Monday Morning Madness: June 10, 2013

The Scott Diamond Matrix?

I made you a matrix:

	Plus Command	Average Command
Plus Stuff	Jordan Zimmermann	Sam Deduno
Average Stuff	Scott Diamond	Rich Robertson

I chose to use the word "average" to be kind to all stakeholders.  By average, I mean not plus.  By plus, I mean great.  In hindsight, these words would have been fine. 

Moving on, when you look at Jordan Zimmermann's numbers, you don't see a pitcher that much different from Scott Diamond.  He doesn't strike out a ton of batters, although certainly more than Diamond.  He gets ground balls and limits home runs.  When you watch the two, especially when they pitch against each other, you can see the differences clearly.

Zimmermann has better stuff.  His fastball is better, he locates that fastball better and his secondary stuff is better.  You wouldn't necessarily see that on paper, but it's hard to ignore when watching the two throw baseballs at batters.  I threw in Sam Deduno and Rich Robertson to complete the matrix, not to take shots.  Diamond will never have Zimmermann's stuff, so his margin of error is smaller.  Deduno will never have Zimmermann's command, so he needs to rely more on his stuff.  Rich Robertson is retired, so he will really struggle to get MLB hitters out. 

Pedro Florimon is pretty cool.

Pedro Florimon has become pretty much what I had hoped he would become.  In fact, I'm on record in the pro-Florimon column prior to the season's start.  Don't believe me?  Pudding.  See, I'm so amazeing.  Whoops, spelled that wrong.  Cancelled out. 

Regarding Florimon, he's a steady, sometimes spectacular shortstop who can hit above .220.  His plate discipline has improved, as his strikeout rate has decreased and his walk rate has increased.  By any WAR-type measure, Florimon has been worth around one win this season.  This projects to a 2.5-3.0 WAR player by season's end.  I'll take that at shortstop, especially at a league minimum salary. 

Chris Parmelee is underwhelming.

I was in the middle of writing about how I don't think Chris Parmelee is getting better when he lined a double off the top of the wall in the 6th inning of Game 1 on Sunday.  I thought to myself, "Brad, he's got a nice swing, he hits some doubles, give him a chance."  Then FSN put the "Chris Parmelee - 6th double on the season" graphic up.  I feel my original thoughts are confirmed.  Parmelee isn't getting better.  I still think it would be wise to give him at least another month of starts.  By July, if he is still hitting like he is right now, I'd call up Oswaldo Arcia and improve the team. 

Defending Aaron Hicks^n, when n = all the time

I'm not going to expend any more energy writing about Aaron Hicks.  I defended him immensely in my Friday mailbag.  While it may seem crazy to move a .175 hitter up in the batting order, I think it is a wise move.  Looking at who sits at the bottom of the order, Hicks at least has some power.  He's still not going to get a lot of hits, but when he does, those hits could lead to runs.  It makes sense while not making any sense. 

Speaking of not making any sense, here is some madness:

Photoshop/Baseball Card from Past:

Twins Daily member chuchadoro enjoyed my FSN girls/Gary Wayne photoshop but said that he prefers Keith Atherton to Gary Wayne.  Fair enough.  I dug up an Atherton card and made him this:

You know what?  I think we're on to something.

Former Twin Update:  Francisco Liriano

More like Fantastic Liriano!  Through 36 innings with Pittsburgh, he's posted an ERA of 1.75 with a 1.17 WHIP.  He currently has a walk rate lower than he has posted since 2010.  He is also posting a higher strikeout rate than any season since before his TJ surgery.  I don't think the Twins should have signed him, simply because of their history, but I am not surprised that he is pitching well.  He isn't this good, but he should help the Pirates as they try to make the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.     

Random Facebook Question - In reference to 1st-round pick Kohl Stewart

Q:  Great! So we'll see him in 6 years? That's if he doesn't go play QB for Texas A&M and go pro right?

A:  Oh, you are just the best kind of fan.  Does everyone remember the scene at the end of Major League 2 when "Wild Thing" comes out of the bullpen to face Parkman in the ALCS and that one annoying fan has been razzing him for months?  Vaughn basically tells the fan to "stick it" but with more colorful language.  So, fans like these should be repeatedly told where they can stick comments like these and they should be told these things directly by the players.

My proposal:  One offensive fan per game.  At the beginning of the game, the fan stands in the outfield while each player on the roster walks past telling them what their "loyalty" means to them.  Basically, it's the hockey playoffs "props" line, but with insults and possibly curse words added in place of handshakes.  The fan has to just stand there and take it.  It's certainly controversial, but I know I would enjoy it.  It might get me to a game in person too.    

Top 5 List - Why is Clete Thomas batting second?

