Have Twins found their 4th outfiedler?

[4twinsJA]

Celestino has been playing well of late. He have the highest BA on the team .324 and 5th highest OPS at .795, and playing well defensively. Is Celestino the 4th OF that bats RH the Twins have been looking for? And by the way, he is only 23 years old.

[Squirrel]

I never had doubts. My only concern was getting him playing time, so wasn't sure he wouldn't have benefited being in AAA, but, on that I was wrong. Given how he was performing in AAA the latter half of last season, I really balked at suggestions that we needed to go outside and sign a starting-calibre CF to be our 4th outfielder, or go outside to sign anyone. Now the trouble is going to be when everyone gets healthy, who goes down?

[Rosterman]

Well suddenly looks like Kepler could be the 4th guy by season's end, if Larnach AND Celestino continue to put up numbers. Kirilloff was the first base candidate for the future. Miranda is in the mix. 

But with DH as a rotating spot for the likes of Arraez, Sanchez, Miranda, Kepler, Celestino and even Gordon, Twins seem to be getting pretty set for the future. Of course, there's always the next season.

[RpR]

26 minutes ago, Rosterman said:

Well suddenly looks like Kepler could be the 4th guy by season's end, if Larnach AND Celestino continue to put up numbers. Kirilloff was the first base candidate for the future. Miranda is in the mix. 

But with DH as a rotating spot for the likes of Arraez, Sanchez, Miranda, Kepler, Celestino and even Gordon, Twins seem to be getting pretty set for the future. Of course, there's always the next season.

Kepler has nothing to worry about with Larnach's lumbering around the outfield; Larnach may make a good double hitting DH.

[bighat]

If Celestino is the 4th OF, then who the heck is the 3rd outfielder?

Larnach, Kirilloff, Arraez, Gordon, or Garlick?

The Twins have Buxton, Kepler, and a revolving door right now.

[Squirrel]

2 minutes ago, bighat said:

If Celestino is the 4th OF, then who the heck is the 3rd outfielder?

Larnach, Kirilloff, Arraez, Gordon, or Garlick?

The Twins have Buxton, Kepler, and a revolving door right now.

Honestly, I think Kirilloff goes back to AAA when Arraez is cleared. I'm fine, for now, going with Bux, Kepler, Gordon, Celestino in the outfield, and Larnach when he returns. Not sure where that leaves Garlick, so maybe Larnach does some AAA time when he's off the IL. Arraez will never see the OF again, at least not as a Twin, unless things have gone really, really awry.

[gunnarthor]

He's looked really good. Not sure what his longterm role will be but good to see him stepping up when given the chance.

[lecroy24fan]

For the 69th time Arraez is no longer an OF.

[The Mad King]

I've been saying for two years now, they have to build this outfield with the assumption that Buxton is injured. In reality he's the 4th outfielder

[Schmoeman5]

8 hours ago, RpR said:

Kepler has nothing to worry about with Larnach's lumbering around the outfield; Larnach may make a good double hitting DH.

I know. Because Kepler is the best rightfielder in all of baseball. And there's no room for a guy who lumber in the OF and can only hit doubles

 

[LA VIkes Fan]

Larnach is the 3rd OF/DH, Krilloff or Miranda is the odd man out. Larnach is hitting .313/.351/.48 (.813), and that's after having a couple of home run balls die 400 feet out and being caught. Celestino is hitting .324/.390/.405 (.795). Those numbers may drop over time but even a 5-10% drop leaves both players hitting well. By contrast, Kirilloff is hitting  .091/.130/.091 (..221) and looks even worse than that at the plate. When Laranch comes back and he should play every day in LF or as the DH. Celestino should play 2 days a week in LF and 2 days in CF to give Buxton half days off whiel he sits or DHs. Celestino is definitely the 4th OF and looking good at it so far. Garlick may be the 5th OF/RH DH or bench bat although that limits the play time for the excess IF guys. 

