Cup of Coffee

August 22, 2019: It’s A Temple

35 Comments

I heard that MLB has had to issue warnings to its players because they keep chowing down on gas station boner pills and then testing positive for banned substances. Seriously. Know what you're putting in your body, people.

35 thoughts on “August 22, 2019: It’s A Temple”

      1. That's gonna throw off the counting of errors. What are they gonna use with the E wrecked?

    2. Younger Daughter absolutely loved Good Eats, we never missed an episode. I still make single-serving popcorn with a brown lunch bag in the microwave.

  4. Off Day topic: Nelson Cruz.

    Where does he rank in all time Twins lists in both 1 year Twins and free agent acquisitions for Twins.

    I have him as the 3rd best 1 year Twin ever (behind Morris and Smiley) but if he can close out strong will easily leave Smiley in the dust.

    For Free agent acquisitions I currently have him 8th (but very close to both Thome and Hughes)
    Morris/Chili/Molitor/Ervin/Willingham/Thome/Hughes/Cruz/Suzuki/Steinbach (FYI, that's just the order I currently have them in the top300, I'm making no judgement to $ spent in FA)

      1. Morris and Smiley had pretty identical regular seasons. 18-12 in 246 IP and a 125 ERA+ for Jack and 16-9 in 241 IP and a 126 ERA+ for Smiley. Obviously Jack seperated himself in the postseason.

        Granted most of the WAR calculations change every year and I don't go back through all 800+ players and update, but as of when I recorded them here's the top5 1 year Twins by WS/WARP/fWAR/rWAR

        James Win Shares
        1. Morris 18
        1. Smiley 18
        3. Cruz 16
        4. Ramos 15
        5. Hudson 14

        BP WARP
        1. Hollins 3.3
        2. Morris 3.1
        3. Cruz 3.0
        4. Smiley 2.7
        5. Rogers 2.6

        rWAR
        1. Smiley 5.0
        2. Morris 4.3
        3. Morgan 3.8
        4. Cruz 3.7
        4. Ramos 3.7

        fWAR
        1. Smiley 5.5
        2. Morris 4.8
        3. Cruz 3.5
        4. Ramos 3.2
        5. Rogers/Hudson 3.1

          1. I agree. I currently have him as #125 Twin and Kenny Rogers is next closest at #182. I have Morris at #25 (flags fly forever) and Smiley at 116.

            Other 2019 1 year Twins who have cracked the top300 include Cron, Gonzo, Arraez, Pineda, and Schoop. Perez is just knocking on the door as well. Many of those Twins will be back for round 2 next year and no longer be 1 year Twins obviously.

      2. Rhu_ru, his underrated one season was also - by a lot of measures - one of the most prolific of his entire career. Most IP, 2nd best win total, FIP & WHIP, top-3 ERA ... not to mention the highest WAR and RAR of his entire big league career.

      3. And the Twins used the draft pick from him leaving to draft Hunter. They had the next pick and selected Varitek so I don't think they would have lost Hunter without the compensation pick.

    2. I’ve got nothing of substance to add to the question, but I always enjoy your contributions.

  5. Anyone notice the Twins are 18-12 over their last 30 games? That's the same as the Indians. The only teams that have been better the last 30 are the 3 teams with better records than the Twins and the Mets (22-8), who are playing the Indians today and going for the sweep. Looking at all the contenders, no one is under .500 their last 30 and most are 18-12 or better.

    And there's no guarantee that the runner-up in the AL Central is making the postseason, let alone hosting the wildcard game. The A's and Rays are right on the Indians' heels and both are tied for the third-best record in baseball over their last 20 games.

    1. The Rays' .579 winning percentage is the worst of the AL teams currently in playoff position. The Twins had a .525 winning percentage when they were the last AL wildcard team in 2017.

      1. You have to go back to 2007 the last time every AL playoff team had a winning percentage of at least .579, and that year, the best winning percentage was only .593 (96-66). Plus, there were only 4 playoff teams then. The fifth-best team was only .543. Most times over the last 12 years, the AL Central winner was worse than .579. Of course, it's hard to tell if the top AL teams are that good or they've just been fattening up on some really bad AL teams. For instance, 51 of the Twins' 77 wins are against teams with losing records. The Indians have 54 of their 74 wins against teams with losing records.

  6. I'm not sure what's going on in the woods around here, but I just saw a squirrel with a raccoon tail.

      1. Oh geez. I have tomorrow off so I was thinking it was Friday.

        Also, Detroit's lineup is already posted

  8. Ryan O'Rourke has thrown three pitches to the backstop for Rochester so far tonight. I expect to hear soon that he was called up to be a fresh arm for the bullpen.

    1. This means the Twins lost 2 of 3 to the White Sox and still gained a game on the Indians. It's the reverse of a month ago when the Twins would win 2 of 3 and would often lose a game in the standings anyways. After winning the series against the Twins, the Indians have gone 3-6. They've lost 3 in a row for the first time since May 25-27.

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