The Twins knocked the magic number down to eight on Monday. One digit was all that was available Monday, as the Indians didn't play. One digit might be all we can expect the next few days, since the Tribe is finishing up their seasons allotment of games with the Tigers who ... are not good.
Plenty of good things to be seen Monday anyway:
* Marwin Gonzalez, sidelined for weeks by a strained oblique, returned to the lineup. He hadn't played since Aug. 27.
He was at first base Monday, but we should expect him to be wandering around the field. Dick Bremer sounded most interested in seeing him back in right field as Max Kepler rests his shoulder. Of course, C.J. Cron needs to rest his thumb.
* Jose Berrios had his second straight strong start. He had a awful August -- a Boeing ERA, 7.57 -- but now he's overwhelmed the Nationals and White Sox. The Chisox aren't a particularly good team, but they have some hitters, and certainly the Nats have an outstanding lineup.
Having La Maquina back in form is important.
* The Twins used three relievers to get five outs, which seems a bit excessive even for September and expanded rosters.
I saw a Twitter complaint about bringing Taylor Rogers in for the six and seven hitters, but I'm not concerned. Yeah, somebody else could probably have wrapped up that one; had Sergio Romo kept Eloy Jiminez in the park, he might have gotten the entire ninth inning.
But I understand, and applaud, Rocco Baldelli's urgency. They might, or might not, need Rogers tonight. But there was a game to be secured on Monday, and Baldelli went for it. As he as all season.
Showing posts with label Jose Berrios. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jose Berrios. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Monday, July 9, 2018
Notes from the weekend
We learned Sunday that Jose Berrios made the All-Star team; "Dos Eddies" -- Rosario and Escobar -- did not, although Rosario is among the "final five" candidates of online voting.
I can't bring myself to be riled up about the so-called snub. There will be enough guys dropping off the roster to get one or both of the Eddies on the roster, and the Twins really don't deserve two All-Stars anyway.
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The Twins swept the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend, four games, and the O's are 24-65, an incredible 41 games under .500. I say that's incredible because the Birds, while flawed, have some significant talent (Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop).
And they have Buck Showalter as the manager, and I think he's really good at running a baseball team. The Orioles have been in contention in a difficult division more years than not since the (apparently uneasy) pairing of Dan Duquette and Showalter took over the operation. It's startling to see this team plummet so sharply to the bottom of the standings, especially since they are not among the tankers.
One problem for the Orioles going forward -- they have for some time made no real effort in the international market. It's not that they've tried and failed to make an impact in the Dominican, Venezuela and other hotbeds; they simply don't make any investment in that talent market and generally wind up trading away their international bonus allotment.
I can't bring myself to be riled up about the so-called snub. There will be enough guys dropping off the roster to get one or both of the Eddies on the roster, and the Twins really don't deserve two All-Stars anyway.
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The Twins swept the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend, four games, and the O's are 24-65, an incredible 41 games under .500. I say that's incredible because the Birds, while flawed, have some significant talent (Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop).
And they have Buck Showalter as the manager, and I think he's really good at running a baseball team. The Orioles have been in contention in a difficult division more years than not since the (apparently uneasy) pairing of Dan Duquette and Showalter took over the operation. It's startling to see this team plummet so sharply to the bottom of the standings, especially since they are not among the tankers.
One problem for the Orioles going forward -- they have for some time made no real effort in the international market. It's not that they've tried and failed to make an impact in the Dominican, Venezuela and other hotbeds; they simply don't make any investment in that talent market and generally wind up trading away their international bonus allotment.
Friday, June 8, 2018
Notes, quotes and comment
Trevor May, rehabbing from last spring's Tommy John surgery, apparently ran out of time on his rehab assignment. On Thursday the Twins essentially swapped him and Jason Castro's roster status -- Castro went on the 60-day DL and May came off -- and optioned May to Triple A.
May's rehab is officially complete, but he's not ready for the majors yet. He appeared in six minor league games, four of them starts, on two levels during his rehab assignment, and struck out 20 hitters in 18 innings. He also walked 12, which tells us a lot about where he's at.
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Pedro Martinez is a hellva comp for any young pitcher, but last night, as MLB Network was showing highlights of Jose Berrios' complete game earlier in the day, the Hall of Famer said: He reminds me of me as a young pitcher.
I can see that in a few ways -- short righties with a big fastball and imposing breaking stuff. What ultimately made Martinez great was his complete mastery of the changeup. Few power pitchers develop that pitch as well as Martinez did. It's no insult to Berrios to observe that his change isn't nearly as effective.
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I listened briefly to the Twins radio broadcast while walking the dog and turned it off during a Dan Gladden rant against analytics that booth visitor Tim Laudner was subtly encouraging. First Gladden complained that the Twins based some draft picks more heavily on analytics than on eyeball scouting. Then he said he'd like to see a team turn its baseball ops over to old school guys. Laudner agreed, at which point I turned it off.
The old-school had its run. Its time as expired. We've seen what happens to old-school GMs in the era of analytics. Ruben Amaro Jr in Philadelphia. Tony LaRussa-Dave Stewart in Arizona. Terry Ryan in Minnesota. They get beat, and they get fired. Deliberate, defiant ignorance is a losing strategy.
I doubt that when Gladden needs a physician he seeks one who figures that everything he needs to know was known in John McGraw's era, or even Branch Rickey's.
Friday, May 11, 2018
So much for that winning streak
Sometimes a baseball season feels like a whack-a-mole: Fix one problem and another shows up.
