Article: Five Goals For The Second Half

[ThePuck]

ased upon things I had read in the past, I had always assumed Young was just rushed through the minors without regard to his actual production

 

I'm sure you probably know this, but Delmon signed a major league contract when he was drafted. He had to be on the 40 man roster right away and only had three option years from the git-go.

[THE DFC]

Chris Parmelee swinging the way he has lately will not dominate any league, much less AAA or the majors. Both he and Oswaldo Arcia are going down for the same reason: Get back the punch in their swing. Arcia and Parmelee both were starting to swing the bat like me waving a garden rake at a bumble bee. Both men need to break their swing down to the basics, get their feet right, their hands right, their stride right, etc.

 

This is the result of pitchers screwing up their timing so badly, they started to change their swing.

 

Agreed, and I would take it a step further--Parmelee is in horrific athletic/physical shape. I'd get that guy in the weight room and on a treadmill because he looks more like a softball player than anything at the moment.

 

Sure, some players can get away with being productive hitters and looking like a pear, but there's no way it's optimal for peak performance.

[Lonestar]

I appreciate the insight regarding limiting Mauer's innings catching. I still wish the Twins would try him at 3B even with Sano on his way. Of course I wouldn't start Mauer at 3B until the off-season.

 

Remember Parmelee has only had 510 MLB at bats. Let him reboot in Rochester, make room for him on the 25-man roster before the July deadline and see how he does. I think he will be better than Colabello or the post-concussion Morneau.

 

BJB, I don't think Sano can play in the AFL because he is Dominican.

[cmb0252]

Fantastic article Mr.Nelson. I hope the Twins front office would read this and use it as a blue print. If you make smart baseball moves for the future, which in turn increases the chance of losing in a lost year, it isn't tanking. Just smart business.

[beckmt]

Parmelee does not look like a winner. Twins still need to see if he can cut if, but he is looking to me like a AAAA player, there have been plenty of those. Maybe he needs a change of scenery or a new manager. If Morneau is traded he needs to be played 6 days a week in August and then see how he fares. My feeling is that he either is not a major league player or he cannot stand the pressure and will never make it as he will be fine if the Twins are out of it, but not at the start of the season.

[Otwins]

Parmelee had 274 plate appearances before the all star break. I am not sure why people feel he is not getting a chance. I was glad when they said there were no more scholarships. He hit .233 which is horrible for a corner OF/ 1B. It is up to him to force his way into the lineup. Not be given a spot no matter how bad he is. If Colabello plays well Parmelee is not needed.

[drjim]

Parmelee had 274 plate appearances before the all star break. I am not sure why people feel he is not getting a chance. I was glad when they said there were no more scholarships. He hit .233 which is horrible for a corner OF/ 1B. It is up to him to force his way into the lineup. Not be given a spot no matter how bad he is. If Colabello plays well Parmelee is not needed.

 

Yes.

 

I fear the Twins know exactly what they have with Parmelee but they want to give him one more chance to sort it out. He has not lacked for opportunities the last two seasons, he just hasn't done anything with them.

[Top Gun]

All the Twins need to do is win 10 in a row, pretty easy to do. Trade Justin and they will score no runs at all The future is now, not in the year 2525!

[h2oface]

When one plays for "all future", the future never comes. Deny the "now", and the future is but a concept, like tomorrow, and once it is there, it immediately is again in the future.

[Riverbrian]

Most of us are waiting for the young players to arrive and save us.

 

Yet we have a group with the mindset that feels that 25 year old 500 MLB AB Chris Parmelee has been given every chance and is ready to toss aside Chris Parmelee.

 

Personally... In my opinion... If you feel that way about Parmelee... I wonder if you will have the patience for what is coming down the road when these young guys show up to actually save us.

 

Parmelee is 25 years old... Same age as Domonic Brown.

