The Twins created room on the 40-man roster for Josh Donaldson last week by designating Ryne Harper for assignment. On Wednesday the Twins traded Harper to Washington for Hunter McMahon, a 21-year-old reliever who the Nats took out of Texas State in the ninth round of the 2019 draft.
Ninth-round picks usually have something going for them, but they're generally not prime prospects either. McMahon put up some impressive numbers in his scant professional time, but he was old for his leagues. Call him a lottery ticket; he might turn into something, or he might never be heard from again.
I had, frankly, forgotten that Harper was still on the Twins roster, which is odd considering that he ptiched in 61 games for Minnesota last season. He's a capable major league reliever, as long as he's not asked to do too much, but as the Twins revamped their bullpen in midseason his role declined, and it was difficult, if not impossible, to imagine a scenario in which Harper made the big-league club this spring. Some other blogger, I can't remember who, said Harper was probably No. 11 on the bullpen depth chart, and you certainly can make a case for that.
So this works for everybody involved. The Twins get a prospect they don't have to carry on the 40-man roster for years for a pticher they had no use for. The Nationals, who have a thin bullpen, add a useful piece for the front end. And Harper, who turns 31 in March and made his major league debut just last year, presumably avoids another season in Triple A -- and remains on a pretty good club.
Showing posts with label Ryne Harper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ryne Harper. Show all posts
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Small sample size theater: Harper vs Tauchman
On Monday morning I declared the bend-but-don't-break Twins bullpen cracked.
On Monday evening the Twins bullpen worked five innings and allowed one run agains the Yankees. Nope, not cracked.
I rather expect Lewis Thorpe to be rewarded for his eight outs with a return ticket to Rochester, New York. The bullpen remains hard-worked -- Rocco Baldelli went through four relievers to get those 15 outs -- and there isn't an off-day until next week.
The Twins are back up to eight arms in the 'pen. On Monday C.J. Cron returned to the injured list, his thumb still an issue. That and the optioning out of Zack Littell allowed the additions of Thorpe and Cody Stashak, who has yet to make his major league debut.
Let's talk a little about the shortest of the relief outings Tuesday. After Thorpe -- a lefty -- gave up a two-out double in the eighth, Baldelli brought in Ryne Harper -- a righty -- to face Mike Tauchman, a lefty hitter who was 3-for-3 on the night. Two pitches later, the inning was over, and Harper was done for the day.
This move contradicts conventional platoon strategy, but Harper so far has a backwards righty -- one more effective against left-handed hitters than against right-handed hitters.
His slash line (apparently including the Tauchman at-bat) against lefties: .230/.269/.338, OPS .607. Slash line against righties: .228/.264/.380, OPS .644.
Tauchman against lefties (just 33 at-bats): .448/.515/.621, OPS 1.136
On Monday evening the Twins bullpen worked five innings and allowed one run agains the Yankees. Nope, not cracked.
I rather expect Lewis Thorpe to be rewarded for his eight outs with a return ticket to Rochester, New York. The bullpen remains hard-worked -- Rocco Baldelli went through four relievers to get those 15 outs -- and there isn't an off-day until next week.
The Twins are back up to eight arms in the 'pen. On Monday C.J. Cron returned to the injured list, his thumb still an issue. That and the optioning out of Zack Littell allowed the additions of Thorpe and Cody Stashak, who has yet to make his major league debut.
Let's talk a little about the shortest of the relief outings Tuesday. After Thorpe -- a lefty -- gave up a two-out double in the eighth, Baldelli brought in Ryne Harper -- a righty -- to face Mike Tauchman, a lefty hitter who was 3-for-3 on the night. Two pitches later, the inning was over, and Harper was done for the day.
This move contradicts conventional platoon strategy, but Harper so far has a backwards righty -- one more effective against left-handed hitters than against right-handed hitters.
His slash line (apparently including the Tauchman at-bat) against lefties: .230/.269/.338, OPS .607. Slash line against righties: .228/.264/.380, OPS .644.
Harper hasn't yet faced 90 hitters from either side of the plate, but the numbers are closer than one would expect: RH hitters have 87 plate appearances against him, LH hitters 78. So 47% of the hitter Harper has faced are lefties, which seems pretty high but is actually in the same range as Blake Parker and a bit lower than Trevor May. So the Twins aren't, or at least haven't, treated Harper as if he's a lefty-killing specialist.
But they did last night for the Tauchman at-bat. And in his splits lie an interesting nugget:
Tauchman against righties (110 at-bats): .210/.307.430, OPS .737.
