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Sano's comments:

 

After fouling off the first one, though, Sano completely missed the next two — letter-high and tempting.

 

“I tried to be too aggressive for the pitch. I need to have patience at that moment so I can put it in play,” Sano said. The last one was “a little high. A little lower, and I can hit it out.”

 

http://www.startribune.com/gibson-walks-four-in-twins-loss-to-orioles/374841491/

People, its going to be a long season if we question every time Molitor doesn't PH for his catcher with Ed freaking Nunez.

 

Its a small sample, but Nunez is 6/32 with no HRs as a PH for his career, and 6 punchouts.

I'll take regular old .680 Zuke over that guy 10/10.

we were told we couldn't question molitor last year, he was "just a rookie".....and now we can't question the same moves so far this year.

 

When can we question his not using his bench, or his odd penchant to pinch run?

If there is a righthander on the mound, and 2 outs, and you need a HR (not contact), and Arcia sits while Suzuki bats, I'll be right there with you pitchfork in hand.

But this looks to me like complaining for complaining's sake.

Isn't this the same Ed Nunez who had the 2nd highest OPS on the team last season? I'm not claiming that you were one of the people advocating him to come back this season, but there were people who were. We heard all off-season how he's such a capable bench bat... Just trying to figure out what makes him a worse option than Suzuki.

I believe Nunez is the better hitter than Suzuki. But its well-documented that coming off the bench cold to pinch hit penalizes a batter, and Nunez (in a small sample) seems particularly prone to it. Fans always overlook this effect.

 

Team wins, homey. Best thing for the team. 

 

If Sano goes from 6 WAR to 3 WAR by moving from 3B to DH, I am not sure how the team wins more.  Plouffe had 2.5 WAR last year and is likely declining.  So now our 3B and DH have fewer wins than just Sano at 3B.

 

After seeing Sano move around and his general size, I have went from pinning this on the Twins to pinning it on Sano.  The belly flop play yesterday, seeing his size, etc.  I think the Twins concluded he was not sticking at 3B for more than a year or so and was likely not good there this year anyway. I think they were probably right. 

 

I'm as much of a SABRbobo as the next guy, but here's where WAR becomes kinda stupid (or, alternatively, I become stupid for not understanding or bothering to really do so).  Aren't you trying to add up all the WAR from everyone on your team? Isn't that the only reasonable application for WAR? If Sano loses half his value by moving from RF to DH, I'll eat my shoe. Add one or two for the defensive value of the RF replacement, keep Plouffy's 2.5, and on the whole, your team should "win" more "games."

 

I think the logic is you can find someone to have an .800-.850 OPS and DH.  If we gave Quentin those reps this year he may.  Or you find some former corner OF that is aging. 

 

So the combo of that guy at DH and Sano at 3B is going to yield far more wins than Sano at DH and Plouffe's .720 OPS at 3B.

 

Not even complain about Dozier's decision?  I mean, Buxton is our fastest runner, he's already in scoring position, and Dozier is one of our better hitters.  And I'm not sure he's a particularly good or experienced bunter.  There was a very good chance that he wouldn't get a hit and that Buxton's advancement on the play would be mostly meaningless (he could have advanced on a lot of different balls hit in play, or even stolen or advanced on the mildest of passed balls in a longer at-bat).

 

Yeah, a fly to the OF, or a groundout to the right side has the same impact as a sac bunt anyways.  I don't have the video but when I watched it, seemed like he was more interested in bringing the third baseman in than taking off to 1B.  I could be wrong though.

I'm actually more concerned about Sano than Buxton at this point.

 

Sano is chasing some really bad pitches. He just doesn't look as confident at the plate as he did last year. I think the effects of trying to play outfield is a real concern. Baseball is a game of confidence, and struggles in one area always seem to seep in other parts of the game. A lot of it has to do with pitchers having better scouting reports, but will he be able to make the necessary adjustments? I honestly can't say one way r the other at this point. Although, he did look much better last night, IMO (while DHing).

 

Buxton, on the other hand, looks like his approach is much more refined this year. It looks sustainable. He's laying off those tough pitches, like fastballs up and out of zone, and breaking balls that start on the outside corner and break off the plate. When he is swinging, it seems to be a pitch he wants, and he swing with authority. That's just wasn't there last year. The strikeouts will eventually come down as he accumulates at bats.

 

Another note: Dozier really concerns me right now. Pitchers are pounding him away, and he can't seem to figure it out. He could have a rough year. Hopefully they don't keep him in the lead off spot much longer.

Unfortunately, the data disagrees with you.

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=5&season=2016&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=8&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

 

Sano is not chasing at all. He's missing on pitches in the zone. In the upper third especially. He'll adjust.

 

Buxton swings at a quarter of pitches outside the zone.

 

(Oh God, Rosario...)