 

I'm really not trying to compare the two of them. I wouldn't do that because every ball player is different. Brown was considered a bigger prospect at one time. Brown made his debut in the majors a year younger. Different skill sets. So I'm not comparing them.

 

But I will compare them this way.

 

Phillies Fans were also thinking that it was time to toss a side Domonic Brown.

 

When players stop swinging at crap... They improve... Some players get it quicker and some players get it later and some never get it at all.

 

None of us... Including the Twins Front Office and Coaches and including Chris Parmelee himself know when or if he will figure it out.

 

If anyone thinks that they know what Parmelee will become at this point in his career. I hold up the example of Domonic Brown!!!

 

If you have the Power to hit one out of the park (Parmelee Does) you also have the power to hit a double in the gap or a single through the infield.

 

If you have that skill... All you have to do is stop swinging at crap. I think the Twins are gonna patiently wait for him to stop doing that.

 

Young players do this... Should the Jays toss aside Brett Lawrie. Should the Royals give up on Moustakas... Should the White Sox be tossing aside Viciedo... Should the Mariners toss aside Michael Saunders or how about Dustin Ackley.

 

Pedro Alverez looked like a complete mess in 2011 after 500 at bats. The Pirates are probably happy right now that they didn't over react and give up on a young struggling player like we did with Carlos Gomez.

 

I strongly believe that one of the goals for the rest of the year... Is help Parmelee hone his abilities to be ready for 2014 and beyond... Or at least a role of backup in the future.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I think with Parm he might be a tad too patient. The one thing he does do quite well is take a walk. But I suspect his problem is that he lets too many hitable pitches go by. I'm not saying he should turn into Delmon Young, but I think his cure might simply be to ratchet up his aggressiveness. I really wish the Twins had called him back up when set AAA on fire last year. I think it would have done wonders for his confidence and development had he been able to return to MN later in the year. For all the talk of handling prospects, I think Parm has been handled poorly to date. He spent way too much time on the bench in MN last season and way too much time this year too. A player shouldn't get a two week trial and then get replaced by the next hot prospect as Parm did, and then get another 2-3 week trial when Arcia went back down. That's horrible for their development.

[Riverbrian]

I think with Parm he might be a tad too patient. The one thing he does do quite well is take a walk. But I suspect his problem is that he lets too many hitable pitches go by. I'm not saying he should turn into Delmon Young, but I think his cure might simply be to ratchet up his aggressiveness. I really wish the Twins had called him back up when set AAA on fire last year. I think it would have done wonders for his confidence and development had he been able to return to MN later in the year. For all the talk of handling prospects, I think Parm has been handled poorly to date. He spent way too much time on the bench in MN last season and way too much time this year too. A player shouldn't get a two week trial and then get replaced by the next hot prospect as Parm did, and then get another 2-3 week trial when Arcia went back down. That's horrible for their development.

 

I agree... I was really concerned last year when Parmelee was called up to ride the pine and not play. This went on for a long stretch of time. If you can't play a guy... Send him down and call up someone who you can play.

 

The thing I notice with Parmelee this year has been his struggles with high fastballs. He is a very good low ball hitter. His Power comes from balls down in the zone.

 

Pitchers are aware of this and they will keep throwing the ball up until he can lay off it or hit it.

[Willihammer]

I think with Parm he might be a tad too patient. The one thing he does do quite well is take a walk. But I suspect his problem is that he lets too many hitable pitches go by.

 

I see the same thing. I also see a guy who does plenty of eye rolling and head shaking after getting rung up on obvious strikes, often with men on base. If I were manager, that would get you in my doghouse awfully quick.

 

Plus, just from a fairness standpoint, Colabello has earned his turn with the big club.

[howieramone1406390264]

When one plays for "all future", the future never comes. Deny the "now", and the future is but a concept, like tomorrow, and once it is there, it immediately is again in the future.

I'm not saying that's not cool, but how does it relate to baseball?