Fernando Romero steps into the rotation to replace the struggling Phil Hughes, and suddenly the fifth starter's spot appears more than functional -- and somebody else is pitching poorly.
Thursday's game made three straight poor starts for Jose Berrios since his spectacular outing in Puerto Rico. I'm sure Berrios isn't about to be dislodged from the rotation. I'm also sure the Twins need to figure out how to get him on the right track again.
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I commented Thursday morning on how well Max Kepler was hitting lefties. He homered Thursday night, the second of back-to-back homers (the other from Brian Dozier) that briefly tied the game.
Kepler last year had five extra-base hits all season against lefties (137 plate appearances). He's passed that total already in 2018 in 31 plate appearances.
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And my prediction that Ryan LaMarre would be demoted to make roster room for Byron Buxton's return was, for once, accurate. The blind pig found an acorn.
Fernando Romero steps into the rotation to replace the struggling Phil Hughes, and suddenly the fifth starter's spot appears more than functional -- and somebody else is pitching poorly.
Thursday's game made three straight poor starts for Jose Berrios since his spectacular outing in Puerto Rico. I'm sure Berrios isn't about to be dislodged from the rotation. I'm also sure the Twins need to figure out how to get him on the right track again.
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I commented Thursday morning on how well Max Kepler was hitting lefties. He homered Thursday night, the second of back-to-back homers (the other from Brian Dozier) that briefly tied the game.
Kepler last year had five extra-base hits all season against lefties (137 plate appearances). He's passed that total already in 2018 in 31 plate appearances.
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And my prediction that Ryan LaMarre would be demoted to make roster room for Byron Buxton's return was, for once, accurate. The blind pig found an acorn.
Monday, April 2, 2018
On bunts and no-hitters
Jose Berrios was spectacular on Sunday, and the Twins won 7-0. Then they turned the spotlight away from their young hurler to a ninth-inning bunt single by Baltimore's Chance Sisco, which they termed "bush league" and "not good baseball."
Nonsense. Berrios to that point had pitched out of the stretch to exactly one batter. The O's needed baserunners -- and, crucially, the Twins were in an overshift, with three infielders on the right side against the left-handed Sisco.
If' it's not good form to bunt for a hit when down seven, why is it good form to be in an overshift when up seven? The illogic in the position espoused by Brian Dozier, Eddie Rosario and Berrios himself is glaring.
Sisco reached base and triggered the closest thing Baltimore had to a rally all day. His bunt wasn't "bad baseball." It was good baseball, and the Twins shouldn't be complaining.
You don't want him to bunt? Don't overshift him. He's a slow catcher. It's that easy.
I suspect that part of the Twins angst over the Sisco bunt was the very real possibility that the one hit allowed by Berrios to that point could be changed to an error. It was a fly ball hit by Sisco with two out in the third Eddie Rosario got a glove on at the warning track but couldn't hang on. The scorer ruled it a double.
In the Twins TV booth, Bert Blyleven and Dick Bremer agreed. Me, I thought it was a ball that should have been caught.
Those are subjective opinions. For a more objective call:
Nonsense. Berrios to that point had pitched out of the stretch to exactly one batter. The O's needed baserunners -- and, crucially, the Twins were in an overshift, with three infielders on the right side against the left-handed Sisco.
If' it's not good form to bunt for a hit when down seven, why is it good form to be in an overshift when up seven? The illogic in the position espoused by Brian Dozier, Eddie Rosario and Berrios himself is glaring.
Sisco reached base and triggered the closest thing Baltimore had to a rally all day. His bunt wasn't "bad baseball." It was good baseball, and the Twins shouldn't be complaining.
You don't want him to bunt? Don't overshift him. He's a slow catcher. It's that easy.
I suspect that part of the Twins angst over the Sisco bunt was the very real possibility that the one hit allowed by Berrios to that point could be changed to an error. It was a fly ball hit by Sisco with two out in the third Eddie Rosario got a glove on at the warning track but couldn't hang on. The scorer ruled it a double.
In the Twins TV booth, Bert Blyleven and Dick Bremer agreed. Me, I thought it was a ball that should have been caught.
Those are subjective opinions. For a more objective call:
The first hit by Chance Sisco in the third inning was a misplay by Eddie Rosario. It had a catch percentage of 90 percent, per Statcast. He needed to cover 83 feet in 5.6 seconds.— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) April 1, 2018
Ball's caught 90 percent of the time? Yeah, there's grounds to appeal that call.
Cisco's bunt single made that point moot in terms of getting a no-hitter, and later in the inning, Berrios gave up a clean single. So he got a three-hit shutout. I'll take that.
Now, let's play a what-if. Say the official scorer had ruled that third-inning fly an error. Would the Twins still have conceded the bunt to Sisco in the ninth? My guess is they would, and I still wouldn't be irritated if Sisco bunted with a no-hitter on the line. I don't know when that "unwritten rule" of not bunting late to break up a no-hitter came into being, but the literature of no-hitters is riddled with attempted ninth-inning bunts.
Sisco was competing, not surrendering. Good for him.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Spinning the rotation
With Ervin Santana sidelined for more than a month to open the season and the Twins' search for rotation depth frozen in the free-agent standoff, Paul Molitor this week hinted at the possibility of skipping a starter with frequency in the early part of the season.
As he and his pitching advisors see it, the Twins could get through April only using the fifth starter twice.
It's easy to see the rationale behind paring the rotation back to something like 4.5 starters. As Earl Weaver said, it's easier to find four starters than five. And at this very moment, the Twins have two pitchers they consider locks for the rotation to open the season, Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson. The other slots are undetermined.
