Article: Twins Drop Ball, Home Opener

[Parker Hageman]

The Twins’ home opening crowd gathered early in downtown, filling the area’s establishments with a hum that can only come from the exhilaration of skipping a day of responsibility in order to consume the first baseball game of the season in gorgeous weather. Even after several years of ineptitude and 90+ losses, Monday would still bring the first sellout at Target Field since August 2013 and all would be forgiven with a clean slate.

 

Well, as clean as a one-and-five slate can be.

 

Credit the Twins for doing the best they could to distract everyone with the new items around the ballpark. There were new bars, new food offerings, new drink rails, new hooded sweatshirts. But the festivities and feelgoodery would last only until the end of the seventh inning when it became clear that the same old problems exist.A mixture of poor defense, bad bullpen and unproductive chunks of the lineup would sink the Twins for their first home loss in 2015.

 

Before the start of the game, Trevor Plouffe was asked if the team was looking for respite from the steady barrage of elite pitchers like David Price, Anibal Sanchez and Chris Sale. With a 2-for-19 start to his season, no one would fault the Twins’ third baseman for seeking more humane matchups. Plouffe just shook his head.

 

“This is the big leagues and you gotta want to face those guys and if you don’t want to face those guys then you shouldn’t be here. We are also in a tough division for pitching and we have to face them all year.”

 

After striking out in each of his first two at bats against Royals’ starter Danny Duffy, in the bottom of the seventh Plouffe launched Duffy’s 1-1 offering into the left field bleachers to bring the Twins within two. The home run would be his 36th at Target Field - the most by any hitter.

 

Before the game Plouffe acknowledged that the team’s offensive shortcomings but believed there would be a feast at the end of the famine.

 

“We obviously didn’t hit like we wanted to hit the first six games but I think that we’re going to be very capable and score some runs this year. So I don’t think anyone is going to be too worry about the way we started. We’d like to have hit better but we’re not worried about it.”

 

Plouffe’s contribution on Monday would not be nearly enough to help starting pitcher Trevor May, who would pitch well but ultimately be undone by the stomach-turning performance from his defense behind him.

 

In the third, Lorenzo Cain was able to score Salvador Perez on a sacrifice fly which was set up earlier in the inning by several middle infield misplays by Danny Santana and Brian Dozier.

 

In the sixth, Cain doubled to right with Mike Moustakas on base. Cain moved up to third and Moustakas scored when Torii Hunter threw the ball back to the infield to simply no one in particular. In the following at-bat, Cain scored on Eric Hosmer’s deep drive to the spacious left-center field bullpen alley. Twins left fielder Oswaldo Arcia gave chase and covered just enough real estate to have the ball deflect off his glove at the wall.

 

May left the game after 78 pitches and several effective innings with a scattering of a few hard hit balls, including Kendrys Morales’ 405' shot to right-center field. Manager Paul Molitor said he opted to remove him from the game after the Royals’ contact grew louder in the sixth despite the low pitch count.

 

“All the guys behind me earned their way here and deserve to be here and I know everyone’s working and doing everything they can,” May said after the game refusing to place the blame on his teammates in the field. “Sometimes you just need them to hit it a little bit harder or softer.”

 

Following Plouffe’s seventh inning home run, the Twins were within two but a six-run eighth inning put the game firmly out of reach. The inning was punctuated by two hit batsmen, a fumbled grounder by Danny Santana and four Twins pitchers needed to record three outs. When asked whether the defense of the game was concerning to him, Molitor was straightforward.

 

“We just have to play better.”

 

Easier said than done around these parts as the defensive blunders are more of the same for the Twins. Sunday’s matinee in Chicago featured several routine plays fall that general manager Terry Ryan called out during his pregame media session.

 

“We gave them way too many outs. Ironically they didn’t come back and hurt us, the three misses,” Ryan said of Eduardo Nunez, Eduardo Escobar and Kurt Suzuki’s inability to catch pop flies.

 

True, Sunday’s White Sox game mistakes did not hurt but the Royals took their ounce of flesh like good teams do. Continuing the trend of giving away outs -- either because of fielding miscues or because of inferior coverage -- will be painful. The Twins entered Monday’s game as one of the worst teams at turning batted balls into outs. Only the Yankees and the Dodgers have converted fewer balls into outs.

 

 

Based on a seven game sample, this team has a lot of repairs to make before it will be able to win games consistently. As far as the home opener goes, at least the weather was good.

 

Click here to view the article

[bluechipper]

I thought Trevor May pitched really well. Without some of those defensive misplays and a bunch of soft hits falling through, I'm guessing he would have had a nice line today. But that's just how it goes sometimes.

[Parker Hageman]

He definitely pitched well. He attacked the strike zone and managed to get some big strikeouts. May got shorted a bit by his defense. He needed better. Molitor was right that he was getting hit a bit in the sixth but probably doesn't have the pitch count he did at that point if more plays were made behind him earlier in the game.

[h2oface]

I hope this is just the start of the prospect train. May did very well. This team is just horrible so far. I was kind of surprised Molitor didn't pitch Boyer again. Just kidding (on the square). 

I heard that the operations at Target were also a fiasco. Slow entry, endless lines, running out of sweatshirts, and shuttles taking wrong turns and taking riders into rush hour traffic for over an hour. Any other reports?

I can't believe how bad this team has performed. Maybe everyone that is not a Twins' fan or blogger is right about their predictions. It sure does look like it, now.

[Platoon]

I tuned in about the 7th inning, and noticed all the empty seats. At first I thought everyone was in line for an alcoholic beverage with a slice of pizza in it? But that might have been an erroneous assumption. I can envision some suburbanite getting home to the spouse and saying, "I just saw the most disgusting thing ever at Target Field". He/she says, "don't tell me you had a pizza drink"? The response, "Well, the drink was bad, but watching the Twins play defense, was disgusting"!

