OT: Non-Hockey Sports Thread XI - Defense? Who Needs Defense?! (Wade Wilson Memorial Edition)

[57special]

Non-hockey question for the board.
I see the Jays are facing the Twins. I dont know much about the Twins. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Jays have a great 1-2 combo of Bassitt and Gausman

WE don't even know, really.The guys who were supposed to be their stars, Buxton and Correa, have been mediocre at best. Gallo, their off season acquisition, has been beyond awful.Their best position players are a bunch of young no names like Julien(Canadian), Lewis, Castro, and the like.

The pitching staff has been very good, and deep. Sonny Gray has been good ever since he came here, but otherwise, the starters seem to take turns on getting hot. Ryan and Lopez have both been excellent at times, but so has Maeda, and there is a rotation of pitchers coming from the St. Paul Saints that come up and play very well for brief stretches. Dhuran closes games with some absolutely filth, but he can be shaky, despite his awesome stuff.

In other words, they are pretty hard to prepare for, as they are a no name team that are a work in progress.

 

[MuckOG]

WE don't even know, really.The guys who were supposed to be their stars, Buxton and Correa, have been mediocre at best. Gallo, their off season acquisition, has been beyond awful.Their best position players are a bunch of young no names like Julien(Canadian), Lewis, Castro, and the like.

The pitching staff has been very good, and deep. Sonny Gray has been good ever since he came here, but otherwise, the starters seem to take turns on getting hot. Ryan and Lopez have both been excellent at times, but so has Maeda, and there is a rotation of pitchers coming from the St. Paul Saints that come up and play very well for brief stretches. Dhuran closes games with some absolutely filth, but he can be shaky, despite his awesome stuff.

In other words, they are pretty hard to prepare for, as they are a no name team that are a work in progress.

I wouldn't describe Royce Lewis as a "young no name".

Seems like the Twins are running on all cylinders at the right time: decent pitching, offense and defense. If they can hold it together they could win this series. I won't predict they will because I've been conditioned to expect the worst. First, they need to prove they can win a post season game, then lets talk about advancing in the playoffs.

 

[57special]

I wouldn't describe Royce Lewis as a "young no name".

Seems like the Twins are running on all cylinders at the right time: decent pitching, offense and defense. If they can hold it together they could win this series. I won't predict they will because I've been conditioned to expect the worst. First, they need to prove they can win a post season game, then lets talk about advancing in the playoffs.

I would bet that most baseball fans in other cities are barely aware of him, and certainly weren't before this season. He had nowhere near the buzz that Buxton and Sano had.... more like Nick Gordon.

This has somehow turned from a disappointing, top heavy team that had just traded their most likable player(Arraez) to a deep bunch of no names that come at you in waves, albeit relatively shallow ones. I had almost given up on this team, but this group is starting to get me hooked. Whether they will step up in the post season against top opponents is TBD... Morneau was saying an interesting thing the other day. He thinks that when you are young you feel no pressure in the post season. It's only as you get older you realize how rare it is, and you get tighter.

 

[MuckOG]

I would bet that most baseball fans in other cities are barely aware of him, and certainly weren't before this season. He had nowhere near the buzz that Buxton and Sano had.... more like Nick Gordon.

This has somehow turned from a disappointing, top heavy team that had just traded their most likable player(Arraez) to a deep bunch of no names that come at you in waves, albeit relatively shallow ones. I had almost given up on this team, but this group is starting to get me hooked. Whether they will step up in the post season against top opponents is TBD... Morneau was saying an interesting thing the other day. He thinks that when you are young you feel no pressure in the post season. It's only as you get older you realize how rare it is, and you get tighter.

That's hard to say. I would think most semi-knowledgeable baseball fans would've known he was the #1OA selection a few years back. If it wasn't for his injuries, he would've arrived on the scene sooner and possibly have more name recognition among the casual fans.

I agree with your overall assessment of the team.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Weakness: playoff baseball

 

[f7ben]

We have to have Sonny Gray at his absolute best and take game one or this series is over for the twins.

 

[MuckOG]

We have to have Sonny Gray at his absolute best and take game one or this series is over for the twins.

Lopez is starting game 1.

 

[f7ben]

Lopez is starting game 1.

Wtf , that’s not what I read yesterday. Lopez has pitched well lately but I’d have gone to Gray myself.

 

[AKL]

Non-hockey question for the board.
I see the Jays are facing the Twins. I dont know much about the Twins. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Jays have a great 1-2 combo of Bassitt and Gausman

Strengths are starting pitching and offense, Twins arguably have an even better 1-2 punch with Gray-Lopez this season.
Weaknesses are team speed, especially without Buxton, they're not a threat on the basepaths, also staying healthy is a big weakness.

