Richie the Rally Goat

Have you seen the thread about “is Buxton the best?” Even Twins bobos respond with “well, let’s see if he can be healthy for a decade, then… maybe”. It’s so rare for a rookie to win MVP in part because of track record.

I think (hope) Buxton stays healthy and plays 130+ games this year, but I his odds of winning MVP this year are diminished by not being healthy last year. If he does stay healthy and play 130+ games this year, his odds are great for next year.

I hope Kiriloff plays first when he returns

Sano’s fielding is bad, and I hope when Kiriloff comes back he takes over at first, moving Sano to DH. agree that process does need to yield results, he’s been bumped to the bottom of the lineup. I’d still look to give him more ABs before benching him, especially considering how thin they are right now.

It would be cool if the player text (in red) linked to article mentions and prospect profiles (and maybe b-ref page)

651 slg? 990 ops?

He only gets 3 strikes, just like everyone else. Process and results are different things. Fans care about results, but over the course of a marathon season, process matters the most. Process drives results over larger sample sizes. Yes Sano has struggled to get the results we all need, but the metrics point to process being right (for his style of play). Buxton is K’ing 31.7% and BB’ing 4.9% and no one is whining. Sano is K’ing 29.3% and BB’ing 13.8% and he’s a pariah. there is more to baseball than batting average.

Duh! YES! btw, love that swagger. All that flex as he strutted the bases on the walk off… awesome. looking forward to a whole lotta swagger going forward.

I’ve never run a marathon, but I typically run 2 half marathon’s per year. At least in a half marathon, the OP is correct, it’s really hard to finish the race if you stumble too hard out of the gate. When you’re stuck at the back of the pack and can’t stretch your legs, find your comfortable pace, you get bogged down in frustration. I imagine that is true of baseball as well, and some of the wisdom in the “consistency” phrase that gets thrown around. If a player is inconsistent, they are too reactive to the dictation around them. In the long distance run, it’s finding your place at the gate before the gun fires. too far forward and you’re being stepped on, shoved and trampled by runners who are way faster than you, or sprinting and running out of gas… Too far back and you can’t get through the pack. Find the right spot and you can set your stride and maintain. Adjustments come along the way as you avoid obstacles, but it’s much easier to find your pace again when the pack isn’t dictating your speed. Similarly I suppose, for a hitter. Adjustments are the name of the game, if a batter is too responsive, pitchers and catchers can manipulate and dictate how the at-bat, game, series and season goes. Consistently keeping within your game, making small adjustments, not big ones, and practicing patience can help the batter not give the pitcher too much sway.

ME TOO!

From the way Gladden describes it, Archer is getting by on grit, gumption and not much else. I’d be ok if they swapped roles too

The Archer/Winder piggy back gonna last the rest of the season?

Outside of a couple Duffey blowups the bullpen has been good. Duffey doesn’t have the velocity that he used to have, but his last outing was ok to good despite the lost speed. also to give credit on the strategy/execution front; with a short spring training and no real overwhelming number 1 starting pitcher acquired, Johnson and Baldelli have taken what’s given them, and made the most of it. if this crew gets the blame for last years circus, they get credit for this year’s strong start. Both I believe are correct.

Very stylish!

Awesome work (as always) Sherry! My daughter and I listen to Gladden and Provus during our bedtime ritual. She asks me about the players to try to stall sleep. She’s 8 and not as excited about the game as Harley, but I’ll keep working on her.

It was only two games, but 7 and 8, vs 5 and 10 is huge. We’ve seen this team end it’s season in April before (many times in my lifetime). im excited too, I am still worried about the starting pitchers running out of gas in August, but the hitters should come back to life (getting a glimpse of that yesterday helped my optimism in that regard)

Lew was ahead of his time!

141 wRC+ in triple A

Maybe they’ll bat around and he’ll complete the cycle!

Arraez and shine!

On base 5 times

I think not!