Comments on: Twins Notes: Brooms, doghouses, soldiers, reinforcements, and pain

By: SD Dave

SD Dave — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:50:39 +0000

Using ‘sapping’ twice in an article? Well played Gleeman, well played

By: TMW

TMW — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:36:40 +0000

Don’t worry, he won’t.

By: David

David — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:24:35 +0000

What if Casilla keeps hitting and playing solid defense? When Mauer and others say he has the talent to be an All-Star…maybe they know what they’re talking about,

By: Dave T

Dave T — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:46:21 +0000

That was a very odd series (with KC). Probably better offensive production than any TWO previous series, and most of it by the bench players and injury call-ups. Repko got 3 RBI on two hits after going 0 for May. It made as much sense as Dick Bremer’s frequent comments about how we are gaining on Cleveland.

By: mike wants WINS

mike wants WINS — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:54:03 +0000

Agreed, Casilla is a fine utility player.

By: TMW

TMW — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:28:55 +0000

I’m still going to bang the ‘Casilla has value when he is not handed a starting job’ drum. He hits better when nothing is expected of him. Stress is part of the game. He can’t handle it. But the guy has the ability to hit when it’s not on him. The supporting samples from 2008, 2010, and forming in 2011 are getting bigger.

Casilla is not a major leaguer worthy of a starting job, but I’m ok with him so long as he’s properly utilized. He’s a useful guy off the bench and an injury stopgap.

By: mike wants WINS

mike wants WINS — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:59:44 +0000

Jeff, the median SS last year had an OPS around 700. It isn’t just batting average, but OBP and SLG. Had Casilla posted his career OPS last year, only 2 SS would have been worse than him among all qualifiers. In addition to his sub-par offense, his defense has been below Zero WAR for 4 of the 5 years he’s been in the majors (counting this year).

The OF defense is a mystery to me. Somehow, UZR has Young at a positive value for the first time in his career (not counting 2006 when he only played 30 games, which is about how many he has played this year, coincidentally).

By: Matty Robinson

Matty Robinson — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:15:42 +0000

Great blog man! Is it past the point that they can call up Gibson without a hit against his arbitration years?

By: Jason w

Jason w — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:14:36 +0000

Speaking of outfield defense, Baseball Reference currently has Denard Span tied for second (with Matt Joyce and Josh Beckett) in A.L. WAR, behind only Jose Bautista, due in large part to his 1.8 dWAR. Maybe he can play CF after all?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:13:28 +0000

“Casilla was a career .249/.306/.327 hitter going into this year … he’s still not a quality everyday player.”

Isn’t this pretty average for a short stop? I thought the argument was made that J.J. Hardy should have been kept because he was an above-average-hitting short stop at ~.260-something.