AL Central Discussion

[mr.hockey4242]

Can never complain about a 6-3 road trip. But it is a bummer that of the 3 losses we blew 2 of them and coulda won all 3.

Skubal on Tuesday will not be fun.

 

[WiggyRuss]

All this talk about McKenzie for the Guardians

But its Logan Allen that I cannot believe they keep trotting out there. Guards develop pitching so well, there has got to be someone in their minors that's better than this dude.

the 2 guys that were ready- Espino and Cantillo- got hurt in spring training- Espino obv. out for the long haul- CAntillo is just working his way back.

Guardians have some interesting guys but they are farther away---- Guards do have some relief pitchers that could come up tomorrow (Andrew Walters) and have great stuff- but no one for extended innings.

One guy I hope they dont trade is Matt "Tug Boat" Wilkinson-- a lefty that has taken a huge step- but started in A this season.

I think that - after the first pick- they will focus on a lot of high school pitching with the highest draft pool in major league history. They might even take JJ Wetherholt to have a ton of money later on- and having 3 of the top 48 picks- they have a lot of bonus pool and high picks to replenish the system.

If the Guardians really do their homework- this draft could give them quite a few solid guys to throw in their system- having 3 of the top 48, and 4 of the top 95 picks and the most bonus pool money in history to work with.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Guardians really had some shit injury luck- and I bet are ruing the decision to trade Cal Quintrell

I would say a team needs at leas t 8 starters in between the Majors and minors to get through a season- probably more

Right off the bat- in spring training or less than 2 weeks in they lost Bieber, Williams, Espino and Cantillo. They got lucky with Lively- and I am not sure they made the right decision on McKenzie.

McKenzie's velocity has been up but his control has been all over the place.

Just getting a decent starter in the rotation would seriously help them.

Hopefully Gavin Williams pitches well now that he is up- though no one expects much length out of him. I would say they need a guy like Flaherty or Anderson if they are going t ocontinue to stay at the top of the division and try and make a run.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

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Twins offense has been legit for a while now. Hopefully they can stay healthy and sustain it. Amazing considering they still play Vazquez and Farmer a lot. Could be even a better offense if we used our minors.

The drop in K rate from last year has been the biggest difference.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

I just did a royals deep dive after twitter conspiracy’s put me on the path.

Yeah, their home/road splits are nuts. Not sure I buy the cheating allegations. But also points to them maybe not keeping up all season.

Also as far as catching the guardians they are fucked. The royals we suck on the road have played ELEVEN more home games than Guardians and also 7 more than twins.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

I just did a royals deep dive after twitter conspiracy’s put me on the path.

Yeah, their home/road splits are nuts. Not sure I buy the cheating allegations. But also points to them maybe not keeping up all season.

Also as far as catching the guardians they are fucked. The royals we suck on the road have played ELEVEN more home games than Guardians and also 7 more than twins.

They did this (a similar style split anyways) last season too. It’s just copium since teams are losing to them now. Nobody was making up conspiracies when Michael Massey adjusted his swing and had long stretches of sub 10 K%’s last year.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

They did this (a similar style split anyways) last season too. It’s just copium since teams are losing to them now. Nobody was making up conspiracies when Michael Massey adjusted his swing and had long stretches of sub 10 K%’s last year.

Well I think it’s more so that I saw they are I believe posting nearly a 1100 OPs at home while it’s like .700 on the road which is a pretty crazy divide

But yeah, I’m not going full Astros mob.

Just more so think it’s interesting and with their road heavy back schedule might point to them looking more likely to fade quickly barring deadline deals

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Skubal is a little wild so far. Never really very hittable so you gotta make him work and try to draw some walks.

Unfortunately on 3 of our deep counts through 2 innings. Ump fucked Royce while Miranda and especially Santana fucked themselves. Can swing at that change up in the dirt.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I looked at the Detroit lineup- and I gotta say- I have been in a fantasy baseball league a long time and play pretty close attention- and they had at least 3 guys in the lineup I ahd never heard of--- plus Badoo who is awful.

Detroit needs some serious help --- and Torkelson going in the tank is such a freaking killer for them.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Wencel Perez is leading the team in avg. at .264... wtf

Riley is really good--- and Keith is a solid yougn player I expect to get better. Other than that it looks drab at the major league level. Vierling at least has a little power but he is clearly not an answer.

Jung and a couple guys in the minors have some heat to them---- but good lord--- Kriedler? Rogers? Malloy? who the fuck are these guys? Is this Major LEague the movie?

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Wencel Perez is leading the team in avg. at .264... wtf

Riley is really good--- and Keith is a solid yougn player I expect to get better. Other than that it looks drab at the major league level. Vierling at least has a little power but he is clearly not an answer.

Jung and a couple guys in the minors have some heat to them---- but good lord--- Kriedler? Rogers? Malloy? who the fuck are these guys? Is this Major LEague the movie?

Malloy at least has some decent potential with his minor league numbers and raw power. But like most he Ks a lot.

Biggest issue tho for Tigers is between Malloy, Keith, Meadows, Kriedler not one of them has show a pulse yet. Plus Tork going in the gutter. Tough to have all your young hitters(sans Greene whose been around a bit) suck.

And I have absolutely no fucking idea why Urshela

1. Is on the roster at all
2. Bats clean up

That's some Twins veteran loyalty shit.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Malloy at least has some decent potential with his minor league numbers and raw power. But like most he Ks a lot.

