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bighat

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Everything posted by bighat

  1. bighat
    One of my "mailbag" questions to Seth was asking if Marwin's 0-fer in Spring Training should have us worried. He said NO....so maybe we should trust him. I mean, we do have a lot of baseball left. Let's see how Marwin's average is on May 15 before we start calling him a "bad signing". So far the offense has me frustrated. One game the Twins break out, the next game they fall silent. One game they execute, the next game they leave runners on 3rd base with 1 out. Right now I don't think this team really has a leader on offense when Cruz is out. I feel that Cruz has quickly proven himself the lynch pin for this offense. He gives the guys around him confidence. When he's out everyone's looking around for someone else to step up. Polanco and Kepler seem to be heating up. Nice to see Buxton bounce back from that 3-strikeout game by making contact in the following 2 games. Still waiting to see any kind of power from Jonathan Schoop. Marwin Gonzalez is cold. Cron is luke-warm but we're still waiting on a HR from him also. It's crazy that this team replaced almost half its offense with new guys! Can't wait for them to all settle in and get comfy at Target Field.
  2. bighat
    Twins have matchups against de Grom and Syndegaard the next two games. Shoulda grabbed this game and ran. Instead they rolled over. Berrios deserved better. If the Twins can't hit Zach Eflin, it's gonna be a long 2 games in New York to start the week.
  3. bighat
    Also hoping they can find a way to get Cruz into the game today. Pinch hit, RF, whatever.
  4. bighat
    Whenever Astudillo gets into the on deck circle, I'm absolutely glued to the TV/laptop to watch his at bats. You're right it's absolutely "must see" at this point. Hope they find a way to get him into the lineup today. If I was guessing, Marwin will be back in the lineup today and Castro starts at catcher. Maybe Rocco gives Schoop the day off, and moves Marwin to 2nd? A-Stud starts at 3rd?
  5. bighat
    Interesting to hear Rocco credit Shelton for the double-switch that gave Rosie a chance to bat in the 9th. Sounds like Shelton's been earning his money so far this year in the early goings. Cool to see Baldelli give credit where it was due also.
  6. bighat
    Nice writeup - quick correction: Twins do play tomorrow @ Philly. I think you even listed it in the "upcoming" section.
  7. bighat
    The Twins played poorly, also did get some poor calls against them. Nothing great to say about any of it except the Polanco cycle. Oh, and Kepler finally got a hold of one which was nice. I thought Rocco did a decent job of mixing and matching with those double-switches. Remember when Molitor screwed the pooch in Dodger Stadium because he couldn't figure out NL rules? Nice to see our guy can strategize. Razzie awards: Rosario looked just terrible everywhere. It's rare for him to slack in the OF and to look so lost at the plate. Gonzalez has also seemed pretty bad lately at the plate, swinging at stuff in the dirt. Schoop seems to go 1-4 with a single every game. Haven't seen much power from him at all so far, here's hoping it arrives soon. Buxton already missing 1/3 of the season due to injury isn't what I wanted to see. He'll be back in there today...has he fallen into a K-hole or will he make contact today and get back on track?
  8. bighat
    I guess I'm the only one who doesn't think the Adrianza play was that bad. It was an in-between play and it wasn't easy. It was terrible timing, which I think we are confusing with terrible fielding. Any predictions for Friday's starting nine?
  9. bighat
    I'm not so sure I want to see that, to be honest. Does Rocco seem like the nicest, most aww-shucks guy or what? Everyone's great, everyone's a star, "Gibby was fantastic out there", etc. He made sure to heap praise on Buxton as a game-changer, etc. He's just so positive and full of 100% unconditional praise. Molitor would have mumbled something about how Astudillo "did OK but made some mistakes". I don't really care as long as they keep winning, just kinda noticed it.
  10. bighat
    Thing about Buxton is he always seems to be up there guessing on that first pitch. When he guesses fastball and he gets a fastball, he can sting it. You saw that in a couple of his ringing doubles this year. But when he guesses fastball and gets a curve, or if he simply misses his pitch, it's almost like he's so deflated that the AB is over. You saw KC throw him a first pitch curve for a strike on his last AB, he was down 0-1 and after striking out twice already we all knew he'd strike out again. Those of us who have watched Buxton for years could almost guarantee it. He doesn't seem to be able to make adjustments when he's struggling. If he's having trouble making contact, he should just try and hit the ball the other way. Simply make contact to get back in his groove. It's so frustrating to watch a guy with so much talent get himself out again and again.
  11. bighat
    An ugly win. But a win. Royals have to be kicking themselves. I think the stuff like the 14 men LOB will work itself out, I'm not too concerned about that in the 4th game of the year. At least we had men on base (as opposed to getting 1-hit in the 2nd game of the year against Trevor Bauer, remember that travesty)? What does concern me is Buxton striking out 3 times. This is the kind of game that can push his offense off the edge of the cliff into a deep dive. To be honest, I'm really hoping he can play today. He doesn't need to sit and dwell on his mistakes. I'm guessing Cave gets the nod in CF. Maybe Cave goes 2-4 and Buxton gets angry? Can't have Bux getting down on himself, whatever it takes to get his confidence back quickly.
  12. bighat
    Man this is tough. Here's the issue: Castro hits left handed...but at this point in his career he hits like the one-a-week catcher. In a perfect world, he'd be the back-end platoon guy. Garver got 300 AB last year. Hit .268 with 7 HR and 45 RBI last year. He looked like the heir-apparent on a rebuilding team. He didn't look great, defensively. But he didn't do anything to lose his job. Astudillo all of a sudden appears and now it's bedlam. He aced his audition last year. He earned a job in Spring Training. And now right out of the gate he's an offensive force in the first game he plays. He absolutely has to get playing time, somewhere, anywhere at the big league level. I know sending Garver to AAA just seems so cruel. But in the end aren't we picking between Astudillo and Garver here? If you had to choose one of those players to play 4 days a week, who would you pick?
