Tag: Willians Astudillo

What the heck ails the Twins

Where is the win?

What the heck ails the Minnesota Twins? Are the Twins as bad as they have shown so far? After almost three weeks of play the Twins are tied for last place in the AL Central with the Detroit Tigers and no team in the AL has a worse record and only the Colorado Rockies over in the other league have won fewer games.

Then again the entire American League seems to be is disarray with the Boston Red Sox leading in the East with a 12-6 record and they are five games ahead of the last place New York Yankees (dang it feels good to say that) and the Toronto Blue Jays are just a half game better at 7-10. In the West the the high-flying Oakland A’s are 11-7 and on a ten game winning streak prior to todays game. The Seattle Mariners are also at 11-7 and the last place Houston Astros are just 7-9. In the Central which the Twins call home the leaders are the Kansas City Royals at 9-7. Has the entire AL gone nuts? I know only about ten percent of the games have been played so it is a small sample size but things are kind of crazy.

Continue reading What the heck ails the Twins

Is Tortuga the most fun player in baseball?

When you come out to Target Field and want to watch Willians Astudillo play ball you have to check out each position on the field to see where he might be playing on any given day. The soon to be 27-year old is in his second year in the big leagues and has just 77 games under his belt. His 5’9″ (probably generous) and 225 pounds (probably understated) suits him fine for his primary position of catcher but Astudillo is more than that. In parts of two seasons with the Twins he has played every position except shortstop and I would expect him to play there at some point too. Astudillo even pitched during his first year with Minnesota.

Astudillo loves to play baseball and it shows, he has fun on and off the field and isn’t afraid to poke a little fun at himself. The “Tortuga” is a fan favorite and the he can play some ball. This season he is only hitting .269 but last season he hit .355 and struckout just 3 time in 97 PA’s. The man can put his bat on the ball no matter where it is pitched.

Astudillo first signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a 17 year-old free agent in December 2008 but never got above High A ball in the Philly organization. In November 2015 Astudillo became a FA and signed with the Atlanta Braves. The following November he was a FA again and this time was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks. When 2017 was coming to and end Astudillo was again a FA and this time signed with the Twins. 

The “Turtle” started 2018 with AAA Rochester but was called up my Minnesota in late June and made his big league debut at the age of 26 on June 30th against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field when he replaced Eddie Rosario in left field. Naturally Astudillo singled in his first big league at bat off former Twins pitcher Brian Duensing and knocked in a run. Astudillo made the 2019 Twins team in spring training but has visited the IL twice this season with a hamstring issue and an oblique strain and has missed 71 games.

Astudillo who enjoys playing winter ball back home in his native Venezuela but due to the political unrest in his country MLB is prohibiting MLB players from playing baseball there this coming off-season.

Here is a short video clip from a play Tortuga made just the other day, how can you not love a player like this?

Tortuga clip

Here is another fun Astudillo clip. No-look pickoff throw makes Twins’ Willians Astudillo an internet sensation

 

A busy transaction day for the Twins

Brusdar Graterol

The Twins announced today that they have selected the contracts of right-handed pitcher Brusdar Graterol and outfielder Ian Miller from AAA Rochester. They have also recalled left-handed pitcher Devin Smeltzer and right-handed pitchers Zack Littell and Kohl Stewart. Additionally, they will return both catcher Willians Astudillo and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. from their respective rehab assignments and reinstate both from the 10-day Injured List.

Ian Miller

In a separate transaction, the Twins have placed right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson on the 10-day Injured List with Ulcerative Colitis, marking Gibson’s first trip to the Injured List since 2016. In 28 games (27 starts) for the Twins this season, Gibson has gone 13-6 with a 4.58 ERA (149.1 IP, 76 ER), 146 strikeouts and 45 walks. Replacing Gibson on the roster, the Twins have recalled left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe from AAA Rochester. Thorpe has appeared in six games (1 start) for the Twins this season, going 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA (14.1 IP, 7 ER), three walks and 14 strikeouts.

The Twins also announced today that they have activated Byron Buxton who has been on the IL since August 3. Sean Poppen was moved to the 60 day Injured List.

Swing and a miss……..

Willians Astudillo swung and missed only 8.3% of the time in 2018.

Putting the ball in play is important but it seems like it is less important in today’s version of baseball than it was in the past. As I watched Twins batters flail away the last few years I realized how much I valued players that could put wood on the ball versus those that struck out a high percentage of the time. A home run is nice now and then but for me there is a lot more to baseball than just the home run.

The other day I ran across a tweet that stated that Micheal Brantley saw 1,008 pitched and swung and missed 92 times. So naturally that got me to think about the how Twins hitters did. It this case I looked at Twins hitters that saw at least 100 pitches during the 2018 season and here are the results from Statcast Search. Any surprises here?

 

2018 Twins info.pdf

Astudillo tearing it up in Venezuela

Willians Astudillo – Credit AVS Photo Report

Willians Astudillo is knocking the cover off the ball with Caribes de Anzoátegui of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. The 27-year-old Astudillo has appeared in 38 games, mostly as a catcher and is hitting .350 with four home runs and 30 RBI in 143 AB’s and has a .898 OPS. But it is the strikeouts isn’t it? You want to know how many times he has struck out. The answer is ONCE! I can’t wait to watch him up close and personal in spring training.

The man has less than a 100 big league at bats but is already a legend in Twins Territory.

Check out all the offseason stats for Minnesota Twins organization players in the blue box on the right hand-side of the page called “Offseason Leagues stats”.

Astudillo is already a legend

Willians Astudillo – credit Jeff Johnson

Emma Baccellieri did a nice story about Twins rookie Willians Astudillo in the September 18 issue of Sports Illustrated called “Meet Your New Favorite Player: Twins Utilityman Willians ‘El Tortuga’ Astudillo.” 

It is a fun, enjoyable feel good story about an exciting and unique ballplayer with the Minnesota Twins in a season where Minnesota Twins fans have had very little to cheer about. Check it out, it will be worth your time.