Game thread 2018 season

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Buxton and Sano are Wolves-esque in their shortcomings - going from top rated prospects to chronic underachievers/injury risks. Sad.

[Monster]

Yeah, big win last night thanks to Adrianza's slam. I watched that inning, and Detroit was playing with fire the whole time. I think 5 consecutive batters had 3-1 counts, but nobody came through until Ehire's big hit.


I don't get the Belisle move. He was serviceable last year...4.03 ERA. But he's old, has an ERA over 5 this year, and a career ERA of 4.20. If we were desperate, I wouldn't challenge this move. But Alan Busenitz is flashing a 0.38 ERA down in Rochester, and would have been a much better option

With Belisle it's worth noting he has been an effective pitcher for years at the major league level. The Twins could be banking on Belisle being the guy he was last year where after a rocky first couple months he was very good the rest of the way. It's genius to have another team suffer through the first couple months and then pick him up and have him be lights out that's rarest of the way. These guys are geniuses!!! :) in all seriousness if he blows after a few games they can cut their loses. It's not like Busenitz was amazing in his stint this year if we are just looking at 2018 major league ERA.

Also remember how the Twins were getting ripped (and to some extent justifiably so) for letting JT Chargios go? After that hot start it hasn't been good and got sent to the minors. Let's let some of these things play out.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Buxton and Sano are Wolves-esque in their shortcomings - going from top rated prospects to chronic underachievers/injury risks. Sad.

Very sad...and I would argue that the underachieving of Buxton and Sano goes far beyond the counterparts on the Wolves. Like Buxton/Sano, Wiggins and Towns were considered "best in class" as pospects. Both however have managed to be remarkably durable, while Sano and Buxton have a hard time staying on the field. Towns has played at an all-star level and Wiggins, although maddening at times, has still averaged close to 20 PPG for his career. Buxton has excelled in the field and is a game changer on the base paths, but hasn't proven yet that he can hit over .200. Sano looked like the real deal his first year, but has lost his ability to recognize pitches and is now also hovering around .200.


Now, you could look to Bennett and Williams for better examples of failure, but neither was a consensus best in class like the four discussed above (even though Bennett was drafted first).

[Monster]

Buxton and Sano are Wolves-esque in their shortcomings - going from top rated prospects to chronic underachievers/injury risks. Sad.

Very sad...and I would argue that the underachieving of Buxton and Sano goes far beyond the counterparts on the Wolves. Like Buxton/Sano, Wiggins and Towns were considered "best in class" as pospects. Both however have managed to be remarkably durable, while Sano and Buxton have a hard time staying on the field. Towns has played at an all-star level and Wiggins, although maddening at times, has still averaged close to 20 PPG for his career. Buxton has excelled in the field and is a game changer on the base paths, but hasn't proven yet that he can hit over .200. Sano looked like the real deal his first year, but has lost his ability to recognize pitches and is now also hovering around .200.


Now, you could look to Bennett and Williams for better examples of failure, but neither was a consensus best in class like the four discussed above (even though Bennett was drafted first).

A healthy Sano at 3b is a better defensive player than either of those failures. Even as a DH Sano and batting .200 he will have a place in the league and those other 2 guys have been out of the league for at least a year each. Neither does anything particularly well. At least Sano and espcially Buxton can claim injuries as part of their failures. Buxton might be more of a mirror of Rubio (Buxton has a much higher upside) who had injuries as a big reason why he wasn't or hasn't achieved whatever he was going to be.

[bleedspeed]

Sano demoted to A ball.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Sano demoted to A ball.

Wow...he had to be demoted, but A ball??? Falvey says its a "holistic plan" rather than the typical AAA demotion, and that conditioning will be a part of the plan. I thought he was one of the best rookie power hitters I had ever seen in terms of batting eye...so many 3-ball counts. But he is a completely different hitter this season...seemingly checking his swing about half the time. This is a dramatic, but I think, good move.

[Monster]

Taylor Motter is coming up. He is a super utility guy claimed from Seattle that happens to have some pop in his bat. Apparently he didn't handle himself well at times in Seattle when he was passed up by other players when their were injuries which partly why they let exposed him to waivers. He is probably just a guy that is a placeholder but the power and ability to play a bunch of positions is interesting.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Taylor Motter is coming up. He is a super utility guy claimed from Seattle that happens to have some pop in his bat. Apparently he didn't handle himself well at times in Seattle when he was passed up by other players when their were injuries which partly why they let exposed him to waivers. He is probably just a guy that is a placeholder but the power and ability to play a bunch of positions is interesting.

He has a .167 average at Rochester this year with one (1) RBI in his 13 games, and a career majors average of .198.

So...he's a perfect fit for this lineup! :)

[Monster]

Taylor Motter is coming up. He is a super utility guy claimed from Seattle that happens to have some pop in his bat. Apparently he didn't handle himself well at times in Seattle when he was passed up by other players when their were injuries which partly why they let exposed him to waivers. He is probably just a guy that is a placeholder but the power and ability to play a bunch of positions is interesting.

He has a .167 average at Rochester this year with one (1) RBI in his 13 games, and a career majors average of .198.

So...he's a perfect fit for this lineup! :)

Well if we are gonna play these games... :) i'll go again with the glass half full side. How about the .353 OBP percentage in the Majors with Seattle this year or .350 AAA batting average last year in AAA? This utility guy hit 12 doubles and 7 HRs in 2017 in less than a half of a season of ABs with Seattle. Or how about 2015 where he crushed 43 doubles in AAA? Power isn't exactly as exciting as it used to be but the Twins have done a nice job finding some utility guys that can do something with the bat. Adrianza was a pretty solid addition last year and he actually already has more extra base hits now than he had last season. I wish we hadn't let Goodrum go then I compare his stats to Adrianza and...the difference at the plate isn't that significant.

Edit: Just to be clear I'm just having some fun with the positive stats I'm not getting my hopes up or trying to get anyone else's hope up either although there is a small chance the guy might have some value.

[Monster]

Well the Twins seem to like playing Cleveland. How about Gibson? I saw a few things a couple weeks ago that his slider was the best strikeout pitch in baseball. He might not get through more than 5 or 6 innings a lot of outings but I'll take what he is giving them right now.

This Rosario guy is good.

Mauer got a couple hits and had a base running blunder that may have cost them a run. It didn't matter and it probably didn't help he hasn't been playing for a few weeks.

Who is Magill? This guy seems to have been fantastic this year when he has been out there.

Belisle loaded the bases and got out of the inning.

Lots of good things happening and Dozier is in a sluuuuump. He will break out of it he is too good of a player.