longstrangetrip wrote:Good analysis, jester, and very entertaining game. I share your enthusiasm for Sano, and your frustration with Suzuki behind the plate (I still like his professional approach at the plate though). I don't know if Mauer's concussion prohibits him from catching, but he sure hit better when he was a catcher...that would allow Mollie to put a real bat at first too.
The real difference between these two clubs is the bullpen...they have relievers that can strike guys out, and we don't.
Twins have been taking power arms bigtime lately. I think eventually that's going to filter into the Pen.
I haven't watched games and I get people being frustrated with Kurt especially since he isn't hittig like last year but I still like him for a couple reasons.
Puts the ball in play. That's keybforna team with a bunch of guys that strike out.
He is the type of vet this team has been missing for years. Plays hurt, tough as nails, probably a leader as well.
Suzuki is a flawed player but the options out there tend to be underwhelming. He is having a pretty poor season with the bat right now but my guess is at some point he will regress closer to the mean of his career which would yield a small improvement in the 2nd half. I'm glad we have him at this point warts and all.
Thanks for the reports on Sano it would be nice if he hit well right away and became a factor for the team. Good to see Hicks back also.
My problem is Monster is that we have a top 5 catcher at first base right now. I'm actually a Joe Mauer guy but he's a waste of a 1st baseman spot. Kurt is a solid back up, but he had one good half of a season so people expect him to be an all star. Like LST said I don't know if Mauer physically can't play there anymore because of the concussions but it be nice to see him at his natural position.
longstrangetrip wrote:Good analysis, jester, and very entertaining game. I share your enthusiasm for Sano, and your frustration with Suzuki behind the plate (I still like his professional approach at the plate though). I don't know if Mauer's concussion prohibits him from catching, but he sure hit better when he was a catcher...that would allow Mollie to put a real bat at first too.
The real difference between these two clubs is the bullpen...they have relievers that can strike guys out, and we don't.
Twins have been taking power arms bigtime lately. I think eventually that's going to filter into the Pen.
I haven't watched games and I get people being frustrated with Kurt especially since he isn't hittig like last year but I still like him for a couple reasons.
Puts the ball in play. That's keybforna team with a bunch of guys that strike out.
He is the type of vet this team has been missing for years. Plays hurt, tough as nails, probably a leader as well.
Suzuki is a flawed player but the options out there tend to be underwhelming. He is having a pretty poor season with the bat right now but my guess is at some point he will regress closer to the mean of his career which would yield a small improvement in the 2nd half. I'm glad we have him at this point warts and all.
Thanks for the reports on Sano it would be nice if he hit well right away and became a factor for the team. Good to see Hicks back also.
My problem is Monster is that we have a top 5 catcher at first base right now. I'm actually a Joe Mauer guy but he's a waste of a 1st baseman spot. Kurt is a solid back up, but he had one good half of a season so people expect him to be an all star. Like LST said I don't know if Mauer physically can't play there anymore because of the concussions but it be nice to see him at his natural position.
It is sad but Mayer is a problem. It's not even the money he makes but he possibly blocks some younger guys from getting a chance at either 1st or as a DH. I get the impression he has improved defensively there I don't think he was very good at all at that position last year. I don't think going back to catching is an option at all. There was an article a few weeks ago suggesting a part of Mauer's decline at the plate could be related to some actual effects of the likely multiple concussions he has had. They didn't say that was THE factor but I thought it was a worthwhile consideration.
Kurt raised expectations plus Mauer and Redman and AJ before them plus some hot prospects at different times over the years make Twins fans probably be even harder on catchers because we expect them to hit. At this point we don't have anything beyond Kurt. TheI organization when from being pretty rich at that position to having backups at best. I really thought Hermmann would at least be a pretty useful backup but he hasn't stepped into that role although his opportunities have been varied.
I think despite Suzuki's warts even defensively at catcher I think it's key to have a vet there for both vet pitchers and the young guys. Before adding him it looked like we were going to build a young rotation with a young catcher. Unless that young catcher does well pretty quickly that's not a good idea. Hopefully down the road we can upgrade that position and our starters will be more established so if that's with a young promising guy it's more likely to work. The one good thing is the Twins look to have assets to trade for a catcher if one would ever be available.
How about the baby Jesus with a 4 hit night :) hopefully this is a sign Mauer is going to have one of his vintage I bat .400 for a full month and show everybody moments. Also every single one of his hit he pulled the ball!!!!
Pelfrey was not sharp the whole night,even in the begging of the game I thought the royals were bailing him out by being way too impatient. He seemed to be overthrowing all night I don't know what the gun said on the tv but there gun had him at 96-97 the whole night and the result looked like his splitter was left up all night. Props to Molly for pulling him early in the game and recognizing that.