The next question who goes Arraez and Garlick are ready to play. Godoy is first back to AAA and I suspect that Kirilloff is next. Arreaz and Miranda can play 1B and Kirlloff adds no defensive value in LF and can't hit right now. The big question is when Correa is ready to goo every day, where does that leave Lewis? Does he stay in the bigs and play 3B with an occasional day at SS? What about Ursehela?  Is it better to send Lewis to AAA to play SS every day so he's ready for next season? Hard to do when he looks ready now. If he stays, what happens to Gordon? There's room to keep 4 of Garlick, Miranda, Gordon, Lewis and Kirilloff on the 26 man roster until Sano comes back. Right now I think it's pretty clear that on performance the guy that goes down is Kirilloff, with Mirnada not far behind, unless they're not wiling to bench Urshela for Lewis or want him on the field every day playing SS some where (like AAA).  I'd really like to see Lewis get a nice long 40 plus game look playing every day even if that means that Urshela watches from the bench or DHs.  

[mnfireman]

2 hours ago, lecroy24fan said:

For the 69th time Arraez is no longer an OF.

He never was....

[bighat]

8 hours ago, mnfireman said:

He never was....

His 48 career starts in left field beg to differ.

[mnfireman]

2 hours ago, bighat said:

His 48 career starts in left field beg to differ.

Not if you watched them.....

[GeorgiaBaller]

 Larnach looks good at the plate and has proven he can adapt---imperative to a good big league career and unlike MS.  I am a fan, but you have to admit he is a stiff in the field---handles himself much more like a 1B that only has to move a few steps.  He's not an oaf, but he is not nimble or quick. 

I agree that LF is still a revolving door and injuries seem to plague this team constantly---so not sure when there will be a settled spot out there.   I expect we will see an active trade period before the Allstar break or to rebuild the bullpen for the playoffs---and some of these logjams will get worked out.

 

[Doctor Gast]

This is what I've been waiting for, for Celestino to figure out MLB pitching and he has done it in a big way. He is our true sub for Buxton, a true sore spot for years plus he's a RH bat that can fill in admirablly at LF & RF. Now that we've solved that problem we can free up a space on the 40 man and dfa Garlick who can't really play OF. Gordon is a great insurance policy because of flexibility who could be our 3rd man in depth at CF and SS so we don't have to disturb Polanco or Kepler from their natural positions.

[RpR]

14 hours ago, Schmoeman5 said:

I know. Because Kepler is the best rightfielder in all of baseball. And there's no room for a guy who lumber in the OF and can only hit doubles

 

I siad he MIGHT make a good DH, but just keep him out of the outfield; I have little doubt other teams are happy when he is out there.

But then if he keeps hitting Batting Average up, he might make good trade bait for a pitcher.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

This is what I've been waiting for, for Celestino to figure out MLB pitching and he has done it in a big way. He is our true sub for Buxton, a true sore spot for years plus he's a RH bat that can fill in admirablly at LF & RF. Now that we've solved that problem we can free up a space on the 40 man and dfa Garlick who can't really play OF. Gordon is a great insurance policy because of flexibility who could be our 3rd man in depth at CF and SS so we don't have to disturb Polanco or Kepler from their natural positions.

Dump Larnach who cannt play outfield.

[Schmoeman5]

1 minute ago, RpR said:

I siad he MIGHT make a good DH, but just keep him out of the outfield; I have little doubt other teams are happy when he is out there.

But then if he keeps hitting Batting Average up, he might make good trade bait for a pitcher.

No, you just don't like him. And you constantly say what a rag arm he has and how slow he is and maybe he can dh. Youre a troll and I take it personal because he's my stepson. If you knew how hard he works and how humble and gracious of a man he has become. Youre negative about everything 

[RpR]

Just now, Schmoeman5 said:

No, you just don't like him. And you constantly say what a rag arm he has and how slow he is and maybe he can dh. Youre a troll and I take it personal because he's my stepson. If you knew how hard he works and how humble and gracious of a man he has become. Youre negative about everything 

It is my opinion , if you do not like my posts, put me on ignore.

Him being your stepson has no affect on my opinion of him.

[Schmoeman5]

3 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

No, you just don't like him. And you constantly say what a rag arm he has and how slow he is and maybe he can dh. Youre a troll and I take it personal because he's my stepson. If you knew how hard he works and how humble and gracious of a man he has become. Youre negative about everything 

And just to prove my point I quote " Celestino has figured it out in a big way" vs Larnach MIGHT. 

