Bill Brown69

The trouble with ground balls into the shift is that is most likely a player trying to lift a pitch that can't be lifted, as in rolling over and hitting it to your pull side. Opposite field ground balls are often hard hit and can do wonders for a batting average. Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, George Brett, Rod Carew all hit a bunch of hard hit, low to negative launch angle balls the other way. Data is great if presented the right way but if every hitter decides they have to average 20 whatever degrees of angle then we could be hitting more grounders into the shift. Seems to me the better approach is to square up what you swing at. Inside and middle it is easy to get the backspin to create the launch angle, away it is probably sinking and moving further away so most times even what you think is square is going to result in a ball that lands before the outfield grass but if there is velocity it has a good chance to get through and it is impossible to shift somebody who uses all fields with any sort of an even distribution of fly balls, liners and grounders.

You're selling him short, he's going to be a #3 hitter . I have no doubt that he could handle #3 but my perfect lineup has right-hander guy a lot like him at #3, Sano at 4 and another power hitter at 5 with a 2017 May Joe Mauer hitting 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My thought on the #2 hitter is that it should be a guy who hits a lot of line drives and doubles. Speed at the leadoff can score from first on a long double. Second part is if the leadoff guy doesn't get on the #2 guy needs to be on second with 1 out.

Coors Field helped Burk's slash line but he had a 50 WAR career.

I always doubted Kepler when he was in the minors but fell in love when he got to the majors and I could watch him. I have posted this before but the player Kepler reminds me of is Ellis Burks only a left handed version. I can see Max becoming a 20-25 homer guy with 30+ doubles for years to come. To me he is the prototypical #2 hitter and could easily score 100+ runs. I say sign the guy to a 10 year contract!!!!

I am not sure where to rank them in all time context but this team is pretty close defensively to the greats. I agree that the Orioles of the late 60's/early 70's will probably never be touched but if Mauer would have started his career at 1st I think that we would be talking now about him rivaling Hernandez as the best 1st baseman of all time defensively. If Buxton doesn't kill himself and can play 10-12 years we could easily be saying he is the best defensive centerfielder of all time. Put 2 awesome together with the other 6 all playing above average to great and you have a team that is pretty special. Enjoy the ride and the best part is that it could get better!!!!!!!

90% of my games are by radio. After listening to either Cory or Chis Atteberry none of the above is even close. I vote for Chris because it doesn't look like the Twins Radio Network is going to give him a real shot unless they know something about Dan retiring that I don't.

Vargas had 5 LOB today. Top 4 in the lineup had 11-20 if you count walks and we score 4 stinking runs!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I like Vargas but dig a bit before you blast the pinch hitting. Although it was just perfect that EE left 2 on, Rosario 3, Polanco 1, Castro 2. The only starters who didn't have a mark in the LOB category were Buxton and Dozier. Molitor made a poor move today by removing Hughes. Down by 5 with a sniff at getting back in it, when you get nothing send Hughes back out and take one for the team in a doubleheader. Molly lucked out to get by with 3 pitchers in the first game.

Top of my head but Zack Grienke was't an ACE last year so ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I would define an ACE as the top 10 pitchers in baseball each year with a select few being on that list multiple times. For those I would use HOF to define them!

Honest question. Wouldn't doubling the size of the analytics department equate to a bunch of outside guys with fresh ideas? I kinda doubt that TR used that department for the draft and I understand the it isn't easy to compare apples to apples with stadiums having different technology but I do not understand why there is analytics if it is only going to be used for players after coming to pro ball. The NFL spends millions analyzing players long before they ever set foot on a pro field so why wouldn't we run everything possible through that department, at least on the top 100 guys?

For some reason there seems to be a roller coaster of emotion on the first 20% of a long season. These are mostly young kids and consistency is not going to define your play in your first few seasons. No Santana isn't going to keep pitching to a sub 2 ERA nor will Santiago keep pitching to a 2.78 ERA but Berrios nor Mejia will pitch as bad as before, and they will both get plenty of starts this year. That leaves it up to Hughes to keep his arm attached to his body and the bullpen to keep getting overworked and live on who they are until the young guys get off the DL and are ready. As a whole the pitching staff should be much better than last year but are still pretenders. Hitting wise, neither catcher will hit .250, we knew that. Mauer is who he is. I expect him to raise his average and walk totals some, but nowhere close to the good ole days. Dozier will go on a tear for a while sometime. How long will determine if this is another 40 HR year or a 25 HR year. Hopefully his ankle doesn't bother his base running and he scores 100. Polanco will have his ups and downs. With 359 career at bats he is maybe starting his Sophomore slump. Hopefully he can get it out of the way before the season ends and be close to who he will be for next year. Sano wont have an OPS of 1070 or hit .300 but he is legit and a huge threat. All of the outfielders have less than 900 career at bats. If you react to every series, get ready for a large and twisty roller coaster. They all have the tools to be at least very productive, if not All Stars. I am ready for the Vargas train to roll but he only has just over 500 At bats. Grossman has just over 1000, so he is only just getting established as a hitter. Overall the team is pretenders, but in a good way. I still think 82 wins. 76 if things break poorly and who knows what a little luck,,,,,86? 88? Regardless this is a fun team to follow right now. There will be frustrating moments but stay calm and enjoy the ride.

Vargas was on the DL when the season started. Park could be argued that he should have made the team but he went to the DL in about the 4th game. Even though Grossman has done well, I hope Vargas gets 75% of the starts. I really think Grossman should start working with a 1st baseman glove.

