Article: Who Will Be Pitching Staff's Odd Man Out?

[Riverbrian]

 

  On 4/12/2017 at 3:08 AM, Nick Nelson said:

Something needs to change soon. 

 

I've said before that the opening day roster looks like multiple people running different directions while trying to meet in the middle and I still believe that.

 

I admit that I spent my time expressing concern about the lack of aggressiveness toward the building of the bullpen. 

 

However... The decision makers had all winter to put together a 40 man roster and all of spring training to decide on a 25 man roster and this is what they come up with. 

 

I didn't understand it and I didn't agree with it.  

 

But Soon?... after 28 Innings of bullpen work... 4 runs allowed... 26 strikeouts. If the powers that be made an adjustment to a bullpen producing those results... If they changed course with a 5-3 record a mere 8 games after spending the off season picking out a 40 man roster and all of spring training choosing this for a 25 man roster. 

 

That would be about the time that I decide that we have hired a couple of wishy washy dudes who are nowhere near ready to run a baseball franchise. 

 

I'll forgive them for not agreeing with me... I won't forgive them if they can't agree with themselves. 

 

 

[EddieMatthews]

I thought that Gibson made a good bid for the "odd man out" today.  He hasn't had a year good enough to indicate that we should keep him in the rotation.  His stats are comparable to Slo / Bake / Burn a few years ago.  

 

I'd rather give a prospect some seasoning than keep running out Gibson every 5 days.  Even if he has a good day once a month, he has reached his peak and we will not see anything better from him.

[jorgenswest]

Short of an injury, the front office should stick with the roster they determined twas the best to begin the season. They could not have learned anything new in 9 days. They shouldn't react to a 8 game sample. It would not have been my 25, but I want a front office that makes a reasoned decision followed by patience in the short term.

[Mr. Brooks]

  On 4/13/2017 at 2:35 AM, ThejacKmp said:

He also hits lefty. The ideal twins 4th OF can hit from the right side of the plate. I know we all hate Danny Santana here but he's a pretty decent 25th man. Very good OF defense, adequate IF defense and he can steal a base and pinch run well. Switch hitter too if you need him to hit.

 

The problem is not having him on the roster, it's how he's used. He shouldn't be starting anything but the occasional game unless there are injuries - Grossman is bad in the OF but he should spell guys out there. Santana should be a late inning pinch runner in every close game and a defensive sub for Grossman when he plays.

By what metric does DanSan play very good of defense?

[flags]

 

  On 4/13/2017 at 2:01 AM, Vanimal46 said:

Have we ruled out Escobar moving back to the OF when Adrianza returns, thus taking D Santana's spot? Adrianza filling in as utility IF in this scenario...

 

hopefully its been ruled out. personally, i'm kinda tired of watching middle infielders play terribly in the outfield.

[Rosterman]

And then who would O'Rourke replace, if need be? If you need that fifth starter, better to stretch out Duffey or just call up Berrios and make a cut in the bullpen. Tonkin WOULD free ups pace and I doubt anyone will leap out of the brush to claim him. Breslow goes if you feel you have a lefty or two inreserve to replace him.

[The Wise One]

 

  On 4/13/2017 at 2:32 AM, ThejacKmp said:

1.) We're talking about having a DH not a utility infielder. No one is saying "get rid of Escobar", just that having Escobar DH is ridiculous. It's Jason Tyner 2.0. 

 

Escobar's career OPS = .682, Grossman's = .723. Grossman's OPS vs. righties (his weak side) = .696. Escobar vs. righties = .659. You might as well use Grossman (who is a solid platoon partner but not a full-time DH and not useful against righties) than replace him with Escobar. If the question was "DH Sano and Escobar plays 3B vs DH Grossman and Sano plays 3B" I'd get your point but if we're talking DHs (which we are), it's insane.

 

2.) Palka is an interesting option no one talks about. He hit righties and lefties pretty evenly in the minors in 2014 and 2016 (though not in 2015 to be fair) and is a much better bat at 1B than Gimenez on days Mauer sits. And when the Twins play righties (70% of starters) they'd be able to DH Palka instead of Grossman, who slots much better into a DH-vs-lefties/bench bat role.

 

Palka is a viable option besides Vargas/Park. He doesn't solve the lefties dilemma but that's only 30% of pitchers. Let's solve the 70% problem.

Palka would have to continue his current plate discipline to have a shot.

[The Wise One]

Back to the pitching topic.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/are-relievers-benefiting-from-pitching-less/

 

Older article, but really the question should be what 2 pitchers.

[Riverbrian]

  On 4/13/2017 at 3:49 AM, flags said:

hopefully its been ruled out. personally, i'm kinda tired of watching middle infielders play terribly in the outfield.

I'm hoping to see more of it.

 

I'm hoping the word logjam is managed right out of the game of baseball.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

  On 4/13/2017 at 1:25 AM, ashburyjohn said:

Oh, sure, pieces can be moved about. Much better now than the corner-DH-clogged days not so long ago with Willingham and Doumit as important players.

 

I was just reacting, maybe too specifically, to what I believed to be the question of replacing DanSan's role. Agreed, virtually anyone good can take a roster spot, and then the manager must work out the details, given that reasonable positional flexibility is present.

Ah, got it. Yeah, Santana's role is a bit different in Molitor's eyes, though I question why that's the case. Santana is not a good OF. The only decent skill he brings to the table is speed, really.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

  On 4/13/2017 at 6:26 AM, The Wise One said:

Back to the pitching topic.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/are-relievers-benefiting-from-pitching-less/

 

Older article, but really the question should be what 2 pitchers.

What an interesting article. I'd love to see Cameron follow up on it with 2012-2016 stats to see if his point still holds.

[EddieMatthews]

Maybe if teams keep 13 pitchers, there may be some job security for relievers (or even starters) if they buy a first baseman's mitt or learn to run bases.  If Sano could play RF, maybe a pitcher could too.  Could a skilled pitcher backfill a position player?  Would they be any worse than Danny Santana?  

 

Lots of opportunities and should be some spare time in the minors to diversify the skillset.  It would surely make late innings more interesting to watch.

[TKGuy]

I love Duffey in the pen. I didn't want Tonkin to start with, but I'd be OK with Breslow being DFA, then you could use either Vargas or Park.