But there are reasons to avoid doing that. In the heyday of the four-man rotation, most teams used early-season offdays to skip their fourth starter with frequency, but not Weaver. He recognized that he would need his No. 4 sharp in the following months, and figured that more rest between starts in the early season chill was better for his aces.
And that's pretty much how I expect Molitor and pitching coach Gavin Alston to conclude this internal debate. I expect they would rather have Berrios, who turns 24 in May, make 30 starts than 34, and would rather not push him in 40-degree temps. And he's the high-ceiling starter, the guy who gives them any advantage to pushing. (There is little obvious gain to skipping, say, Aaron Slegers to give another start to Adalberto Mejia.)
What may lead to some rotation juggling is the April 17-18 series in Puerto Rico against the Cleveland Indians. Molitor recognizes that those games have an emotional resonance for Berrios, and I will be very surprised if Berrios doesn't get one of those starts. Not only does the setting matter for Berrios personally, but these are the top two teams in the AL Central, and having the Twins most talented starter pitch against Cleveland makes sense.
As he and his pitching advisors see it, the Twins could get through April only using the fifth starter twice.
It's easy to see the rationale behind paring the rotation back to something like 4.5 starters. As Earl Weaver said, it's easier to find four starters than five. And at this very moment, the Twins have two pitchers they consider locks for the rotation to open the season, Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson. The other slots are undetermined.
But there are reasons to avoid doing that. In the heyday of the four-man rotation, most teams used early-season offdays to skip their fourth starter with frequency, but not Weaver. He recognized that he would need his No. 4 sharp in the following months, and figured that more rest between starts in the early season chill was better for his aces.
And that's pretty much how I expect Molitor and pitching coach Gavin Alston to conclude this internal debate. I expect they would rather have Berrios, who turns 24 in May, make 30 starts than 34, and would rather not push him in 40-degree temps. And he's the high-ceiling starter, the guy who gives them any advantage to pushing. (There is little obvious gain to skipping, say, Aaron Slegers to give another start to Adalberto Mejia.)
What may lead to some rotation juggling is the April 17-18 series in Puerto Rico against the Cleveland Indians. Molitor recognizes that those games have an emotional resonance for Berrios, and I will be very surprised if Berrios doesn't get one of those starts. Not only does the setting matter for Berrios personally, but these are the top two teams in the AL Central, and having the Twins most talented starter pitch against Cleveland makes sense.
Friday, November 10, 2017
From the Handbook: Starting pitcher rankings
Another new item in the Handbook this winter (and it suddenly feels like winter in southern Minnesota) is a system of ranking starting pitchers.
By their methodology -- complex enough that the book refers readers to the subscription Bill James Online site for a complete explaination -- Ervin Santana is currently the 14th best starter in baseball. (The Top 5: Corey Kluber, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Justin Verlander, a perfectly acceptable quintent and ranking.)
Santana is squeezed between Jose Quintana and Robbie Ray, two lefties considerably younger than Santana.
Kyle Gibson is 63rd (the system heavily favor the most recent starts, and he had a very strong September). Jose Berrios is 88th and Bartolo Colon is 99th. Aldaberto Mejia comes in at 129.
Those would be the five-most used starters of the 2017 Twins. I'm confident that most of us would rank Berrios higher than Gibson, and I would put Mejia above Colon but we're anticipating the future when we do that.
By their methodology -- complex enough that the book refers readers to the subscription Bill James Online site for a complete explaination -- Ervin Santana is currently the 14th best starter in baseball. (The Top 5: Corey Kluber, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Justin Verlander, a perfectly acceptable quintent and ranking.)
Santana is squeezed between Jose Quintana and Robbie Ray, two lefties considerably younger than Santana.
Kyle Gibson is 63rd (the system heavily favor the most recent starts, and he had a very strong September). Jose Berrios is 88th and Bartolo Colon is 99th. Aldaberto Mejia comes in at 129.
Those would be the five-most used starters of the 2017 Twins. I'm confident that most of us would rank Berrios higher than Gibson, and I would put Mejia above Colon but we're anticipating the future when we do that.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Add one pitcher, subtract one pitcher
A bit more than a week ago, in discussing the dominance of Jose Berrios in his first major league start of 2017, I noted in the Monday print column that the Twins had two veteran starters who were pitching quite well (Erivin Santana and Hector Santiago) and one pitching acceptably (Phil Hughes). Berrios, optimistically, deepens the rotation:
Berrios was even better the second time out. But Hughes has since spluttered and gone on the disabled list.
Aldaberto Mejia, who opened the season as the fifth starter but didn't fare well with inconsistent work, returned for the second game of Sunday's doubleheader and got the job done: Seven innings, three runs. Do that every start, you're gonna make a lot of money, kid. He was immediately shipped back out as the Twns gamed their roster, but he figures to be back real soon.
Kyle Gibson started Monday and was SOG -- Same Old Gibson. He managed to both worsen a horrid ERA on the season (from 8.20 to 8.62) and get the credit for the win. Twelve runs of support can cover a multitude of sins, and Gibson had a multitude to cover. Eighty-six pitches and just 48 for strikes?
Not that he's the sterotypical Twins strike-thrower;
Santana-Santiago-Berrios does not add up to a five-man rotation. I'm not sure at this point that inserting Gibson brings them to four, but that appears to be the short-term intent for lack of a better idea.
We don't know how badly Hughes is injured or even what the injury is. No matter what, he's out of the picture for at least eight more days. Presumably Mejia will get called up again for Saturday's start, although it's possible that they might try to get through with a bullpen game if they don't have to take innings from Adam Wilk and Justin Haley between now and then. If couse, if they do that, the 'pen is vulnerable going into another Gibson start on Sunday.