Not only standing up but slowing down as he approached 3rd. Buck has 4 of the 10 fastest times in the stat cast era!

Like I said, I don't care anything about the lack of payroll up till now or soon, but KEEP SOME OF THESE GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pick who you like, earn your salary and pay them to spend 10 years with the Twins!!!!!!!!!!!!

I heard a report that Sano wants to be the first $50 million per year player in baseball. I think Harper will beat him to it though. I have stated before that I didn't care 1 bit about the last 2-3 years of low payroll IF they use it later to keep a nucleus of good players. As a fan I am demanding that at least 4 of what had been ranked as the top farm system in baseball play at least 10 years with the Twins. Every player has question marks (even Sano, weight and elbow) BUT there are people making a lot of money to evaluate talent and get it right. For some reason the Puckett and Mauer contracts have made a lot of people think that it never works for us. BS! If you never take a chance you never get anywhere other than close/coulda/shoulda! I would make Jeremy's offer to Kepler. Sano would get an offer for much more, way much more. I would also consider a couple others, but within reason. Polanco, Rosario and maybe even Buxton but I do realize there is no way to keep the whole band together.

I would be cautious about the depth of starters. I do think Berrios has showed enough in his 2 starts to start the wheels of thinking turning though. 90% chance that between now and the end of the season we will need 8 starters. Santana Hughes Gibson Santiago Mejia Berrios Then you get to Duffey Haley/ Bullpen game ala Swarzak start or the option of making a 40 man move or bringing somebody up who either may not be ready or worse, somebody who may be on a short rest and having them blow out. The bad thing is there is not always 5-7 days to set your pitchers up for a start. Often it is 1-2 days after the bullpen/side session that you realize somebody can't go. Removing Gibson is not the answer, but optioning him might be. I would also not be against optioning Duffey and putting him in the rotation in Rochester and moving Gibson into his role but that will all play out between now and Fathers Day. I am personally hoping Gibson returns to form and this whole subject goes away.

Ortiz retired so we don't have a perennial All-Star playing for another team to complain about so we have to run somebody out until we get that back!

My thoughts OF defense- assuming this trio stays here for 3+ years they will be the bar to measure all others by. IF- you have a legit Gold Glover in Mauer and a "looks good in live" from Dozier. Sano has the arm to equal out mistakes.. Polànco's arm is suspect but so was this Ozzie Smith kid!! Give me a catcher and this D looks top 5.

I might be on the other side of the fence but with the same view. I think Molitor has changed because he knows he is managing for his job next year. My guess is the new guys told him how their thoughts looked and he either thinks on the same plane or is gone. Most baseball people can see a reason for several different approaches. I think Paul tried to think along with TR and now is trying to think along with the new bosses.

I was not critical of the batting order. Actually it was very close to a different post I made on that subject. One thing Joe is not is a strikeout machine and no matter what WE see every day Joe still has that "thing" with his 3 batting titles. I do think it will change shortly and Joe moves to #5 but he is there to break up some of the strikeout prone hitters. I think Joe will break his career high in walks this year because of being the guy to pitch around and I also predict he will score a ton of runs because the guys behind him will connect some of the time. No, Joe is no longer the guy who slots in the middle, but this is the lineup we have and with this bunch a square peg may have to fit a round hole. The thing about baseball is that sometimes that works just fine.

I did not make that post to say we would never see Park but rather to say that we will never see all 3 together. If Vargas fails when healthy I could see Park being up before Fathers Day but Vargas back in AAA. By the time Mauer retires one or the other will be gone for good and it is definitely a possibility that Sano is at 1st then. But like many of my other posts, the theme is it will all play itself out. As an old baseball guy I cringe at the thought of all 3 in a row. Somewhat like the days of the Blake Street Bombers only worse. Remember them anybody? Fun baseball during the season but I don't recall them winning any playoff series.

Short reply NO. Long reply NO.

After all the hand wringing and gnashing of teeth we are on pace to go 162-0. No, not going to happen but neither was the sky falling last week. Remember last year opening day saw us use 5 pitchers? Early season rainouts are common in the midwest and the questions regarding 4 of the starters being able to pitch even some semblance of deep are legit. 13 pitchers for now but if we can average 5 2/3 for the next 4 guys and then,,,,,,,,,,,, Vargas healthy??? Lots of questions but it will play itself out and the roster will change before May. I am convinced the starters will be on a shorter leash this year both because of the new office and because right now either Duffey or Berrios could be inserted in the rotation which is better than almost any #5 guy we have had in years. One of Vargas or Park will be on the team early but they had better perform because we finally have people in AAA that will be. I think the days of speedy light hitting 4th OF or utility IF being a DH 40-50 games a year are over. Batting order wise there was much of the same but it made sense to me. Regulars all play on opening day. This is what we have until we get down to 12 pitchers. Against righty starters I would expect 1 of the bottom 3 to trade with the DH spot. When either of Park or Vargas is up then put Mauer @ 5 and either DH or Sano at 4. We could have a very poor rotation and still win 75 games like a lot of posters predicted. A half decent rotation means meaningful baseball through August.

I personally like Castro at 6. Put all the base cloggers together.

My rose colored glasses work a little extra when I look at Kepler but here goes. 590AB .283/.333/.495 31 2B/ 20 HR/ 20 steals and in the surprise stat of the year because he is hitting 2nd he scores 109 runs to lead the team.