When healthy, they can really hit, especially their younger guys like Royce Lewis (great all around hitter), Matt Wallner (big power, prone to strikeouts), Edouard Julien (great eye at the plate, high OBP skills) and Alex Kirilloff (good at pretty much everything, not really great at any one thing right now). Kepler has had a resurgence the second half of the year to 2019 era Kepler, where he was a really good hitter. Ryan Jeffers has also emerged as a pretty good hitter, but Rocco (manager) has alternated between him and Vazquez (who is not good) every other game like clockwork for the second half of the season, hoping that doesn't continue in the playoffs, but we'll see. It's not as star-studded as the Blue Jays lineup, but it does tend to get similar or better results across most offensive categories.

Bullpen has been kinda shaky and inconsistent at times, though has been pretty good as of late. I'm not sure who gets the third starting role for them yet, I think it's between Kenta Maeda and Joe Ryan, but they'll add some more good depth to that bullpen with whoever loses out on that job + Dallas Keuchel who has also had a bit of a resurgence. Duran is one of the best closers in the league, you may have seen highlights of 102-103mph fastballs, nasty curves in the high 80s, disgusting sinkers in the high 90s. If he's on, there's not much you can do against him. Rest of the bullpen is solid more often than not, but not spectacular.

Rocco can also tend to chase matchups a little bit more than I like, and a lot of the times it'll come back to bite him in the ass.

I think the biggest obstacle facing the Twins this year is their lack of experience, everything else about them can play. I think it's a pretty even matchup with the Jays, and as long as the Twins can overcome the voodo that's led to a 19 year playoff win drought, it should go three games.

 

[AKL]

Also on a personal level, I'm pretty excited to see what Royce can do in the playoffs, if he can actually play. I feel like most successful teams have that one guy you can really rely on to elevate their game in the playoffs, almost as if they don't know what pressure or nerves are, and I think if there's one guy on the Twins with the potential to be that, it's him.

Not that I have these expectations for him, because that would be insane of me, but kinda like Bryce Harper last year.

 

[Oilers in NS]

Strengths are starting pitching and offense, Twins arguably have an even better 1-2 punch with Gray-Lopez this season.
Weaknesses are team speed, especially without Buxton, they're not a threat on the basepaths, also staying healthy is a big weakness.

When healthy, they can really hit, especially their younger guys like Royce Lewis (great all around hitter), Matt Wallner (big power, prone to strikeouts), Edouard Julien (great eye at the plate, high OBP skills) and Alex Kirilloff (good at pretty much everything, not really great at any one thing right now). Kepler has had a resurgence the second half of the year to 2019 era Kepler, where he was a really good hitter. Ryan Jeffers has also emerged as a pretty good hitter, but Rocco (manager) has alternated between him and Vazquez (who is not good) every other game like clockwork for the second half of the season, hoping that doesn't continue in the playoffs, but we'll see. It's not as star-studded as the Blue Jays lineup, but it does tend to get similar or better results across most offensive categories.

Bullpen has been kinda shaky and inconsistent at times, though has been pretty good as of late. I'm not sure who gets the third starting role for them yet, I think it's between Kenta Maeda and Joe Ryan, but they'll add some more good depth to that bullpen with whoever loses out on that job + Dallas Keuchel who has also had a bit of a resurgence. Duran is one of the best closers in the league, you may have seen highlights of 102-103mph fastballs, nasty curves in the high 80s, disgusting sinkers in the high 90s. If he's on, there's not much you can do against him. Rest of the bullpen is solid more often than not, but not spectacular.

Rocco can also tend to chase matchups a little bit more than I like, and a lot of the times it'll come back to bite him in the ass.

I think the biggest obstacle facing the Twins this year is their lack of experience, everything else about them can play. I think it's a pretty even matchup with the Jays, and as long as the Twins can overcome the voodo that's led to a 19 year playoff win drought, it should go three games.

thank u
Great analysis by the way

WE don't even know, really.The guys who were supposed to be their stars, Buxton and Correa, have been mediocre at best. Gallo, their off season acquisition, has been beyond awful.Their best position players are a bunch of young no names like Julien(Canadian), Lewis, Castro, and the like.

The pitching staff has been very good, and deep. Sonny Gray has been good ever since he came here, but otherwise, the starters seem to take turns on getting hot. Ryan and Lopez have both been excellent at times, but so has Maeda, and there is a rotation of pitchers coming from the St. Paul Saints that come up and play very well for brief stretches. Dhuran closes games with some absolutely filth, but he can be shaky, despite his awesome stuff.

In other words, they are pretty hard to prepare for, as they are a no name team that are a work in progress.

Same as the Jays
Vladdy is very frustrating as a hitter
If I were a GM, I would never let a batter go in the HR derby. Its a curse

 

[123TripleDoge]

I've only watched a few games this year, but still baffles me how an entire season comes down to a bo3, in a sport where everyone knows it takes a large sample of games to determine the better team

 

[AKL]

I've only watched a few games this year, but still baffles me how an entire season comes down to a bo3, in a sport where everyone knows it takes a large sample of games to determine the better team

Well it's only best of 3 in the WC. Best of 5 in the DS. Best of 7 in the CS and WS.

