Article: MIN 6, HOU 2: MARTIN! MARTIN! MARTIN!

[AceWrigley]

Watched the game on ESPN (yes I turned the sound down after awhile). Martin and Garver looked great together. It looked like they expected to get each hitter out. They looked very confident out there. Been a Garver fan since they drafted him (gotta support fellow Albuquerqueans). Is that a word?

 

Mitch Garver - Allstar catcher. Yes.

 

Most similar player on Baseball Reference to Martin Perez through age 27? Bruce Hurst, Most similar by age? Cole Hamels. Just saying.

[Ebby Calvin Laloosh]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 7:19 AM, jokin said:

Gutsy hire.

 

If this continues, Johnson's going to be become first a folk hero, then an inside baseball media darling. Plenty of ammunition to write the narrative:

 

Velo up overall and up notably for many pitchers,

SwStr% up

Contact% down

Soft Contact% up

K% up

BB% down

 

Pineda, Perez and Gibson all coming off injury, ineffectiveness or illness.

 

Starting pitching has been a nice little surprise this year. I'm a little worried that all this new found velo could lead to a few elbows blowing up. Maybe it's years of MN fandom, but I just don't see this uptick in sauce being free. Maybe Wes is some sort of wizard, but throwing the ball faster has got to be harder on your arm, right? 

 

I'm going to attempt to put that out of my mind and enjoy it while it lasts. Sure was fun to watch Perez dominate HOU.

[Tibs]

I was not a believer of Perez after his relief outings. Man I was wrong. He has been great so far

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

When I penciled in this right-dominant lineup last night, I figured Perez was in for T.R.O.U.B.L.E. if trouble was spelled with nine 'R's.'. Likely scenario? Perez gets through four or five innings while giving up three or four runs. Hopefully our bats can hold serve. Then, around the third time through the Astros lineup, bring in a right-handed reliever. Maybe the Astros will have to flip their order?

 

Nope. 

 

[jkcarew]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 1:44 PM, Ebby Calvin Laloosh said:

Starting pitching has been a nice little surprise this year. I'm a little worried that all this new found velo could lead to a few elbows blowing up. Maybe it's years of MN fandom, but I just don't see this uptick in sauce being free. Maybe Wes is some sort of wizard, but throwing the ball faster has got to be harder on your arm, right? 

I'm sure Johnson (and his ilk) have put a lot of thought and research in the ways this can be done while still minimizing that risk. But, I think you're right...it can't eliminate that risk. Two weeks before Gonsalves's elbow blew up, or kinda blew up, or whatever it did, Johnson was quoted in a story that he had Gonsalves "on a road to 95" (mph) velo.

[jkcarew]

I figured if Perez got 20 starts this year, he'd never have a game that good, or even close to that good when you factor in the innings pitched, pitch count and the opponent.

[Blake]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 7:19 AM, jokin said:

Gutsy hire.

 

If this continues, Johnson's going to be become first a folk hero, then an inside baseball media darling. Plenty of ammunition to write the narrative:

 

Velo up overall and up notably for many pitchers,

SwStr% up

Contact% down

Soft Contact% up

K% up

BB% down

 

Pineda, Perez and Gibson all coming off injury, ineffectiveness or illness.

Wes Johnson: The Pitcher Whisperer

[JD Green]

When was the last time we had starters go 4 out of 5 games with quality starts?

 

If this keeps up, they might be serving crow at the state fair........on a stick!

[jmlease1]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 4:45 AM, Don Walcott said:

Did anyone notice that Garver caught both Monday's and Wednesday's games? Is it possible that he's a pretty good defensive catcher?

 

Sutcliffe was very complimentary about Garver and the way he was receiving the ball last night. It was kinda fun to hear what the ESPN guys were saying about the Twins and who they were focusing on. (Joe Mauer's visit was, dare I say it...charming? He was amusing and generally interesting)

 

Really nice performance by Perez last night against a really good lineup. (Anyone else hear Gabriel Iglesias yelling "Martiiiiiiiine!!!!" when Perez pitches? Just me? ok.) He really looks like he's found a mix that's working for him right now, so it will be interesting to see if he can continue with it now that the league has tape on him for this season, or if he'll have to adjust it significantly. But I agree: having the 95-97 4-seamer to back up the cutter is a nice weapon.

[Mike Sixel]

Perez has been much better than I figured he would be so far.

[gocgo]

I watched the end of the game last night on ESPN.  It seemed to me that the announcers were somewhat surprised by the Twins...as if they expected a Houston win with doubts about the Twins and then came away thinking that the Twins are a pleasant surprise and are solid enough to contend.  I'm curious if anyone else had a take from the broadcast?

