This is How We Baseball

REALLY?

I just wanted to climb up on my soapbox and take a few minutes to express my thoughts on the 2018 Minnesota Twins advertising gimmick line of “This is how we baseball”. I tried to think back of a worse Twins advertising idea over the years but none really comes to mind as being as bad as this one. 

You never know when a gimmick line will catch on and get hot but I don’t think this one ever stood a chance of that. Who wants to wear a t-shirt that says “this is how we baseball” when your team plays as badly as the 2018 Twins have. 

What was it intended to really tell us? “This is how we baseball” seems stupid to me but of course I am only one fan and I am sure there must be some fans out there that think this is a great catch phrase. If so, please leave a comment and tell me why you like it because I would really like to know.

If I remember correctly the Twins changed advertising firms going into this season and if so, they got took big time IMHO. Who approved this idea? Jim Pohlad should have that person fired. I do however; remain a Minnesota Twins fan in spite of this ridiculous advertising campaign.

 

Twins minor league players of the week – LaMonte Wade & Bailey Ober

The Twins have named AAA Rochester Red Wings outfielder LaMonte Wade and Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels right-handed pitcher Bailey Ober minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

LaMonte Wade

Wade played in six games for the Red Wings, hitting .391 (9-for-23) with two triples, two home runs, four RBI, two walks and a .440 on-base percentage. Wade started the season in Chattanooga where he hit .298 with 7 home runs, 27 RBI and 5 stolen bases in 171 PA’s. I should also note that he had 26 walks as compared to 20 strikeouts, a rare plus now days. So far in Rochester Wade is hitting .261 with 3 homers and 11 RBI in 109 PA’s and his walks still outnumber his KO’s. The 24-year old Wade is in his fourth season of pro ball and was a ninth round selection by the Twins in the 2015 June draft from the University of Maryland.  

Bailey Ober

Ober made one start for the Kernels, coming on Thursday vs. Wisconsin, allowing one run on three hits in 7.0 innings pitched with no walks and 12 strikeouts, earning the win. The soon to be (July 12) 24-year old right-handed Ober has spent all season in Cedar Rapids and has a 5-1 record with a 4.87 era in 11 starts. The 6’8″ 215 pound Ober has 64 strikeouts in 57.1 innings but he has also given up 60 hits. The Twins 12th round selection in 2017 from the College of Charleston already has a Tommy John surgery on his resume that caused him to miss the 2015 season while in Charleston.

 

Sean Miller

MLB announced on July 7 that  third baseman Sean Miller of the Minnesota Twins has been suspended for 50 games under baseball’s minor league drug program following second positive tests for drugs of abuse. Miller 23, was a 10th-round draft pick in 2015 and is on the roster of Chattanooga of the Double-A Southern League, where he is hitting .220
with one homer and eight RBIs in 150 at-bats. He started the season at Double-A, and batted .091 with one RBI in 10 games with Triple-A Rochester of the Triple-A International League, then was sent back down in late May.

 

Twins Minor League Report 070818

The time is here for Falvey and Levine to step up

The Twins have just returned from a road-trip that saw them win one of nine games. If they look at the Sports page this morning they will see that they have a 35-48 record, are in third place in the weakest division in baseball and are 12 games out of first place. 

The Twins have been a huge disappointment this season but these kinds of things have happened in the past and will happen again, it is baseball. Back in 1962 and again in 1963 the Twins won 91 games and then in 1964 they won 79 games before bouncing back in 1965 to win 102 games and advance to the World Series.

The young studs the Twins had back in 1982 were 60-102 and never won more than 81 games until they went to the World Series in 1987 when they won a grand total of 85 games. The 1990 Twins won 75 games before winning 95 in 1991 and again going to the World Series. I am not here to tell you that the Minnesota Twins will play in the 2019 World Series, but who knows, anything is possible. 

Continue reading The time is here for Falvey and Levine to step up

Twins minor league players of the week – Caleb Hamilton & Bryan Sammons

The Twins have named High-A Ft. Myers Miracle infielder Caleb Hamilton and Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels left-handed pitcher Bryan Sammons minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Caleb Hamilton

The 23-year-old Hamilton played in four games for the Miracle, hitting .462 (6-for-13) with two doubles, three home runs, eight RBI and five runs scored. Hamilton was the Twins 23rd round pick out of Oregon State University in 2016 and was selected as a shortstop. The Twins turned Hamilton into a catcher in 2017 and that is now his primary position although you can also find him at third base and first base. Last year he caught, pitched an inning and played every position but center and right field. In 185 career games Hamilton has a .211 batting average.

