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jimbo92107

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Everything posted by jimbo92107

  1. jimbo92107
    I would rather stumble on bells and whistles than walk barefoot on a Lego. Forward, march!
  2. jimbo92107
    Almost agree. Still early, but I'd keep Garlick around over Rooker. Don't know what's wrong with Kep - either he's lost enthusiasm for baseball (a German immigrant??), or he's hiding a sore back. He's not swinging hard anymore. Agree that Arraez today is better than Polanco, Luis to 2B. He seems to mesh better with Simmons anyway. Don't know if I'd bring up Larnach if Kep is put on IL or something. Maybe bring up Celestino for a faster corner and to give Buck a break now and then. I would cut Cave. We have seen his ceiling and his floor. We can do better with guys in the organization. We also know that three of the guys that missed today's game (Alex, Turts, Luis) were getting hits, while their replacements were not, and that includes Sano.
  3. jimbo92107
    If Vanimal is right, I agree completely. If he is wrong, then the degree of my disagreement will vary depending on how wrong he is. ;-) Like most of us, I realize there is a certain amount of hopeful hype invested in an organization's minor leaguers. If only this guy could learn to lay off the curve / throw a better curve, he'd be a big star. In seasons leading up to the pandemic we have seen what usually happens. The guy simply can't throw that curve for strikes, or he throws them for strikes...right down the middle. Turns out that making it in the show takes more than making a baseball curve. Gotta throw it where you want, when you want, no matter the situation. What we discovered was that almost all the best relievers the Twins found in the minors were unable to make the needed pitches on demand. Nevertheless, the Twins should do this again. Call up the best relief specialists from AAA and AA. See if just one of them has the stuff to stick. After that, go ahead and sell half the farm for a couple veteran relievers.
  4. jimbo92107
    When Simmons's throw bounced under Kirilloff's glove, I thought, "Herbie would have got that." So would Justin Morneau, or Mauer. Time for K to field a thousand more jugs balls fired at the ground around 1st base. Gotta keep that bat in the lineup. I feel a little bad for Jake Cave. He's got the look of a guy that's soon to be replaced by Garlick or somebody else. Anybody else think Arraez battle at home plate looked familiar?
  5. jimbo92107
    I like this recap much better, thank you. First, about the Sano situation. Ain't no way Sano is bumping Kirilloff from the batting order. K's bat has made that decision already. At this point I could see the Twins cutting Cave (still a good 4th OF) to keep Kirilloff or Garlick in LF when Sano gets back, with plenty of time off for the big guy to play DH or spell Donaldson at 3rd. The bats I saw today were terrifying, and would have been even more so with Garlick in LF instead of Cave. I had no idea Andrelton Simmons could hit a baseball that far. I wonder if Max Kepler could learn a few things about power hitting by watching Alex Kirilloff in the batting cage. When you compare the two, Kepler's style looks downright dainty compared to the manly rips Kirilloff takes. Relief pitching: This game provided some much-needed low leverage relief pitching. Hansel Robles took advantage to flash some good stuff, but the real winner was Jorge Alcala, who looks like he's starting to believe in himself. Alcala has the stuff to be a lights-out closer, and he showed that stuff today. Bank this experience for future, tighter games. Prediction: Ben Rortvedt is going to develop into one hell of a good catcher, including a good hitter. That kid looks like a dominant athlete. However, his hit tool will take a long time to develop. Luckily, he can now watch an entire team full of baseball mashers, and decide which ones to model his swing after. I recommend Kirilloff.
  6. jimbo92107
    Sure, why not Dobnak? Team's got more data on him at the mlb level than any other candidate. He is young, strong, intelligent, and his stuff produces a lot of ground balls. Dobnak has also been developing strike-out stuff, and it has been starting to show. Tell you what - short leash starts for a few games, with long relievers ready to go. If Dobbs flounders, then it's time to go fishing in the minors. Basically you're swapping roles with Shoemaker, assuming the Twins don't just release the old dog.
  7. jimbo92107
    If you flirt with disaster long enough, eventually you'll get a date. That's what Matt Shoemaker teaches us. His fringy stuff reminds me of a few veterans the Twins have brought in for a one-year deal, then regretted it.
  8. jimbo92107
    I turned on the game just in time to see one play: Donaldson smashes a line drive, pitcher Brady Singer tries to field it behind the back with his foot. I thought, "That's what you get for playing high school soccer."
