twinstalker

Holy crap. Lewis has figured it out! Finally. And to think the key to hitting well was simply to face AAA pitching. If he can bring that to MLB, he'll be unstoppable.

There is something very positively different about this team, and I'm afraid to go there as to why, at least until we see how the summer goes. But the ABs are better, the starting pitching is better, and the defense is seemingly getting better after being the worst last year and early this year. A lot of this might have to do with the manager change, I don't know. Certainly, the tolerance for bad defense seems less so than the Rocco years that spiraled into the Anti-Twins Way.

I think Buxton aggravated his injury, and who knows when he's back in CF. They certainly wouldn't have given him an off day here. He just got back, and he's only DHing. I'm afraid Keaschall is hurt, and it may be something bad? Friday he's 2-4 with a HBP, then he sits Saturday and Sunday? Yeah, I do believe he needs to sit and watch for a while, but if you're going to do it, it's probably not after a game like Friday. I may have missed a really bad defensive play that factors into this, I don't know Otherwise, I''m wondering if he didn't hurt his forearm on that HBP?

What I see happening is the Twins trying to optimize things for this year. Lewis and Wallner are down, Keaschall has reduced ABs, Lee is moved. The fan in me thinks that makes sense, except the bullpen is cr@p, the rotation will be very thin, the catchers can't hit, and the one thing the Twins can do about that is to hold on to Ryan, which would be the dumb thing to do. Even knowing that they'd get killed by another playoff team, the race for the playoffs makes the season fun and seemingly more meaningful. The cynic in me knows this team has no chance. They're trying to fool the fans for as long as possible until they fall apart due to inevitable injuries, slowdown, and regression for some of the surprises. They can only hit in CF and, for now, in the corner outfield. The utility guys (Kreidler, Gray, and Arcia) are not anything but what they are, and they will settle in to a .225 average as a group with modest power and little on-base. Lee needs to play every day, Keaschall needs to play every day, in Lee's case to see if there's anything there. The Twins need to trade Ryan and Jeffers, Ryan because his trade value drops substantially if you don't deal him by the deadline. Also, he'll almost inevitably get hurt, and we just saw how that can happen with both him and even Jeffers. I saw yesterday the Twins, empirically, have a 15% chance to make the playoffs. That doesn't account for what's bound to happen to this team that will not or cannot be fixed, like losing Prielipp from the rotation (due to innings limitations) or just normal injuries. So if it's truly a 5-10% chance, that's definitely not enough to change the overriding strategy.

Gawd, I hope not. There are two guys who are a clear cut above. I pray the Twins take advantage if one of Cholowsky or Emerson drops.

I don't think I'd get much argument that Lewis' three home runs this far mean nothing. I'd much rather see this after he continued to struggle for a bit. To go down and immediately hit HRs probably means he has the look of a AAAA player and simply can't hit MLB pitching. I'd rather see that he can't hit AAA either, because then we'd know he's all messed up rather than just not good enough for MLB. Oof.

Oh, yeah, Polanco. I'm not sure there was ever anything we traded Polanco for besides Gonzalez. This is what the trade was all about. You'd have hoped to get more (a good Topa?), but Gabby is what the trade was for. Unfortunately, he has to hit a ton to make up for his defense and be close to as good as Polanco. Twins saved 10.5 million by getting rid of PL, so in theory, they don't need a ton from Gonzalez, just a good bat vs lhp who isn't bad in the COF, a short-side platoon guy.

I don't think Puckett's third year has anything to do with this. And this is not going to happen. He's back in AAA in a couple of days because, well, AAA is something he hasn't conquered yet. St. Paul is super misleading for hitters, and his stats kinda suck there as is. He is a bit of a wild card, though. I'd like to see him in August.

Well, can't trade him, really. Note sure they even should if they could get a lot. However, Braves do have prospects. Cam Caminiti JR Ritchie Eric Hartman Tate Southisene

I was drinking an expensive beer, and now part of it has been snorted onto my laptop. I'll give you this: very slightly interesting in SSS collection.

He's 26 with a 25% K rate without a power profile putting up slash lines in two of the top hitters parks in all of minor league baseball. I don't know the underlying metrics, but my guess is they're not loud in a good way. So this seems very similar to Keirsey's situation, where most of this board wanted him to get a chance, and the Twins reportedly scoffed at the idea that he had any real value when asked if they were afraid of losing him in Rule V. So, yeah, put Fedko on the 40 and call him up, but the next step then is to DFA him, probably, to open a spot. Fedko is probably a guy who could make a bit of a living in St. Paul, go home in the offseason to mom and dad, and show up in ST. At least for a couple of year, if he wanted to.

The promotion means nothing, given the choice was between two OFers who aren't ready. What he does with it does matter. Tolle tried to get him to chase, and he didn't chase. That was impressive, though it also could have been the mentality of "don't do anything stupid," meaning he was making sure the ball was going to cross the plate before swinging. I think that made him late. Maybe a short stint in MLB will propel GG to start hitting better at AAA.

First, I scramble to find a second definition for platonic. Hang on... Okay, it's not platonic we're talking about but platonic ideal. I learned a new phrase! It's arguable, though, that it fits with leadoff man. I suppose a case can be made. Damn, now I sort of realize I shouldn't have been skimming so many of the articles.

I don't know whether the numbers are available, but imagine an average of $50 per subscriber per year. I wouldn't be shocked if he has 2,000+ subscribers. Then do something similar with Patreon subscribers, of which there are about 6,500 and the $$$ are split evenly with Bonnes. I'd venture to say he's risking living on a measly $250k at a minimum. I'd say making that kind of money, beholden to nobody, and living your dream is a pretty good gig. He's earned it. Plus, he can likely pick up some freelance work if he wanted it.

Hardly. You're looking at the wrong numbers. Or maybe you're right, and the Twins are the ones looking at the wrong numbers.