Cup of Coffee

July 30, 2014: Preparing for Once

70 Comments

I think my dates in Minnesota will be Sunday, August 30th to the next Sunday (with the last weekend set aside for my brother's wedding). I hope to catch a game at the Bullseye with some of you early in the week. What nights are good?

70 thoughts on “July 30, 2014: Preparing for Once”

  1. I woke up at 2:30 and feel right back asleep. I do this pretty regularly, so no big deal. But the kicker is the waking up again at 4:30 and it taking an hour to fall back asleep.

  2. Riding the bus to work always presents an opportunity to observe something interesting or worthy of a head shake. Today it was a parent commuting by bike with two elementary school age children, both also riding bikes. Our bus was waiting at a stoplight for a busy street. The three bicyclists rode up – single file, parent in front – to pass the bus on the right so they could get in front of it. Since the light hadn't yet changed and traffic had temporarily cleared, the parent decided to continue biking through the red, kids pedalling behind.

    I know we all occasionally do stupid things with kids around, implying that some things are okay when they really aren't okay. Modelling behavior that could get them killed kinda takes the cake, though.

      1. There aren't specific public safety laws against having a Royale with cheese or a Marlboro Ultra Light, and having just one of either doesn't have the potential to kill your kid, but I see your point.

  3. Morning game alert: Rochester, with Trevor May pitching, plays at 10:05 Central this morning. The game should be available here.

  4. Late Happy Hour Notice for Anyone Interested:

    I will be starting a new job shortly, so I'm having a going away Happy Hour to say goodbye to downtown Minneapolis (new gig will be based in downtown St. Paul with trips throughout the state). If anyone wants to swing by, I'll be at Restaurant Max in the Hotel Minneapolis (2nd Avenue and 4th Street) from 4:30 until whenever today.

      1. I used to live fewer than three blocks from where my new office will be. I'm well aware of the many options in downtown St. Paul like getting in my car and driving away to go find something to do.

        1. Soon you'll be able to catch a ballgame downtown, just like Minneapolis.
          Also, congrats on the new job! Can I get a hint as to what it is?
          edit: Also, also - can't make it to the HH, sorry.

    2. Hahahahahaha! Just saw that one for the first time. I do believe it's a bunch of sausages and a pepper.

  6. so, maybe there is something to the "Vance Worley is back" thing.

    The difference, Worley said, involves a key mechanical issue discovered by the Pirates and a mental recalibration that has the right-hander feeling “back to myself.”

    In late 2012, following his second full big-league season, Worley had surgery to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow. The Philadelphia Phillies traded him to the Twins in December, and Worley said he was healthy when he showed up to spring training – but his mechanics were not.

    “I was still throwing with the mechanics that I had before I got hurt, and I was protecting my elbow,” Worley said. “So I never got the ball down in the zone. Everything was up in the zone and got hit.”

    Worley said he found a way to “cheat” with those mechanics last year, but his problems keeping pitches down persisted into this spring and the Twins traded him to the Pirates in March for cash considerations – a move that quickly proved fateful.

    Worley reported to extended spring training with the Pirates, who had film of every step of his pitching career from high school to the majors. He said he studied that with Pirates special assistant Jim Benedict – whom Worley called a pitching “guru” – and threw a few bullpen sessions, after which Benedict said: “Right here, this is all you’ve got to do.”

    Benedict told Worley he was “flying open” with his front shoulder, which was affecting the angle of his pitching arm. His instruction: “Stay closed, pull down (on your follow-through), have your angle back,” Worley said. “Within a month I was back to myself. It was amazing.

    “I wish I could’ve figured it out on my own and not had to go through all that. But at the same time, everybody hits a bump in the road. It’s just a matter of when.”

    If true, all that is a pretty big indictment of the Twins' organization.

    1. If true, all that is a pretty big indictment of the Twins' organization.

      At least some parts of it.

    2. Worley's location in 2013. Worley's location in 2014.

      I recall reading about a mechanical change before. I'm not sure how much of an indictment this is. Would the other 28 teams have also figured out the problem? This feels more like Benedict noticed the problem, thought he knew the solution, and the Pirates signed Worley hoping it would work. Sort of like a team signing a pitcher with a bit of a flyball problem and turning him into Carlos Silva v2: Now with more strikeouts.

    3. As somebody said the other day, let's wait until it's more than fifty innings before we get too excited. He's pitching well right now, but it remains to be seen whether it really means anything.

      1. Sean said that and its absolutely true. But one should also note, that his minor league numbers prior to his injury were similar to what he's putting up now. He's doing nothing over and above what one could have reasonably projected a couple of years ago.