I wouldn't care to wager, over the long haul, on Tauchman contining to mash lefties. The Twins did wager for that one at-bat that they were better off with a righty.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Delving into the bullpen depth
I intended to make today's post about something other than bullpen usage, which has been a pretty steady topic here.
But then Monday's game happened, and guess what? Bullpen usage played a pretty significant role.
And it starts with the starting pitcher. Jake Odorizzi couldn't get through the sixth. This is who he is as a pitcher. This is his sixth role in a major league rotation, and he not only has zero complete games, he's only completed seven innings 10 times. When he starts, the bullpen is going to pitch a substantial portion of the game. So the Twins had to piece together 10 outs, and ideally do so without using Trevor Hildenberger or Taylor Rogers, who were used hard during the weekend.
* Trevor May got the last out of the sixth. He was wild -- eight pitches, just three strikes. And since he threw 27 pitches on Sunday, he was just in to get the one out. Rocco Baldelli would probably have preferred skipping him too.
* Ryne Harper got the seventh inning with a five-run lead and the meat of the Astros lineup coming up. Carlos Correa hit a three-run homer. Harper's ERA rose from zero to 2.89. Harper, who got ten outs in his previous outing and had therefore been idle in the Baltimore series, threw 24 pitches to get through the seventh, so he didn't come out for the eighth.
*Adalberto Mejia got the eighth after the Twins kicked the lead back up to four. He didn't pitch in the Baltimore series either, but not because of heavy useage. I don't think Baldelli is eager to give Mejia high leverage innings, but the alternatives weren't attractive, and it was the bottom of the Houston lineup. Mejia got though the eighth unscathed, but it took him 20 pitches.
* With just three outs to go, Blake Parker, after a weekend off with a virus, got the call for the ninth. He gave up a hit but needed just 14 pitches to close it out. Not an official save, but he probably would have pitched with a 10-run lead.
I don't know that Monday really changed anything I believe about this team, or at least this bullpen.
The Twins still need more from May than he's provided. The three relievers not in Baldelli's "big four" of Hildenberger, May, Parker and Rogers are still prioritized Harper, Mejia and Tyler Duffey. I didn't expect Harper to put up zeros all season, and at least this crooked number didn't cost him the game, but it didn't encourage Baldelli to increase his role, either.
The bottom line on Monday: The hitters got enough runs for the weaker half of the bullpen to get late outs.
But then Monday's game happened, and guess what? Bullpen usage played a pretty significant role.
And it starts with the starting pitcher. Jake Odorizzi couldn't get through the sixth. This is who he is as a pitcher. This is his sixth role in a major league rotation, and he not only has zero complete games, he's only completed seven innings 10 times. When he starts, the bullpen is going to pitch a substantial portion of the game. So the Twins had to piece together 10 outs, and ideally do so without using Trevor Hildenberger or Taylor Rogers, who were used hard during the weekend.
* Trevor May got the last out of the sixth. He was wild -- eight pitches, just three strikes. And since he threw 27 pitches on Sunday, he was just in to get the one out. Rocco Baldelli would probably have preferred skipping him too.
* Ryne Harper got the seventh inning with a five-run lead and the meat of the Astros lineup coming up. Carlos Correa hit a three-run homer. Harper's ERA rose from zero to 2.89. Harper, who got ten outs in his previous outing and had therefore been idle in the Baltimore series, threw 24 pitches to get through the seventh, so he didn't come out for the eighth.
*Adalberto Mejia got the eighth after the Twins kicked the lead back up to four. He didn't pitch in the Baltimore series either, but not because of heavy useage. I don't think Baldelli is eager to give Mejia high leverage innings, but the alternatives weren't attractive, and it was the bottom of the Houston lineup. Mejia got though the eighth unscathed, but it took him 20 pitches.
* With just three outs to go, Blake Parker, after a weekend off with a virus, got the call for the ninth. He gave up a hit but needed just 14 pitches to close it out. Not an official save, but he probably would have pitched with a 10-run lead.
I don't know that Monday really changed anything I believe about this team, or at least this bullpen.
The Twins still need more from May than he's provided. The three relievers not in Baldelli's "big four" of Hildenberger, May, Parker and Rogers are still prioritized Harper, Mejia and Tyler Duffey. I didn't expect Harper to put up zeros all season, and at least this crooked number didn't cost him the game, but it didn't encourage Baldelli to increase his role, either.
The bottom line on Monday: The hitters got enough runs for the weaker half of the bullpen to get late outs.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Fernando Romero and the search for bullpen depth
The Monday print column devoted about 475 words to pooh-poohing the notion that Craig Kimbrel is the solution to the Twins bullpen.
