The WGOM » ubelmann

This Date in Twins History: May 29

socaltwinsfan — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:01:54 +0000

1987 Mark Salas had two home runs and five RBIs after entering in the seventh inning for catcher Tim Laudner to give him a rest with the Twins trailing 13-1. The Tigers won 15-7. 1991 Jack Morris pitched a four-hitter and the Twins defeated Nolan Ryan and the Rangers 9-1 despite the [...]

This Date in Twins History: May 25

socaltwinsfan — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:05:44 +0000

1961 The Twins rallied for single runs in each of the final four innings for a 7-6, 11-inning victory over the Tigers. Reno Bertoia's pinch-hit two-out RBI single tied the game at 5-5 in the ninth. Hal Naragon's pinch-hit, two-out RBI single in the 10th tied it at 6-6, and Jim Lemon's RBI [...]

Typealyzer — what type is your blog?

brianS — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:15:25 +0000

Inquiring minds want to know where the WGOM fits in, even though it isn't a "blog" Well, here's your answer! We are "performers."

ESFP - The Performers

[ESFP]

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. [...]

Gomez for GG??

ubelmann — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:23:30 +0000

I'm not sure if this is a good or bad sign (about me), but I couldn't not post this comment I ran across:

Jones was only +3 runs according to Dewan's +/- system

Carlos Gomez led CFers with +33.

Above average for CF is nothing to sneeze at.

by G_ on Sep 29, 2008 11:46 AM PDT reply [...]

Scott Baker Is Awesome At Baseball

ubelmann — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:43:17 +0000

So, I didn't get to see the game today, but I did see the box score. What jumps out at me is that Scott Baker had an awesome game. 8 IP, 8 K, 1 BB, 1 HR, 1 R -- that's a great game. The HR kind of makes sense in light [...]

Is Eric Wedge Stupid?

ubelmann — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:13:07 +0000

So, I just started on a rather ill-advised internet journey, and even though I should go to bed, I feel strangely compelled to complete that journey.

My first mistake was to check LEN3's game report to see what everyone had to say about Carlos Bunty McBunterson vs. Cliff Can't Be Bothered To Field His Position [...]

Team Handedness

ubelmann — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:31:35 +0000

Some facts:

.284/.344/.419 -- MN vs. RHP, 10th best OPS in baseball .266/.332/.413 -- AL vs. RHP

.262/.334/.404 -- AL vs. LHP .261/.309/.375 -- MN vs. LHP, 28th best OPS in baseball

This might lead one to believe that the Twins have a ton of left-handed hitters on the team, making them especially susceptible to left-handed pitching, but that's not [...]

Sustainability Report: Alexi Casilla

ubelmann — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:17:12 +0000

Alexi Casilla has been great so far this year for the Twins, but can he keep it up?

First, let's look at what he's done in the minors:

.270/.346/.348 -- age 19, Rk/A .311/.378/.383 -- age 20, A/AA/AAA .318/.385/.398 -- age 21, A+/AA .269/.345/.344 -- age 22, AAA .219/.350/.250 -- age 23, AAA (2008)

.293/.367/.366 -- overall

Since Casilla came up and got [...]

Game 87: Tribe vs. Twins

ubelmann — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:10:54 +0000

Laffey v. Slowey

I didn't get to watch the game yesterday, but looking at the box score, it was good to see that the Twins put a bunch of runs on the board. Delmon's been pretty hot lately, which I am really glad to see. Having him hit well over the second half of [...]

On The Road

ubelmann — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:55:21 +0000

First off, I'd like to mention that I had a great time at the Convention on Saturday and I really wish I could have spent more time there, as I would have liked to chat with everyone more than I did. Special thanks to SBG for arranging the whole thing and to Banjo [...]

