24 thoughts on “March 26, 2016: Nine Days?!”

  1. From LEN3:

    Barring injuries or unforeseen moves, the Twins have their 13 position players figured out. Byron Buxton definitely opens the season as the centerfielder. Oswaldo Arcia and Danny Santana, both out of options, will be part of the four-man bench.

    What's left? The Twins have to figure out the end of their starting rotation. Monday is a big day, with Tyler Duffey and Ricky Nolasco both pitching. I'm hearing there's a chance Nolasco and Tommy Milone round out the rotation with Duffey heading to Rochester - if Duffey doesn't pitch well on Monday.

    That would free up an extra spot in the bullpen, with Michael Tonkin, Logan Darnell, Ryan O;Rourke and Brandon Kintzler in the running for it. Yes, I have Ryan Pressly as a lock for the bullpen.

      1. Seven relievers continues to strike me as ludicrous. That, more than anything other than my fondness for Sansabelt uniforms, probably dates me as a fan.

        1. I, too, have fond memories of hearing Gardy complain about lack of bench options because half the active roster was pitchers.

          I'll be pretty bummed if Duffy gets sent down. I'm of the opinion that he pitched well enough last year to deserve a chance to at least start the year in the rotation regardless of spring training performance.

            1. If they told Duffy to work on a change up because they didn't think he would be effective without a third pitch, I am fine with it. If they told him to work on a change up because he was already assured of having a rotation spot, then I have a problem with it.

              1. At some point this spring I recall reading an article suggesting the former. That he really had a chance of being a good starter, for an extended time, if he could add a legit third pitch. Kind of because it would be a 4th pitch, since he has two different curves. Does that seem right? I'm not going to look it up right now, but that seems familiar.

                  1. the curveball most similar to Duffey’s, on average: none other than Felix Hernandez‘s curveball. And that particular curve was arguably the best in the game. Felix has about one extra mile on Duffey, but the movements are almost identical

                    well then.

                    2. Ok, but Duffy throws it two different ways – 12-6 and a 2-8(?) horizontal curve. If they're thrown in different situations and exhibit different action, doesn't that effectively make them two different curveballs?

        2. 7 relievers wouldn't bother me so much if there still wasn't continuous problems with keeping starters in too long to give te bullpen a rest

          1. That hasn't been a problem (outside of the fantasy-land minds of the Twins staff plus DicknBert). The reason the bullpen "needs" a rest is because a reliever can no longer go more than an inning at a time. In April/May of last year, Molitor was frequently letting guys go multiple innings, but he reverted to Gardy-mode by the second half and was going inning-by-inning. Then, suddenly, you've used Fien 4 days in a row, and Jepsen 5 days in a row, etc. If Pressly (for example), gets through the 7th inning unscathed, let him come back out for the 8th and save Jepsen to cover the 7th and 8th the next day instead of using both of them.

            1. I agree. One of the interesting things about doing the 1965 Rewind was how relief pitchers were expected to be able to pitch two or three innings. I know times have changed, but I don't see any real reason relievers couldn't do that again if they got used to it.

              1. When men were men:

                Rank Player (yrs, age) Complete Games Throws
                1. Cy Young+ (22) 749 R
                2. Pud Galvin+ (15) 646 R
                3. Tim Keefe+ (14) 554 R
                4. Kid Nichols+ (15) 532 R
                5. Walter Johnson+ (21) 531 R
                6. Bobby Mathews (15) 525 R
                Mickey Welch+ (13) 525 R
                8. Old Hoss Radbourn+ (12) 488 R
                9. John Clarkson+ (12) 485 R
                10. Tony Mullane (13) 468
                11. Jim McCormick (10) 466 R
                12. Gus Weyhing (14) 449 R
                13. Pete Alexander+ (20) 436 R
                14. Christy Mathewson+ (17) 435 R

                + HOF'er

  2. Wild Playoff Watch - That Felt Good Edition

    The Wild shutout the Avs 4-0 this afternoon in a pretty dominating performance. Dubnyk looked really good early, and the Avs defense gave up quite a few chances late and this one ended up being pretty easy. 5 in a row for Minnesota. Hopefully they're getting hot at the right time.

    Those two points eliminated all the Canadian teams in the Western Conference from playoff contention (Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton), so it's down to just three teams still alive for the playoffs.

    7-NASHVILLE - 89 points, 8 games left
    8-MINNESOTA - 85 points, 6 games left
    -----------------------------------------------
    9-COLORADO - 80 points, 7 games left (Wild's Magic Number = 10)
    10-ARIZONA - 73 points, 8 games left (Wild's Magic Number = 5)

    So, right now things look pretty good for the Wild. Even with the win streak, they haven't got much closer to Nashville in the 7 spot, so my guess is that it's going to be 8 seed or nothing.

  3. Survived another rugby season opener. This spring is eight years since my first match.

  5. Jeez Uncle Walt I hope you entered that bracket into a money pool.

    Besides MSU, I thought I was kicking ass but Walts got this practically wrapped up.

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