And it will continue.  They could be in line for the Triple Crown and Rocco still makes that move. And Margot and Farmer will get 2 AB vs rightys again

Yes, it has got to stop!

Rocco Baldelli lost the game last night with his meddling.  He never just let's a match up move, just pass him buy. Margot was a really head scratcher. That dude's bat has been a black hole lately. 

I get what the analytics say about right/right, right/left and left/right match ups say, but what do the analytics say about a guy like Margot for pinching hitting for and then being forced into a right/right match up later?

In hindsight, Farmer for Julien was probably the right move, despite the CS.

Larnach almost certainly could have put together better PA's than the 3 horrible PA's Margot gave us.

5 hours ago, jaimedude said:

Rocco Baldelli lost the game last night with his meddling.  He never just let's a match up move, just pass him buy. Margot was a really head scratcher. That dude's bat has been a black hole lately. 

The hot (and cold) hand mean nothing to Microsoft Excel… I mean Rocco 

2 hours ago, mnfireman said:

In hindsight, Farmer for Julien was probably the right move, despite the CS.

Larnach almost certainly could have put together better PA's than the 3 horrible PA's Margot gave us.

I didn’t mind the Farmer for Julien. He is in a slump and the eye test shows him watching pitches he should crush. He looks over matched. It will pass and he will come around. 
 

im good with a manager making moves with this in mind. Which is why Margot getting into the game for a better performing player is frustrating. 

8 hours ago, mnfireman said:

In hindsight, Farmer for Julien was probably the right move, despite the CS.

Larnach almost certainly could have put together better PA's than the 3 horrible PA's Margot gave us.

Absolutely not.  Dont care how good Julien is doing at the plate 1. it was the 5th inning and 2. Farmer isnt hitting any better.  I would prefer to keep the guy who has 7 HR, in the game until 8th or 9th if they need to pinch hit.  

It is maddening to watch this 100% analytics crap. It doesn’t take in consideration ACTUAL outcomes. It doesn’t consider recent performance. That is why you get a black hole pinch hitting for someone who has been red hot. But, but…black hole MASHED lefties five years ago!  This is how you end up running crap players out there. Rocco lost at least half a dozen games last year on his own. Yesterday was at least one for this year. 

44 minutes ago, Paul Walerius said:

Absolutely not.  Dont care how good Julien is doing at the plate 1. it was the 5th inning and 2. Farmer isnt hitting any better.  I would prefer to keep the guy who has 7 HR, in the game until 8th or 9th if they need to pinch hit.  

Yep, keep the Twins strike out leader out there to increase his lead.

59 minutes ago, RpR said:

Yep, keep the Twins strike out leader out there to increase his lead.

Odd how that works.  He stayed in there tonight and helped give the Twins a little more cushion.  Don't care about the Ks he is more productive than Farmer.   

Yep, keep the sieve of glove out there, the other teams love it.

10 hours ago, RpR said:

Yep, keep the sieve of glove out there, the other teams love it.

I assume this is about Julien since we seem to have some deep seeded dislike of everything about him, but if you look at fangraphs (just a different view) he's almost the best defender on the team 

I'll  just start with Margot needs  to be DFA'd. I'd rather give DaShawn Keirsey (OPS .962) a shot as the extra outfielder. I don't see how he could be worse.

I 100% agree with not pinch hitting for a lefty hitter in the 5th inning against an incoming lefty. There are more right handed relievers, so chances are that move will hurt later in the game.

11 hours ago, RpR said:

Yep, keep the sieve of glove out there, the other teams love it.

Even if you only have access to fielding percentage, once again a horrible defensive metric, .982 isn't anywhere close to "sieve" territory. 

Platoon split pinch hitting has been done since before the computer was invented.

Baldelli is a baseball lifer with a highschool education, not some Ivy League nerd.

That doesn't mean I always agree with him. I would not pinch hit for a hot bat like Larnach, especially with an ice cold one like Margot. 

31 minutes ago, wabene said:

Baldelli is a baseball lifer with a highschool education, not some Ivy League nerd.

That would be Stat Drunk Computer Nerd™.   Were you there on Usenet back in the 90s when SDCNs ruled over rec.sport.baseball?  You could tell who they were by their veneration of on-base percentage, and they hated sacrifice bunts. I think noted college professor Earl Weaver may have been among their number.

On 5/8/2024 at 9:58 AM, jaimedude said:

Rocco Baldelli lost the game last night with his meddling.  He never just let's a match up move, just pass him buy. Margot was a really head scratcher. That dude's bat has been a black hole lately. 

They scored 6 runs.

The bullpen gave up 8 runs in 4 innings.

The managing did not lose the game.

