Following Former Yankees 2019

jon abbey

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Three of our old friends, Tyler Austin, Ronald Torreyes, and Jake Cave are all trying to make the Twins roster. Toe and Cave have options so will likely be sent down, Austin is out of options and may make the team even though they signed Nelson Cruz and CJ Cron ahead of him at DH/1B, all three are RHH too. Austin is slashing .390/.390/.659 this spring, rooting for him.
 

terrynever

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Baldelli praised the heck out of Toe in a Providence Journal article last week. I will try to find it.

https://www.providencejournal.com/sports/20190307/ris-rocco-baldelli-handles-challenges-with-poise


Baldelli dealt with only a small group of reporters on Thursday, though there was a fair amount to cover with the Twins lighting up the scoreboard in a 12-1 win over the Red Sox. But Baldelli still handles each question with poise and a calculated approach, while still mixing in some humor; at one point, he jokingly accused a reporter of peeking at one of his note cards.

Though he doesn’t give everything away, like most managers, Baldelli does not dance around the questions regarding each of his players. For example, he was asked about former Yankee Ronald Torreyes’ versatility and what he projects his role to be.

“Well, he’s capable of doing many different things,” Baldelli said. “He’s got the baseball player gene inside him, as well, where you could put him in any situation and he has the ability to figure out a way to make it work. You can put him all around the infield. He has a nice compact bat, line-drive hitter. Likes to hit and run — it’s his personal preference, actually, which is kind of interesting. But he does all of these things that has — he has the ability to do it and also makes the guys around him better because he’s a great teammate and a great guy, as well. There’s not a lot to be critical of. The way he takes care of business every day, it’s a pleasure to be around him and makes you want to keep complimenting him because he does all these things. He is the definition of a versatile guy who can do a lot of different things to help you.”

While Baldelli is quick to compliment Torreyes and other players on his roster, he’ll need to have a difficult conversation with a few of them in the coming days, with the first round of cuts approaching in the next couple of days.
 

jon abbey

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Ian Kennedy of all people is the Royals closer, at least for now.

And Zack Greinke hit two home runs today, the second off Padres pitcher Adam Warren.
 

jon abbey

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Whoa, David Robertson has been a tire fire so far in 3 appearances for PHI, 2 5 4 4 5 1 combined, at least one ER each time. Tonight he came into a 8-8 game bottom 9 and did not get an out, single, walk, walk, walk, ballgame. Yikes.
 

DanoooME

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Whoa, David Robertson has been a tire fire so far in 3 appearances for PHI, 2 5 4 4 5 1 combined, at least one ER each time. Tonight he came into a 8-8 game bottom 9 and did not get an out, single, walk, walk, walk, ballgame. Yikes.
I was watching the game while I was at the gym. He has no idea where his fastball is going. His slider is okay; he got a couple of swings and misses, but he misses the zone too much and that's his best pitch right now, which he never threw until a couple of years ago according to FanGraphs. He should move to mop-up duty for awhile until he figures it out.
 

jon abbey

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Tyler Austin DFAd by MIN, hard to find a roster spot for a DH/1B who can only hit lefties these days.
 

terrynever

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Michael Pineda, on a pitch count, with his second good start for the Twins today in a 6-2 win over Philly. Went five innings. 9 innings in 2 starts, 5 hits, 10 Ks, 2 walks. 0.78 WHIP.
 

Van Everyman

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Michael Pineda, on a pitch count, with his second good start for the Twins today in a 6-2 win over Philly. Went five innings. 9 innings in 2 starts, 5 hits, 10 Ks, 2 walks. 0.78 WHIP.
Didn’t Pavano and Hughes both pitch well for the Twins after famously withering under the Yankee spotlight? If so, perhaps Pineda is on the same plan...
 

terrynever

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Didn’t Pavano and Hughes both pitch well for the Twins after famously withering under the Yankee spotlight? If so, perhaps Pineda is on the same plan...
Pavan had one good year with the Twins, 17-11 in 2010, out of four. Hughes had two solid seasons out of four in Minny and was done by age 30. He had a great year out of the Yankee bullpen in 2009, then went 18-8 as a starter in 2010 and 16-13 in 2012 before falling apart in 2013 and going out into the market.
 
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cromulence

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One of the most underrated A-Rod moments was homering off Pavano in the ALDS. until that happened, it really felt like they were going to get beaten by Pavano in the playoffs and it was going to be absolutely infuriating.
 

jon abbey

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David Robertson onto the IL with a 'sore elbow', first time he's ever gone onto the IL with an arm issue.

And Erik Swanson, the second pitcher NY sent to SEA for Paxton, is starting for the Mariners on Wednesday.
 

jon abbey

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Shane Greene and Kirby Yates are tied for the MLB lead in saves with 10.
 

jon abbey

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The PCL is brutal for pitchers this year, Taylor Widener is another former NY prospect who had moved into the top 100 but is just getting blasted in the PCL this season with the new balls.
 

jon abbey

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Lost in yesterday's craziness was this sad news for David Robertson, NY dodged a bullet here by not signing him again:

"David Robertson is out for the season. The veteran reliever is expected to need surgery to repair the flexor tendon and he might need Tommy John surgery too."
 

Marciano490

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Lost in yesterday's craziness was this sad news for David Robertson, NY dodged a bullet here by not signing him again:

"David Robertson is out for the season. The veteran reliever is expected to need surgery to repair the flexor tendon and he might need Tommy John surgery too."
Really sad news. I’ve said it before, but I know his wife well and him a bit and they’re both such great, charitable people.
 

jon abbey

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"David Robertson had Tommy John surgery on Thursday. Rehab is typically 14-16 months, meaning he is expected to miss the entire 2020 season."
 

ngruz25

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Robertson has a $12 million team option in 2021 and a $2 million buyout. So the Phillies may have paid $23 million for 6.2 innings of really bad pitching.

Ouch.
 

terrynever

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Jake Cave, former slap hitter, belted two solo homers for the Twins today.

Can we haul out the asterisk for 2019 home run achievements? * — baseballs had no seams in 2019.
 

jon abbey

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Old buddy Mason Williams, who turned 28 a few weeks ago, got called up by the Orioles today.
 

terrynever

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Mason Williams goes 2-for-4 and scores insurance run today as Orioles beat Rays 4-2 in first game of two.
 

jon abbey

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Ryan McBroom, who NY traded to KC on Sunday, got called up today and singled in his first AB. The Scranton bus was watching on the way back from their insane win this afternoon and evidently went nuts.
 

jon abbey

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Former NYY player/mascot Ronald Torreyes spent most of the year in AAA for MIN, but he just capped a comeback win over CWS (8-6 down in the 12th to 9-8 walkoff) by getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.