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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    I'm not doubting Jay can be converted to a starter, I just wonder what kind of starter he could be. If he doesn't miss bets due to reduced velocity, he'll just be another guy. He wasn't the guy I would have picked, but no one in the draft excited me much, even the top 3 SS.
  2. nicksaviking
    I am a sentimental guy. Still no. Seeing the veteran Hunter on the roster last July and knowing he couldn't be moved was troubling. As much as I like seeing favorites from the past, the smart business decision is to sign free agents that can get you something back if the season goes in the crapper or you're unexpectedly overloaded at a position. No more legacy signings, as much as I might enjoy seeing them again.
  3. nicksaviking
    Coming into the draft Stewart was touted as having a Texas strong upper 90's fastball. I thought I was hearing this year it was 93-95, but this sounds like it's not even that high.
  4. nicksaviking
    Slightly off topic, but I wanted to see where Zuke ranked in terms of games caught and not surprisingly he played in 131 games, which ranked him 7th out of all the catchers. Only 8 of those games did he come in as a substitute as well. Yet somehow he only managed 479 PA (471 as a starter) which is still 23 PA from being a qualified batter.
  5. nicksaviking
    Surely height could be an advantage and just like most athletes who don't ride horses for a living, the rule of thumb is the bigger the better. I can't imagine height could ever trump velocity, movement and control though. I'd have to think that there are plenty of things a shorter pitcher can do to regain the slight disadvantage of losing out on height, like having a longer stride causing a release closer to the plate, having the ability to change arm slots or throwing the ball from an angle that takes longer for the batter to pick up out of the pitchers hand.
  6. nicksaviking
    I also think the "downward plane" need is overblown. If it was so devastatingly important, would anyone throw from the pretty standard 3/4 delivery? Heck, what about a side-armer.
  7. nicksaviking
    Awful, they've drafted and developed two in the organization's entire run in Minnesota. It still needs to happen though. To be clear, I'm not against supplementing the homegrown talent with difference makers from the outside, in 1987 they brought back Blyleven and in 1991 they got Morris. However the Twins already did this with this club with Nolasco, Hughes and Santana, unfortunately it doesn't look like it was enough. Can't keep doubling down on these bad contracts, at some point they have to try a different approach.
  8. nicksaviking
    I'm not saying it's a quick fix, but I can't believe creating your own ace(s) organically is only based on luck. I don't think buying one is easy though either. Forget about the ramifications of sticking a fourth 30+ year old pitcher in the rotation, how could the Twins convince Greinke to pass up the Dodgers, Yankees, Angels, Red Sox or Cubs and come to Minnesota? The Twins would have to pay a lot more money, or worse, more years. Teams not in big markets have to make their own, otherwise they'll have to be satisfied with calling middle of the road starters like Nolasco, Hughes or Santana an ace and live with it. I'd consider a trade however if the Mets could be convinced to part with one of their aces.
  9. nicksaviking
    I think you need an ace or five, but I don't think you chase them. The team simply has to start making their own. If they continually fail at this task that most other teams have not failed at nearly as often, wholesale changes need to be made. Developing strikeout generating horses is one of the biggest keys to this whole game. I also think we're getting awfully close to trying to buy our way out of a rebuild, which is going to really hurt a sustained run of success.
  10. nicksaviking
    I think he's taking lessons from 6' 10" Chris Young.
  11. nicksaviking
    I think Michael is almost certainly going to make the big leagues even if only because of the fact that he was a 1st round pick. Only three college players drafted ahead of him have yet to hit the majors and two of those almost certainly would have by now if not for injury. As a utility infielder with good on-base skills and the pedigree of a 1st round pick, there's a pretty good chance he'll get picked in the Rule V. If the Twins protect him and put him on the 40-man, they almost certainly will give him a call at some point.
  12. nicksaviking
    I wish I knew more about mechanics, most of my knowledge is anecdotal and rehashing what I have heard smarter people say. But if it is something the Twins are doing, I'd have to think it's the reduced stride to the plate; the typical Twins stride certainly appears to be pretty minimal. IF (still just speculation) the Twins coach the stride out of pitchers I wonder what the reason is. Is it believed to improve control? Do they believe it keeps pitchers healthier? Or is it simply a more effective way of limiting the leads of base runners? And again, I don't think a reduced velocity or strikeout rate is the intention of the club, if there is a causation related to a Twins philosophy, it is almost surely just a side effect not the actual objective.
