Willihammer

According to my math it stops at 6 (12 position players, 7 relievers). 7 at the absolute max.

Welp its definitely not clear to me who are the best and worst starters. Would you enlighten?

On the other hand the batters who should benefit most from a fringy arm are your Lorenzo Cain, Adam Eaton rabbit types. Guys you really want to keep of the bases. Still, it does seem like our understanding of the exact value of SS arm strength, and really shortstop defense in general, is lagging. Can't wait for more Statcast data to compile and enlighten us.

Yeah, he's a slinger. Not a problem IMO. Release points looks pretty consistent. He gets good lateral movement on all his pitches, the changeup especially looked good in that session. He does have easy, almost sneaky velo on the fastball.

6/19 side session. Pretty good look at his 4 pitches

https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/613164822016823296

https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/613161013249118208

Some interesting names now and in the pipeline so why does Escobar continue to get playing time out there?

Siegrist is a stud. A LH bat isn't supposed to do anything in that spot.

Joe seems to have bungled some first-to-second plays this year for whatever reason. The other day he hit a runner in the back, and in a game a few weeks ago had a double play ball hit to him but he threw it so softly that the return throw didn't come in time. Strange. Maybe nothing tho.

What do fans of Hunter's leadership think about bringing him back as a coach? Would the impact be there if he's not lacing up as a player?

So he is swinging at more fastballs inside in an attempt to pull the ball more. He is attempting to pull the ball in order to a. beat the shift and b. hit for more power. However by swinging at these pitches he is neither improving his BABIP or Slg%. At what point do the Twins declare failure at turning him into a "corner profile" guy and just let him do his thing again?

According to at least one source, ABWII's specific weakness is breaking balls at the knees. Isn't the difference between AA and AAA pitchers, that AAA guys throw better breaking balls and command them better? I thought I read that on these boards somewhere.

I have this experience all the time as a fan and more at work which involves the restuarant/bar business. It is amazing how many bars in this town dedicate literally no TVs to a Twins game until asked. That said, if you want to drive up Snelling to Grumpy's they will usually have the game going on at least a couple TVs. My personal go-to spot for any MN-based sports viewing is Mac's Industrial on University & Central. They usually pipe the audio as well and most of the patrons are there to watch the game.

There has been some at-bats recently where there is a man on and Mauer is hacking at pitches in even or hitter-counts and then asking the umpire immediately afterward if it was a strike. I think there might be a conflict with the team asking him to be a run producer and Mauer's ongoing attempt to figure out the expanded strike zone. I wonder how much simply bumping him up in the order and asking him to a run SCORER would change things.

You might be right about power being a worse predictor than Avg or OBP. Then again, if the industry's understanding of OBP was wrong before, maybe its wrong again? Maybe there is some other aspect of Walker's game that is more important than all of it. The ability to turn on a high fastball, perhaps. Just as easily the inability to lay off breaking pitches at the knees could render his career DOA. All we know for sure is that our understanding is never perfect, and that "non-prospects" will continue to break out and have productive MLB careers (less often than "prospects").

Yeah I've heard it too. I vividly remember Nick Blackburn telling that to the KFAN morning show guys around May 2011, for instance. First things first. Gibson did throw 7 innings in that Brewer game and got 13 ground balls to 5 fly balls. Only, 3 of those 5 left the park. So it was far from his worst outing. In fact he's had some very good starts on 5 days rest (Apr 26, May 12, May 24). Obviously I can't say for a fact he would perform materially better with 5 than 4 since its never really been tried for any length of time with him or really on any MLB team ever (they do it in Japan however). There's a lot of research out there backing up the theory that increased velocity leads to increased effectivesness - sinkerballers included. I would also point to spring training when Gibson was consistently 94-95 and just dominating. Pelfrey too - he's always been more effective at 94+. Less than that, and he gets knocked around. Leaguewide, the best sinkerballers are hard throwers - Zimmerman, Lynn, Kluber, etc. Its a myth that sinkerballers need to be "tired" or they become ineffictive at higher velocities. The opposite is true.

Dozier? Kubel? Koskie? Mientkewicz? Pinto?

Because its a cherry picked sample?

Actually that would be 17 (including Walker). They won't add all of them but I count the following probables: Walker Duffey Baxendale Melotakis Jones Rogers Buxton and Berrios would make 8. Does that seem realistic? It will be interesting to watch whatever their plan is unfold. One way or another they are going to have some roster turnover.

Ah yes the old, too strong to get anyone out excuse. I love that one.

Getting back to the original question - I think its an interesting idea for a few reasons. Like the Mets, the Twins have some starters coming off arm injuries. We are all too aware of how starkly different an unhealthy Nolasco and Pelfrey look compared to being at full strength. If an extra day of rest / fewer starts is good for their health, it ought to be good for their output too. Gibson, May, and Hughes are healthy, though not pitching well enough to really force the issue IMO. And there is a lot of team control left for all 3 so maybe conserving innings now, while the opportunity is there (and when Santana returns), might be prudent. And as Chief has pointed out, there's no point carrying 13 pitchers if 2 of them are going to sit all the time. Swapping a reliever for a starter who is guaranteed innings might trim some of that inefficiency.

I don't want to go through the entire roster but again there are 14 other '15 eligibles - Duffey, Harrison, Hicks, Jones, Rogers, Baxendale, for example. Then 16 more in '16 - Buxton, Berrios, Garver, Turner, etc. the full list is in the Organizational Chart area. Seems like with a flood of prospects coming through the system, keeping a roster spot for Walker will be the challenge, not running out of option years.

I won't pretend to be the expert here, but Walker is going to be Rule 5 eligible this winter along with 14 other players, and he hasn't even cracked AAA yet. Compared to other college players the Twins have drafted, Brian Dozier for example, he's nearly a year behind while putting up roughly similar production at each level. And Dozier is considered a late bloomer. If the Twins continue to slow cook a fringy, college-drafted player like this, it seems like they risk handcuffing themselves later when it comes time to test him against MLB competition.

Also mentioned in that article: http://www.startribune.com/adam-brett-walker-is-long-on-power-short-on-consistency/306439531/ That seems consistent with a BP scouting report from last year: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/eyewitness_bat.php?reportid=99