Bottom line:
That's the optimistic take, and it assumes not only that Berrios is suddenly a solid major league starter but that none of the Santana-Santiago-Berrios-Hughes combo gets hurt. That's ... unlikely.
Berrios was even better the second time out. But Hughes has since spluttered and gone on the disabled list.
Aldaberto Mejia, who opened the season as the fifth starter but didn't fare well with inconsistent work, returned for the second game of Sunday's doubleheader and got the job done: Seven innings, three runs. Do that every start, you're gonna make a lot of money, kid. He was immediately shipped back out as the Twns gamed their roster, but he figures to be back real soon.
Kyle Gibson started Monday and was SOG -- Same Old Gibson. He managed to both worsen a horrid ERA on the season (from 8.20 to 8.62) and get the credit for the win. Twelve runs of support can cover a multitude of sins, and Gibson had a multitude to cover. Eighty-six pitches and just 48 for strikes?
Not that he's the sterotypical Twins strike-thrower;
415 pitchers have 500+ innings since 2000 and Kyle Gibson (38%) is the only one to throw fewer than 40% of his pitches in the strike zone.— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) May 23, 2017
Santana-Santiago-Berrios does not add up to a five-man rotation. I'm not sure at this point that inserting Gibson brings them to four, but that appears to be the short-term intent for lack of a better idea.
Asked Molitor whether Kyle Gibson gets another start. "We don't have a lot of options right now. He's on the roster," & no moves planned.— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) May 23, 2017
We don't know how badly Hughes is injured or even what the injury is. No matter what, he's out of the picture for at least eight more days. Presumably Mejia will get called up again for Saturday's start, although it's possible that they might try to get through with a bullpen game if they don't have to take innings from Adam Wilk and Justin Haley between now and then. If couse, if they do that, the 'pen is vulnerable going into another Gibson start on Sunday.
Bottom line:
- Gibson may be at a career crossroads
- Berrios' emergence hasn't really deepened the rotation after all
- We're gonna see a lot of roster juggling this summer.
Monday, May 15, 2017
Notes, quotes and comment
A pretty good weekend for the Twins. They took a series in Cleveland and may have found another rotation piece in Jose Berrios.
Berrios's strong outing Saturday was not flawless, but he looked like the pitcher Twins fans have been anticipating for a few years.
Of course, for those of use inclined to see the glass half-empty, that was followed by a poor outing by Hector Santiago, whose ERA rose more than a run Sunday. I'll view that as an aberration until he shows otherwise.
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Friday is the night college aces come out to pitch, and Louisville's Brendan McKay, the two-way star often projected as the Twins pick as the first overall in next month's draft, had an intriguing matchup versus Clemson and slugger Seth Beer (who may be the best hitter in college ball but is not eligible for this year's draft).
Michael Lananna covered that game for Baseball America, noting that McKay threw five scoreless innings without his best stuff. He added on Twitter:
John Manuel, also of BA, had this comment about McKay as a pitcher:
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Meanwhile, Kyle Wright, a right-handed pitcher from Vanderbilt, has propelled himself into 1-1 speculation with McKay and Hunter Greene. He threw seven scoreless innings against Arkansas on Friday.
Wright has more velocity than McKay but is not (probably) as polished as the lefty. He's also probably a safer selection than the high schooler Greene.
I think it's quite likely that if the Twins take McKay 1-1, it will be as a first baseman. But I can see any of the three being taken in four outcomes: Greene, McKay as a hitter, McKay as a pitcher, or Wright. And I certainly won't pretend that I know more about the choices than the Twins scouting department does.
Berrios's strong outing Saturday was not flawless, but he looked like the pitcher Twins fans have been anticipating for a few years.
Of course, for those of use inclined to see the glass half-empty, that was followed by a poor outing by Hector Santiago, whose ERA rose more than a run Sunday. I'll view that as an aberration until he shows otherwise.
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Friday is the night college aces come out to pitch, and Louisville's Brendan McKay, the two-way star often projected as the Twins pick as the first overall in next month's draft, had an intriguing matchup versus Clemson and slugger Seth Beer (who may be the best hitter in college ball but is not eligible for this year's draft).
Michael Lananna covered that game for Baseball America, noting that McKay threw five scoreless innings without his best stuff. He added on Twitter:
To the Twins fans nervous about my McKay tweets: he doesn't have his best stuff today. It happens. His full body of work is very impressive.— Michael Lananna (@mlananna) May 12, 2017
John Manuel, also of BA, had this comment about McKay as a pitcher:
Who adds a pitch who has dominated for so long? McKay added cutter 3-4 weeks ago. Interesting development for #MLBdraft https://t.co/PB4ysaVq9E— John Manuel (@johnmanuelba) May 12, 2017
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Meanwhile, Kyle Wright, a right-handed pitcher from Vanderbilt, has propelled himself into 1-1 speculation with McKay and Hunter Greene. He threw seven scoreless innings against Arkansas on Friday.
Wright has more velocity than McKay but is not (probably) as polished as the lefty. He's also probably a safer selection than the high schooler Greene.
I think it's quite likely that if the Twins take McKay 1-1, it will be as a first baseman. But I can see any of the three being taken in four outcomes: Greene, McKay as a hitter, McKay as a pitcher, or Wright. And I certainly won't pretend that I know more about the choices than the Twins scouting department does.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Reshaping the rotation
The Twins made the Jose Berrios callup official after Friday's game and optioned Nick Tepesch back to Triple A.