Bryan Sammons

The 6’4″ lefty Sammons made one start for the Kernels on Monday against Beloit, pitching 8.0 shutout innings with five hits allowed, one walk and five strikeouts. The 23-year-old Sammons attended Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.  In 12 starts this season Sammons is 4-4 with a 2.69 ERA and has allowed just 56 hits in 67 innings while striking out 58 batters. Sammons gave up 5 earned runs in his first start of the season but has given up 3 or less in every star since. Sammons was an eighth round Twins selection in 2017 and signed for a reported $10,000. Looks like the Twins might have gotten a bargain here.

 

Twins Minor League Report 063018

Twins should give Paul Molitor his final ejection sooner than later

Paul Molitor

The Minnesota are coming off a 2017 season where they made an appearance in the playoffs for the first time since 2010 and finished with a 85-77 record. The Twins had such an up-beat season that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine had no choice but to sign manager Paul Molitor who was in the last year of his contract to a new deal. When the Falvey/Levine regime took over they were told by ownership that Molitor stays as the Twins skipper. With the team playing as well as it did, albeit most in the second half of the season, Falvey’s hands were tied behind his back, he had no real choice but to re-sign Molitor, probably not his first choice to manage the team under the Falvey/Levine umbrella. 

In 2018 the team has played terribly in spite of several free agent starters brought in to bolster one of the worst starting pitching staff in the big leagues. Why is this team playing so poorly and inconsistently? We could probably make a long list of reasons and not all necessarily the fault of manager Paul Molitor. But, he is the manager so the responsibility it totally his, it is his job to manage the team so that it wins ball games, Molitor has not done that.

Molitor is a Hall of Fame baseball player but managing is not his thing, he is best suited to teach and not to manage. I hope that Falvey and Levine understand that and have the gonads to let Molitor go and put their own man in charge. I know that Molitor was just signed to a new 3-year deal after last season but I would bet that Falvey and Levine were not behind the big push to get that done. 

Instead of starting to replace players the organization should replace the real problem here, the manager. This team needs a manager that has some bite and is willing to get this team back on the winning track by bringing a “in you face” managing style. The team need to start playing the game right and if they can’t, it should end up costing them money from their wallet or in terms of playing time. 

Ozzie Guillen

The change in managers should take place sooner than later, Molitor should not be wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform after the All-Star break. Who should manage the team? I am not paid to answer that question but I will tell you who I would hire if I was Derek Falvey. My new Twins manager would be Ozzie Guillen, a man with experience who has been there before and a man not afraid to tell players where they stand. Besides, if the team can’t give us some excitement at the ballpark, I know that Ozzie can.

Twins minor league players of the week – Luis Arraez & Lewis Thorpe

The Twins have named High-A Ft. Myers infielder Luis Arraez and AA Chattanooga
left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Luis Arraez

The 21-year-old Arraez played five games for the Miracle, hitting .542 (13-for-24) with one double, one home run, four RBI and had a five-hit game on Friday at Bradenton. For the season he is hitting .307 with a .359 OBP and has played primarily at second but has also put in time at third and shortstop. In his five seasons of pro ball Arraez has never hit below .300 and has a .332 career average. Arraez was out most of 2017 with a torn ACL. Arraez was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2013 from San Felipe, Venezuela.

Lewis Thorpe

Thorpe made the start on Thursday vs. Biloxi, pitching 7.0 shutout innings with one hit allowed, one walk and 12 strikeouts. Thorpe was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2012 out of Melbourne, Australia. Here is what FanGraphs has to say about Thorpe :

Thorpe had real prospect status following the 2014 season, when he turned in a solid 71.2 innings in Low-A at age 18. He then missed all of the 2015 and 2016 seasons with Tommy John surgery and mono during his rehab from the surgery. He returned last year and mostly picked up where he left off, reaching Double-A at age 21, which is where he was assigned to start 2018. His stuff has always been around average, but it was a little above before and now it’s more fringy with a good slider.

