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Alex Schieferdecker

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Everything posted by Alex Schieferdecker

  1. Alex Schieferdecker
    I like Thorpe and have high hopes for him overall, but he didn't have a great outing today. Meanwhile, Stashak had a pretty solid outing, but he's been shakier overall. It's evened out a bit for those two, as in their limited innings of work each has posted similar (not that good) numbers. I imagine we'll see Littell up again relatively soon, as he has come the closest to cementing a spot in the bullpen of all the AAA guys. Although for now, it looks like the Twins will go with seven in the bullpen and Buxton back up for this Chicago series. But there's a clear opening for a guy like Hildenberger to make his return, or a guy like Graterol to make a triumphant debut.
  2. Alex Schieferdecker
    For all of the hype about Graterol, as well as the success of guys like Littell and Thorpe, and the improved AAA numbers from Romero, I think people are sleeping on the Twins getting bullpen help from an experienced high leverage reliever. That's Trevor Hildenberger of course.
  3. Alex Schieferdecker
    Odorizzi has been extremely reliable and almost always gives the Twins a chance to win, but you know every night that he's only going 5-6 innings because of his difficulties putting batters away. How to value a pitcher like that?
  4. Alex Schieferdecker
    A little bizarre that Cave is getting dragged for his error in right when it was Adrianza's missed scoop at first and Castro's passed ball that allowed the Braves to threaten in that inning anyway. Harper was pitching fine, the guys behind him just didn't make the plays, and it wasn't just Cave.
  5. Alex Schieferdecker
    Excited that Graterol is back, but given that he has never pitched above the AA level, it seems premature to pencil him in as a white knight for the bullpen this September. Thorpe and Littell are the best options we have from the system for bullpen roles down the stretch.
  6. Alex Schieferdecker
    Simply bizarre bullpen management from Rocco, dating back to last night. Getting Rogers warmed up with a seven run lead was odd. Using him with a three run lead, one out, and bases clear was also odd. Even when Poppen got into trouble, there was nothing that Harper or Thorpe couldn't have fixed. Then pulling Pineda today, when he was pitching well and the game was much closer, was taking the wrong lesson from the previous night. It was fine to rest Berrios, because a seven run lead is very secure. I'd have preferred to see Pineda pitch a seventh inning if he's cruising, because a three run lead is far less guaranteed. Finally, using Dyson today, fresh off the plane, when Harper, Thorpe, or May were rested just doesn't make any sense. Let the guy get settled. Just because the Twins acquired Romo and Dyson doesn't mean that the previous relievers can't get the job done for you. Obviously it all completely backfired. Not only did the Twins take a completely unnecessary loss, but they managed to get Rogers completely ruled out for a couple games, and use Dyson and Harper unnecessarily. What was a rested bullpen is now one that probably needs some help again. What I liked about how Rocco managed at the start of the year was that he was willing to put a bunch of different relievers in big spots. Obviously as we get down to the end of the season, that was going to tighten, but now it seems as though we've gone all the way to the other extreme, where if there's any trouble at all, Rogers is the only option. I expect we'll see Stashak and Poppen head back to Rochester, while Zack Littell returns to the team. Hopefully the Twins can have a no-doubter against Kansas City tomorrow night and maybe let Thorpe mop the game up. But if it doesn't happen that way, Rocco's mistakes yesterday and today have really made things difficult. Should've been a sweep.
  7. Alex Schieferdecker
    It seems to have been a really weird market, and the fact that teams like the Yankees weren't able to address their glaring pitching needs suggests that the Twins might've done very well to escape with their prospects intact, while also adding two solid "good but not great" relievers.
