chw42

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 06:01 PM) Looks like the same s*** to me, how many years we been saying "man this twins team is scary" then they get trounced in the playoffs. I'll take the Yakdeez or Rays over them any day This Twins team has more power and a true ace this time around in Liriano. Those Twins teams of the past depended on the likes of Nick Punto.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 05:38 PM) Which is why I woudl have him bunt. That is his advantage. Stop for a second and think. Pierre would most likely get you the runner over at a 80% clip on a sac bunt and that's being generous. Pierre has been successful 19 times in 42 tries on bunts (7 hits, 12 sac bunts). Pierre also has a 60.5% chance of hitting a ground ball. In the 71 PAs he's had with a man on first, he's grounded into a DP three times. So he's grounded into a DP 4.2% of those times. The rate of his DP/GB overall in the season is even lower. To show you a point, I'll use the higher percentage. So on average, he has a 56.3% chance of not grounding into the double play while advancing the runner along on a ground ball. Then, you add in the fact that Pierre hits line drives 14.7% of the time, which Pierre has a .754 batting average on this season. So you add that 11.1% onto the 56.3% and you get 67.4% of a chance that he will advance the runner in some way. Add on the fact that he will get a hit 15.5% of the time on a fly ball (24.8% of his batted balls) and you're up to 71.24% on all batted balls. Add in the fact that he also has a chance to walk 6.7% of the time and the odds go to 77.9% that he will either get on base or just advance the runner. Lastly, add in the chance he will get hit by a pitch, which is 2.3% and you're at 80.2%. This method has so many more rewards and it does just as well as the sac bunt in terms of percentages.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 05:20 PM) That's why I would rather have him bunt. That would be the only player on the team I would rather have bunt. Either way, if he hits a grounder in that situation on a hit and run, it's most likely going to get the runner to second anyways. And if he gets lucky and finds a hole, you have first and third, nobody out. I'd rather have that than just bunting in that situation. Plus, you don't have to worry about Pierre not making contact or a strike 'em out throw 'em out because Pierre makes lots of contact and rarely strikes out. You play to your players' advantages.

QUOTE (High Mileage @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 01:56 PM) He has tried. Farnsworth, Cruz, Mahay, David Riske, Ramon Ramirez, and even Dotel. Farnsworth was terrible last year, but Moore got a nice return for him this year. Can't blame him Cruz, a lot of teams wanted him. No "they" haven't. When Moore took over, there was almost nobody worth mentioning in our system. They did, but they also were reluctant because he was worth a compensation draft pick.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 05:15 PM) I do. People think Pierre is too fast to hit into a DP. He doesn't hit the ball hard and he doesn't hit liners. He's hit into DPs. He's good at bunting and he may have a better chance of getting on base with a bunt as well. Well the hit and run will most likely avoid a DP since he hits the ball on the ground 55% of the time...

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 05:04 PM) Just amazing that Ozzie continues to play for one run when they're playing a softball game in this bandbox. I didn't get the whole bunting with Pierre thing after Perry had just given up a homer and a 4 pitch walk. At least try a hit and run.

The Twins have won divisions because they beat the teams within their division, most notably the Sox. And if you check how many times we've finished second, you'll see why the Twins have 5 titles in the past decade while we have 3.

QUOTE (Markbilliards @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 12:04 AM) Anyone that posts on a website everyday is a nerd. Don't be in denial. Nerds. I see you are going with the mentality of "you're all going down with me"