Which doesn't mean the Twins shouldn't be concerned about their bullpen depth. The Twins haven't blown leads with regularity, but they have certainly danced some uncomfortable tightropes. On Sunday both the eighth and ninth innings ended with Orioles on every base.
Blake Parker was reportedly ill and unavailable during the Baltimore sweep, so the Big Four was reduced to the Big Three. Trevor May, Trevor Hildenberger and Taylor Rogers all got the job done, if barely so. But even if Rogers can pitch today, I doubt he should after 45 pitches Saturday and Sunday.
The Twins could certainly use more stable outings from May. And they could certainly stand to have a fifth pitcher emerge as somebody manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson can turn to with some confidence.
Which brings us to Fernando Romero, the hard-thrower who graduated from the prospect list last year as a starter and has been converted to relief work. Romero was tabbed Saturday to be the 26th man for the second game of the doubleheader. He pitched two innings and allowed three runs in an unimpressive outing.
The wildly high upside to Romero in the bullpen is what Josh Hader provides the Brewers -- dominating stuff for multiple innings a couple days a week. Romero isn't close to that right now. Guys like Hader aren't mass produced, of course, and they're easy to burn out when they do turn up. And Romero isn't to be discarded because he isn't a right-handed version of Hader. But right now, he doesn't appear to be a good answer to the bullpen depth issue.
Romero, returned to Rochester, will doubtless get another chance down the road. For now, the Twins have to try some other possibilities.
Ryne Harper -- and Tyler Duffey -- are different kinds of answers. They are curve ball specialists, not power arms. We may in the next couple of weeks see one of them get some valuable innings. What I call the Greg McMichael Rule has eternal application: If you get outs, they'll find a role for you.
Harper and Duffey (to a more limited extent) have gotten outs. A role awaits.
Which doesn't mean the Twins shouldn't be concerned about their bullpen depth. The Twins haven't blown leads with regularity, but they have certainly danced some uncomfortable tightropes. On Sunday both the eighth and ninth innings ended with Orioles on every base.
Blake Parker was reportedly ill and unavailable during the Baltimore sweep, so the Big Four was reduced to the Big Three. Trevor May, Trevor Hildenberger and Taylor Rogers all got the job done, if barely so. But even if Rogers can pitch today, I doubt he should after 45 pitches Saturday and Sunday.
The Twins could certainly use more stable outings from May. And they could certainly stand to have a fifth pitcher emerge as somebody manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson can turn to with some confidence.
Which brings us to Fernando Romero, the hard-thrower who graduated from the prospect list last year as a starter and has been converted to relief work. Romero was tabbed Saturday to be the 26th man for the second game of the doubleheader. He pitched two innings and allowed three runs in an unimpressive outing.
The wildly high upside to Romero in the bullpen is what Josh Hader provides the Brewers -- dominating stuff for multiple innings a couple days a week. Romero isn't close to that right now. Guys like Hader aren't mass produced, of course, and they're easy to burn out when they do turn up. And Romero isn't to be discarded because he isn't a right-handed version of Hader. But right now, he doesn't appear to be a good answer to the bullpen depth issue.
Romero, returned to Rochester, will doubtless get another chance down the road. For now, the Twins have to try some other possibilities.
Ryne Harper -- and Tyler Duffey -- are different kinds of answers. They are curve ball specialists, not power arms. We may in the next couple of weeks see one of them get some valuable innings. What I call the Greg McMichael Rule has eternal application: If you get outs, they'll find a role for you.
Harper and Duffey (to a more limited extent) have gotten outs. A role awaits.
Friday, April 19, 2019
Ryne Harper and roster churn
Michael Pineda had a short start on Thursday, and Ryne Harper picked up the slack with 3.1 scoreless innings.
Which may be too much of a good thing for Harper personally. He emerged from that outing with the same 0.00 ERA with which he entered (8.1 innings), but it figures to be a few days before he pitches again. If he has options left, and I'm guessing he does, the Twins may ship him to Rochester to bring up a fresh arm.
This sort of roster shuffling has become routine, and it's part of why teams routinely go through dozens of players over the course of a season. The Twins last year used 54 players. The 1970 Twins -- a cherry-picked example, I freely admit -- used just 35. There is simply much more roster churn than there once was.
Is it an effective approach? Well, if the Twins demote Harper for a fresh arm, he's gone a minimum of 10 days. They lose, in effect, a week of Harper for the benefit of somebody being available to pitch the next three days. And in most cases, that's a somebody who's really only on the roster to work low-leverage innings -- there to pitch innings the manager doesn't want to put on the likes of Trevor May or Taylor Rogers.