I agree, Margot sucks!! Until he has been removed from the 26-man roster he’s going to get opportunities when he has the “statistical advantage”. Mgmt. determining a better guy on the roster will help Baldelli look much better……maybe Kiersey?

So, once Lewis comes back as there is some stability, it’s possible to move Martin back down for a couple weeks to take a look at Kiersey……in 4-5 weeks. If Keirsey can prove himself for a bit, Martin can be recalled and Margot released, with some confidence. The early - mid June call up might be Wallner as well?

Something will change eventually - may be end of July though before they intentionally rid themselves of depth.

As for the merits of the post here, even though I'm on the analytic side of the spectrum, I have some skepticism about the brand of analytics I see in the Twins organization, looking only at their outward signs of course.  For all the data they have on hand, their strategy seems to be simply, "he bats left, let's minimize his opportunities against lefties."  Last year the Twins were second to the bottom in the majors for OPS of L-vs-L.  Are they smart to minimize the opportunities?  Or are they causing the problem itself, with this strategy (either killing confidence, or not letting the batters practice at it)?

This year their L-L OPS is among the best. Kepler has gone nuts against lefties (1.056 OPS) and Julien's held his own (.756) as the two with the most PA.  I'm open to being convinced.  I'm also open to this being Small Sample Size and we revert back to last year - not coincidentally, the team has the 5th fewest PA in the majors for L-L matchups.

What made the Margot pinch hit even worse was the fact that he pinch hit for the DH. So Margot was our DH for 2 more appearances against RH pitching. Yikes!

9 hours ago, wabene said:

Platoon split pinch hitting has been done since before the computer was invented.

Baldelli is a baseball lifer with a highschool education, not some Ivy League nerd.

That doesn't mean I always agree with him. I would not pinch hit for a hot bat like Larnach, especially with an ice cold one like Margot. 

But apparently a pretty bright baseball lifer who could have been an Ivy League nerd if he wasn't so good at baseball.

From his wikipedia page: 

"Not only did Baldelli excel at sports, but in the classroom as well.^[1] There (a college prep high school) he posted a 4.25 grade point average. On the SAT, he scored 1300, and considered attending University of North Carolina, Wake Forest University, Princeton University and Yale University.^[1]"

1.  Kimmey, Will. "2002 Minor League Player of the Year." 2002. Baseball America. Electronic. November 26, 2013.

Just now, IndianaTwin said:

But apparently a pretty bright baseball lifer who could have been an Ivy League nerd if he wasn't so good at baseball.

From his wikipedia page: 

"Not only did Baldelli excel at sports, but in the classroom as well.^[1] There (a college prep high school) he posted a 4.25 grade point average. On the SAT, he scored 1300, and considered attending University of North Carolina, Wake Forest University, Princeton University and Yale University.^[1]"

 

1.  Kimmey, Will. "2002 Minor League Player of the Year." 2002. Baseball America. Electronic. November 26, 2013.

That doesn't surprise me at all, but aren't you just hindering my attempt to portray him as an Everyman?

“They scored 6 runs.

The bullpen gave up 8 runs in 4 innings.

The managing did not lose the game.”

Who put the low leverage pitchers in the high leverage situation?  It wasn’t the pitchers. Pretty sure the manager makes those decisions. 

Unfortunately, most of you can look at the minutia of one AB, one pitching change, one stolen base attempt, etc.  However the stat that is the most important of all of them is a 24-16 record, especially the 17-3 for the last 20 games.  There are always decisions that a manager makes that will be subject to armchair quarterbacks, but in the final analysis its the win-loss record that leads all other stats.  Apparently, negativity is part of the job description when applying to be a Twins fan.  Let's look at the total picture and figure out that a manager's overall performance is rated, not by individual decisions but win-loss record and clubhouse culture.  No manager is correct all the time. Enjoy the season if you can!

On 5/10/2024 at 7:01 PM, Reptevia said:

 

“They scored 6 runs.

The bullpen gave up 8 runs in 4 innings.

The managing did not lose the game.”

Who put the low leverage pitchers in the high leverage situation?  It wasn’t the pitchers. Pretty sure the manager makes those decisions. 

Being a "low leverage" reliever sounds like the best job in baseball! You only come into a game when you're losing or winning by 8 runs or more? Wow sign me up!

Say, how many "low leverage pitchers" do the Yankees have? The Dodgers? The Braves? 

This is the Major Leagues, man. Every pitcher on the 40 man should be able to come in and get outs. Cole Sands should be able to get Aaron Judge out, and if he can't he shouldn't be on the roster. Okert should be able to get George Springer out. Jay Jackson should be able to get Vlad Guerrero out. 

Blaming the manager for playing his worst players is lazy. Rocco HAS to play Margot. He HAS to pitch Jackson and Sands. And if they can't play, they will be replaced by those who have control over that thing.