Tepesch was called up April 25. He sat around until May 6 -- 11 days if I count correctly -- started, didn't get out of the second inning, and hasn't pitched since.
Three weeks, roughly speaking, on the active roster with one appearance. We'll see how long Adam Wilk sits around now.
So ... Berrios starts today. Presumably Hector Santiago starts Sunday, then the Twins are off Monday, and that give Phil Hughes four days of rest going into Tuesday. Ervin Santana Wednesday, Berrios Thursday, Santiago Friday ... so the Twins will need a fifth starter a week from today.
If I had to guess who that will be, I'll predict Kyle Gibson, mainly because I expect the Twins want him back sooner rather than later. That comes with no guarantee, however.
Tepesch was called up April 25. He sat around until May 6 -- 11 days if I count correctly -- started, didn't get out of the second inning, and hasn't pitched since.
Three weeks, roughly speaking, on the active roster with one appearance. We'll see how long Adam Wilk sits around now.
So ... Berrios starts today. Presumably Hector Santiago starts Sunday, then the Twins are off Monday, and that give Phil Hughes four days of rest going into Tuesday. Ervin Santana Wednesday, Berrios Thursday, Santiago Friday ... so the Twins will need a fifth starter a week from today.
If I had to guess who that will be, I'll predict Kyle Gibson, mainly because I expect the Twins want him back sooner rather than later. That comes with no guarantee, however.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Shoulda seen this coming
Jose Berrios to start Saturday— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 12, 2017
Earlier Thursday, in my biweekly chat with Jim Gullickson on KMSU, I explained why the Twins were going slow on promoting Berrios. I mentioned the service time issue, but emphasized the fastball command question. I'm not sure those concerns have gone away.
But ... Berrios has racked up a 1.13 ERA in six starts this season for Rochester. He has 36 Triple A starts in his career and a 2.51 ERA at that level. International League hitters clearly aren't teaching him anything.
And the Twins certainly have holes in the back end of their rotation.
I hope he's ready this time.
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
The Berrios Question and the Berrios Protocol
Minor league news item:
Jose Berrios named IL Pitcher of Week for 2nd time in 4 weeks and 3rd time overall. Season: 2-0, 1.09 in 5 starts. 33 IP, 35 K, 8 BB, 18 H.— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) May 1, 2017
The Twins current 25-man roster has just three starters: Ervin Santana, Kyle Gibson and Phil Hughes. Hector Santiago, who was expected back from his grandmother's funeral for a bullpen session on Monday, remains officially on the bereavement list; he figures to be activated for Wednesday's start, with (probably) Buddy Boshers returned to Triple A. That's four. The Twins will need a fifth starter on Saturday (unless they have another rainout before that).
So Berrios, right? Well ,,, not necessarily.
Early in the offseason, before pitching coach Neil Allen knew he would still be the pitching coach this year, Allen laid out a new protocol for side sessions. Every pitcher would open with three fastballs to one corner followed by three fastballs to the other corner. They have to hit those spots at least two of three times before proceeding to other pitches. And, Allen said, the ability to demonstate that command was going to be a factor in promotions.
That stipulation caught my attention. It was part of why I figured all spring that Berrios was not prominent among their rotation options. It may be unfair to call this the Berrios Protocol -- fastball command was an issue for other pitchers as well in 2016 -- but it certainly provides a formal internal reason to overlook Berrios' dominance in the minors.
Berrios is dominating Triple A. That's nice. The question is: How is he dominating Truple A? If he isn't locating his (rather straight) fastball to both side of the plate, he's not coming up.
Monday, March 27, 2017
The weekend cuts
The Twins made a handful of moves over the weekend:
Pitcher Jose Berrios was optioned to Triple A; pitcher Drew Rucinski, a non-roster invitee, was reassigned to minor league camp; and outfielder Drew Stubbs, another NRI, was released at his request after being told he would not make the 25-man roster.
There are those who think Berrios lost out on the rotation by spending two-plus weeks with Team Puerto Rico and not pitching much. I think Berrios' spring training fate was sealed early in the offseason, when pitching coach Neil Allen designed a fastball-location program and said that it would be a factor in promotions,
Berrios has impressive velocity, but he leaves too many pitches over the heart of the plate. The Twins made a point of stockpiling rotation options. Trevor May got hurt and Ryan Vogelsong failed to impress, but there are still Aldaberto Mejia and Tyler Duffey, Justin Haley and Nick Tepesch. Berrios had to demonstate fastball command this spring, and he didn't; even if he had, he may have needed one or two more guys to get hurt/fail.
I thought at the start of camp that Stubbs had a chance to make this team, but his chronic contact issues did him in again. He's a four-tool player, but the the hit tool is so inadequate that it makes his power and speed pretty much useless. I think there's a real good chance he'll be back; he's going to try to find a major league team that will give him a bench job, and I doubt he'll find one. I make it at least 50-50 that he plays center field in Rochester next month.
J.B. Shuck is still in camp, but I can't see him beating out Robbie Grossman for the fourth outfielder job -- or Byungho Park, indirectly (with Grossman as the DH and Shuck on the bench).
Pitcher Jose Berrios was optioned to Triple A; pitcher Drew Rucinski, a non-roster invitee, was reassigned to minor league camp; and outfielder Drew Stubbs, another NRI, was released at his request after being told he would not make the 25-man roster.