The Twins presumably think Harper is better than Ryan Eades or Zack Littell. I'd rather see him stay than be shuttled.
Which may be too much of a good thing for Harper personally. He emerged from that outing with the same 0.00 ERA with which he entered (8.1 innings), but it figures to be a few days before he pitches again. If he has options left, and I'm guessing he does, the Twins may ship him to Rochester to bring up a fresh arm.
This sort of roster shuffling has become routine, and it's part of why teams routinely go through dozens of players over the course of a season. The Twins last year used 54 players. The 1970 Twins -- a cherry-picked example, I freely admit -- used just 35. There is simply much more roster churn than there once was.
Is it an effective approach? Well, if the Twins demote Harper for a fresh arm, he's gone a minimum of 10 days. They lose, in effect, a week of Harper for the benefit of somebody being available to pitch the next three days. And in most cases, that's a somebody who's really only on the roster to work low-leverage innings -- there to pitch innings the manager doesn't want to put on the likes of Trevor May or Taylor Rogers.
The Twins presumably think Harper is better than Ryan Eades or Zack Littell. I'd rather see him stay than be shuttled.
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Contemplating the bullpen
Two pronouncments Monday out of Fort Myers by manager Rocco Baldelli about the Minnesota bullpen:
Harper, as you can see by clicking the above link, has a rather extensive minor-league resume, heavier on Double A innings than Triple A. While he has had a (very) brief major league callup, he never appeared in a game, so when he takes the mound it will be his major league debut. Expect lots of curve balls from him.
Contemporary bullpens are always a work in progress. This will be no exception. The Twins are to open the season with an 11-man pitching staff. The number will rise from there.
Three of last year's bullpen appear likely to be on the injured list by Thursday's opener (righties Matt Magill and Addison Reed and lefy Gabriel Moya), and it sounds as if the Twins expect Magill and Moya to be ready relatively soon. Presumably at least one of them will be ready when the Twins need to shift Martin Perez to the rotation.
Perez, the fifth starter, is going to begin the season in the bullpen because of a cluster of April off days. So this 11-man staff breaks down for now as:
Starters: Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, Michael Pineda and Kyle Gibson (that's the announced order).
Late-inning relievers: Trevor Hildenberger, Trevor May, Blake Parker, Taylor Rogers
Not-so-late: Perez, Harper, Aldaberto Mejia
One thing to watch in these first couple of weeks is how Baldelli uses Perez. One major goal is going to be keeping the lefty stretched out so that when he's inserted into the starting rotation he's ready to give them at least five to six innings. I suspect that's part of why Gibson's going last, so that Perez can "piggy back" with either Odorizzi (who seldom pitches deep into games) or Pineda (who will probably be handled with some care early on in his second year back from Tommy John surgery).
- He is indeed not naming a closer, or designating specific roles for his relief crew. (This matches the thesis of the Monday print column.)
- Non-roster invitee Ryne Harper will be on the opening day roster.
Harper, as you can see by clicking the above link, has a rather extensive minor-league resume, heavier on Double A innings than Triple A. While he has had a (very) brief major league callup, he never appeared in a game, so when he takes the mound it will be his major league debut. Expect lots of curve balls from him.
Contemporary bullpens are always a work in progress. This will be no exception. The Twins are to open the season with an 11-man pitching staff. The number will rise from there.
Three of last year's bullpen appear likely to be on the injured list by Thursday's opener (righties Matt Magill and Addison Reed and lefy Gabriel Moya), and it sounds as if the Twins expect Magill and Moya to be ready relatively soon. Presumably at least one of them will be ready when the Twins need to shift Martin Perez to the rotation.
Perez, the fifth starter, is going to begin the season in the bullpen because of a cluster of April off days. So this 11-man staff breaks down for now as:
Starters: Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, Michael Pineda and Kyle Gibson (that's the announced order).
Late-inning relievers: Trevor Hildenberger, Trevor May, Blake Parker, Taylor Rogers
Not-so-late: Perez, Harper, Aldaberto Mejia
One thing to watch in these first couple of weeks is how Baldelli uses Perez. One major goal is going to be keeping the lefty stretched out so that when he's inserted into the starting rotation he's ready to give them at least five to six innings. I suspect that's part of why Gibson's going last, so that Perez can "piggy back" with either Odorizzi (who seldom pitches deep into games) or Pineda (who will probably be handled with some care early on in his second year back from Tommy John surgery).
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