  9. jimbo92107
    The particular lineup we saw today should be tough to beat. Lots of home run potential, and the infield should be great. Also good to see Happ pitch another effective game. Maybe the breaks are starting to even out.
  10. jimbo92107
    Oscillations are a simple idea. Over time, something goes up and down. A little higher, then a little lower, etc. Over a long enough time, you can draw a line that equally divides the high from the low, to get an average. The Minnesota Twins are definitely swinging very low lately. If you are averaging fewer than 4 runs per game while allowing more than 6, you are going to lose a lot of games. Questions: Are Twins hitters historically better than this? Yes, much better. Are the Twins pitchers historically better than this? Starters, yes. Relievers, hard yes. Have Twins coaches been better than this? Yes, Rowson appeared to have the whole team hitting. An upward oscillation is likely, at least for the hitters. Keep practicing, keep following a good process. It finally worked for Buxton. Meanwhile, the bullpen could definitely use some substitutions, starting with Colome, Stashak and Thiebar. Jhoan Duran, Jordan Balazovic and Matt Canterino could replace them, or whoever is the best reliever in the system. Maybe a trio of hard throwing talent can swing this line back in a positive direction. You can see it in a player's face, whether they are feeling pressure or are applying pressure. Time for the Twins to start applying pressure.
  11. jimbo92107
    Just watched Stashak's 7th inning. Yeah, he's trying (and failing) to hide some kind of pain in his throwing arm. He can't throw the heat because it takes max effort, so he's trying to ease a get-me-over slider for strikes. Problem is, even the slider takes max effort to get that hard break. A soft-breaking slider tends to go the other way at high speed. Sorry kid, careful mechanics won't fix a tear in the rotator cuff, or a sprung elbow. Twins need to get this guy an MRI to see what's hurt.
  12. jimbo92107
    Looking for bright notes... hmm. I will say Kirilloff looks competent at the plate. Like several other Twins, he made good contact, but drove fly balls straight at outfielders. Odds are that some of those drives will fall between the fielders at some point. Pineda looked like average Pineda, except he wasn't moving the ball around enough. Is that the catcher's fault?
  13. jimbo92107
    Trick for Gordon is to be silky smooth in the field, then at least look competent at the plate, like he has a plan and tries to execute. Just the opposite for Kirilloff. He needs to look really good at the plate, and then at least serviceable in the field. Meanwhile, I really hope the Twins are ready to play musical chairs with the bullpen. Colome is making opponents very happy. Maybe invent an injury for him and bring up Duran.
  14. jimbo92107
    Wow, what a long, strange road it has been for Nick Gordon. He just seemed to disappear off the prospect radar after that blow to the knee. One thing after another kept going wrong. I didn't know he kept his average in the upper .200's for such a long time. Maybe finally Nick Gordon's bad luck is behind him. May the future grant him a bunch of healthy years. By this time he should be a pretty darn slick infielder.
  15. jimbo92107
    Fire up the merry-go-round between Twin Cities. Alexander Colomé should get bounced to St Paul immediately, with any power arm coming up in his place. Until Colomé finds his mojo, he's almost guaranteeing a loss.
  16. jimbo92107
    Andrelton Simmons Best signing since Nelson Cruz, even with this Covid crap. Donaldson could match him, if he can stay healthy. If they both stay healthy (130+ games), the Twins chances for post-season go up dramatically. Alexander Colomé Not yet a reliable closer. I'd rather see Alcala closing at the moment, which is not a good sign. J.A. Happ If he gets any sharper, he'll be the equal of Pineda. Trending up. Matt Shoemaker I like his stuff, but can he last a full season? Hansel Robles, RP Teetering on the edge of demotion. Twins system is stocked with power arms. Crank up the merry-go-round.
  17. jimbo92107
    This goes back to basic slugger theory, that you must have somebody following your slugger that can punish a pitcher for working around him. If Donaldson stays healthy for a while, I hope to see him batting behind Sano.