The real answer here is that they probably play way more regular season games than they need to.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Well it's only best of 3 in the WC. Best of 5 in the DS. Best of 7 in the CS and WS.

The real answer here is that they probably play way more regular season games than they need to.

I couldn’t imagine playing 162 games a year. That’s crazy

 

[AKL]

I couldn’t imagine playing 162 games a year. That’s crazy

It's a good gig overall because it still only lasts 6 months, which is around the other major leagues, but there are more opportunities to go, bigger stadiums, which means more supply, which means cheaper tickets for fans, but also the number of raw tickets available through a season (stadium size x games) means more money for the owners too.

Plus most guys won't play 162 games anyway. Only a select few will. Injuries happen of course, but the number of games also allows for more rest days for players without it affecting the standings as much, so a lot of guys will be 120-140 range, maybe lower.

I don't know if the product would be better or worse with only 82 games like the NHL and NBA do. One way I think it would be drastically different is starting pitching? I think teams would carry only like 3 starting pitchers, they'd still probably get just as much rest during the season as they do now, but it would be crazy if the Brewers for example were starting Burnes, Woodruff or Peralta every single game.

 

[123TripleDoge]

Well it's only best of 3 in the WC. Best of 5 in the DS. Best of 7 in the CS and WS.

The real answer here is that they probably play way more regular season games than they need to.

Yeah, but even 5 feels chintzy lol. I get it does create more suspense early on but it always rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Wabit]

It's a good gig overall because it still only lasts 6 months, which is around the other major leagues, but there are more opportunities to go, bigger stadiums, which means more supply, which means cheaper tickets for fans, but also the number of raw tickets available through a season (stadium size x games) means more money for the owners too.

Plus most guys won't play 162 games anyway. Only a select few will. Injuries happen of course, but the number of games also allows for more rest days for players without it affecting the standings as much, so a lot of guys will be 120-140 range, maybe lower.

I don't know if the product would be better or worse with only 82 games like the NHL and NBA do. One way I think it would be drastically different is starting pitching? I think teams would carry only like 3 starting pitchers, they'd still probably get just as much rest during the season as they do now, but it would be crazy if the Brewers for example were starting Burnes, Woodruff or Peralta every single game.

MLB spring training lasts over a month and the teams play 33 games before the season starts. Some are split squads and lots of minor leaguers in the games, but it's still being at work for the players.

I like the 162 game season. Baseball (position players) isn't as strenuous as hockey or basketball.

Cut the season in half and Hitters would have even less of a chance than they do now. 3 main starters (which most teams have) and every arm in the bullpen fresh and rested on a nightly basis.

 

[GordieGallant]

I think the Twins pitching is as good as it has ever been going into the playoffs. It will boil down to whether or not their young players wilt under the bright lights.

 

[Wabit]

Yeah, but even 5 feels chintzy lol. I get it does create more suspense early on but it always rubs me the wrong way.

I don't mind the best of 3 series for the 1st round. It gets more teams involved in the Playoffs. It adds "better" teams into the mix when they would have missed in favor of a weak Division winner.

I don't like the best of 5 games, 2nd round series, that should be a best of 7 games.

 

[NHL1674]

Just win the #@$!ing game, Twins!!

Now, to more important issues. What do we have to do to keep that publicity stunt Miss Swiffer away from the stadium and out of the state this weekend?

 

[Minnewildsota]

Just win the #@$!ing game, Twins!!

Now, to more important issues. What do we have to do to keep that publicity stunt Miss Swiffer away from the stadium and out of the state this weekend?

1) I’m sure she has her own schedule
2) who cares?

 

[f7ben]

I don’t feel like the twins pitching is anything above average. Gray has been good but not lights out and has rough innings still especially if he has to go 3rd time through the order. Lopez has been good. Maeda is up and down. Ryan has been terrible since mid summer and Ober has been consistent but isn’t a top of the rotation guy. The bullpen is a complete roller coaster including Dhuran. The strength of this team is the kids. Lewis is a superstar happening right before your eyes. He’s clutch and wants the spotlight. Julien ,Castro, Larnach , Kirillof, Jeffers and especially Wallner have all had great stretches of play. Taylor has been awesome backstopping Buxton whose career is just about over. Kepler has looked great. Polanco has been pretty good despite injury as well. If Correa and Buxton were having any kind of a season this lineup beyond the mound could compete with anyone. As it sits? I think if we lose game 1 it’s over 100% and the most awesome fully Minnesota sports streak continues.

 

[HotDish]

I'm not much of a baseball fan but I'll be pulling for the twins to at least snap their playoff losing streak.

 

[Soldier13Fox]

First time I'm actually excited about the Twins and playoffs and it's a 3:30 start? C'mon man

 

[57special]

First time I'm actually excited about the Twins and playoffs and it's a 3:30 start? C'mon man

and all of the opening round games are at the same time....