Unsum hero of the game was Hermann was a machine behind the plate. He made at least 4 stops from behind the dish that kept runner from moving into scoring position, just a great night defensively from him espically when Dunesing was pitching.
Huge game tonight I hope Ervin pitches with a chip on his shoulder. Any news on Presley Yet? When he turned around and grabbed his arm I told my gf that he just blew out his elbow :/ but anyway let's get out there and shut up these stupid royals fans from saying Lets Go Royals every 2 mins. Go Twins!!!!
monsterpile wrote:Hey this Sano guy is pretty good right? :)
Yeah. I've been really impressed. We knew he had incredible power, but who knew he would have so much plate discipline at such a young age. He has an ability to check his swing on a nasty slider better than most veterans...really impressive. I love that Mollie already has him hitting 4th. Now he has to find him a position. They're working him out at 3rd, 1st and even a little outfield. My dream right now (although it's not going to happen) would be to move Mauer back to C, Sano to 1st, and put Arcia (who's hotter than heck at Rochester) at DH. Get Buxton back, and we would really have a lineup!
Getting back to Sano, have you guys seen the documentary Ballplayer:Pelotero? It's about Sano and another 16 year old trying to get to the majors from the Dominican. Really interesting stuff and highlights all the dirty aspects of Caribbean scouting. The Pittsburgh scout comes across as a real dick. He has the inside track on Sano, but then becomes convinced that he is much older than 16 and abandons him. Lucky for us because it looks like we have a star. And even though he did look older than 16 when he was 16, you can tell he's only 22 now...what a baby face! I saw it when it came out 3 years ago in LA (only guy in the theatre!), but you can stream it on Netflix now. Check it out...it's really interesting, especially for Twins fans.
The Twins really showed me something this week. After a terrific series in KC that ended up a disappointing 2-2 (almost every Twins interviewed said we should have swept them), Baltimore came to town tied with us for the first wild card...they left town yesterday 3 full games behind us. Playoff teams win the games they have to win, and the Twins did that this year.
Good call on Dozier, monster...he's one of my favorites too. Last year I went to a series in San Diego, and I watched the Twins interact in the dugout...it was clear that Dozier was the guy many on the team looked to for leadership. This year he shares the leadership role with Torii, but it's still impressive that he is a leader at such a young age. I also voted for him about 20 times, but it may be futile trying to fight the KC machine...perhaps inevitable that Moustakas gets voted in.
Now, we get the Tigers with no Miggy and a struggling Verlander...good timing.
monsterpile wrote:Hey this Sano guy is pretty good right? :)
Yeah. I've been really impressed. We knew he had incredible power, but who knew he would have so much plate discipline at such a young age. He has an ability to check his swing on a nasty slider better than most veterans...really impressive. I love that Mollie already has him hitting 4th. Now he has to find him a position. They're working him out at 3rd, 1st and even a little outfield. My dream right now (although it's not going to happen) would be to move Mauer back to C, Sano to 1st, and put Arcia (who's hotter than heck at Rochester) at DH. Get Buxton back, and we would really have a lineup!
Getting back to Sano, have you guys seen the documentary Ballplayer:Pelotero? It's about Sano and another 16 year old trying to get to the majors from the Dominican. Really interesting stuff and highlights all the dirty aspects of Caribbean scouting. The Pittsburgh scout comes across as a real dick. He has the inside track on Sano, but then becomes convinced that he is much older than 16 and abandons him. Lucky for us because it looks like we have a star. And even though he did look older than 16 when he was 16, you can tell he's only 22 now...what a baby face! I saw it when it came out 3 years ago in LA (only guy in the theatre!), but you can stream it on Netflix now. Check it out...it's really interesting, especially for Twins fans.
I've seen the documentary LST, I actually meet the director of it at Twins Fest two years ago. They were trying to make a second part that followed Sano to the big leagues but it never got funded. I talked to them about the Pittsburg guy and actually the Pittsburgh knew that Sano was 16 but he was the one causing all the speculation that he wasn't. The Pittsburgh guy only had 3 mil to sign Sano and the only way he could drive down his price was to make up stories about his age.
I don't guys know this but we just signed last week another 16 year old Dominican short stop, it was actually the same day as Sano was called up. Here's an article on him.
Another multi hit night for Sano and another bigtime game for Dozier. He can rest up at his cabin or whatever over the break so that's a positive. Unbelievable
monsterpile wrote:Another multi hit night for Sano and another bigtime game for Dozier. He can rest up at his cabin or whatever over the break so that's a positive. Unbelievable
Thank God we got that 4 year 20 mil extension on the bull Dozier or else he wouldn't be with us next year.
