Respy

Offensively, I'm most interested where his batting average will sit. .210 is painful. .230 is tolerable. His 2013 season at .276 would be amazing. His BABIP numbers give a good indication of where he projects. MLB average BABIP is about .297-.300. The year he hit .276, his BABIP was .351. A very lucky year for him. The last three years where he hit, .222, .211, and .210, his BABIP was .294, .280, .297, respectively. A bit on the unlucky side, perhaps. Using these three years, and MLB average BABIP of .297, would say he projects to hit at .219. Again, I would be happy if he hits over .230 and hits over 10 homeruns. Regarding those homeruns, I looked at his batted balls chart against RHP from 2014-2016 on Fangraphs (cannot figure out how to paste chart here). 20 HR to right field. 2 to center field. 10 to left field. 6 of them to left field were really short (short porch in Houston). Those 6 would not be homeruns at Target Field. You might ask about deep flies to Tal's Hill in Houston that would be Target Field homeruns? It looks like Castro doesn't hit many deep fly ball to center. So, we might see a regression in homeruns this year.

I don't think they selected him with the intention of putting him in the rotation this April. He put up solid numbers in AA/AAA last year, and had a phenomenal appearance at winter ball (one run in 23 2/3 innings) right before the Rule 5 draft. Before Wimmers came into the discussion, I would assume that Haley was viewed as the top option in long relief, gave some rotation depth, and could provide some options for 2018+ if he had a good 2017 in the bullpen. He might still not make the team, but the Rule 5 draft is fairly low-risk (minus the measly $25,000 return fee if he goes back to the Red Sox). Regarding your question on his history, he's got a pitcher's build with decent stats and durability, with potential to be bottom-of-the rotation starter. His scouting report repeats the words "flashes" and "at times" and seems to indicate that he could be a decent pitcher if he figured out how to be more consistent. This for a Twins team that had a terrible pitching staff next year. I wouldn't have made the Rule 5 pick of Haley myself, but it makes enough sense.

He started as recently as 2015, and averaged over an inning per relief appearance at AAA. Should be fine as a long reliever, but then I'm not sure why we would have both Wimmers and Haley on the 25-man roster.

Yes, I recall watching Gibson pitch last spring training and thinking how good his sinker and slider were moving. I thought for sure that he was poised for a breakout year. Then he hit a brick wall in April. I remember thinking the same thing about Mike Pelfrey in spring training of 2015. I have come under the assumption that most sinkerball pitchers prefer warm/mild/fair weather so they can stay loose and consistent. (I'd also point out Carlos Silva 2004-2007 Metrodome ERA 3.82; away ERA 5.67). Gibson should improve this year but my expectations are not too high.

In a world of advanced scouting and statistics, and extreme shifts, I think it's best for a scrappy-type player to be able to do both. We are going to be able to see more success in the future for baseball-savvy players who can make both those short-term and long-term adjustments to stay ahead of the scouting by other teams. Hopefully Granite can be that type of player.

You might just be in luck this year!

Danny Santana 2017 WAR: Over/Under 0.0?

Should be closer by next year, at age 27. If we can manage to get between 3-5 years of solid closing out of him without getting hurt, maybe even more if we are lucky, that would be fantastic for this team going forward. Remember that we've only gotten 3.5 years of closing out of Perkins. I liked Kintzler in that role last year, but it's just not a good long-term solution.

Nice article, thanks. Hopefully he doesn't start to get battered at AAA, and keeps those walk numbers down. Sounds like he has better control of mechanics than most guys his size.

Generally, yes. Can't complain. Can point out, though, that a majority of innings for our bullpen guys come against the minor league backups. But, the pen should look a tad sharper than last year.

Great to see the solid game from Mejia. I would assume with only 12 AAA starts under his belt, Mejia will pitch at least a half season at Rochester. If Mejia was the only left-handed rotation candidate, this might be a different story. But with Santiago currently slotted for the rotation, that's a non-factor.

What about Kepler? Career minors .363 OBP (and .302 AVG / .376 OBP leading off an inning). Averages 15 steals / 162 games at 82% clip. These are better lead-off numbers than Polanco. Are we only against this because of the fluky 17 homers he hit in 400 MLB AB last year? Also I predict that by some point next season, Granite will be our primary leadoff hitter. Long-term I see Buxton hitting in RBI slots.

The open stance, yes. But Thome kept his hands much higher and always kept two hands on the bat. Palka keeps his hands low and whips the bat head more, and usually finishes his swing one-handed.

This has me thinking about options... If a player has never been on the 40-man roster, then say mid-year or September that player is added to the 40-man roster and called up, and they stay with the MLB team the rest of the year. That does not use an option, correct? Also, if a player is removed from the 40-man roster (e.g. ByungHo Park) and is sent to the minors, does that still count as using an option?

It sure would, if he goes on the 60-day DL. I question that they are going to be willing to do this, though, because they might have to keep him on the 40-man indefinitely because I don't know if he'd clear waivers again at this point. Especially with the spring he's had. As good as Park has been, I think they will decide to send him to Rochester and make him start raking there first. The FO seem to have already committed to giving Vargas his chance for full-time at-bats.