Twins 10, Red Sox 5: The Nick Gordon Show

[IndianaTwin]

I get it -- Winder would be a shiny new toy. But he just got activated in St. Paul yesterday after one rehab start in Fort Myers. He's thrown six minor league innings since mid-July, and he has six career MLB starts. I don't see making a switch to put him in the rotation during a pennant chase.

I (mostly) get the frustration with Archer, but he just made his last start with "only" an eight-man bullpen, and Mahle is back this weekend, so Sanchez and Smeltzer aren't needed in the rotation right now. As LA Vikes suggests, that sets up for an obvious Archer/Sanchez piggy back. Or, Archer/Smeltzer, if they prefer bringing him back up. 

[IndianaTwin]

4 hours ago, wabene said:

That's because, as was seen on TV, Baldelli managed the situation. 

 

2 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Whoa.  Slow down there, wabene.  You should know by now that you are NOT allowed to say positive things about Baldelli.  He is the source of all bad things that happen to the Twins.  ?

Say more -- I don't have TV access.

I get the impression you're saying Baldelli handled it well. That's not surprising to me, given that interpersonal relationships seems to be a strength for him. 

[IndianaTwin]

2 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Whoa.  Slow down there, wabene.  You should know by now that you are NOT allowed to say positive things about Baldelli.  He is the source of all bad things that happen to the Twins.  ?

I hear Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey yelling from the TD archives, begging for their voice to be heard. ?

[LA VIkes Fan]

32 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I think their stated concern with Archer coming out of the pen is the amount of work that goes into getting him ready to pitch. He's the Buxton of the pitching staff. Getting his body ready to play is a whole ordeal and he's not suited to sit in the pen and then get warm when needed. I assume they have no plan to take him out of the rotation, but if they insist on him staying here I'd like to see someone who'll piggyback him after the 4th every start for the rest of the year. Just let him do his 4 innings and sit down. Let Sanchez or Winder or Ober take the game over in the 5th no matter what (he's never going to go 9 innings so I don't even care about having a perfect game through 4) and then let them go for as many as they can.

This would work just as well, same basic concept - let's piggyback Archer and Sanchez in September since they both look like 4-5 inning starters. I suggested starting Sanchez since I think he has a better chance of getting through 5 but I would be fine with Archer going 4, followed by Sanchez for the next 4-5. 

[bean5302]

I think I'd trade Kepler and make Gordon the starting RF next year. Celestino can handle the 4th outfielder duty. Gordon's been far above average for a hitter since early in the season. His exit velocities are elite and he's found a way to get enough angle on the ball that extra bases have been rolling in.

[Shaitan]

How does Gordon look, defensively, at 2B? He's an emergency SS only, but if he can play any infield reliably his value increases a lot.

[Shaitan]

9 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

I think I'd trade Kepler and make Gordon the starting RF next year. Celestino can handle the 4th outfielder duty. Gordon's been far above average for a hitter since early in the season. His exit velocities are elite and he's found a way to get enough angle on the ball that extra bases have been rolling in.

I'm not a Kepler fan. But I don't think Gordon has the arm for RF.

But if Kirillof and Larnach are health and Celestino can be consistent, then Kepler is definitely expendable.

But, given performance, why would anybody be lining up to trade for Kepler this offseason anyway? (which is digressing off topic a bit...)

[mikelink45]

4 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Is it mandatory to say only negative things?  Archer was Archer.  Did you expect Nolan Ryan instead.  He is what he is.  Enjoy the great game.

BTW, if you must insert a negative comment, how about the Boston defense?

That goes without saying - they prove that defense is still important.  But I am afraid I think Archer needs to be called out.  He cannot slide.  If you listened to the post game last night Dan Gladden made it sound like Archer set us up to win - he was called out in a hurry.  I enjoyed that - and it is worth listening to if you can.  Even in a praise worthy game you have to evaluate all aspects. 

[jimbo92107]

Nick Gordon has discovered upper-deck power, and folks, it ain't going away. We have all seen how the ball has been exploding off his bat lately. Gordon has purified the mechanics of his swing to get max power at the contact point. He now faces some of the same dilemma as Dave Winfield. He can mash flat line drives and put dents in outfield walls, or he can elevate, strike out more, but hit long range dingers. I'm guessing he'll try to keep his BA up and just drive the ball flat most of the time. Tuesday he golfed a low heater with a Tiger Woods 2-iron swing. This is much more than gap power we're seeing. Fun stuff. The more he plays, the better he gets.

Archer needs to go to the pen, so Twins can DFA Pagan. They can't keep running him out there when the game is already decided. They need guys that can deal with pressure situations for one or two innings. Archer can do that. Bring up Winder for the fifth starter. 

Larnach or Cave to finish the season? Tough decision.

[Dman]

5 hours ago, bean5302 said:

I think I'd trade Kepler and make Gordon the starting RF next year. Celestino can handle the 4th outfielder duty. Gordon's been far above average for a hitter since early in the season. His exit velocities are elite and he's found a way to get enough angle on the ball that extra bases have been rolling in.

I hadn't thought about that before but if he can OPS what Kepler can or more and play just as good defense then that makes a lot of sense to me.  He has the speed.  He has the arm. Now he seems to have the bat so if they wanted to get some value from Kepler they could.  It would help make room for Wallner as well.  I like Kepler but this team needs to find room for young guys and I think Kep could be the odd man out.

[terrydactyls]

40 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

That goes without saying - they prove that defense is still important.  But I am afraid I think Archer needs to be called out.  He cannot slide.  If you listened to the post game last night Dan Gladden made it sound like Archer set us up to win - he was called out in a hurry.  I enjoyed that - and it is worth listening to if you can.  Even in a praise worthy game you have to evaluate all aspects. 

I don't get the Twins post game because I live in Maine.  But that isn't the point I was attempting to make.  Everyone already knows that Archer will only last until the fourth or fifth inning.  If that's a given fact, then why bother calling it a negative aspect of the game.  It's a normal part of any game in which Archer pitches.

 

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Shaitan said:

I'm not a Kepler fan. But I don't think Gordon has the arm for RF.

But if Kirillof and Larnach are health and Celestino can be consistent, then Kepler is definitely expendable.

But, given performance, why would anybody be lining up to trade for Kepler this offseason anyway? (which is digressing off topic a bit...)

Gordon's arm should be way stronger than Kepler's. 

I seriously don't get where this arm complaint on Gordon comes from? He was drafted as a shortstop and at the time he was throwing 90mph off the mound as a pitching prospect and mid 90s across the diamond in the infield. He was graded with a 50+ arm.

Kepler has an okay arm for right field, and he's been hesitant to go all out with it since having a tear in his UCL and multiple shoulder issues. He's been below average on arm related statistics for RF his entire career.

[cmoss84]

not sure if this has been mentioned in any threads, but Duran became the 1st pitcher in MLB history to throw a 100 MPH splitty...

[bean5302]

4 hours ago, cmoss84 said:

not sure if this has been mentioned in any threads, but Duran became the 1st pitcher in MLB history to throw a 100 MPH splitty...

He became the first pitcher in MLB history to throw any non-fastball pitch at 100+ mph. 

[mikelink45]

6 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

I don't get the Twins post game because I live in Maine.  But that isn't the point I was attempting to make.  Everyone already knows that Archer will only last until the fourth or fifth inning.  If that's a given fact, then why bother calling it a negative aspect of the game.  It's a normal part of any game in which Archer pitches.

 

You can go four and not give up 4 - 5 runs.