plus, he's perfectly willing to throw the curve on ball 3 counts, repeatedly. Most pitchers eventually resort to a fastball if a guy fouls off a few curves. Duffey is happy to throw that tight hook all day. Trickery is the best part. It's tons of fun watching a guy bend a baseball with precision and consistency. It's something every little pitcher wishes he could do, and Duffey is one of the few guys on the planet that appears to have mastered that magic trick. Maybe we should start calling him Dr. Hook.

Cross fertilization. Rule 5 is good for teams and good for players that are stuck in the minors for one reason or another. JR Graham was stuck in Atlanta after TJ surgery; the Twins claimed him as a possible reclamation project, and it has worked pretty well so far. I get the feeling Graham wants to transition to a starter, but he could do worse than stay in a middle inning role. The problem with "Rule 6" is that if you take a guy from say, A ball and stash him on the 25, you start burning up service time right away. Maybe twinnsouth meant to pick only from guys that are otherwise Rule 5 eligible? Also, would you make this a league-wide official rule, or are you talking about an unofficial team policy just for the Twins?

Eddie Rosario is a professional ballplayer from head to toe. He's going to have an excellent, long career in the major leagues, including at least a few appearances in the All Star game. His offensive numbers will continue to improve, including his average and his power. Danny Santana has a chance to be an mlb starting shortstop, but the odds are going down. He needs to manage his emotions better, and develop much better plate discipline. Rosario will have no sophomore slump at all. His game will remain as steady as the look on his face at the plate. Steady Eddie.

I like "Extra E" because of Duffey, which usually has one less e at the end. It also reminds me of line from a urine fetish ad in New York: "The extra E is for extra pee!" Or we could call him Captain Hook or something, true... Dr. Hook?

It's fun watching a curve ball specialist. Most mlb pitchers have an okay curve, but Duffey is one of the rare pitchers that just loves to throw that hook.

Gene Glynn blew that one. He hesitated before waving his arm for Escobar to keep going. That's why Esco broke stride, he wasn't sure Glynn was sure, and so on...out.

I'm basing my evaluation on one swing of the bat I watched, where Turner hit a home run. It wasn't a very good swing, almost no legs, yet the ball went over the fence anyway, mostly because Turner has very strong arms. Like the problem Aaron Hicks is finally solving, Stuart Turner does not do a good job transferring power from his lower half to his upper half. Unlike Hicks was doing, Turner is not doing the "French Mistake" where he pushes his butt away from the plate. Turner simply needs to cock his bat farther and turn his lead hip more. Right now he's trying to be a contact hitter, not realizing that he be a better hitter all around if he'd prepare to hit the ball harder. One possible key to getting better offensive production from Turner is Tom Brunanski, who will know what to tell Turner...not that others haven't told him already. Meanwhile, Turner is hands down the best defensive prospect within range of the major league club. Of course he could flop completely, but I'd still like to see Turner have a September call-up. When was the last time opposing teams were hesitant to steal bases on a Twins catcher?

Close, but I'm betting that Kepler's bat will get him more at-bats than Mauer next season, and Polanco's bat will win out over Santana's. I'll add one fantasy pick to take over the starting catcher duties: 1--Buxton--CF 2--Dozier--2B 3--Kepler--1B 4--Sano--DH 5--Plouffe--3B 6--Rosario--LF 7--Turner--C 8--Polanco--SS 9--Hicks--RF Suzuki can be a really good backup catcher on my 2016 Twins. I'd also make room for Vargas to get back into the mix. Mauer and Hunter may still be around for platooning and mentoring, but not so much playing time. 2016 should be really, really fun to watch.

I hope the Twins call up Stuart Turner in September. I'd like to see a really good defensive catcher gun down a few base stealers. It's been a while. Even if the guy's bat is a wet noodle, I'd like to see a strong arm behind the plate.

I wonder if Hu bought a Ninja blender. I read some Amazon reviews on them that said, "DON'T TOUCH THE BLADES!"

Reminds me of the advice that you should act like what you want to be, and over time, you will become it.

I'm sure I could do a worse job, but I don't have the inside information TR has about scouting reports, team budget considerations, or the short-, medium- and long-term plans of the organization. One thing for sure is that nobody in Ryan's position would pay much heed to Twins Daily, where every decision is second-guessed in every way possible, including selling the farm for Troy Tulowitzki and maybe one reliever. Every possible bad decision has been voiced on this site as a can't-miss idea, sometimes by me. Since none of us has complete access to all information inside the organization, we speculate a lot about moves they should or shouldn't make based on assumptions that simply may not be true. Are the Twins really interested in winning this year? As in, winning it all? Absolutely not is my assumption, or they would have sold the farm for Tulo and whoever else they could grab. Instead, I'm assuming they are trying to keep fan interest with some minor reshuffling while they wait for young talent to bubble up from the minors. However, in the meantime they have to put a respectable team on the field, which is why they got Torii Hunter, Suzuki, Hughes, Nolasco, Pelfrey, etc. Keep the team somewhat respectable while awaiting the arrival of the future stars from AA and A. Problem is, sometimes the veterans get hurt, like Nolasco, Hughes, and now Perkins. If your respectable veterans go down, you're not left with much to avoid a total implosion. That's why I'd recommend saying, "Screw this season, let's bring up all the kids and see which ones can play a little baseball." It's not so much a good PR move at this point, it's more like a long shot that's your only shot to keep fans interested. Limping along for the rest of this season with broken down veterans isn't much of an option.