    4. The trick, he said, was taking a lighter grip of the baseball, something he and Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson worked on during his multiple bullpen sessions in the interim.

      "It was just loosening my grip a little bit, letting my fingers work," Gibson said. "That seems to be the key, especially with that sinker. It worked. Just in general it helped me stay relaxed. That was one thing I think caused a lot of my struggles last year."

      Not even the greatest coaches are going to be able to help everyone. As for Worley, he's not his "sold self." His "old self" struck out 7.7 batters per nine. That dropped to 4.6 with the Twins and jumped all the way to 5.4 while switching back to the NL with the Pirates. And no one is talking about Liriano this year, whose numbers across the board are worse than they were with the Twins. In other words, he's alternating bad years with good, just as he did with the Twins. And anyways, I've always been told that numbers for pitchers switching from the AL to the NL should improve anyways.

      1. And anyways, I've always been told that numbers for pitchers switching from the AL to the NL should improve anyways.

        Wouldn't then the inverse also be true? And if so, don't you think the Twins front office is due some criticism for signing a bunch of NL pitchers the past couple of years?

          1. I'll second it, but with the caveat that it isn't guaranteed the NL pitcher will be worse. The AL team needs to be aware of how the pitcher did against just batters in addition to park adjusting.

      2. That's why it's 5.4 K/9. He has struck out 5 of 13 pitchers versus 25 of 184 batters. Removing pitchers gets him down to 4.9 K/9.

        1. Remember when reading through the previous night's game log took more than 60 seconds?

          Does anyone recall what the record was for LTEs on a gamelog at the old joint? 600? 700? More? Been so long I don't remember.

          1. I remember we broke the LTE limitation a number of times toward the end of... 2010, I think? Good times. I'd like to get back to that.

  9. Was half-joaking, but then realized I should post it here for real. The Twins are looking for another "stats guy" and this place is full of people I'd wouldn't mind seeing in the front office. Search by Req Number 359, here.

    Requisition Number: 359
    Job Title: Developer, Baseball Systems
    Area of Interest: Baseball Operations
    City: Minneapolis
    State: Minnesota

    TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS:
    4 Year Bachelor’s degree in Technology.
    2+ years of hands-on development experience with .NET Framework, C#, ASP.net MVC, XML, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, AJAX, Entity Framework, Web API, and the MVVM design pattern.
    Experience with basic front-end user experience design.
    Proficient with Microsoft SQL Database management and schema design.
    Experience with developing solutions that consider massive quantities of data.
    Proficient with Visual Studio.
    Working knowledge of Microsoft IIS.

    REQUIREMENTS:
    Experience with Sabermetric player evaluation techniques and concepts.
    Experience with Pitch f/x, play-by-play, and/or TrackMan data sets.
    Ability to communicate effectively with all aspects of Baseball Operations, Scouting, and Player Development staff, and understand their job functions and subsequent software needs.
    Ability to lift and transport items up to 55 lbs.
    Must be able to sit for extended periods of time.
    Ability to relocate to the Twins Cities area.

    JOB FUNCTION: As a member of the front office, collaborate with the Baseball Operations staff to develop, deliver, and maintain data driven solutions for analytics and architecture of player information and evaluation systems. This position requires strong statistical, software development, and database management skills.

    1. Thanks for the link. I'm not the guy, but I know someone who might be (non-WGOMer, but... close enough).

          1. Now, just a minute here. You've won multiple strategy games at the CdL, yet you can't convince someone you know to join the WGOM? I'm not sure you're really trying.

            2. Naw, CdLers are chumps. Have you seen the way the Brooks guy's games have fallen off?

    3. Ability to lift and transport items up to 55 lbs.

      Those data punch cards are heavy, huh?

    4. This sounds more like the Twins want a techie guy to give them the stats, not someone who knows better how to analyze them and make recommendations.

  11. We're a little removed from Movie Day, and I don't want to forget before we get to the next one, so let me just say The Grand Budapest Hotel was excellent.

    2. The part that concerns me a little is, "No need for further medical exam.” I'm no doctor, and I don't play one on the internet, but something had to cause his problem last night. I'd like them to be a little less cavalier about it and be more determined to find out what it was.

    3. I caught this while it was happening on Twitter and just felt sick to my stomach. I hope they have him sit out a week or two and check him out very, very closely before turning him loose on the mound again.

      1. I don't know. I'd rather they throw him out there again right away and see if it happens again. If they wait a couple of weeks and then it happens again it's just more wasted time with no diagnosis.

    1. I understand the necessity of signing Wiggins and the 30-day waiting period, but if this is going to happen, I just wish it could be done already. Tear off the bandage and all that.

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