Twins Offense as Measured by EQA

ubelmann — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:12:27 +0000

Definition of EQA

Players with 100+ PA: .311 -- Joe Mauer .303 -- Justin Morneau .287 -- Alexi Casilla .264 -- Jason Kubel .260 -- League Average .251 -- Delmon Young .249 -- Carlos Gomez .243 -- Michael Cuddyer .226 -- Craig Monroe .222 -- Brendan Harris* .203 -- Mike Lamb

*Adam Everett, career EQA -- .230 (I figured it was worth mentioning that our [...]

Riding High in April, Shot Down in May (and Vice Versa)

ubelmann — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:48:45 +0000

- I'm feeling a bit for Boof right now. He works his ass off in the offseason to lose weight, because he's essentially been promised that losing weight will help him pitch better (even though there's not really a whole lot of evidence that that would be the case), then he winds up pitching [...]

Bullpen Shenanigans

ubelmann — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:00:59 +0000

As SBG notes on the sidebar, the Twins have picked up Craig Breslow. According to Joe Christensen, the Twins are planning on adding him to the bullpen to bolster their left-handed relief. Reyes has actually been doing a pretty decent job so far, and I think the problem with the [...]

Joe Posnanski Rocks/Some Thoughts On Managers

ubelmann — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:30:40 +0000

First off, Joe Posnanski's blog about last night's game totally blows whatever I could possibly write out of the water. So do yourself a favor and go read it. I especially like the detail about how David DeJesus had to leave the game due to hives--and those hives could very well have [...]

Stories, Characters, and Storytellers

ubelmann — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:30:17 +0000

My reaction to statements like this one:

Next, we needed Delmon Youngâ€™s thoughts, and some interviews with him can be like pulling teeth.

Is usually just a headshake and a sigh. I can't really blame the media for wanting to interview players who give them nice articulate quotes, but at some point I think they [...]

Boof Bonser Check-up

ubelmann — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:45:39 +0000

Where were preseason expectations for Boof?

First I'll note that the league ERA is 4.12, compared to 4.51 last year, so I'll adjust all ERA expectations down by 0.39, since no one was really anticipating this much of a dip in offense. (Though April run scoring this year (4.24 ERA) wasn't that much different than [...]

Jason Tyner Is Insane

ubelmann — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:09:46 +0000

Apparently, Jason Tyner really wants a chance to get back at the Twins for letting him go. Seriously.

â€œI thought I had earned my stripes (in Minnesota),â€ said Tyner, who signed a minor league contract with the Indians this offseason after the Twins elected not to re-sign the outfielder, following three years of service. [...]

Minor League Bonanza

ubelmann — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:30:55 +0000

Rochester Red Wings

.327/.387/.584 -- Darnell McDonald, 2008, 101 AB

Congrats to McDonald for having one of the best stretches of his professional career, but he's been kicking around AAA so long that he was playing for the Red Wings when they were an Orioles affiliate 7 years ago. At age 30, his early season success [...]

The Buffet Table

ubelmann — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:15:34 +0000

How much can they eat? IP Hungry, Hungry Hippo 51.7 Livan Hernandez 50.7 Nick Blackburn 46.0 Boof Bonser 33.0 Scott Baker 23.7 Brian Bass

But what does the food taste like? xFIP Hungry, Hungry Hippo 3.06 Scott Baker 4.41 Nick Blackburn 4.42 Boof Bonser 4.47 Livan Hernandez 4.85 Brian Bass

To a certain degree, Blackburn, Bonser, and Hernandez have all been approximately league average pitchers who have made every start and given the Twins innings. Baker's the closest thing they've [...]

How about that Gomez kid?

ubelmann — Sat, 10 May 2008 08:58:36 +0000

Over Gomez's last 10 games, he's hitting .385/.429/.641. The kid's been hot. If he could consistently get on base at a .400 clip, he would easily be an All-Star. Barring a complete overhaul in his approach at the plate, he's not going to be able to do that, but he's got basically [...]

