46 thoughts on “30 Aug 2017: Cup from a Coffee Shop”

  2. Our hostel in Barcelona was directly across the street from a fantastic pâtisserie (or whatever that Catalan word for that is). I still think about those strawberry and kiwi breakfast tarts like 12 years later.

    1. I once ate some sort of flaky pastry filled with what can only be described as "whipped butter heaven" in Assisi. I have no idea what it was, but I will never forget it.

  3. that Cameron piece was fascinating. Still, ridiculously SST-ish. I can't see how Belisle could have discovered a new "skill" all of a sudden. But interesting explanation for the recent success.

    1. I'm hesitant to describe it as a new skill for exactly that reason, too. If he was locating his pitches better than earlier in the season due to a mechanical tweak and getting these results, I'd probably feel like it was potentially sustainable. As it is, I'm dreading the regression that might be coming.

    3. I don't know. All it takes is for Eddie or someone to say, "Hey, try taking a little off your pitches and maybe you'll get a bit better movement." Calling it a new skill is misleading, though.

    4. My main concern is the FO deciding to give him a new, multi-year contract. Please, no. The guy is eminently replaceable.

          1. Trading kintzler at his peak value is what I hope is a sign that we no longer have to worry about things being Ryan-esque

    5. Watching last night (especially that last strikeout), I thought it looked like his pitches were moving in all the right ways. I was surprised at that last swinging strike to end the game - it looked to me like contact was gonna happen.

      Cameron dismissed new movement on old pitches as a reason, but it seems to me that, coupled with the foul ball observation, that could a big part of the explanation. Cameron only linked to the recent pitch movement, but compared to the first half of the year looks like this (if someone wants to table-ify this, please do!):

      4-seam:
      1st half: -4.41 Horizontal, 9.28 Vertical (inches)
      2nd half: -4.95 H, 8.91 V
      Sinker:
      1st half: -7.54 H, 8.08 V
      2nd half: -7.79 H, 5.81 V
      Slider:
      1st half: .73 H, 4.4 V
      2nd half: 1.46 H, 4.43 V
      Curve:
      1st half: 6.34 H, -4.15 V
      2nd half: 7.61 H, -5.04 V

      Basically all of his pitches are breaking significantly more on the horizontal plane, which, so long as that means more starting on the plate and moving off, is probably going to induce more foul balls than balls in play.

      Also, he hasn't thrown a changeup since July 1st. It wasn't a frequent selection for him (2% first half), but he appears to have gotten rid of it entirely.

      1. Those means aren't all that informative without corresponding variances, however.

        Additionally, his vertical movement is all over the map. What are we to make of the change in break on his sinker (which is supposed to , you know, sink)?

        so, you could be right -- and maybe the horizontal movement is what matters most. I'm thinking that vertical movement is pretty important too, but ???

        1. Yeah, that sinker stuck out to me too (it's about 10% of his pitches, FWIW).

          I take your point regarding variances, but I think the means still speak to the point Cameron glossed over regarding increase in movement. He really dismissed that.

          As for horizontal vs. vertical... my thought there is that horizontal movement might well speak to the type of contact generated (fair vs. foul), which is Cameron's larger point. Basically, I mean to suggest that Cameron spotted a phenomenon (more foul balls) but possibly passed over the cause thereof.

          1. I think I agree regarding horizontal movement. Vertical movement is more the difference between a ground ball contact and a fly ball contact (or Big Pelf contact)

  5. This trivia question was just on Mackey and Judd this morning and I thought it was a good one:

    Who is the only MN Twin to have 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in one season?

    7. 'First Guess' SelectShow

      Nice.

      'Second Guess' SelectShow

      He didn't show his speed for as long as I'd thought. The season he came closest was pretty solid, though. Shannon Stewart Syndrome, back injuries, & tanning beds sapped him quickly.

      2. Right. That may not be on the Adrian Beltre level of having a thing (because Beltre is inner-circle HOFer in terms of having a thing), but it's definitely quality.

  9. Ya know, fellas, I just read today in three different spots that Byron is here to play, but I just don't see it. /boooooooooooooo #winks

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