Biggest issue tho for Tigers is between Malloy, Keith, Meadows, Kriedler not one of them has show a pulse yet. Plus Tork going in the gutter. Tough to have all your young hitters(sans Greene whose been around a bit) suck.

And I have absolutely no fucking idea why Urshela

1. Is on the roster at all
2. Bats clean up

That's some Twins veteran loyalty shit.

I loved Francona but one of the biggest changes is that Vogt does not go down with the ship on guys.

He played with Laureano and likes his game- but he got cut because he wasnt producing. They got rid of Straw. They took a chance on Florial and got rid of him. They are trynig a number of guys from the minors like Rodriguez, Noel, Angel Martinez, Schneeman and seem to have hit on a guy or two.

You dont want to be too hasty with decision making, but I like how Vogt isnt afraid to shake something up if its not working.

I think Schneeman turns into a decent util type guy--- I think Brennan- maybe not this year- but by next year I think Brennan becomes a solid MLB regular.

Jhonesky "Big Christmas" Noel? Who knows- kind of has Bobby Bradley vibes--- but that dude has exit velocity like no one. If he can control his bat a little bit he has some potential. The power is off the charts.

Makes me wonder exactly what the fuck is going on with Manzardo who is playing really well in AAA, and VAlera who is starting to resurrect his prospect status.

 

[WiggyRuss]

one of the crazy things about the Guardians is so much of their team salary isnt on the major league team---- between Bieber, Laureano, Straw, Karinchak, and Jean Segura (traded for Bell last year)- they have about 35M just sitting around.

hopefully that $ will allow them to do some things next offseason, whether it be extensions for Kwan or Naylor or going out and getting something--- personally I just hope extensions since they have some guys coming up and are gonna have a monster draft class.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

I loved Francona but one of the biggest changes is that Vogt does not go down with the ship on guys.

He played with Laureano and likes his game- but he got cut because he wasnt producing. They got rid of Straw. They took a chance on Florial and got rid of him. They are trynig a number of guys from the minors like Rodriguez, Noel, Angel Martinez, Schneeman and seem to have hit on a guy or two.

You dont want to be too hasty with decision making, but I like how Vogt isnt afraid to shake something up if its not working.

I think Schneeman turns into a decent util type guy--- I think Brennan- maybe not this year- but by next year I think Brennan becomes a solid MLB regular.

Jhonesky "Big Christmas" Noel? Who knows- kind of has Bobby Bradley vibes--- but that dude has exit velocity like no one. If he can control his bat a little bit he has some potential. The power is off the charts.

Makes me wonder exactly what the fuck is going on with Manzardo who is playing really well in AAA, and VAlera who is starting to resurrect his prospect status.

Yeah Vogt seems to be having a great year. That's how guys should be managed. Just cause a guy is 30+ doesn't mean he should get different leeway than young guys

Twins have guys raking in the minors so Vazquez can play every other day as the worst player in baseball and Farmer can suck and basically not play.

Good for Vogt. Guardians do need some of their young guys to show a pulse too, their top talents. But unlike Detroit they got vets like Ramirez and Naylor to make up for it.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yeah Vogt seems to be having a great year. That's how guys should be managed. Just cause a guy is 30+ doesn't mean he should get different leeway than young guys

Twins have guys raking in the minors so Vazquez can play every other day as the worst player in baseball and Farmer can suck and basically not play.

Good for Vogt. Guardians do need some of their young guys to show a pulse too, their top talents. But unlike Detroit they got vets like Ramirez and Naylor to make up for it.

Brennan had a great June and a decent May and was really starting to play with some consistency- he kind of took up some of the slack of Fry coming down to earth

but guys like Freeman, Rocchio, Bo Naylor have to play better-- not to mention Logan Allen who was pretty decent last year.

Gavin Williams starts on teh 4th of July unless I am mistaken. I am glad he will be back- but am not expecting a lot of length or huge things right away. Having no spring training and jumping into the majors in the summer when the ball is flying out of the park is rarely a recipe for success--- I think his stuff will get him to be decent- but not sure he is gonna be the guy a lot of people think he will be right away.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Skubal is a little wild so far. Never really very hittable so you gotta make him work and try to draw some walks.

Unfortunately on 3 of our deep counts through 2 innings. Ump fucked Royce while Miranda and especially Santana fucked themselves. Can swing at that change up in the dirt.

did Lewis leave teh game with a hamstring injury? That would really suck--- hopefully just precautionary. I saw someone post it on X but have not seen any confirmation.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

did Lewis leave teh game with a hamstring injury? That would really suck--- hopefully just precautionary. I saw someone post it on X but have not seen any confirmation.

Yes lol

It was a tight groin tho not a hammy. Should just be a day to day thing but still annoying.

Only positive if it does last for a bit, is it will force us to get Lee up here. And when he's up here, I don't think he's leaving.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Griffin Jax has turned into an elite reliever, fuck he's good.

Still gets some BABIP bad luck or loser fielders losing ball in lights. But this year he's working around the bullshit.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

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Yeah, this regime will shut him down until ASB. Its Lee time.

 

[Shanemansj13]

All this talk about McKenzie for the Guardians

But its Logan Allen that I cannot believe they keep trotting out there. Guards develop pitching so well, there has got to be someone in their minors that's better than this dude.

They are hurt too. Gavin back today