2 hours ago, Dan Engebretson said:

Simmons is on the restricted list because he cannot travel to Canada (more accurately, cannot travel outside the US) without resetting the progress he has made in becoming a permanent US resident.

Glad to hear it's not another Covid incident and has a legitimate, good reason to go onto the restricted list (not that I care whether Simmons plays at this point but I don't wish him ill or anything).

Simmons and Garver were activated today, taking the spots of Maggi and Rortvedt. It looks like Maggi may never get a MLB PA. Rortvedt deserves more ABs in the majors… 

It appears Ryan is on the bereavement list to clear space for Gant to be activated. 

On 9/21/2021 at 10:28 AM, Danchat said:

Simmons and Garver were activated today, taking the spots of Maggi and Rortvedt. It looks like Maggi may never get a MLB PA. Rortvedt deserves more ABs in the majors… 

He is an EXCELLENT defender but need to be taught how to hit and in the majors is not the place.

On 9/21/2021 at 10:28 AM, Danchat said:

Rortvedt deserves more ABs in the majors… 

He has a career OPS of .671 in the minors. He needs to stay there in hopes his bat develops because if it develops into anything that can OPS at or over .700 against MLB pitching, he'll have a ten year MLB career as a catcher.

52 minutes ago, RpR said:

e is an EXCELLENT defender but need to be taught how to hit and in the majors is not the place.

3 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

He has a career OPS of .671 in the minors. He needs to stay there in hopes his bat develops because if it develops into anything that can OPS at or over .700 against MLB pitching, he'll have a ten year MLB career as a catcher.

I am aware of this, but at this point I think it'd be better for him to face more MLB pitching rather than minor league pitching to finish the year out. I'm sure he'll be spending plenty of time at AAA in 2022.

9 minutes ago, Danchat said:

I am aware of this, but at this point I think it'd be better for him to face more MLB pitching rather than minor league pitching to finish the year out. I'm sure he'll be spending plenty of time at AAA in 2022.

Like Celestino, he pretty clearly needs more seasoning. Before the latest demotion, Rortvedt only had 120 PAs at AAA. He had never played in AAA before this season.

Given how he has never been an acceptable, much less decent, hitter it makes sense to keep him at a level where he at least has a chance to succeed.

29 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Given how he has never been an acceptable, much less decent, hitter

I've always thought "acceptable" was exactly the right word.  He's been pushed along pretty fast - Happy Birthday Ben, you just turned 24.  He was not totally overmatched at single-A at 19, was holding his own at AA at 21.  The Covid year harmed his progression just like all the other prospects, but he's shown improvement against improving competition at each level just as one should hope.  A little like Polanco in that regard, whose minor league cumulative stats were nothing to write home about, until you took into account his age at each of those levels.  I don't think Ben's a future Hall of Fame catcher or anything, but a couple of All-Star appearances aren't out of the question assuming the people who pick think well of his work behind the plate and his bat continues to come along (especially if a little HR power starts to come in, which based on his build seems entirely possible).

A few more ABs with the big club this month wouldn't harm his development at all.

4 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I've always thought "acceptable" was exactly the right word.  He's been pushed along pretty fast - Happy Birthday Ben, you just turned 24.  He was not totally overmatched at single-A at 19, was holding his own at AA at 21.  The Covid year harmed his progression just like all the other prospects, but he's shown improvement against improving competition at each level just as one should hope.  A little like Polanco in that regard, whose minor league cumulative stats were nothing to write home about, until you took into account his age at each of those levels.  I don't think Ben's a future Hall of Fame catcher or anything, but a couple of All-Star appearances aren't out of the question assuming the people who pick think well of his work behind the plate and his bat continues to come along (especially if a little HR power starts to come in, which based on his build seems entirely possible).

I think what terminology you use depends on expectations. I'd consider his hitting "acceptable" if he was slated to be a backup catcher... which is ultimately where I think he lands. That's not where I hope he lands but I think it's where he will land.

But if expectations are higher, I think his .671 OPS falls short of "acceptable". I'd want to see something around .700 given that he has no standout skill, such as discipline or even contact.

Everyone's mileage will vary on this, naturally.

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I think what terminology you use depends on expectations. I'd consider his hitting "acceptable" if he was slated to be a backup catcher... which is ultimately where I think he lands.

But if expectations are higher, I think his .671 OPS falls short of "acceptable". I'd want to see something around .700 given that he has no standout skill, such as discipline or even contact.

Everyone's mileage will vary on this, naturally.

My mileage varies where it comes to lumping all minor-league PA into one aggregate OPS, disregarding age and league level.

14 minutes ago, ashbury said:

My mileage varies where it comes to lumping all minor-league PA into one aggregate OPS, disregarding age and league level.

Except I'm doing that mentally, I'm just not saying it out loud. C'mon, Ash. OPS is short hand. I could just as easily break it down into its mediocre components of .245 BA, .310 OBP, .330 SLG. If Rortvedt was a 27 year old catcher posting those numbers, I'd have him written in as a permanent backup catcher, underlined in pen.

A .671 MiLB OPS for a 24 year old catcher isn't good. The jump between AAA and MLB will likely hack 30-50 points off that, at minimum. He has a good OPS in AAA but it's still a very small sample broken up into three stints.

Can he improve? Absolutely, which is why I think he needs to be in St Paul for awhile. He's still relatively young, particularly for a catcher, but there isn't a standout skill that makes me think he's going to suddenly jump forward into being a good offensive starting catcher, at least not right now.

Hence my original statement of "he is where he needs to be right now".

Keeping on topic. The Twins a few years ago traded a backup Cather for a prospect that was later traded for a decent utility player. Drew Butera is in his 12th year with a career ,542 OPS per baseball reference. Per baseball reference, career earnings over 8 million. It is a great gig if you can get it.  

Ober to the injured list (strained hip) and Barnes recalled from St. Paul.

Darn, Ober almost made it through the whole season without hitting the IL. He should be fine.

Joe Ryan activated, Charlie Barnes options to AAA ... Ryan on the mound tonight vs the Tigers (check out the game thread)

John Gant to the IL, and Charlie Barnes is recalled once again.