There are those who think Berrios lost out on the rotation by spending two-plus weeks with Team Puerto Rico and not pitching much. I think Berrios' spring training fate was sealed early in the offseason, when pitching coach Neil Allen designed a fastball-location program and said that it would be a factor in promotions,
Berrios has impressive velocity, but he leaves too many pitches over the heart of the plate. The Twins made a point of stockpiling rotation options. Trevor May got hurt and Ryan Vogelsong failed to impress, but there are still Aldaberto Mejia and Tyler Duffey, Justin Haley and Nick Tepesch. Berrios had to demonstate fastball command this spring, and he didn't; even if he had, he may have needed one or two more guys to get hurt/fail.
I thought at the start of camp that Stubbs had a chance to make this team, but his chronic contact issues did him in again. He's a four-tool player, but the the hit tool is so inadequate that it makes his power and speed pretty much useless. I think there's a real good chance he'll be back; he's going to try to find a major league team that will give him a bench job, and I doubt he'll find one. I make it at least 50-50 that he plays center field in Rochester next month.
J.B. Shuck is still in camp, but I can't see him beating out Robbie Grossman for the fourth outfielder job -- or Byungho Park, indirectly (with Grossman as the DH and Shuck on the bench).
Thursday, March 23, 2017
The four Twins on Puerto Rico
Paul Molitor was making noises of impatience earlier in the week about getting the four Twins on Team Puerto Rico back into camp. And now that the tournament is over, the Minnesota manager will get his wish.
How did their absence from spring training affect the four? There are, no surprise, four answers.
For Eddie Rosario, the World Baseball Classic had to be a net plus. He played regularly in right field and he impressed with big hits and big throws. He left Fort Myers the presumptive left fielder; he returns the same, only having raised the question in the minds of many: Why is he the left fielder with an arm like that?
For Hector Santiago, it was neither a detriment nor a springboard. He pitched, oddly, exclusively out of the bullpen and fared well, although he did walk a few hitters -- which is Santiago's M.O. It's possible that the Twins would have liked him adding to his pitch count, but he left camp with a rotation berth and he returns with a rotation berth.
For Jose Berrios, it was possibly a minor impediment to his ambitions of making the opening rotation. He pitched twice -- a start against Italy in the first round and a relief outing in the championship game Wednesday night that showed both his impressive talent and his flaws.
That wasn't enough work to help his cause -- but his cause was probably doomed from the start. I doubt that the Twins ever wanted Berrios to open 2017 on the big club. Giving themselves means of filling the rotation without him was part of bringing the now-released Ryan Vogelsong to camp.
For Kennys Vargas, the WBC was unquestionably a problem. He was glued to the P.R. bench, and without playing time and at-bats not only could not make strides toward winning a job with the Twins but couldn't give scouts a chance to see him. Byungho Park is now the front-runner for the DH job, and Vargas is almost certainly destined for Triple A once again.
For the Twins as a whole, their absences were probably beneficial. Other pitchers got a chance to show their stuff with the starts and innings vacated by Santiago, Berrios and Ervin Santana. The men competing for a reserve outfield job got more at-bats with Rosario gone.
And nobody got hurt, at least as far as we know. Overall, more good than bad for the Twins out of this.
How did their absence from spring training affect the four? There are, no surprise, four answers.
For Eddie Rosario, the World Baseball Classic had to be a net plus. He played regularly in right field and he impressed with big hits and big throws. He left Fort Myers the presumptive left fielder; he returns the same, only having raised the question in the minds of many: Why is he the left fielder with an arm like that?
For Hector Santiago, it was neither a detriment nor a springboard. He pitched, oddly, exclusively out of the bullpen and fared well, although he did walk a few hitters -- which is Santiago's M.O. It's possible that the Twins would have liked him adding to his pitch count, but he left camp with a rotation berth and he returns with a rotation berth.
For Jose Berrios, it was possibly a minor impediment to his ambitions of making the opening rotation. He pitched twice -- a start against Italy in the first round and a relief outing in the championship game Wednesday night that showed both his impressive talent and his flaws.
That wasn't enough work to help his cause -- but his cause was probably doomed from the start. I doubt that the Twins ever wanted Berrios to open 2017 on the big club. Giving themselves means of filling the rotation without him was part of bringing the now-released Ryan Vogelsong to camp.
For Kennys Vargas, the WBC was unquestionably a problem. He was glued to the P.R. bench, and without playing time and at-bats not only could not make strides toward winning a job with the Twins but couldn't give scouts a chance to see him. Byungho Park is now the front-runner for the DH job, and Vargas is almost certainly destined for Triple A once again.
For the Twins as a whole, their absences were probably beneficial. Other pitchers got a chance to show their stuff with the starts and innings vacated by Santiago, Berrios and Ervin Santana. The men competing for a reserve outfield job got more at-bats with Rosario gone.
And nobody got hurt, at least as far as we know. Overall, more good than bad for the Twins out of this.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Perfect timing
Less than a hour after the snow started on Friday, the annual giant spring training schedule postcard arrived from the Twins.
Given what is forecast in these parts this weekend, nothing could sound nicer.
The exhibition games start sooner than usual (Feb. 24), I assume because of the World Baseball Classic, which returns this year. The Twins have two games on their exhibition schedule against WBC teams -- March 8 against Team USA and March 9 against Team Colombia, both in Fort Myers. Team USA should look like an all-star squad; Colombia, not so much, although they have a couple pretty solid pitchers.
Three years ago, during the last WBC, Eddie Rosario and Jose Berrios were reserves on the Puerto Rican squad. This time around, Berrios is expected to be one of Puerto Rico's starters, and I'd expect Rosario to be an outfield fixture. Indeed, with Hector Santiago and Kennys Vargas, the Twins might provide a sizable portion of the island's roster.