[diehardtwinsfan]

I agree... I was really concerned last year when Parmelee was called up to ride the pine and not play. This went on for a long stretch of time. If you can't play a guy... Send him down and call up someone who you can play.

 

The thing I notice with Parmelee this year has been his struggles with high fastballs. He is a very good low ball hitter. His Power comes from balls down in the zone.

 

Pitchers are aware of this and they will keep throwing the ball up until he can lay off it or hit it.

 

That's interesting. The high fastball is typically the one that gets put in the seats.

[Jim H]

Quote from Riverbrian

Most of us are waiting for the young players to arrive and save us.

 

Yet we have a group with the mindset that feels that 25 year old 500 MLB AB Chris Parmelee has been given every chance and is ready to toss aside Chris Parmelee

 

I agree with this. There also maybe some truth in the statements by several that Parmelee hasn't been handled ideally by the Twins. Parmelee and Plouffe were slow to develop former first round picks. They have been moved around to different positions and not really given a complete opportunity to settle in at one spot without having to look over their shoulders at who is coming next.

 

Now that Plouffe has more or less been handed 3B and given a year or so to figure things out, he is looking like he could a servicable or even better major league 3B. Perhaps Parmelee needs the same opportunity although as some have pointed out, when the opportunity is there, he needs to take advantage of it.

 

The Twins usually have a quite a bit of patience with prospects, particularly if they like their makeup. The Twins sort of did the same with Cuddyer, jerked him around a bit, gave him inconsistent playing time, etc. But they never really gave up on him, and eventually their patience was rewarded.

 

With Parmelee it is a bit hard to tell. Cuddyer like numbers, seem a bit high as a ceiling for him. I think the Twins aren't going to give up on him, but exactly what his role will be eventually, is anybodys guess.

[stringer bell]

Parmelee has had an opportunity and he just hasn't hit enough to merit consistent playing time. We see good at-bats and good stretches of a few games, and then several games of soft outs mixed with lot of strikeouts. It is obvious that Chris has worked hard on his defense and I think that kept him in the majors longer. I imagine he'll get at least one more chance, but he is running out of opportunities.

[troyhobbs]

Why is everyone so disappointed with Parmelee? The whole lineup stinks, at least Parmelee is young and still has time and room for development

[Guest USAFChief]

I agree... I was really concerned last year when Parmelee was called up to ride the pine and not play. This went on for a long stretch of time. If you can't play a guy... Send him down and call up someone who you can play.

 

The thing I notice with Parmelee this year has been his struggles with high fastballs. He is a very good low ball hitter. His Power comes from balls down in the zone.

 

Pitchers are aware of this and they will keep throwing the ball up until he can lay off it or hit it.

We've discussed this before and I agree, only I've seen a disturbing inability to catch up to fastballs in general.

[ashbury]

I'm curious...if Perkins is dealt (and hopefully guys like Burton and Fien too if the value is there) could we go the aggressive route and just plant Tonkin in the closers role right away?

 

I took a look at the top ten in AL saves, and only Addison Reed looks like his team moved him into a closer's role without at least 100 IP in the majors. (Tom Wilhelmsen technically would be another but he was 28 when he started racking up major league saves.) I'd like to see a guy like Tonkin really get his feet under him at the top level before trying him in the ninth, unless he really forces the issue by being lights out for a period of time.

[TheLeviathan]

I took a look at the top ten in AL saves, and only Addison Reed looks like his team moved him into a closer's role without at least 100 IP in the majors. (Tom Wilhelmsen technically would be another but he was 28 when he started racking up major league saves.) I'd like to see a guy like Tonkin really get his feet under him at the top level before trying him in the ninth, unless he really forces the issue by being lights out for a period of time.

 

That's a fair point, but how much of that is needing to get feet wet and how much of it is the high turnover rate of closers that continually shuffles setup men into the role? So teams ride the hot hand until they have no choice and then go another route.

 

Either way, you're right it's highly unlikely. I'm just really desperate for some parts of the future to give me reason to watch games.