Can Twins Fans Handle Another Pitch to Contact Starter?

One of my favorite Tony Larussa comments came after a Cardinal WS game pitched by Chris Carpenter vs Roy Halladay. I don’t even remember who won, but it was low scoring. I think both pitchers went the distance. After the game Larussa was asked for his take on the fantastic pitching performances witnessed. He commented (my memory fails me for the exact quote so this is paraphrased)

“Just a couple of pitch to contact guys doing their thing.”

Very hard to get excited about another 6 and fly guy at that price. 

$20 million for Stroman as a number 3 starter is too much for a team that is potentially in a rebuilding mode.

Good article about Stroman, Cody.  Have one comment, however. 

Who says he is "one of Minnesota's top free agent targets?"  Lots of people out here think he should be.  But do the Twins?  As far as I know, no one has actually talked to the FO and gotten a list of who they are going after.  Perhaps it would be better if you said "one of the top free agent targets, whom the Twins should be interested in."  Or maybe, may be interested in.

Sign Stroman and Berrios - I am fine - ultimately the number one is coming from the minors.

Sign me up for any efficient, effective out-getter. Strikeouts are great when they come in 3 or 4 pitches but I am not in love with strings of long, drawn out at bats. For my dollar, a 2-pitch weak groundout or pop-up is a welcome result for a starter. Before anyone gets on base, it is more valuable than a 7 pitch strikeout.

“Pitch to Contact” is a misleading term. It should be called “Pitch to induce weak contact, early in the count, when there are no runners on base.”

Just hard to use that name to taunt your fellow fans.

Can we sign him please?!? Pitch to contact is a good strategy to combat the home run happy hitting style. Plus we need at least one starter to can shew innings and give our bullpen a break. I also like him as a mentor for our glut of young pitching prospects. 

Stroman will sign for 4/$100 million. Will the Twins have an interest? I'm not sure pitch to contact is an issue but the salary may be a problem.

Sure, we fans can handle another PtC pitcher - we just can't handle another PtC drafting and coaching philosophy. 

But, you raise a good point. If we put $$ into a PtC starter, we better shore up our infield defense.

It think some people put too much stock into strikeout rates.  Not all strikeouts are equal.  Some pitchers now a days seem to always seek to strike a guy out in every at-bat, raising pitch counts.  If a guy can get quick outs it does not matter if he is getting K's.  The key is if he can get strikeouts when needed, or can he finish a guy off when at 2 strikes.  Some guys have lower K rates because they get outs before they even get to 2 strikes because the first strike or two is put in play, but they can get the K when they get to 2 strikes.

Some guys have low K rates because they just cannot miss bats.  Just like many numbers they only tell a small story and you need to look at more than just 1 number to get full story of a player. 

Sinking fastballs don't generate a lot of strikeouts by their very nature. While the article focuses on Stroman's .294 AVG against and .426 SLG against, MLB hitters are much better against fastballs than off speed pitches. Berrios' 4 seam fastball has similar statistics to Stroman's sinker, for example.

It's the offspeed and breaking pitches which make or break almost all starters in MLB.

Stroman is an excellent pitcher who has only gotten better. He's not an "Ace" but he's a great #2 and certainly should be considered superior to Berrios at this point.

PtC Who cares does he allow a lot of HRs does he allow a lot of Base Runners. Those are things to worry about when you are talking 20 + million a year. everything else is too much crap to sift through.

3 hours ago, PopRiveter said:

Sign me up for any efficient, effective out-getter. Strikeouts are great when they come in 3 or 4 pitches but I am not in love with strings of long, drawn out at bats. For my dollar, a 2-pitch weak groundout or pop-up is a welcome result for a starter. Before anyone gets on base, it is more valuable than a 7 pitch strikeout.

“Pitch to Contact” is a misleading term. It should be called “Pitch to induce weak contact, early in the count, when there are no runners on base.”

Just hard to use that name to taunt your fellow fans.

100% this. Staying off the barrel is the objective for pitchers learning the craft.  The best ones become starters. Starters might face the same guys 3 or 4 times in a game. Their command of the strike zone is key. Their margin for error is reduced due to the hitters familiarity. The bullpen guys face hitters once during the game. They can be sporadically fantastic with velocity at the expense control. Everyone is looking for the guys that throw 100mph and paints the black. The Yankees buy all them guys.

7 hours ago, Otaknam said:

$20 million for Stroman as a number 3 starter is too much for a team that is potentially in a rebuilding mode.

Number 3 to whom?  He might be number 3 on the Dodgers, or even a few others, but not to us.  He walks in the door as our number 1 until someone beats him out.  With Stroman, resigning Pineda, regaining Maeda, and our internal guys that have shown promise (Ryan, Ober, Dobnak and others) we just might get away with it.  And with an infield of Donaldson, Simmons, Polanco, and Kirilloff, we would do just fine.  And, yes, that means bringing back Simmons until someone can take that job and run with it.  A team that has been 1st and 2nd in the league in HR's the last 2 complete seasons, can handle a defensive SS if it will help a guy like Stroman.  Not that he will come here, but I would make a strong play.  

The Twins need an every fifth-day starter, who can push six (or even seven) innings consistently, and keep the team in the game. Period. Make all his starts. 

If he can keep his ERA below four, more power to him. Of course, that ahs Berrios written all over the description. Too abd the Twins couldn't have locked Berrios down a couple of years back.

Now they have to pay the piper for someone possibly less efficient, older, and a roll of the dice for sure.