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 11:19 PM) I read the last 4-5 pages of this thread. Conclusion: I think I've come to the conclusion that this team might not be good enough. The real test is coming on Tuesday.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 10:29 PM) To answer this thread... yes they are nerds, dorks, geeks, etc.. but... they are also highly respected... something you can't say about real life nerds/geeks/etc.. in schools where you can just pick on them or beat them up.. or ask to do your homework. At least none of that happened to me in school.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 11:04 PM) I love how Thome's popularity has increased about 150 percent on here just by not being on the Sox this year. I remember him getting crucified on here in many game threads last year. I remember my stance as being positive toward him, but agreeing it was time for him to move on. Since we had nothing better going on, I agree it would have been the right call to bring him back. But it's not like he was beloved on here a year ago before we let him roam to LA. People last year thought he'd be replaced with somebody better. That hasn't been the case. Plus, he's mashing for the Twins. So there's your explanation for why he's getting all this love.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 10:09 PM) Exactly. This team will always have scoring challenges because they think of nothing but swing for the fences unless you are Jaun Pierre. The roster has changed but you still see the same lame hitting like last year and Thome was part of that. How is that a good point? With Thome, this offense goes from below average to slightly above average.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 09:46 PM) You act as Thome never had hitting slumps. If you are not a member of this Jim Thome fan club there's a lot of logic on why he's not here. Like what? He hits into too many shifts? He strikes out too much? He's too slow? He can't play anything but DH? Some of those are legit, like the non-versatility thing, but when you have a run-scoring challenged offense to begin with, who cares? Plus, you replaced him with a guy who hits into the 4-3 at least 30% of the time, is almost as slow, and can only play 1B and DH. Oh yeah, he's also a .230 hitter with a sub-.700 OPS. When you look at the big picture, being part of the anti-Jim Thome fan club makes no sense. Now if his replacement was Johnny Damon or Vladimir Guerrero, then fine, have fun at your club meetings.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 09:37 PM) And Ozzie puts in a defensive replacement in RF where everybody insists Carlos sucks and gets ripped for it. I repeat ... you can second guess the manager in any win, much less any loss. We led 2-1 in the ninth and lost the game. Guess who deserves the blame? First and foremost the closer. Then yes, I agree IF we hit better earlier, etc., we coulda also won, so he's not the ONLY goat. But just as some blame my favorite White Sox for losses, one could blame tonight's closer for the loss in Baltimore and tonight' implosion. Oh and it's shortsighted to blame tonight's beloved closer and not shortsighted to blame the fatter closer when he sucked. ...Right, that makes sense. That's completely different. Putz has been great all year long. To say he sucks because of one game wouldn't be the right way to look at it. That's shortsighted. Jenks has an ERA over 5 and a WHIP around 1.5. He's been inconsistent and has blown some very big games where he had 2-3 run cushions (most notably the Twins one). To say that Bobby is awesome because he struck out the side with a two run lead is also shortsighted, as you're ignoring what else he's done before that.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 09:37 PM) And Ozzie puts in a defensive replacement in RF where everybody insists Carlos sucks and gets ripped for it. I repeat ... you can second guess the manager in any win, much less any loss. We led 2-1 in the ninth and lost the game. Guess who deserves the blame? First and foremost the closer. Then yes, I agree IF we hit better earlier, etc., we coulda also won, so he's not the ONLY goat. But just as some blame my favorite White Sox for losses, one could blame tonight's closer for the loss in Baltimore and tonight' implosion. Oh and it's shortsighted to blame tonight's beloved closer and not shortsighted to blame the fatter closer when he sucked. ...Right, that makes sense. Or, you know, he could have put Teahen in RF.

Well, you can do blame two people here. In the short run, you blame Putz because he blew the game, but that's really shortsighted. In the long run, you blame Ozzie and Kenny because they left the team without a DH, TWICE. Any team who can't score more than 2 runs off of Rick Porcello has some explaining to do, especially in this ballpark.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 09:17 PM) The loss is on Putz who now has given up two game losing HR's in what? a week Now. We complained about Bibbie Jenks and wanted Putc and he is erratic himself J.J. might be suffering from fatigue.

FIP on the year down to 4.06. His numbers so far with the Sox: 20 IP, 20 H, 3 ER, 10.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 1.35 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 2.61 FIP. Too bad two of those starts have been wasted since he got only 3 runs of support in those two games. He's had a total of 7 runs scored for him I think. It's looking very good so far, although I wouldn't call the Orioles and Tigers good hitting teams.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 09:10 PM) At least Castro gets to play...I still hate Ozzie's unwillingness to use him as a PH. That's a move that can't be done since you need a backup catcher in case A.J. gets hurt. The probability of A.J. getting hurt is probably 1 in 1000 or 1 in 100000, but managers' rule are managers' rules I guess.

Tomorrow's a huge game. We can't afford to go 2-4 on this homestand. We just happen to have our worst pitcher going. Prove me wrong Freddy.

Well this sucked.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 03:33 PM) I dont even like the graphics, they look really cheap. Those graphics are actually a huge step up from 2K9. The lighting during the day looks fine, but it's just the other times of day where the game looks really bland.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 03:26 PM) He was 28 and his breakout power year was 08 and he was 29. Not much difference. He still had a great season in 07. That was the year I started to notice him after he disappeared following a good 04 season.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 03:23 PM) Amazing what removing Kotsay can do. You said it.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Aug 14, 2010 -> 03:13 PM) I just got MLB 2k10 for cheap and it still isnt worth it. I miss MVP 05 soooo much. The Show makes 2K10 look like crap. At first, 2K10 was decent, but it got old and tiring.