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Let the record of this blog show that Rod Carew's actual transplant surgeries began shortly after midnight Friday -- Thursday was the prep work. The surgeries took some 13 hours and were deemed successful. May it be so.
Given what is forecast in these parts this weekend, nothing could sound nicer.
The exhibition games start sooner than usual (Feb. 24), I assume because of the World Baseball Classic, which returns this year. The Twins have two games on their exhibition schedule against WBC teams -- March 8 against Team USA and March 9 against Team Colombia, both in Fort Myers. Team USA should look like an all-star squad; Colombia, not so much, although they have a couple pretty solid pitchers.
Three years ago, during the last WBC, Eddie Rosario and Jose Berrios were reserves on the Puerto Rican squad. This time around, Berrios is expected to be one of Puerto Rico's starters, and I'd expect Rosario to be an outfield fixture. Indeed, with Hector Santiago and Kennys Vargas, the Twins might provide a sizable portion of the island's roster.
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Let the record of this blog show that Rod Carew's actual transplant surgeries began shortly after midnight Friday -- Thursday was the prep work. The surgeries took some 13 hours and were deemed successful. May it be so.
Friday, August 26, 2016
Rotation merry-go-round
Tyler Duffey had a poor start Wednesday night. Jose Berrios had a poor start Thursday afternoon.
And now both are back in the minors, with Andrew Albers and Alex Wimmers recalled.
Berrios has now made nine starts in the majors, and his ERA is just south of 9. His command is obviously not there. He clearly has stuff to work on. And Duffey has been effective in just two of his last seven starts. It's hard for Paul Molitor to keep trotting them out every fifth game.
That said, these two are a lot more likely to be important pitchers in the majors than Albers or Wimmers.
Berrios is the most talented pitcher Twins have, and the team is just throwing up its hands and saying "we have no idea how to handle him."— Matthew Pouliot (@matthewpouliot) August 25, 2016
I don't know that that's exactly fair, but ... Mike Berardino had a piece recently describing Berrios' side session. There was the pitching coach, the bullpen coach, the number one starter and the Hall of Fame pitcher/broadcaster all there offering the rookie advice. Nothing like overwhelming the kid, huh?
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Wimmers' callup isn't official, but it's been widely reported on the interwebs. His has been a torturous trip to the bigs: First round pick out of Ohio State in 2010, a rapid fall from grace the next year when he lost the strike zone, Tommy John surgery, seven seasons of grinding in the minors without ever having a true breakthrough season.
The Twins have twice exposed him to the Rule 5 draft. Nobody's taken him. Even this season hasn't been all that good -- ERA 4.04 at two levels.
Wimmers was described leading into the 2010 draft as a polished strike-throwing machine who likely wouldn't take long to make it to the majors. It sure hasn't worked out that way.
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I'm not sure what the starting rotation is now. Ervin Santana and Kyle Gibson, sure. Supposedly Hector Santiago was going to be held back because of a sore thumb, and now Berrios and Duffey are out of the picture at least until sometime in September. So there are at least two, maybe three, immediate vacancies.
I'm guessing Albers and Pat Dean will fill two of those slots. The Twins don't have an off day again until Sept. 8, so if Santiago has to be skipped somebody else has to fill in. Wimmers hasn't started a game all season, but considering that Jorge Polanco didn't play shortstop at all in the minors and has been pretty much a fixture there for the past three weeks, maybe Molitor intends to do the same with Wimmers.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Notes, quotes and comment
I wrote it, and the Twins did it ...
The Monday print column suggested that the Twins move Byung Ho Park closer in the lineup to Joe Mauer. And on Monday and Tuesday night, Park hit cleanup, with just two batters separating the two.
Not that it's helped Park's RBI totals. For one thing, Mauer's in a slump. so he's not perched on base when Park comes up. (Mauer did homer Tuesday, and that's good, but it didn't add any RBI chances for Park). For another thing, Park continues to make outs when men on.. He had opportunities Monday and Tuesday to drive men home and failed.
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Jose Berrios was optioned out Tuesday morning, with Taylor Rogers recalled. Presumably that was done to get a fresh arm up for long relief duties, since Pat Dean went 5.1 innings on Monday. He wouldn't be available for a few days even if the Twins weren't planning on using him to start on Saturday against Toronto.
As I opined Tuesday, that doesn't seem like a particularly good matchup for Dean. I'm glad I'll be out of state on that one.
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Two more bad losses for the Twins in this Detroit series. There was a lot of angst (particularly from Bert Blyleven in the FSN broadcast) about Phil Hughes' early departure and the bullpen implosion, but it has to be noted: The Twins got two runs against Mike Pelfrey. Two. He entered the game with a 5.80 ERA, and the Twins hitters did almost nothing against him.
Twins' record: 10-28.
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Programming note: I'm headed to California for a few days to visit family. I may post at some point between today and next week, and I may not. I make no promises.
The Monday print column suggested that the Twins move Byung Ho Park closer in the lineup to Joe Mauer. And on Monday and Tuesday night, Park hit cleanup, with just two batters separating the two.
Not that it's helped Park's RBI totals. For one thing, Mauer's in a slump. so he's not perched on base when Park comes up. (Mauer did homer Tuesday, and that's good, but it didn't add any RBI chances for Park). For another thing, Park continues to make outs when men on.. He had opportunities Monday and Tuesday to drive men home and failed.
