A Few Random Twins Thought Part II

[stringer bell]

About a week ago, I started a thread entitled "A Few Random Thoughts". Since then, the Twins have continued to win games and (mostly) look promising doing it. I have assembled another helping of tidbits for discussion. I hope they generate discussion and debate.

1) Injuries have happened, most notably upcoming surgery for Miguel Sano. Those injured are Sano (1st base), Garlick (corner OF), and Kirilloff (corner OF/1st base). As usual, when injuries occur, they seem to cluster. First base options now are Luis Arraez and Jose Miranda.

2) Two starting pitchers remain on on the Injured List. Both look like they will be back shortly. If/when all return, Winder probably goes back to a long relief role. I would predict that someone will be injured or ineffective and that Winder doesn't spend much time in the long relief role in May, unless he is the one who is ineffective.

3) Dylan Bundy impressed me with his six innings of work in the game the Twins lost to Tampa Bay. He gave up four runs before he got an out, but still managed to limit the bullpen to two innings. That he gave up six runs shows how little margin for error he has without overpowering stuff. That he pitched six innings showed that he can make adjustments on the fly and be effective.

4) By trading both Mitch Garver and Ben Rortvedt, the Twins bet big on Ryan Jeffers, who hit below the Mendoza Line in 2021. Right now, it looks like an excellent bet. The batting average is subpar, but the OPS+ is over 100 and he is a good receiver. Gary Sanchez is not a perfect complement to Jeffers, but he has been okay behind the plate and not an automatic out.

5) The promotion of Jose Miranda highlights the importance of positional flexibility. I would expect that Miranda will get a lot of starts at first base, due to the injuries of Sano and Kirilloff, and that he is comfortable playing first probably led to his promotion over someone else. 

6) I fear this might be a lost season for Alex Kirilloff. From the reports I've read, he is not pain-free and early results from St. Paul do not show a hitter who is able to mash at that level, much less the next level. My expectation for this season for Kirilloff was that he would establish himself as a major league regular on the way to a fine career. Now I am wondering if that ever will happen. 

7) Last night, Caleb Thielbar and Tyler Duffey had good outings. Up to that point, both had had disappointing starts to their season. Both veterans seemed to have more zip on their fastball and Thielbar featured much better command of all his pitches. The bullpen pitcher who concerns me most is Emilio Pagan. Far too many walks and deep counts, combined with a propensity to give up home run balls worries me. He is being used in high-leverage situations and really hasn't hurt the team yet, but it's nervous time when he's on the mound.

My list is a bit shorter than last week, probably because the team has played so well. Please discuss and comment. Thanks!

[Blyleven2011]

My concern is still the bullpen  ,,, duffey , pagan , stashak  and theilbar  ,,, have not looked all to impressive  but maybe a couple of them will work it out ....

What has impressed me this past week of games is the the twins batters are hitting alot of doubles ... way better and exciting baseball than a bunch of solo homeruns ,,, lots of running the bases and not homerun trots .....

Last night the twins got 10 hits , 7 of those hits were doubles , 2 singles  and 1 three run game changing bomba .... 

Good offensive game, 

Highlight on defense : Correa made an awesome catch with his back to the infield in no man's land  ...