  8. Alex Schieferdecker
    Absolutely no problem with Berrios being pulled with a 7-0 lead at 80-odd pitches. After throwing a bunch of pitches in his last two starts, it was especially good to keep his workload low in this one. He has a big start against a good Atlanta team coming up, being prepared for that is far more important than padding stats against the Fish. Also no problem with Sean Poppen pitching the ninth, but I thought the move to Rogers was a bit of an overreaction. Why not start the ninth with Lewis Thorpe stretching? When Poppen gives up the first couple hits, you're ready to bring Thorpe in. Seemed like whiplash to go from having your worst reliever out there to having to use your best. It's not the end of the world though. Although Rogers won't be available today, the rest of the bullpen will be ready, plus Sam The Vacuum Man.
  9. Alex Schieferdecker
    I really hope the front office ignores the peanut gallery and doesn't feel additional pressure to "make a deal" or "respond" to the Bauer trade. Let the Twins focus on what they can control. If there's a good deal to be made, make it. Don't force a bad deal just because you need to be seen as doing something. Cleveland just traded away an ace-caliber pitcher for a couple of prospects and a couple sluggers of the caliber that the Twins have a bunch of, and who make Miguel Sano look like a gold glover. Oh, and one of them is about to be suspended. The deal might pay off, but it also might not. It's a big risk. The fundamental facts of both teams' remaining schedules remains the same. The Twins' three game lead remains the same. This quality Twins team remains the same. Should they being working the phones all day to make a deal? Of course. But there's no cause for the Twins to make a gamble just because Cleveland did.
  10. Alex Schieferdecker
    Is there a top Twins prospect who is not in Pensacola right now?
  11. Alex Schieferdecker
    So much green in the bullpen chart, and an off day tomorrow!
  12. Alex Schieferdecker
    It feels as though Duffey, Harper, May, and Rogers have punched their tickets to be a part of this team's home stretch + potential playoff bullpen. That leaves four spots remaining. Perhaps one to two of those spots will be filled by relievers the Twins trade for, or by a starter who gets moved to the bullpen to make room for a starter who was traded for. For the final two to four spots, the Twins have a lot of candidates with potential but mostly thin resumes to compete for them: Eades, Hildenberger, Littell, Poppen, Romero, Smeltzer, Stashak, and Thorpe.
  13. Alex Schieferdecker
    Another reason why I suspect the Mets are getting so much attention is that other teams have a low opinion of them. Their rookie GM looks like an easy mark, and their coaching staff hasn't caught up to the twenty first century. The appeal of both getting a good deal, and getting a pitcher who may have a much higher ceiling than he's been given the tools to achieve is clearly tempting to a lot of teams. A deal for Syndergaard and maybe Lugo or Diaz is something that just about every team in contention should obviously be kicking the tires on. If the Twins were to be so lucky, or add a different starter, I assume they would move Perez to the bullpen. But is it so essential that they stick to a five man rotation? Perhaps the Twins could go with six starters for the final two months and get their arms even further rest. The more orthodox solution would probably be a hybrid: use Perez as lefty long relief, and sprinkle in a few starts from him here and there.
  14. Alex Schieferdecker
    After the Blake Parker experiment, I don't think I could stand another reliever who walks so many hitters. Even the guys from AAA like Thorpe and Stashak are upgrades because at least they throw strikes.
  15. Alex Schieferdecker
    Incredible game, disappointing to be on the wrong end of it, but it's one game out of one sixty two. People are a right to be frustrated about the bullpen, but there's an incredible about of silly hyperbole and short term thinking going around. The Yankees have a pretty good bullpen too, and the Twins have pounded it. Sometimes good hitting teams prevail. For whatever Blake Parker messed up, ultimately the Twins got the lead to Taylor Rogers and he couldn't keep it. If Rogers is going to blow leads (and the Twins are going to struggle to get a hit with the bases loaded), they will lose games. It's undeniably true that the bullpen needs another high-end arm who can take the pressure off Rogers to appear in every single one of these critical situations. It's probably true that they should move on from Parker and just stick with some of these AAA guys who at least can throw strikes. But there is no way the club doesn't know this, and writing it on all caps in every forum doesn't make it any more or less likely to happen. The Twins are in a trade market with a lot of other teams, and all the buyers are looking for the same thing. Then there's the inherent unpredictability of bullpen arms. I'm sure they will make a move, but blowing leads against the Yankees does not suddenly give them a good reason to make a stupid trade.
