Front Page: Twins Minor League Report (8/4): Larnach Perfect at Plate for Pensacola

[rdehring]

 

I don't think any of us know with any real certainty what level of desire Rosario possesses. What we do know is that he has very poor plate discipline which some might be interpreting as lack of desire.  He definitely is not what I would call a "professional hitter."

 

What we can say for sure is that he is capable of great production in streak but he has never maintained a high level of play.  In the last year ( deadline to deadline) he is 9th on the team in wRC+ and he has an fWAR of 1.3 for that period.  This year he is also 9th in wRC+ (1 point above Buxton & Adrianza).

 

I don't understand why so many people act as if he is irreplaceable or someone we should extend for that matter. 

When selecting last year's deadline to this year, you must take into consideration that he got injured in August last year and played injured for some time.  I don't recall exactly how long, but it seemed like the better part of a month.  

[puckstopper1]

 

I don't know, man... nothing about Edwar Colina is Lite... dude is hefty with Graterolesque strong legs and back side!! He's really good too!

Seth - how about "Big Sexy" lite?

 

Does that work for you?

[JW24]

 

My outside the box thinking is to approach Royce Lewis about being the Marwin Gonzalez replacement.  I think he has the makeup for it and he likely has the ability to be a plus defender at many of the positions.

 

I like outside the box thinking, and I don't think this is a bad take necessarily. I do know, however, that I do not envy the job of whoever would be tasked with telling Royce he is going to be a super-utility guy. I suspect he views himself (rightly so) as a guy who will be put in the lineup at the same spot for 150+ games per season.

[nokomismod]

If Buxton injury heads into September and Cave is still not providing much offense, would Larnach be considered for a Sep callup? The guy seems pretty seasoned to me from his college career and full year in the minors.

[Tomj14]

 

So Kepler is going to the bench, then?

Sounds like people are saying take the best offense in major league history and do a complete rebuild, interesting at best.

Since a bunch of the other part of that offense is free agents in just over a year from now. (Cron, Cruz, Gonzalez)

 

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by Tomj14

[Major League Ready]

 

When selecting last year's deadline to this year, you must take into consideration that he got injured in August last year and played injured for some time.  I don't recall exactly how long, but it seemed like the better part of a month.  

 

That may have had something to do with it. He also was among the top 5 for swinging outside the strike zone last year. He has no plan and no discipline. He would be a perennial all-star if he had an approach comparable to Arreaz or probably even with average plate discipline but his approach is horrible. 

 

What about his numbers this year? He is 9th on the team in fWAR as well as wPA+. Arreaz has already passed him in fWAR with exactly half as many games played. He has had a couple streaks during his career when he has been awesome so some fans ignore the big picture. He is not a player I would extend. As a matter of fact, I hope we have a couple OFers making so much noise that the FO feels they can deal Rosario this off season or at the deadline next year. 

[jokin]

 

 

I don't understand why so many people act as if he is irreplaceable or someone we should extend for that matter. 

 

The Stat-centric FO likely has determined that extending Rosario is a less than 50-50 proposition (or he probably would have already had his contract redrawn- they haven't done so). Obviously, at least one of the AA/AAA OFs is going to have to make the case that they'll be ready to claim LF by or before the deadline in 2020. My guess is the FO is thinking the odds are good on just that occurrence.

[Dman]

 

That may have had something to do with it. He also was among the top 5 for swinging outside the strike zone last year. He has no plan and no discipline. He would be a perennial all-star if he had an approach comparable to Arreaz or probably even with average plate discipline but his approach is horrible. 

 

What about his numbers this year? He is 9th on the team in fWAR as well as wPA+. Arreaz has already passed him in fWAR with exactly half as many games played. He has had a couple streaks during his career when he has been awesome so some fans ignore the big picture. He is not a player I would extend. As a matter of fact, I hope we have a couple OFers making so much noise that the FO feels they can deal Rosario this off season or at the deadline next year. 

 

I really do love Rosario the player.  I love the aggressiveness, the fearlessness and yet I also hate the aggressiveness that leads to easy outs and fearlessness to hit the ball in areas that are hard to hit the ball square.  He is an enigma to me.

 

I agree with you that just a touch of plate discipline could launch him to superstar status, but he is just to eager to swing.  It is a cat and mouse game.  He needs to take pitches that are strikes sometimes.  Bait the pitcher into throwing him better pitches.  Most pitchers attack him on the edges because he will swing at pitchers pitches.  The defense is taking away his strength which is the right side of the field his pull side.  He needs to even out his his approach to be more successful.  

 

I keep hoping for him to adjust but I just don't think he is going to.  He is who he is.  A guy with fantastic hand eye coordination who can get by on that talent alone.  If he wants to move to the next level he has some serious work to do if he chooses to do it. 

Edited August 5, 2019 by Dman

[rationalfan]

Eddie's aggressiveness has its pros (able to get a big hit even off a pitcher's pitch and able to get the extra base even inducing some errors by the opponent) and its cons (popping up on one pitch after a pitcher has thrown 6 straight balls and getting thrown out at third with two outs).  These are reminiscent of Torii when he was that age and he improved as he matured.

 

The reason I wouldn't wear Eddie's number nor use him as an example to follow is his lack of professionalism.  Since the All-Star Break alone we've seen him lolly-gag into the LF corner allowing a double to become a triple, miss a lazy fly, and this weekend admire his well struck ball that was an easy double that he turned into an out by getting stuck in a run down between first and second.

 

The catch to trading him of course is that he's the flashy player that fans have attached to "Eddie!, Eddie!, Eddie!"

[Major League Ready]

 

Eddie's aggressiveness has its pros (able to get a big hit even off a pitcher's pitch and able to get the extra base even inducing some errors by the opponent) and its cons (popping up on one pitch after a pitcher has thrown 6 straight balls and getting thrown out at third with two outs).  These are reminiscent of Torii when he was that age and he improved as he matured.

 

The reason I wouldn't wear Eddie's number nor use him as an example to follow is his lack of professionalism.  Since the All-Star Break alone we've seen him lolly-gag into the LF corner allowing a double to become a triple, miss a lazy fly, and this weekend admire his well struck ball that was an easy double that he turned into an out by getting stuck in a run down between first and second.

 

The catch to trading him of course is that he's the flashy player that fans have attached to "Eddie!, Eddie!, Eddie!"

 

Next year we have a 26 man roster. One of our OF prospects is going to become the 4th outfielder. I would love to see Eddie mature and keep his spot but I would bet one of those prospects ends up earning the starting spot. This was not hard to see coming. Eddie was a favorite of my wife and I but I told her in his 2nd year he would need to improve his approach or ML pitchers would get the better of him. What is really frustrating is that he seems plenty capable in terms of pitch recognition. He is simply that undisciplined. We hear often that coached don't want o take away a players aggressiveness but allowing a player to continue to take poor ABs does not make sense. Did anyone notice during the series with the Yankee ... their players make the pitcher throw the ball over the plate.