Punto Gets Five Hits Over Five Games, Now Starter Material

ubelmann — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:36:36 +0000

I mean, yeah, it's Kelly Theiser, but it still seems like she could find a more legitimate story to put a positive spin on.

The Bright Spot

ubelmann — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:57:40 +0000

Since April 14th:

72 PA, 61 AB, 24 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 11 BB, 3 SO, .393/.486/.541

Thank you kindly, Mr. Mauer.

It’s May, I Guess Peeking At The Standings Is Allowed

ubelmann — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:51:41 +0000

Where are we now?

Team W L PCT GB Minnesota 16 14 .533 - Chicago Sox 14 15 .483 1.5 Kansas City 14 16 .467 2 Cleveland 14 17 .452 2.5 Detroit 14 18 .43 3

Up is down! Black is white! Various types of livestock have acquired the ability to fly!

Based only on season-to-date performance, how well might we expect these teams to be going forward?

Team W3 L3 PCT3 White Sox 16.0 13.0 .552 Tigers 17.2 14.8 .538 Indians 14.8 16.2 .447 Twins 13.3 16.7 .443 Royals 12.4 17.6 .413

Huh, Cleveland has been pretty bad so far.

What does the playoff picture look like?

Teams [...]

Fun With Endpoints

ubelmann — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:37:29 +0000

Joe Mauer before the first game against Detroit:

44 PA, .250/.279/.300

Joe Mauer from the first game against Detroit through today:

60 PA, .353/.450/.471

Needless to say, I like the second line better, and I hope Mauer keeps up his recent hot hitting.

The Buffet Table

ubelmann — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:00:29 +0000

How much can they eat? IP Hungry, Hungry Hippo 38.1 Nick Blackburn 36.0 Boof Bonser 35.2 Livan Hernandez 30.0 Scott Baker 17.1 Brian Bass

But what does the food taste like? xFIP Hungry, Hungry Hippo 3.07 Scott Baker 4.10 Nick Blackburn 4.46 Brian Bass 4.53 Livan Hernandez 4.57 Boof Bonser

Truth be told, I probably would've wanted Hughes, Garza, Slowey, Liriano, Baker on the roster for long-term building purposes, which would have turned out to be an injury/rehab nightmare in the [...]

Sometimes Yankees Fans Are So Cute!!

ubelmann — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:45:23 +0000

I just want to pinch Joe Sheehan's cheeks he's so cute right now, what with the schoolboy naivetÃ© he put on display today:

Parity. The last few years have seen the spread between the best and worst teams in the game narrow considerably, as natural cycles of aging and unnatural wealth-redistribution mechanisms serve to bring [...]

Misc

ubelmann — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:00:45 +0000

So, today's an off day, and not the same way that Thursday and Sunday were off days. Some things I thought I would mention:

Matt Tolbert, Pumpkin

.455/.520/.500 -- Matt Tolbert, first 26 plate appearances .179/.179/.250 -- Matt Tolbert, last 28 plate appearances

I know I emphasize the sample size thing a lot, but I imagine that casual [...]

2008 Game 25: Minnesota Twins at Texas Rangers

ubelmann — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:00:58 +0000

Livan Hernandez vs. Vincente Padilla

No proper game intro as I spent too much time last night sweeping the street in front of my house after some lowlife decided it would be a good idea to smash a glass bottle and drive off. Real funny wiseguy(gal). ubelmann will not stand for broken [...]

2008 Game 24: Minnesota Twins vs. Sidney Ponson: Payback Time?

ubelmann — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:00:23 +0000

Scott "Light Rail" Baker vs. "Sir" Sidney Ponson

A lot of folks look back and mock the Ponson Era. And certainly Sidney's girth makes him easily mockable. I thought it was a good move to sign him to a minor league deal and a ridiculous move to put him in the Opening [...]