 

Twins Minor League Report 062418.pdf

Twins minor league players of the week – Robby Rinn and Jordan Balazovic

The Twins have named Single-A Cedar Rapids first baseman Robby Rinn and Single-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Jordan Balazovic as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Robby Rinn

In four games for the Kernels, Robby Rinn hit .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles, one home run, three RBI and scored five runs. Rinn, now 25 was drafted by Kansas City in the 25th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft and was acquired via trade this past May in exchange for cash.

Jordan Balazovic

Jordan Balazovic, 19,  who was recently assigned to Cedar Rapids made one start for the week, coming Monday at Wisconsin, allowing one run on three hits in 7.0 innings pitched and 11 strikeouts. The 6’4″ Oakville, Ontario native is a right-hander and was drafted by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft and signed for a reported $515,000. Twins Daily did a nice piece on Balazovic that is worth checking out.

 

Twins Minor League Report 061718.pdf

Is the value of a two out RBI truth or myth?

According to the most recent (06/14/18) issue of MLB Weekly Notes, the Milwaukee Brewers have a MLB best 46% (126 out of 274) of their total RBI coming with two out. The first place Brewers have the best record in the National League at 42-27. The 40-29 Atlanta Braves have the second most wins in the NL and they also have the second best NL percentage of two out RBI at 43.2%. The San Diego Padres have the third best NL percentage of two out RBI at 41.7% but they have a 34-38 record and are last in the NL West.

In the American League the best two out percentage of RBI is 44.4% and belongs to the AL West fourth place Oakland A’s who have a 34-36 record. The only other team in the top five MLB percentages of two out RBI of 40% or more belongs to none other than our Minnesota Twins who sit at exactly 40%. The Twins offense has been anemic this season and their record stands at 30-36 and the team is 11th in the AL in runs scored. The third highest team in the AL in two out RBI is the 22-47 Kansas City Royals at 38.8% and only the Baltimore Orioles with a 19-49 record have fewer wins in MLB than the Royals.

Continue reading Is the value of a two out RBI truth or myth?

MLB Weekly Notes Draft Summary

As I have mentioned on this site previously, the MLB Weekly Notes that are published weekly by MLB are a good read for any baseball fan and you can find them on the MLB Weekly Notes Page on this site.

The most recent set of MLB Weekly Notes includes a very nice summary of the recently completed June amateur draft. I thought I would include it here so you could check it out.

Weekly Notes 060718

Twins minor league players of the week – Brent Rooker & Tyler Wells

The Twins have named Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) outfielder Brent Rooker and Ft. Myers Miracle (High A) right-handed pitcher Tyler Wells as Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

In six games for the Lookouts, Rooker hit .450 (9-for-20) with one double, one triple, one home run, six RBI, eight walks and a .586 on-base percentage. The former Mississippi State Bulldog was drafted by the Twins in the Competitive Balance Round A (35th overall) last season.

Brent Rooker

This season in Chattanooga, Rooker has played in 58 out of their 62 games and is hitting .269 in 250 plate appearances with 8 home runs, 36 RBI with a .791 OPS. Rooker has struck out 68 times. Although he has appeared as a corner outfielder a handful of times this season, his primary position appears to be first base.

Rooker is also an impressive athlete, and he was a three-sport star at Evangelical Christian School in Germantown, Tennessee. Rooker hit .430 with nine home runs as a senior. He also led his high school to the Division 2-A State Championship Game in football, collecting 3,300 yards of total offense with 33 touchdowns, and he was named a 2013 Tennessee Mr. Football finalist after setting 18 school records. He also played basketball.

Tyler Wells

Wells made one start for the Miracle last week, allowing one run on two hits in 8.0 innings pitched with one walk and seven strikeouts, earning his fourth win (4-3). The University of Cal-Berkeley alum was drafted by the Twins in the 15th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft.

This season the 6’8″ Wells has nine starts for the Miracle and has a 2.86 ERA and a 0.932 WHIP primarily because he has given up just 31 hits in 44 innings. During his short pro career, the right-handed Wells has always allowed fewer hits than innings pitched when you look at his yearly numbers. 

 

Twins Minor League Report 061018.pdf