[RpR]

2 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

And just to prove my point I quote " Celestino has figured it out in a big way" vs Larnach MIGHT. 

MIGHT is correct, just Gordon might, Celestino might (I did write your paste about Celestino), Miranda might, etc., etc. etc..

If he keeps his average over .270, he has future some where, and maybe here.

[Schmoeman5]

6 minutes ago, RpR said:

MIGHT is correct, just Gordon might, Celestino might (I did write your paste about Celestino), Miranda might, etc., etc. etc..

If he keeps his average over .270, he has future some where, and maybe here.

Definitive on Celestino, wavering on the rest. Here's the real question. If he's so bad, and you want to trade him what are you going to get in return? Because you're smarter than all 30 GMs in the major league

[RpR]

3 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Definitive on Celestino, wavering on the rest. Here's the real question. If he's so bad, and you want to trade him what are you going to get in return? Because you're smarter than all 30 GMs in the major league

Ask all the other posters who want to trade this , that and the other guy, they have been here longer than me, but a good pitcher seems to be the concensus.

[Schmoeman5]

D

4 minutes ago, RpR said:

Ask all the other posters who want to trade this , that and the other guy, they have been here longer than me, but a good pitcher seems to be the concensus.

So the Twins trade Larnach, now remember he's no good. And you expect to get a GOOD pitcher

[stringer bell]

According to BBRef, Larnach is second on the team in WAR and has positive defensive ratings this year (negative last year). My eye test of Trevor is that he has been a different hitter this year—using the whole field, chasing less and working the count better. Defensively, I see improvement in positioning to make throws and taking better angles to balls. I’m guessing Larnach is in the second quadrant in spring speed (25-50 percentile). He isn’t going to get to some balls that faster guys can reach. 

[stringer bell]

I beg to differ with the poster that suggested Garlick would/should be DFAed when all the outfielders get healthy. He provides punch against left handed pitching that Celestino does not. Garlick should have a job with the Twins as long as he slugs lefties. 

[stringer bell]

Gilberto Celestino has 42 plate appearances with the Twins so far. I'm not quite ready to say that he's ready to be a fourth/sometimes third outfielder just yet. Do remember that Rob Refsnyder was hitting over .400 in a similar number of plate appearances last season. He regressed hard to the mean. Gilberto is certainly a better prospect and some of the deeper stats are encouraging. He's only struck out 16.7% of his PAs, he's hit a fair percentage of balls on the barrel and he's a legitimate center fielder. 

[wabene]

@Shmoeman Being a stepdad is quite the tapdance sometimes, lol. As a pro myself, I applaud your work. Larnach looks like he's having fun out there this year. He has come with a plan, which I think includes more of his natural center left power stroke. It is good to have many approaches in a lineup. His reach will add to his middling explosiveness, he did rob a homer this year although he dropped it, which effectively expands his range. Now he's showing the arm even though some had said he did not have a strong arm. Even Gleeman and Bonnes are getting into the act saying Lewis' arm isn't that strong. I disagree, Lewis has really fired the ball from what I've seen. Our last two guys at short, Simmons and Correa have absolute cannons, but I wouldn't count it Lewis yet either.

[Schmoeman5]

2 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Gilberto Celestino has 42 plate appearances with the Twins so far. I'm not quite ready to say that he's ready to be a fourth/sometimes third outfielder just yet. Do remember that Rob Refsnyder was hitting over .400 in a similar number of plate appearances last season. He regressed hard to the mean. Gilberto is certainly a better prospect and some of the deeper stats are encouraging. He's only struck out 16.7% of his PAs, he's hit a fair percentage of balls on the barrel and he's a legitimate center fielder. 

I agree 100% Trevor and Celestino were not quite ready last year. They were rushed to the Twins due to all the early injuries and they weren't quite ready. I think it's a testament that they both went down and worked their butts off to be ready and able to contribute this year. If Buxton can remain healthy i believe that Celestino is the 4th outfielder. Kepler R Buxton C and Larnach in left. Baldelli likes to platoon right vs left and Buxton get OF days off so all 4 play every day. That does leave a problem concerning Garlick. But that's why FO guys make the big bucks