2008 Game 23: Minnesota Twins at Texas Rangers

ubelmann — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:00:04 +0000

Nick Blackburn vs. Kevin Millwood

Today would be a good day for Mr. Blackburn to keep that GB% above 50%.

I would like to think that this would be a good time for the offense to break out, but it's tough to take advantage of the hitter-friendly conditions in Arlington if you're not hitting fly [...]

2008 Game 22: Minnesota Twins at Oakland A’s

ubelmann — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:35:11 +0000

F-Sparkler vs. Greg Smith Unknown Lefty Destined To Dominate The Twins

A kitten dies every time you overanalyze a Francisco Liriano outing.

â€œkittensâ€ by d u y g u, cc-licensed.

Now if we're all careful today, we can save a lot of kittens. Who's with me?

Great Moments in Enhanced Gameday History

ubelmann — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:40:35 +0000

Is it better to have swung and lost than never to have swung at all and taken your free base?

2008 Game 21: Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics

ubelmann — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:36:59 +0000

Boof vs. Chad Gaudin

The early word is that Gomez is getting the day off in favor of Span in CF. Gomez has played all 20 games so far, and it's good for guys to get a breather every now and then. In addition, Chad Gaudin has a fairly big platoon [...]

2008 Game 20: Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics

ubelmann — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:23 +0000

Johan Santana vs. Dan Haren

Oops.

Livan Hernandez vs. Joe Blanton

Well, that's certainly a ... a ... um ... heavier matchup.

Let's take a gander at how some of the Twins and A's have gotten off the starting line:

New Center Fielder

.318/.348/.409 -- Ryan Sweeney .244/.262/.329 -- Carlos Gomez

New Third Baseman

.196/.344/.294 -- Jack Hannahan .145/.186/.218 -- Mike [...]

Albert Pujols, Utility Infielder

ubelmann — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:53:01 +0000

Amazingly, the most interesting part of this box score is not that Kyle Lohse was batting ahead of a position player.

The Buffet Table

ubelmann — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:36:49 +0000

How much can they eat? IP Hungry, Hungry Hippo 27.0 Livan Hernandez 25.2 Scott Baker 25.1 Nick Blackburn 23.0 Boof Bonser 11.1 Brian Bass

But what does the food taste like? xFIP Hungry, Hungry Hippo 3.24 Scott Baker 3.99 Nick Blackburn 4.31 Livan Hernandez 4.39 Brian Bass 4.44 Boof Bonser

A Head Scratcher

ubelmann — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:00:02 +0000

Last night I looked at the RZR rankings in the AL, and when I saw Brendan Harris' name at the top of the pile, I scratched my head. (And then I realized that I scratched my head, which was kind of weird.)

So I looked a little deeper. By RZR's count, there were [...]

2008 Game 17: Cleveland Indigenous People vs. Minnesota Twins

ubelmann — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:18:31 +0000

Cliff Lee vs. F-Bomb

Liriano supposedly made a great adjustment in the last bullpen that should help with his command. I'm not expecting any overnight miracles, though.

Cliff Lee has had an xFIP of about 5.50 the last two years--lots of fly balls, a below-average walk rate, and a mediocre strikeout rate. Of [...]

Extra Innings

ubelmann — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:24:22 +0000

It's 12:34am local time, and I should be going to bed, but the Padres and Rockies have just started the top of the 20th inning--tied 1-1--in their game tonight.

Sweet play by Kouzmanoff to lead off the top of the 20th. It just seems weird to say that. Top of the 20th. [...]

2008 Game 16: Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Minnesota Twins

ubelmann — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:00:14 +0000

Jason Hammel vs. Boof Bonser

There's nothing very remarkable that I can find about Hammel. He's got a decent strikeout rate, not great control, and is a bit of a groundball pitcher, but not an extreme groundball pitcher. Actually, he's kind of like Boof that way. They are both somewhat above [...]