  18. jimbo92107
    He turned me into a newt! ...I got better... - Holy Grail It's always the unexpected, isn't it? The pen was supposed to be the team's strength this season. Look at those arms, man! Indeedy, the Twins this year have a mid-90's relief staff, but as we have also seen, a mid-90's pitch still gets pounded WHEN YOU THROW IT DOWN THE MIDDLE! In fact, one of the only 'good' pitches that got slammed was a Duffey offering to a lefty batter: a medium curve low inside, about where you'd tee up a golf ball. Funny how so many lefties love that pitch. Duffey caught the inside corner on that pitch, where every pitching coach would tell him that pitch absolutely must miss inside by at least half a foot. BOOM. Almost all the other BOOMS came from pitches that drifted down the middle. Pretty much every MLB player can hit stuff thrown there. This is not to say you cannot throw a pitch down the middle, but you don't do it with runners on base in a close game. I roll up my newspaper of ire and wave it threatening in their direction! Bad! Bad!
  19. jimbo92107
    Most guys the Twins send to the pen manage to ramp up their fastball a couple mph. Dobnak has not done that. He pitches in relief the same way he would pitch as a starter, with the same velocity. The difference appears to be command. As a starter, I don't see (haven't seen) his stuff drift over the middle as much as it did yesterday. No real mystery what was troubling Twins pitchers yesterday. The stuff getting pounded was almost all right down the middle. One exception, a lefty golfed a homer off a down and in curve.
  20. jimbo92107
    The good news is that Pineda looks like historical average Pineda. Pitches about half a game, gives up about 2 runs. The bad news is that too many Twins looked lame at the plate. However, I suspect a few of them are on the verge of busting loose. When redemption come town, somebody gonna pay.
  21. jimbo92107
    The process continues. Sano right now is swinging for hard contact, which is why he's been bashing line drives to the walls, rather than over them. I've been able to call hot streaks before, by seeing a rash of hard contact. It's harder than average to read Sano because his approach at the plate is pretty unique. What I want to see next from him is a hard drive to opposite field. That will tell me that his timing is pretty close to calibrated. After that, clear the runway.
  22. jimbo92107
    There's definitely something different about Byron Buxton this season. He seems somehow more "complete" than before. Maybe it was the off-season of pumping iron and working on his swing. He has a look of confidence I've never seen before. Hard not to be happy the way things are going. With that huge swath of area he covers, he commands the outfield. With that powerful swing, he's pounding baseballs off into the distance like a giant. Right now we are seeing the Byron Buxton the Twins hoped he would become. A true 5-tool superstar. Let us bask in his reflected glory, and pretend we knew it all along!
  23. jimbo92107
    This 2021 team fields better than the Bomba Squad. If they can stay healthy, Simmons and Buxton could subtract many hits and runs from the opposition over the season. At the plate they appear to be searching for an identity. Piranhas or Bombas? I'm fine with a bit of a split personality. Maybe they can execute either approach when needed. Surprised and pleased that Simba appears to be a high-contact guy, like Luis and Torts. The whole lineup has home run potential, tho maybe not in the bunches of the Bomba Squad. Hard to repeat that after the league took a couple psi from the ball. More and more impressed by the bullpen. Not perfect, but quite effective.
  24. jimbo92107
    I know I shouldn't hide my feelings. It's bad for the lombargo. So here's my real take on Baddoo. First, congrats to the kid. Detroit snatched him out from under our noses, and at the moment it looks like the steal of the year. Second, I like to say, Ghaaa. Sounds good, but I'm not actually that upset. The Twins have several good OF prospects in their system. Baddoo was considered promising, but a bit injury prone, and not quite ready to take on pro pitching. Kiriloff, Larnach and Rooker are considered better bats, and Celestino is considered a better CF if Buxton goes down again. Frankly, if Baddoo pans out better than Broxton, Detroit's scouts deserve praise. He's still a long shot to be a star in the league, but his first couple weeks sure have looked good. I hope he does well, but I'm not upset with the guys the Twins decided to keep on the 40. A certain amount of talent will escape an organization now and then. Good for the players.
  25. jimbo92107
    Andrelton Simmons: Key play of the game. How many Twins shortstops in the last 20 years make that play? Not a one. Simmons is faster, stronger arm, and better baseball IQ than all of them. Plus he's a scrappy good hitter. Gold bars for his weight. Maeda: He said it in the post game interview - he's been trying out stuff he'd been working on in spring training. I saw him try a few of his new-look curves. They didn't work, so he resorted back to last year's pitches. He looked irritated, like "what am I doing different?" I suspect he'll figure it out. Boyd: I agree with Morneau on this one. Put in a L/R/L/R lineup against him. He'll be less comfortable. Baddoo: Ghaaaaaa!
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