[minman1982]

I watched about the last half of the game last night.  I actually had to Google "Martin Perez" to see where the heck we got him from and what his deal is.  Goes to show you that one man's trash is another man's treasure.  We might have found a gem in the Rangers trash heap.  On ESPN, some of the Astros hitters were quoted as saying that they have seen Perez plenty with the Rangers but he looked like a totally different pitcher last night.  Good game Perez and keep up the hard work.

[howieramone2]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 3:00 PM, Mike Sixel said:

Perez has been much better than I figured he would be so far.

Actually, all of our free agents have been much better than you figured this year. No need to always buy the most expensive thing on the menu.

Edited May 2, 2019 by howieramone2

[Otto von Ballpark]

  On 5/2/2019 at 4:08 PM, howieramone2 said:

Actually, all of our free agents have been much better than you figured this year.

I wouldn't go that far. Marwin obviously has a 29 OPS+ and Cron only has a 86 OPS+. Pineda was effectively signed as a 2019 free agent, and he has a 6.21 ERA and is averaging less than 5 IP per start.

 

Still plenty of time for those guys to contribute more, of course, but it would be wrong to say they've been "much better" than we figured.

[KirbyDome89]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 11:48 AM, birdwatcher said:

Yeah, when Perez, Parker, Cruz, Schoop, and Cron are all giving you what you most optimistically expected and only Marwin has been a disappointment so far, I think we might owe the FO and the professional scouts a big tip of the cap about the quality of these decisions as we get further along.

Of the crew you mentioned I'm comfortable with Schoop moving forward. He seems to have bounced back and having his bat in the lineup is certainly a plus. Cron has been about what I expected, low OBP, high K with some pop, and capable of handling 1B. Cruz has been the anchor offensively. 

 

Parker has appeared in 11 games but has only 9 IPs so I don't think anybody knows what the Twins have in him. As far as Perez goes I'd say enjoy this while it lasts. I'm not confident in Perez being a competent pitcher all season, or even sticking in the rotation, but if/when that happens MN won't have to give back his contributions over his last 4 starts.

 

Ultimately this team did bargain hunt. The bullpen isn't good, and there were plenty of arms available as well as ample $$ to make it happen.  

[Mike Sixel]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 4:08 PM, howieramone2 said:

Actually, all of our free agents have been much better than you figured this year. No need to always buy the most expensive thing on the menu.

 

Cruz is doing exactly what I expected. Gonzalez is obviously much worse than anyone expected. Cron is worse than I expected. So, ya, no, not true at all. No place have I argued to always and only sign expensive FAs, I've argued they should do it once for a pitcher, then see. Feel free to debate things, but let's debate what each other actually says, and not straw men.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Mike Sixel

[Nine of twelve]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 8:54 AM, David HK said:

Perez is looking like our solid #3, maybe even 2 right now, and Pineda more like a #5.
I don't care what order they come in, if Gibby can keep gaining strength, and Odorizzi can keep his ship righted enough to get thru 6 regularly, we've got the makings of a starting staff that could help us contend all year.

I think it's important to have at least one reliable lefty in the rotation. I think we may have found our man.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 5:04 PM, Mike Sixel said:

Cruz is doing exactly what I expected.

Cruz is doing exactly what I hoped.

 

The guy is 38 years old. Players like him can crash and burn any time and for almost any reason. But it looks like if he stays healthy, he's the player we hoped he would be.

[USAFChief]

 

  On 5/2/2019 at 6:52 PM, Brock Beauchamp said:

Cruz is doing exactly what I hoped.

 

The guy is 38 years old. Players like him can crash and burn any time and for almost any reason. But it looks like if he stays healthy, he's the player we hoped he would be.

Players rarely crash. They taper off, and there's been little to no taper from Cruz in recent years. It was reasonable to expect him to be pretty close to his most recent 3 years. 

[Doomtints]

It's interesting how none of these games were close (no, the 1-0 game was not close). 

 

It's difficult for me to think of either of these teams as being legit (yet) after watching this series. Feast or famine teams don't beat the Yankees.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Doomtints

[Brock Beauchamp]

  On 5/2/2019 at 7:47 PM, USAFChief said:

Players rarely crash. They taper off, and there's been little to no taper from Cruz in recent years. It was reasonable to expect him to be pretty close to his most recent 3 years.

Edgar Martinez, Frank Thomas, and Harold Baines all lost well over 100 OPS points (and maybe some over 150, I’d have to check) in a single season before leaving the game.

 

And those are just off the top of my head.

[Mr. Brooks]

  On 5/2/2019 at 8:04 PM, Brock Beauchamp said:

Edgar Martinez, Frank Thomas, and Harold Baines all lost well over 100 OPS points (and maybe some over 150, I’d have to check) in a single season before leaving the game.

 

And those are just off the top of my head.

Harmon Killabrew.

 

Griffey jr. lost .280 points his final season.