1. Clete Thomas wears number 11 and 1 + 1 = 2
2. 2 people think it's a good idea, so that's where he'll bat
3. Batting second enhances his arm accuracy and arm strength
4. Lineup is alphabetical (this could be refuted using knowledge)
5. This turkey was put in charge of making the lineup:

Link to Something I wrote:

I found some fun Twins batting records a couple months ago.  You can read it here.  The only reason I post this now is that I promised to find pitching records and I still plan to do so.  Perhaps this week.  I appreciate your patience, I am very busy photoshopping Keith Atherton and Gary Wayne's head in places. 

Poll Results!

I had posted a poll on my blog and I have the results! 

Question - Which Twins Prospect do you look forward to the most? - 157 votes

• Byron Buxton - 78 votes
• Miguel Sano - 53 votes
• Alex Meyer - 5 votes
• Frank Stallone - 21 votes

Ouch, I would have expected Meyer to fare better than Stallone, but you never know until you collect the data.  Buxton surged ahead of Sano in the past week or so. 

I posted a new poll, please take a moment to vote.  Democracy!

Parting Haiku:

Here come the Phillies

Ben Revere is back for now

Straighten your hat, man

 

Have a great week!

Twins vs Royals Thoughts

Oh yeah, the Twins aren't supposed to be good this year.  I didn't really think the Twins were going to continue on a 107-win pace.  I know, strange, right?  I would have enjoyed it.  Regardless, some regression was likely and probably unavoidable.  The Royals series didn't go as planned, but the team has still had a successful start to the season.  Will the Twins get above .500 again this season?

Chris Parmelee

I like Parmelee.  He has good at bats because he can work a count.  I like to see a guy with patience at the plate and Parmelee is patient.  On Wednesday, he was running around looking like a bank robber, but other than that, I have no complaints.  His defense is surprisingly solid and his arm looks strong.  I want to see more, but I think he can be good enough to take over for Justin Morneau, should he be traded in July or August.  He won't be Morneau-prime, but he could be Morneau-lite.

Pedro Florimon/Eduardo Escobar

***Minority Opinion Alert!!***  I like both of these guys.  Yeah, I do.  I wrote about Florimon's value a few weeks back.  I link to the article daily, but here it is again.  You could basically make the same claims for Escobar, based on his very similar skill set.  I like both guys because they are cheap and they get the job done defensively.  When not overflowing with better options, a cheap defensive player isn't too bad. 

Both players have also hit well so far, although I don't really expect that to maintain.  I like Escobar a bit more, because he is younger and probably has more natural talent.  Having two basically identical players on the team leaves Gardenhire with more moves he can make and I suppose that is why the bench exists, eh?  Eh?

Starting Pitching

The Big Pelf, yikes!  First off, I absolutely reject that as a nickname.  Mike Pelfrey seems like a good dude, but I cannot accept that nickname.  He did not pitch well on Monday either.  It's worth remembering that he had major elbow surgery just 11 months ago.  He may not be fully healthy, but he has to be commended for giving it a go.  He should work his way back to what he once was:  nothing special, but serviceable.

Kevin Correia pitched well.

Liam Hendriks bothers me because I think he should be better than he is.  He has good stuff, seems to locate his pitches well, but can't get anyone out efficiently.  I guess he might learn that with more experience, and he is still only 24 years old.  I hope he gets a full season to iron things out.  My worry is that he'll be removed from the rotation when others are healthy because he has an option and his current pitching style taxes the bullpen.  I hope I'm wrong though.

Aaron Hicks

I still believe in Aaron Hicks and I am 100% certain that he will turn things around.  However, I'm done writing about him until something changes.  There just isn't anything new to discuss.  I'm still a big fan though.

Bullet Royals Thoughts

• I love the Royals but I'm not IN love with the Royals.
• Salvador Perez is a monster, both in size and in ability.
• Alex Gordon so smooth.
• I want to watch Kelvin Herrera at all times.
• I'm proposing a bill that would force Billy Butler to go by Bill Butler for a trial period.  Yes, I used bill and Bill in the same sentence and yes that is worth bonus points.

Other MLB Thoughts

Atlanta Braves

I've raved about their outfield in the past and I will certainly cover their special shortstop at some point as well, but I am particularly taken by their rotation.  If Julio Teheran puts it all together and Brandon Beachy comes back, their rotation would be stacked.  Their offense is clearly great and their defense is solid as well.  They might be the second best team in their division, but they might also be the second best team in all of baseball.  I like.

Oakland

The A's are good at trading.  This off-season, they acquired Jed Lowrie.  Lowrie has always had promise, but seemed to always be injured as well.  Now healthy, he will provide Oakland with excellent offense at a premium defensive position.  Of course, if you go by his track record, he won't give them that offense for a full season.  I'd be interested in seeing how much value a player takes from a team when he can't stay healthy.  If anyone knows of a study, LMK.  Lowrie is a talent, and I hope he can play a full season. 

Kevin Slowey

Slowey was nice on Monday night.  He went 7 innings, gave up 6 hits, 2 earned runs, walked none and struck out 3.  He did give up a home run to Justin Upton, but pretty much everyone does that these days.  He's still rocking the long curls, and that works for me.