  13. bighat
    Agreed. And the Twins chose to bring Astudillo and Austin north. Either one of those would have been an understandable PH in that situation, and Cave's a suitable replacement in the OF for Kep. Why bring all these tools if you're not going to use them? Rocco wants to "show confidence" in Kepler I'm guessing?
  14. bighat
    One strikeout in 6 ABs does not look like the old Buxton to me. He's got the best hit ball of the season so far and is putting the ball in play. The wind-blown double was a gift, but he hustled and ended up on 2nd base. To repeat, he's putting the ball in play and has been on at least 3rd base in both games. Call me crazy but I'm somewhat encouraged.
  15. bighat
    Ditto regarding your thoughts on Kepler, Rocco, and Cron. Scoop hasn't been exactly encouraging to watch at the plate either. Will we see Jake Cave make an appearance tomorrow in place of Kepler? Polanco leading off? These freezing cold games seem to be pretty tough on hitters. I'm looking forward to this team hitting the road and just playing in at least high 50's or low 60-degree temps soon. Opening up in March in the Twin Cities is bad for both the Indians and Twins. I'm definitely NOT one of those "get a roof" guys, but I am disappointed to see games in Minneapolis scheduled in March.
  16. bighat
    Great win. Berrios with a gem. Cron, Cruz, and Gonzalez coming through - just fantastic to see the new guys carry the load. But hands down my favorite moment was the Buxton double. Not even close.
  17. bighat
    Great article, thanks to all at Twins Daily for keeping the blood flowing this offseason. Can't wait to leave our predictions behind and watch the Twins play ball and see how this all shakes out.
  18. bighat
    I'm worried about the bullpen but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Can Thursday get here already? These cold-weather, early season games look like a drag for players but they count in the W/L column. Hoping this team gets off to a good start. Clubhouse energy looks solid, for what that's worth. I think Rocco's going to have a good year.
  19. bighat
    He's "injured" - aka: can't hit the broad side of a barn and has been going downhill since July of 2018. It looks like he's just out of gas and unfortunately hasn't been a good signing for the Twins. I wouldn't be surprised if they released him or put him on the 60-day IL. It's pretty clear to me that management and the front office don't want him anywhere near the bullpen as things stand. Great for Astudillo! And Austin! And we still get Adrianza, Cave, and Garver. What a story Harper has been this year - I really feel he can contribute.
  20. bighat
    I always liked Vargas! It seemed like he had such a small window and such a short leash. He hit a huge walk-off HR for the Twins in '17, great moment. But it almost seemed like the Twins didn't want him to succeed. He'd be immediately pulled if he went 0-3. Meanwhile the Twins let Buxton go up there and strike out 4 times per day for weeks in a row. It kind of shows how top prospects are treated vs. just "regular guys". I always thought Kennys had something to bring to the table but he just never got regular playing time. When the Twins re-claimed Vargas after Cincy grabbed him last year I kinda felt bad for the guy. I hope he hits 40 HR in Japan and comes back and gets another shot in the bigs. I think part of the reason I'm high on Austin is that I'm still chasing the Ghost of Aaron Hicks. Part of me wants to see Austin become the next Edwin Encarnacion and belt 38 HR per year for the Twins for the next 5 years. In your face, Yankees. My motivation is admittedly flawed. Man, the things we talk about in March, it's been a looonggg off-season. Can't wait 'til a week from now when we can get off these tangents and talk about what's happening at Target Field.
  21. bighat
    Austin isn't Babe Ruth but he is a proven MLB caliber player who can play every day at the top level in the sport. Wade, Kiriloff, Rooker, and Larnach are prospects - nothing more. We're biased and we see them as 4 future all-stars, but the odds are highly stacked against that. In reality, very few top prospects truly become long-term contributors. Like everyone else, I really hope these guys work out but we have to keep our expectations realistic. Even if they do become contributors, it'll probably take a few years for some of them to even hit above .230 at the major league level. Saying "just ditch Austin because Kiriloff is going to be better" isn't a good strategy.
  22. bighat
    If Buxton strikes out in his first AB of the year I'm going to just collapse in despair. If he grounds out to short stop, I'll jump for joy. Please Bux, just put the bat on the ball and good thing will happen. We don't need him to bat .320, I think we'd all settle for .250. Very anxious about Bux again this year.
  23. bighat
    I think it's pretty normal for fans of teams like the Twins to take solace in the fact that our farm system is stacked. But that said: you never know which of these minor leaguers will actually work out. The odds highly unlikely that Kiriloff, Larnach, Lewis, Gordon, and Rooker are all going to be future all-stars. In fact some of them may not even get more than a cup of coffee. Like it or not, none of these prospects I just mentioned have proven anything in the bigs, and out of the 5 I listed the odds are that 1 of them becomes a long-term every-day player. That's why you can't just "trade your bench guys".
  24. bighat
    From what I understand the consensus is there's no way Austin clears waivers. The Twins will lose him if they don't bring him north.
  25. bighat
    I also think losing Austin would lead to some regret. If he has a chance to start, he'd hit 35 HR and could be dangerous in the middle of the lineup somewhere. I bet a lot of teams would be interested in the guy if their 1st baseman goes down for the year. Speaking of which, lord forbid we don't keep Austin and Cron goes down with an injury...going to be some tough decisions in Fort Myers over the next week. As for Addison Reed, I'd be fine if the Twins just cut the guy. I prefer Jake Cave over Reed in the outfield and I think Cave earned his spot after what he did last year.
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