How Long Can Twins Keep It Up?

Heim

EOG Master
The table below shows the Twins OPS from every spot in the order so far in 2019, and how they rank in the MLB:


1560877171876.png
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Great chart, Heim.

Average OPS this season is .749.

Average American League OPS this season is .751.
 
The Twins have employed a lot of methods Tampa Bay has been using as far as integration of data and technology into how they are coaching up their players.

For example: The last few years to combat launch angle hitting approach pitchers throw fastballs up in the zone and bury secondaries down below the zone. The Twins have trained their hitters to better adapt and attack the higher heat. That’s just a simplistic example-I wish I could find the article that explained all of the new methods they’ve instituted
 

bomzee

EOG Dedicated
An interesting chart. Almost halfway through the season and still
with the best record in MLB I'd also add this (obvious) thought: Giving a lot of credit to their brand new manager and their brand new pitching coach and to their intangibles.My Twins fan friend also echos what Heisenberg is alluding to -the manager Baldelli and pitching coach Johnson are real sharp and creative.
 
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John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have placed outfielder Byron Buxton on the 10-day Injured List (retro to June 15) with a right wrist contusion, an injury he suffered after getting hit by a pitch on Friday vs. Kansas City. Buxton has played in 65 games for the Twins this season, hitting .266 (55-for-207) with 21 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 38 RBI, 40 runs scored and an .851 OPS.

Source: Minnesota Twins press release
 

mr merlin

EOG Master
The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have placed outfielder Byron Buxton on the 10-day Injured List (retro to June 15) with a right wrist contusion, an injury he suffered after getting hit by a pitch on Friday vs. Kansas City. Buxton has played in 65 games for the Twins this season, hitting .266 (55-for-207) with 21 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 38 RBI, 40 runs scored and an .851 OPS.

Source: Minnesota Twins press release
Buxton is prob their weakest hitter, he's a great fielder though, we shouldn't drop off at all with him out, perhaps improve.
 

Patrick McIrish

OCCams raZOR
Man if Buxton is your weakest hitter you guys got it made.

I watched him all series against the Rays and that MF'er is the real deal.

Decent average, hit for power, great speed, good base runner, unbelievable in the field....... what a glove!

He made a couple of catches I'm not sure anyone else in the league makes, and our guy KK isn't too bad out there himself.

All this from a dude hitting 9th in the order?

I was as impressed with Minnesota as any team that has come through town.....

If the arms hold up, especially the pen, they are someone that's going to have to be dealt with in October.
 

mr merlin

EOG Master
I'm going to respectfully disagree with that..... HELL NO! :)
Well, he's being replaced by max kepler or jake cave, who was just called back up, both are better hitters than buxton, and they're both very good fielders as well.

Keep in mind, buxton gets extra hits and doubles because of his speed, his average average this year is thus inflated.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
When Buxton got hurt a year or two ago, the team quickly regressed. No way are Kepler or some minor league call up in his league defensively. And when you have pitch to contact guys like Perez, Gibson and Odorizzi, you need a CFer who covers a ton of ground.
 

MrTop

EOG Master
buxton is very good for sure cause of his D. . I think the SS Polanco & kepler are the twinkies best hitters
 

waco

EOG Dedicated
They have scored 1 run in 17 innings but good pitching will do this and thats what they will face in the playoffs!!
 

winkyduck

TYVM Morgan William!!!
The Twins could realllllllllllllly use someone like MadBum

They need a #1 that will strike fear in opposing hitters and right now they don't have one. Add MadBum to the rotation and now they have a true #1 come October. Right now they are no different than years past - their post-season run will be no more than 5 games
 

FairWarning

Bells Beer Connoisseur
The Twins could realllllllllllllly use someone like MadBum

They need a #1 that will strike fear in opposing hitters and right now they don't have one. Add MadBum to the rotation and now they have a true #1 come October. Right now they are no different than years past - their post-season run will be no more than 5 games
I haven’t seen him pitch this season, is he a #1? Personally I’m leery of NL starting pitchers switching leagues because of the DH.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
The Twins could realllllllllllllly use someone like MadBum

They need a #1 that will strike fear in opposing hitters and right now they don't have one. Add MadBum to the rotation and now they have a true #1 come October. Right now they are no different than years past - their post-season run will be no more than 5 games

Some would argue that Berrios is a number one. The guys on MLB Network were talking about it last night and they all feel he is. Bumgarner has the great post season resume, but at this point, during the regular season, is he better than Berrios? I would say no. And pitching in that giant park is only helping his stats.
 

Sportsrmylife

EOG Master
The table below shows the Twins OPS from every spot in the order so far in 2019, and how they rank in the MLB:


View attachment 7459339
This looks like the bottom of the order should be flipped to the middle of it. Having an ops that high is amazing.

This is where live betting gold is made. The algo says with 7-9 coming up that the number will be better for the opponent and should make the twins side a bit better to bet.
 

mr merlin

EOG Master
Buxton a career .236 hitter , and he has about 1200 at bats, he's not green anymore, what you see is what you get, yea, he'll get somewhat better, but he'll never be a great hitter.
 

Patrick McIrish

OCCams raZOR
I don't think anyone believes Buxton will be a great hitter.

Given everything he can do defensively though he's a nice dude to have hitting 9th in your order.

He can steal a base and it's nice to have his speed on the bases for the top of the order coming up.

No, not a great hitter but to be 25 years old his 9 HR's, 38 RBI, 10SB, .527 slug and .851 OPS is sweet as hell coming from the 9 box......