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Jose Berrios was optioned out Tuesday morning, with Taylor Rogers recalled. Presumably that was done to get a fresh arm up for long relief duties, since Pat Dean went 5.1 innings on Monday. He wouldn't be available for a few days even if the Twins weren't planning on using him to start on Saturday against Toronto.
As I opined Tuesday, that doesn't seem like a particularly good matchup for Dean. I'm glad I'll be out of state on that one.
---
Two more bad losses for the Twins in this Detroit series. There was a lot of angst (particularly from Bert Blyleven in the FSN broadcast) about Phil Hughes' early departure and the bullpen implosion, but it has to be noted: The Twins got two runs against Mike Pelfrey. Two. He entered the game with a 5.80 ERA, and the Twins hitters did almost nothing against him.
Twins' record: 10-28.
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Programming note: I'm headed to California for a few days to visit family. I may post at some point between today and next week, and I may not. I make no promises.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Contemplating Jose Berrios
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| Jose Berrios leaves the game Monday after just two outs. He was charged with seven runs in one of the shortest starts in Twins history. |
Last August the Twins bypassed Jose Berrios to fill a rotation hole. Instead of finding a way to put the prospect on the 40-man roster and bring in to the majors, they brought up Tyler Duffey and, for one start, returned Trevor May to the rotation. In September they again opted not to push Berrios up to the bigs. And all offseason and into this year, there have been voices insisting that Berrios could have gotten the Twins into the playoffs.
Monday, I think, we saw why the Twins decided against using him in the majors last year. Berrios is undeniably talented, and undeniably still raw. On Monday in Detroit he threw 39 pitches to get just two outs. He walked four, allowed a homer and a long double and threw just 18 strikes. It's not as if the home plate umpire, Doug Eddings, was calling a tight strike zone, either -- none of the other five pitchers the two teams used walked a man.
Berrios' rotation spot comes up again Saturday against Toronto, and the Blue Jays have a lineup that is rather similar to Detroit's: right-handed, experienced and powerful. There is a genuine sense that not only is Berrios not ready to be the rotation savior but that the Twins dare not expose him to the Jays.
If not Berrios, who? Kyle Gibson isn't coming off the disabled list this month. Pat Dean did a fine job of eating innings Monday, but he's left-handed and, well, on Monday he allowed 10 hits to the 24 men he faced. I don't think he's any better a match against the Blue Jays than Berrios is,
But more important that the matchup against Toronto this weekend is Berrios' development. The 22-year-old had to have his confidence dented Monday night. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the Twins cannot afford to have his confidence smashed. In the next few days the Twins need to take Berrios' emotional temperature and determine if he's better off back in the minors with the need for improved command of his stuff freshly emphasized.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Berrios, Layne and Murphy
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| Paul Molitor gets between catcher John Ryan Murphy and home plate umpire Jerry Layne after Murphy was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. |
Berrios showed the talent Monday night. The box score line isn't all that impressive -- five walks in 5.1 innings -- but home plate umpire Jerry Layne was not very good.
What's more, I'll bet he knows he had a bad day on balls and strikes, and knew it even before reviewing the daily electronic review of his calls.
The pitch that led to the ejection of catcher John Ryan Murphy -- my guess is that Layne got fooled by the reaction of Jose Altuve, who moved away from the Berrios breaking ball like it was a rattler about to strike. Berrios threw a slightly worse version of the same pitch after the rhubarb, Altuve moved away again, and Layne this time called strike three.
JRM got away in an earlier at-bat with turning around to talk to Layne, and turned his head after the Altuve pitch. The broadcasters suggested Layne was baiting Murphy, but I think Layne was relatively patient with him -- again, because Layne knew he was not doing well. Consider Dallas Kuechel, last year's Cy Young winner, who walked four men in the crucial fourth inning; Layne wasn't squeezing only the rookie.
Meyer goes tonight. His reputation for uncertain command precedes him, and he may need a better umpiring job than Layne provided on Monday. It's a good guess that Murphy will be catching again, based on the apparent back issues Kurt Suzuki caught with after the ejection.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Shuffling the rotation
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| Jose Berrios was the Twins' second draft pick in the draft that landed Byron Buxton. |
And so it is that today Jose Barrios is to make his much-awaited major league debut, weather permitting.
This is a good time to remember why the Twins are loathe to discard veteran starters. Pitchers get hurt. Jeff Passan, in "The Arm" -- a book I discussed in the Monday print column -- says half of major league pitchers go on the disabled list each year. It's still April, and the Twins now have three key members of their staff on the DL (the third being Glen Perkins).
So Tyler Duffey and Berrios, left off the rotation at the start of April, will be in the rotation when May begins. And had the Twins discarded Ricky Nolasco -- an unlikely move, but one that would have satisfied many fans -- at the end of spring training, they would today be reaching deeper into their farm system for an arm.
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Berrios ... I have seen him pitch three times in person. The most extensive outing was in 2013, late in the season for Cedar Rapids in the low A Midwest League. That was Berrios's least-impressive stat line in the minors, and he was so-so in that outing.
The second time was his one-inning start in the 2014 Futures Game in Target Field (so at least he's been on this mound before). Impressive, but just three batters. And the third was his spring training debut this spring in Fort Myers, when he was reportedly nervous and obviously wild.
I have no real idea of what to expect from him in his debut. He's a better pitcher today than when I saw in Iowa three summers ago, certainly. The talent is there. How much the excitement of making his major league debut will affect his work is probably the single biggest variable.
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Also called up Tuesday was infielder Jorge Polanco, who gives the Twins a third position player on the bench. He probably won't play much, but his presence provides a bit more balance to the roster.
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