  13. nicksaviking
    I agree they did, but I'm not holding it against them anymore as I think they changed, at least when it comes to the draft. But I am curious, Ryan has said many times that Deron Johnson and the scouts are really the ones who run the draft, and lately they have been getting harder throwing guys (the results can be a different topic of discussion) yet in free agency, the Twins still seem to favor the control guys. It also seems that many guys who were drafted with high 90's heat or projections for high 90's heat have now fallen to low to mid-90's guys. I don't think this is entirely unique to the Twins, and some of that could be due to age, as pitchers seem to lose velocity pretty early into their careers these days, but I wonder if there is any kind of disconnect between what the scouting department covets in a pitcher and what those that develop them ultimately want to see from them. To clarify, I don't mean to ask if those who are developing pitchers want to get rid of strikeouts for PTC because I don't think they do, I more wonder if a strong focus on mechanics or asking guys not to throw max effort may impact college or projected velocity compared to what we see in the minors. Or maybe I'm just mus-remembering pre-draft velocity reports entirely.
  14. nicksaviking
    I'd prefer the higher velocity, as noted several times including in Seth's OP, it allows for a larger margin of error. However, watching games, it seems to me most pitchers get their strikeouts on breaking balls. Kyle Gibson has fine velocity, but he relies on his sinker quite a bit, and sinkerball pitchers don't tend to get a lot of strikeouts. Funny thing is that Fangraphs rates Gibson's slider and changeup as easily his best pitches, it would be nice to see him whip those out more in two strike counts and see if the results change.
  15. nicksaviking
    I agree that the Twins philosophy on over-emphasizing control was a huge issue, however I think that changed after the 2010 draft. Hudson Boyd was a high schooler who was supposed to have an electric arm, same with Stewart and Berrios has all kinds of ceiling. I was never more disappointed in the draft as when the Twins picked Wimmers over a half dozen HS arms with tons of upside, but they've drafted 3 HS arms in the 1st round since and even if the philosophy hasn't paid off, they have been going after high velocity/strikeout guys in the past several drafts. Now whether or not they know what they're doing with the high velocity arms is a different story. Their ability to scout and develop pitchers surely is fair game.
  16. nicksaviking
    It's not the velocity that is missing from the Twins rotation, it's the strikeouts. Too often I tie the two together, and while there is a strong correlation with velocity and strikeouts, there are high velocity guys who don't miss bats and low velocity of guys who do. So I'm fine refraining from asking this team to sign high velocity guys, just so long as they start getting high strikeout guys.
  17. nicksaviking
    Not sure there was much retro there. I certainly spect'd at the time.
  18. nicksaviking
    I wonder why they didn't go to Cotts if they needed a lefty.
  19. nicksaviking
    Seems like a peculiar pitching change. I thought Santana was in a groove and simply gave up a lucky lob shot.
  20. nicksaviking
    I saw that video once but had to quickly turn off the TV when my wife walked in the room.
  21. nicksaviking
    I think I would have left him in until his arm popped off instead of going to Boyer and Fien in the sixth. And that's coming from a guy who has had no faith in Pelfrey all year.
  22. nicksaviking
    Is there a less sarcastic reason? Tell me it wasn't due to over confidence in the pen.
  23. nicksaviking
    I e been preoccupied, why did Pelfrey only go five?
  24. nicksaviking
    When he was on early in the year, he seemed to have an ornery but confident demeanor on the mound. Lately he's been ornery but has seemed more frustrated than confident. That kind of tells me he doesn't yet trust himself. I'll trust him again once he starts trusting himself. I'm guessing that will come once he shakes off the rust, locates his fastball better and resumes his previous steady usage of his slider which had always been 25-30% of the time. It'll happen, just not quite yet.
  25. nicksaviking
    Son of a gun. I'll take it.
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