2008 Game 15: Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Minnesota Twins

ubelmann — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:19:43 +0000

Livan Hernandez vs. James Shields

If we go way back to the ancient history of 2002-2004 (full list of Twins players remaining from the Opening Day 2004 lineup: Joe Mauer; 2003: Cuddyer (at 3B), 2002: ), through the magic of fangraphs, we see that Livan Hernandez was once a ground ball pitcher, with [...]

Lesson Of The Day

ubelmann — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:42:49 +0000

Twins pitchers on the day: 8 IP, 39 batters faced, 1 strikeout, 0 walks, 1 HR

Tigers hitters: 4 doubles, 2 triples, 1 HR

If you consistently allow good hitters to put the ball in play, you're going to have some ugly days. This was one of those days. That's why everyone thought Silva was [...]

2008 Game 11: Minnesota Twins at Kansas City (Kansas City Here We Come)

ubelmann — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:00:50 +0000

Boof "Less Is More?" Bonser vs. Brett Tomko

I don't have much to say today. Go Twins!

Doug Deeds =?= PTBNL—Really??

ubelmann — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:27:12 +0000

I must say I find this to be a disappointing development.

I'm not really one to freak out about the Twins losing marginal players. It wasn't a big deal to me when the Twins lost J.D. Durbin (awful control makes him fringy) or Alex Romero* (not much power for a corner outfielder) or Levale [...]

The Buffet Table

ubelmann — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 05:31:48 +0000

How much can they eat? IP Hungry, Hungry Hippo 14.0 Livan Hernandez 13.0 Boof Bonser 12.0 Nick Blackburn 11.2 Scott Baker 8.2 Brian Bass

But what does the food taste like? xFIP Hungry, Hungry Hippo 3.15 Scott Baker 3.17 Nick Blackburn 3.74 Boof Bonser 4.07 Livan Hernandez 4.74 Brian Bass

Sure, Bass isn't a starter, but I figured I would make it a top 5. And I think it would be great if we could get him some more three-inning [...]

2008 Game 9: Minnesota Twins at Chicago Pale Hose

ubelmann — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:00:51 +0000

Scott Baker vs. John Danks

Looks like it's going to be fairly chilly for a baseball game tonight in Chicago. So far this season, offense has been down across the board.

.255/.326/.399 -- AL, 2008 .270/.338/.423 -- AL, 2007

This happened last year to an extent, too:

.255/.327/.404 -- AL, 2007, April .270/.338/.423 -- AL, 2007, [...]

How Bad is an 0-6 Start?

ubelmann — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:15:17 +0000

By now you've all likely heard that Detroit's off to a bit of a rocky start. Projected by some to be a roughly 90-91-win team this year, they've lost their first six games--all home games at that.

If we were to react as extremely as possible, we could proclaim that this is clearly evidence [...]

2008 Game 8: Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox

ubelmann — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:00:31 +0000

Nick Blackburn vs. Javier Vazquez

I was watching the White Sox beat down the Tigers last night, and a couple of things stuck out at me:

1) The White Sox should have a pretty good offense this year. Swisher and Quentin could be pretty big sticks and Orlando Cabrera is a lot better than [...]

Enthusiasm

ubelmann — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 03:29:19 +0000

Matt Tolbert's off to a good start, but really, that's all that it is: a start. Before the season, the following projections were made for Tolbert:

.256/.317/.358 -- PECOTA .256/.308/.370 -- CHONE .256/.306/.366 -- ZiPS

Which is really a remarkable amount of agreement for three completely different projection systems. Thus far, Tolbert has had 13 at-bats and [...]

2008 Game 5: Kansas City Royals @ Minnesota Twins

ubelmann — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:00:56 +0000

John Bale vs. Scott Baker

John Bale is left-handed and seems to be at least a bit of a groundball pitcher. That same combination allowed Joe Saunders to dominate a mostly right-handed Twins lineup (which I was basically in favor of) last Wednesday. I think the problem is less that Gardy put [...]