Don Walcott

Lots of things change the routines of players before games. And it's not just hard to tell, it's probably not possible to tell what effect that has on their performances.

Not sure what his post says about Thrylos. Other than him being a big Twins fan, I know virtually nothing about Thrylos, despite his having made over 10,000 posts (congrats, Thrylos). Nor do I think it's appropriate to insinuate something bad from his comment. You can have an opinion that attending a religious service before the game didn't affect Gibson's performance without personal attacks. Or, maybe the tone of this site is changing to be more like other web sites where people attack each other for making non-PC comments. Won't that be fun.

I like the win expectancy charts. They're cool looking.

It's about time on this site for everyone to start spelling Rogers correctly.

Pineda gave up 3 hits and no walks, but gave up three runs. That's not going to happen very often. The Twins probably should have scored a few more runs. Taylor Rogers is human. Even Josh Hader is human -- he's just an incredibly good human pitcher. Tough luck, let's get them back tonight.

Batting 9th is Buxton's 4th best spot in the order by OPS, about equivalent to when he bats 1st. His best spots in the order by OPS are 5th, 7th and 6th. So should we bat him 5th, because that's been his best spot historically? Probably not. I don't think this "history" makes much of a difference one way or another. But if you want to base your decision on history or data, he should not be batting 9th. And I don't know where this idea that Buxton can't handle pressure is coming from (that's assuming batting higher in the order would put additional pressure on him at all). I would bet that the vast majority of any "pressure" on Buxton has come from him being a #1 pick, being a #1 prospect, and being over-hyped his whole career. Has that affected his performance? i don't know, but I would be very doubtful that it has. He looks to me like a very strong personality who can handle expectations and pressure. He does not look to me like a guy who'll fall apart as soon as we put him in the #1 spot in the order. I'm hoping that this year has proven to all of his doubters on this web site that last year was a lost year due to injuries -- bad luck. He's back on course as if 2018 didn't happen, and he's following up on an excellent 2017 season. I think Kepler's doing just fine in the leadoff spot vs. right-handers. I'm not anxious to replace Kepler there because of anything Kepler has done wrong. I want to see Buxton bat leadoff because he is one of the most exciting players in baseball, his skill set would work very well leading off, and he'll get to bat more by leading off. I don't think he's mentally weak or fragile, and I'm not worried about the effect of moving him up on the order on his psyche. I'm excited for him in what looks to be a huge breakout year, and I'm rooting for more success for him (and more ABs).

Nice to see Kepler hit a lefty. If he can get his bat going against lefties, his overall numbers will look really good. OBP .333 and OPS of .846 against righties right now. But .244 and .533 v. lefties -- generally from the #6 spot in the order.

I'd like to see what he's doing now, through the end of the season. I think he's a star. Obviously, if you don't like him you never have to call him a star . . . ever.

Why not, period? DIdn't I just say that I think Buxton should be leading off?

Against RHP, Kepler's OBP is .336. His OPS is .853. He doesn't lead off against lefties. Against RHP, Buxton's OBP is .314. His OPS is .827. I still think Buxton should be leading off. But these statistics don't demand that he replace Kepler against righties.

Kepler is not leading off against lefties at all. So we should only be using his statistics against righties to analyze his position in the batting order. Not that I'm a huge fan of Kepler batting leadoff. In fact, I've already made my opinion known elsewhere that Buxton should be leading off. Just want the debate to be based on accurate information.

Assuming he keeps hitting like he is now, he would score a lot of runs. Any hit or walk is like giving him a double (and he has been getting his fair share of actual doubles). Plus Polanco hitting behind him will likely ensure that he gets more good pitches to hit. And having Buxton on second will give Polanco and Cruz more RBI opportunities. Seems like it would be the best of all possible worlds . . . assuming Buxton keeps hitting like he has so far this year. What's the down side? Seems like the up side is hard to resist at this point.

Is it possible that Buxton isn't just ready to hit leadoff, but that he's our best option hitting leadoff? I think so. I hope so. Please let it be so.

I don't mind bringing Rogers into a 1-run game, or a tie game for that matter. If they'd done that against Detroit they might have come out of that series with another win or two. Rogers did his job, and the Twins offense did not do theirs. Down one at home, guy on second and no outs. You have to score there. I'm happy with our record and optimistic about this team. But it seems like we're losing games we should win due to some questionable managerial decisions and failing at basics. I just hope the players and manager are learning from it.

Byron Buxton accounts for some of this difference.

I would have put Rogers in there and gone for the win in the 9th.

Did anyone notice that Garver caught both Monday's and Wednesday's games? Is it possible that he's a pretty good defensive catcher?

I agree with the above comments about not rushing him. However, I also like the idea of having Buxton bat leadoff. Not just because of the havoc he can wreak getting on in front of the best hitters on the team, but also because it would get him more ABs. At this time, I see no reason to give Castro, Schoop and Cron (and maybe Kepler) more ABs than Byron in any given game.

So true! Saw Dylan, Petty, Dead there, and from the smoke, it was clear the Dome was a Dead-Head.

Breaking News!! Astudillo just walked!!

No way, Rod Carew was the best player who ever played for the Twins!! . . . And I'm coming up with a formula of statistics to prove it!!

I think some of the confusion with this argument is that, as Yarnivek said, WAR and FIP are like the QB rating system. They aren't "statistics," though their formulas are based on statistics. And as has been pointed out by others, it's how the rating system's formula is comprised that is "subjective" to an extent. However, it's not that "subjective" formulas are inherently unreliable. Rather, they are as reliable as the person on whose expert opinion we rely, and the data that they are using. Even without diving deep into the composition of the formulas, we can look at different formulation of WAR, for example, and determine which outcome most closely aligns with what we believe reality is. I prefer not to use WAR at all, because I believe it is generally used by people who believe it is authoritative, like a statistic, proving definitively how one player is better than another or how one player's season or career is better than another player's season or career. I think it's a lazy way of making an argument from authority, without really knowing much about the authority. And it's also not the correct way to use these rating systems, which are really intended to be predictive (attempting to equalize things like luck and park factors) and not a reflection of what actually happened.

I'd be more interested in seeing how many runs they score with him vs. without him in the lineup. He has very little to do with how many runs we give up.

He's good insurance for Miguel Santos.

A story about my family on Twins Daily!! I'd feel honored, except this hit a little too close to home.