That's all I'm saying.
 

Patrick McIrish

OCCams raZOR
BTW other than your Twins there is only one other team in MLB hitting higher than his .266 BA.........

And that's the Rockies, LOL. No surprise there.

I root for Tampa, it's insulting as hell seeing someone bitch about a guy hitting 9th having the year Buxton is having.


:LOL: :LOL:
 

Valuist

EOG Master
I don't think anyone believes Buxton will be a great hitter.

Given everything he can do defensively though he's a nice dude to have hitting 9th in your order.

He can steal a base and it's nice to have his speed on the bases for the top of the order coming up.

No, not a great hitter but to be 25 years old his 9 HR's, 38 RBI, 10SB, .527 slug and .851 OPS is sweet as hell coming from the 9 box......

That's all I'm saying.

Agreed. The Twins don't need another bat. What they need is a guy who can cover a ton of ground and cover up a lot of mistakes made by the pitching staff.
 

Patrick McIrish

OCCams raZOR
Exactly. And as you said it's a staff that pitches to contact, lot of balls in play out there.

I like his game, wish the Rays had him.

And I think he's going to hit closer to .266 than .236 going forward......

Sometimes it takes a couple seasons, a couple thousand AB's to hit consistently at this level.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
Exactly. And as you said it's a staff that pitches to contact, lot of balls in play out there.

I like his game, wish the Rays had him.

And I think he's going to hit closer to .266 than .236 going forward......

Sometimes it takes a couple seasons, a couple thousand AB's to hit consistently at this level.

Pat,

Speaking of your Rays, I had a season win bet on them over 82 1/2 wins, which I pretty much figured was money in the bank. Now I'm not so sure. I don't like what I've seen out of Snell, and when is Glasnow coming back? I also think the league is going to come up with ways to combat The Opener strategy. I said last year teams should alter their batting order. Why concede the first inning? The Rays are acknowledging they are burning a key reliever. Why not counter it?
 
Well, he's being replaced by max kepler or jake cave, who was just called back up, both are better hitters than buxton, and they're both very good fielders as well.

Keep in mind, buxton gets extra hits and doubles because of his speed, his average average this year is thus inflated.

Buxton already has a 2.9 WAR for this season-He might be the best defensive OF’er in MLB and a CF’er with huge range is invaluable with the way Target Fields outfield is constructed. He’s made huge improvements with his plate approach this season and a .851 OPS is very solid.
 
I don't think anyone believes Buxton will be a great hitter.

Given everything he can do defensively though he's a nice dude to have hitting 9th in your order.

He can steal a base and it's nice to have his speed on the bases for the top of the order coming up.

No, not a great hitter but to be 25 years old his 9 HR's, 38 RBI, 10SB, .527 slug and .851 OPS is sweet as hell coming from the 9 box......

That's all I'm saying.

^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^
 

kane

EOG master
I hope I'm wrong, but assuming they make the playoffs, it's hard to see them competing with the Yankees or Astros, I think they need to add a starting pitcher
 

mr merlin

EOG Master
Buxton already has a 2.9 WAR for this season-He might be the best defensive OF’er in MLB and a CF’er with huge range is invaluable with the way Target Fields outfield is constructed. He’s made huge improvements with his plate approach this season and a .851 OPS is very solid.
Yes, buxton is a great fielder, we've had a bunch of them, buxton is basically a little better than carlos gomez, gomez was super fast and a great fielder, he never could learn to hit however.

Buxton is gomez with more potential, instead of being a career .240 hitter like gomez, he "might" be a career .260-270 hitter...but we dont know.

And buxton is hitting 9th right now, it wasn't that long ago he was hitting #1.
 

Patrick McIrish

OCCams raZOR
Speaking of your Rays, I had a season win bet on them over 82 1/2 wins, which I pretty much figured was money in the bank. Now I'm not so sure.

If it makes you feel any better I have 2 games worse than you have. Sigh. :(

That loss to the A's last night almost killed me. !@#%%%&*^%$####$!@$ <------- (for newer readers that's filthy language)

This 4 game losing streak and 2-8 last 10 doesn't make me feel great, that's for sure.


I don't like what I've seen out of Snell, and when is Glasnow coming back?

No idea what is wrong with Snell other than he got paid nicely this off-season, LOL. No wonder Tampa doesn't want to give anyone top dollar.

Glass will be back sometime after the All-Star break, according to him and his people he is ahead of schedule. In fact he was pissed they put him on the 60 day IL.

Rays have a tendency of being extra cautious it seems. Glass is not very fond of that policy, hope it doesn't bleed into his on-field performance.


I also think the league is going to come up with ways to combat The Opener strategy. I said last year teams should alter their batting order. Why concede the first inning? The Rays are acknowledging they are burning a key reliever. Why not counter it?

Agree. No matter the strategy or sport, teams will adjust. Sometimes the league adjusts as well.

Whether it's the wishbone, I-formation, zone defense, Tampa 2 or whatever the advantage is going to be short-lived......

Once it gets put on film great minds are at work to defend/defeat it.

As for our team wins bet, the silver cloud perspective is that if you told me Snell was 4-6.......

In fact Snell, Alvarado and Castillo would be 5-15 combined and we are 11 games over .500 I wouldn't believe you.

I think we will be okay, after the break get Glass back, get Snell back to himself, and get the big boys in the pen doing what they know how to do and we'll be okay.

On Opening day I posted in this forum that the Rays would beat either Yanks or Red Sox and be a wildcard this season, I still believe it.
 
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