  16. Alex Schieferdecker
    Calm down everybody, goodness.
  17. Alex Schieferdecker
    That was like a recent Twins game in reverse. Suddenly it was the other team that was improbably not scoring with really good starting positions, and it was the Twins who were turning fantastic plays in the field. Was thrilled to see Thorpe come out of the bullpen, which I want to happen more and more. He definitely did not immediately have his stuff however, getting behind hitters. But in the second and third innings of work, he was much more in command, getting to two strike counts and getting K's. Hopefully we'll see Stashak tomorrow night, feels like his propensity to throw strikes and his good K/BB without having overpowering stuff make him a bit like a righty version of Thorpe. Wish we had more than a week with these guys to see if they could become serious arms in the pen, a la Littell, but even if/when the Twins do make a move, there's two more spots behind Rogers/Harper/Parker/May/Duffey/The New Guy.
  18. Alex Schieferdecker
    May is so frustrating. He has the stuff, he just cannot throw it for strikes. They've been working hard on him all year, I have some hope he can put it together, because on the rare occasions that he does throw strikes, he's very very hard to hit. I've been impressed by Stewart in his two (I think just two?) bullpen outings this year. I don't have much faith in him or Thorpe as starters, and want the Twins to cut to the chase, as they did with Littell, and get them both coming out of the bullpen. In the meantime, Stashak is intriguing, with his great K/BB. The bullpen depth chart at this point, imo: Great Rogers Good Harper Parker Duffey May Littell Stewart Maybe Promising Stashak Eades Poppen Twins need at least one more arm to join Rogers in the "Great" category. I think they've been hoping that May would make the jump, but at this point, it doesn't look likely that any of the guys they are developing will get there by the end of this year.
  19. Alex Schieferdecker
    It would be nice to get a reliever of the caliber of Yates, etc. But I hope that if the Twins get a high leverage arm, that player is willing to rethink their role and be used less to rack up saves and more to put out fires. The regimented 7th, 8th, 9th inning approach has always been bizarre to me, and I've been happy to see the Twins free themselves a little bit of that way of thinking, even though Rogers is now the de facto "closer." But basically, whomever the Twins pick up, I hope they don't see themselves as a pitcher with a hard and fast role.
  20. Alex Schieferdecker
    The poor fielding dates to well before the All-Star break. I think we can pin it precisely to June 12th, when the Mariners came to town, and the Twins made FIVE ERRORS in a twelve inning loss. Ever since Seattle brought their fielding disease into Minnesota, the Twins have been ill with it.
  21. Alex Schieferdecker
    Given Littell's seemingly permanent move to the bullpen, and the decent outings that Stewart, Poppen, and Eades have all had in recent relief, what's the prospectus on moving Thorpe there? Are people calling for it as they were with Littell, and have been to some degree with others? As a lefty with high strikeout numbers, maybe he could be particularly useful there...
  22. Alex Schieferdecker
    The Pirates seem to have fairly retrograde views on pitching and a track record of being fleeced (see: Archer, Chris), maybe the Twins could offer three prospects in the organization with the best sinkers and see if Pittsburgh can resist.
  23. Alex Schieferdecker
    I've been encouraged by the trend this year of guys like Duffey, Harper, and May earning more prominent roles. I'd like to see Stewart back up with the Twins soon to get another relief appearance. I tend to group he and Littell together out of convenience, since both are similar ages and similarly seem to have little future as starters. But I'm optimistic that both may prove useful in the bullpen. Eades and Poppen also showed some flashes. Out of those four Rochester prospects, there are reasons to be intrigued. The Twins have a lot of lines in the water right now.
  24. Alex Schieferdecker
    I'm happy that neither Littell nor Duffey were sent down. After their performances last night (and this morning), it would've been a hit to morale to put either on the plane to Rochester. Both proved they deserved to stay with the Twins.
  25. Alex Schieferdecker
    I'll take it.
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