McKay Says No Way

How high is Lewis' ceiling if his arm is weak? Buxton still cannot hit major league pitching. Lewis might be worse than Buxton. I really don't feel good about this pick. This team needs pitching, pitching and more pitching. It seems like this team got blown out in almost half of the losses this season.

Really. He is hitting at a ~.250 clip in the last 28 days last time I looked (Yesterday)... I would say that shows some competence. 

I know it's easy to get down on Buxton. He was coming from rural Georgia where he faced very little competition. Lewis played in California and has faced very good competition throughout his prep career. 

Easy on the "rural" players with "little competition".   I live in the south Georgia/North Florida area and there are some really good players down here 

Trust me, my son plays with/against some of them.

I think McKay wanted to cry because he lost his gamble.

How do we know that Tampa won't give him an offer above slot?

And there's something really wrong with Buxton that virtually no one identified for years. The guy was the consensus #1 prospect in baseball and absolutely annihilated every level of competition.

 

Buxton was a great pick that has unraveled for reasons unknown. Any prospect who is universally adored by scouts and analysts every moment until he hits an MLB field has to be considered a good pick.

I don't think people generally criticize picking Buxton, because he clearly has immense talent. I think people criticize how the Twins have developed him since he still so frequently looks like he's completely lost and searching for clues at the plate. He stands out as a prime counterexample to the idea that was repeated a lot yesterday that the Twins excel at developing young, athletic position players.

We've had a lot of prospects who profile that way and several even had great MiLB success, but they often floundered for years trying to transition to MLB before finally clicking elsewhere or busting. So, naturally people are skeptical of another player of the same mold being chosen 1-1 and already being lauded as a surefire future All Star with comparisons to Jeter. Nobody even knows what position this kid can play yet, or if he'll develop any power, or even be able to hit with his "non-traditional plate approach".

I'm giving the new front office the benefit of the doubt since the kid obviously has a lot of tools and physical attributes. Hopefully the rest of the draft will reveal their strategy and validate their approach to the first few picks. I'm willing to be patient before I blast the selections, but they definitely stuck their neck out in their first year. Hopefully it doesn't result in it getting lopped off in 3 years.

Really. He is hitting at a ~.250 clip in the last 28 days last time I looked (Yesterday)... I would say that shows some competence. 

And he's hitting .200 in the month of June with zero walks. Arbitrary sample sizes are fun.

What are they thinking? Isn't this guy like a consistent #3 upside type of guy as a pitcher? That's what they wanted at #1?

So, instead of taking him as a big-time power hitter whose close to the majors, with a high floor and ceiling, they take a hopefully projection who's 6 year out?

What in the....

Lewis might be better than Buxton. He might be the next Mike Trout. He might cure cancer. See, I can do it too!

 

Not a single player the Twins took this year would have any effect on the team this year. It is very unlikely that a player the Twins took this year would have an effect on the MLB team next year. This isn't basketball or football.

 

The Twins pitching for the next 2 years will either be fine because two of Gonsalves, Romero, Thorpe and Jorge are ready for MLB or it won't. This draft is about 3-6 years from now, not today.

 

Finally, you take the best player available. Not drafting a QB in the first because you have Cam Newton is smart in football. Not drafting a SS because you already have a SS is dumb in baseball. Who knows where you will be in 3-5 years? Who knows if there'll be a trade you can fit a prospect into? Take the players you think are the best and worry about the rest later. If Lewis is a CF who plays LF because of Buxton that will be just fine.

I am not saying the current draft would have any impact this season. I just want to make it clear the Twins need pitching, pitching and more pitching. The reason why this team got blown out so many times this season is because of no quality pitching. I just don't want history repeats itself in the future. I would like them to draft as many good pitching arms as possible.

He started 2-49 in his first 15 games. In his last 41 games, he's hitting .254/.331/.369 .700 OPS. His k-rate in that period has been 30% and his walk rate is about 10%.  He needs to walk more but he's been improving.

And since the start of May it's more like a 32% k-rate, 6.25% BB-rate, slashing .243/.291/.379 (.670 OPS). In other words, he had a little bit of a lukewarm streak for a few weeks and depending on where you draw the line it'll drastically change the numbers. He's making some contact finally, but he's still struggling to draw walks or collect XBHs the last month and a half. I'll take the progress, but he's still pretty far from competent with the stick.

maybe baseball could steer legitimate two-way players onto national league teams so they can get 75-100 plate appearances per year even if they concentrate on pitching.

edit: or just eliminate the designated hitter.