Twodogs

Remember a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush leagues.

Pressly looked good after Lynn walked two guys to start the 6th in a one run game. Yeah he beaned the first guy but then K'd the next two guys and got the last guy to fly out, say he did pretty good in a very high leverage situation there. But then to put him out there in back to back games when there are other dudes seems weird.

He was amazing yesterday, but that's the thing, use someone else in what looked like a sure win. Not someone who had a high stress inning yesterday??

Wow this could be all bad?

How long do you keep Pressly in??

I like this comparison between Rosie and Kep. One thing that my eye test says is that Rosario is less predictable, a la sorta like Vladimir Guerrero,(obviously I'm not comparing to Vlad's production), just that he swings at lots of different pitches and you don't really know when or where it's going. It seems as though Kepler is more controlled and you can use data to figure out when and where Kepler is going to hit it? Maybe Kepler is getting beat by the shifts and whatnot?? Just a guess.

Someone mentioned earlier, I don't think it helps that everyone around him is hitting like crud. Maybe getting Polanco back will spark something in this lineup, I mean Buxton, Sano and Morrison have been up there whiffing away all year. I know everyone can't get hot at the same time, but geez, it would have been nice to at least see Buxton, Sano, and Morrison to have at least a few weeks of hot hitting. Dozier is doing poorly, but he has had a couple of weeks here and there where he produced, if everyone had a few of those weeks, Kepler included I think everyone would be doing better overall? I know Rosario hasn't really needed that protection but he is a free swinger so he's going to get hot and cold all by himself. I think Kepler needs a little bit of that protection. Also weird how Kepler seems to be doing better against leftys rather than righties?

All of the minor league reports are fantastic, the one thing I was wondering is if this site can post a link to all of the twins minor league teams stats. It would be cool to be able to follow these guys down in the minors more easily. I can remember back when guys like Morneau and those guys were coming up I was able to follow those guys really easily. Just wondering if this site can make something like that easy again so as to build a following of these guys even before they get here?

yeah those guys too. I was just naming whoever wasn't really supposed to be a factor this year.

I think they could get to 100 losses; but, there is a but, they have been running a JV team out there for a lot of the season. No Buxton No Polanco No Sano for a sizable chunk No Castro No Mauer for a sizable chunk No Santana So it's been a bad year, however not everything has gone very well this year either. Take Boston and remove Bogart's Betts Devers Moreland Vasquez And Sale and how would they be doing? I know that's a little dramatic, but realistically the Twins have been without the guys that they projected to be their best players this year. Instead the Twins have run out Lamarre, Cave, Astrudillo, Petite, etc.....

It appears that the chariot that twins pitching was riding in all year has turned back into pumpkins.

I'd say Escobar is almost identical to Nunez? On that matter Nunez has done ok for himself with the Bosox, so it wouldn't be out of the question that Escobar could fetch something decent coming down the road here? I'm usually one of the last ones to get on the sell bandwagon, and I'm still holding out some hope, but it looks pretty grim at this point.

Yeah again this is crazy and it almost makes me embarrassed to be a Twins fan, like back when Dozier was all complaining about someone bunting into the hole while the Twins had a shift on. Well then if you are concerned about it, don't put on that stupid shift. If I was a manager and my players could make it happen they'd bunt into that hole all day long.

I think it's a load of crap to tell some guy not to steal a base. I don't care if it's the 9th inning and they are up by 8 runs, if they aren't paying attention, then F them and steal the base. On a second thought. I know Barry Bonds was one of the biggest noted plate crowders standing almost in the strike zone and such. He also wore a ton of body armor, I get it, it's their profession and one bad pitchin the wrong location can fracture some important little bones in the elbow and wrist that can be career threatening. So in no way would I ever say that a hitter should not wear body armor. However, I'm almost of the opinion that if a player gets hit in the body armor then just call it a ball and move on, if they get hit in a spot without body armor take first base. I guess my thoughts come from when he was standing over the plate.

Also probably depends on how long he plays too? I mean if he has a great run for about 10 years and is done at age 35 then no, however, if he has a great run and he can continue that run till he's 39 or 40 like Edgar Martinez and some of those guys that played a long time then he has a shot. But he has to go on a great run first.

Yeah, I think that they need to use all 7 - 8 arms in the pen, no sense in using the same 3 or 4 all the time. On pace for 90 games is a lot.

Part of the problem could be that the Twins have been in a ton of close late games this year. It hasn't helped that they have come on the wrong side of many of those games. The Twins need to bust out and blow a few teams out of the water to get guys like Magil in there more often. If they had won more of those close 1 run games they'd be in a much better spot. So hopefully they can have a few more of those 9 - 3 games like the other day so as to rest those bullpen guys like Pressly, Hildy, Reed etc...

I think starting pitching has changed a lot since the days of Brad Radke. During his 12 year career he had 10 seasons on 181 or more innings pitched and 9 seasons over 200 as the 181 innings came in his rookie season. His last season he threw like 162 innings or something like that. He was pitching right smack dab in the middle of the Steroid era too. So I think his numbers probably translate pretty well into today's game. I'd say in his prime he'd be a #1 on a lot of today's teams. Johan would still be one of the top 3 or 4 pitchers in any given year in today's game, probably #1 in some seasons just like he was back then. Both of those guys would give the bullpen a lot or rest today.

Is the cat missing??

On the other hand however, Buxton has never let himself get to 300 pounds either. I know different body types, but Buxton, I am assuming is willing to do the things that they tell him to do, so maybe Sano is getting demoted all the way down to work on more than just his swing??

It doesnt matter the physical tools that any person has, if they don't have it mentally they probably won't make it.

Didn't Sano work with Fernando Tatis or something like that a couple of years ago?? I wonder whatever happened to that working relationship?

Release Wilson and get someone breathing.

What's most amazing to me is that in the whole dang system there isn't anyone better than Wilson????

Swarzak just closed out the win for the Mets over the Yankees??