[clutterheart]

Have they stopped teaching defense in the minors?

Remember how terrible Dozier was at SS? Or that Plouffe had to learn 3B at the MLB level?

 

Now watching these new guys stumble and bumble makes me think there is an organizational lack of focus on defense at the minor leauge system. Bring back TK!

[clutterheart]

..

[troyhobbs]

I thought the twins would lose the division but I thought they'd be an improved team. They look so bad that the season may be over in April. Maybe that's what it'll take for mgmt to finally look to their youth. If you're going to be terrible at least be young.

[Mike Sixel]

Has there been a game yet where they didn't give away outs?

Edited April 14, 2015 by mike wants wins

[HitInAPinch]

Like Molitor was saying today, it's not just the poor fielding, but those were plays the were making during Spring Training.  At this point, I think Molitor is being too lenient with these guys.  Time to kick some butts.  One more week, start demoting people.

[Mike Sixel]

Demote people for whom? Most of this team, somehow, doesn't have minor league options left.....

[sorney]

59 win team.  This team is awful.

[70charger]

 

I thought the twins would lose the division but I thought they'd be an improved team. They look so bad that the season may be over in April. Maybe that's what it'll take for mgmt to finally look to their youth. If you're going to be terrible at least be young.

 

You're never completely out of it. You can always use the month of May to play spoiler within your division.

 

And June. And July and August and September.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

 

I hope this is just the start of the prospect train. May did very well. This team is just horrible so far. I was kind of surprised Molitor didn't pitch Boyer again. Just kidding (on the square). 

I heard that the operations at Target were also a fiasco. Slow entry, endless lines, running out of sweatshirts, and shuttles taking wrong turns and taking riders into rush hour traffic for over an hour. Any other reports?

I can't believe how bad this team has performed. Maybe everyone that is not a Twins' fan or blogger is right about their predictions. It sure does look like it, now.

 

I didn't notice any issues, but I am very low maintenance - I got to the game early (about 1pm), got a scorecard, went straight to the Kramarczuk's stand for a polish sausage, got a beer, and after taking a couple laps around the concourse to people watch I found my seat. No waiting in the men's restroom.

 

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

 

I tuned in about the 7th inning, and noticed all the empty seats. At first I thought everyone was in line for an alcoholic beverage with a slice of pizza in it? But that might have been an erroneous assumption. I can envision some suburbanite getting home to the spouse and saying, "I just saw the most disgusting thing ever at Target Field". He/she says, "don't tell me you had a pizza drink"? The response, "Well, the drink was bad, but watching the Twins play defense, was disgusting"!

A bunch of people in my section bolted for the exits in top of the 6th inning after May was pulled and the bullpen carousel of horrors went around. It was a full house up to that point (and the Twins, despite some sloppiness, were actually still in the game until then).  

[JB_Iowa]

 

You're never completely out of it. You can always use the month of May to play spoiler within your division.

 

And June. And July and August and September.

 

 

April:  19 out of 22 games w/in the division

May:  12 out of 27 games w/in the division

June:  6 out of 28 games w/in the division

July:  8 out of 25 games w/in the division

August:  6 out of 28 games ;w/in the division

September:  22 out of 28 games w/in the division

October:  4 out of 4 games w/in the division

 

 

There was a real premium put on a strong start.  The Twins could be so buried by May 1 that even the anticipation of prospects won't be effective.  Little room for playing spoiler until September.

 

[70charger]

 

April:  19 out of 22 games w/in the division

May:  12 out of 27 games w/in the division

June:  6 out of 28 games w/in the division

July:  8 out of 25 games w/in the division

August:  6 out of 28 games ;w/in the division

September:  22 out of 28 games w/in the division

October:  4 out of 4 games w/in the division

 

 

There was a real premium put on a strong start.  The Twins could be so buried by May 1 that even the anticipation of prospects won't be effective.  Little room for playing spoiler until September.

 

I was kidding, but your point is well taken. If we hadn't just dropped 6 games out of first in the division before the calendar has even turned once, it'd be a lot easier to claw back into playoff contention.

[JB_Iowa]

 

I was kidding, but your point is well taken. If we hadn't just dropped 6 games out of first in the division before the calendar has even turned once, it'd be a lot easier to claw back into playoff contention.

 

I really looked at it for my own info more than the board.  I knew that April was going to be rough and that it was all in the division - except Seattle which is rough anyway.

 

What I didn't realize was that there are more games in the division in EACH of April and September than there are in June, July & August combined.  

 

The September/October schedule looks pretty normal to me but having so many games in the division in April seems a bit unusual (but then, maybe my memory just isn't good). 

[Kwak]

Posters, we need to refocus our sights. Instead of "playoff contention" (of which it was frequently stated in TD this off-season wasn't happening), we should compete for "draft position"--an attainable goal. Long term this will prove far more useful than a random extra win a month.

[NotTorii]

Disapointing - just so disappointing.

[James]

 

I hope this is just the start of the prospect train. May did very well. This team is just horrible so far. I was kind of surprised Molitor didn't pitch Boyer again. Just kidding (on the square). 

I heard that the operations at Target were also a fiasco. Slow entry, endless lines, running out of sweatshirts, and shuttles taking wrong turns and taking riders into rush hour traffic for over an hour. Any other reports?

I can't believe how bad this team has performed. Maybe everyone that is not a Twins' fan or blogger is right about their predictions. It sure does look like it, now.

I got to the stadium around 2:30.  There was definitely a long line to get into the stadium where I was.  From what I could tell, this was mainly because of the sweatshirts.  They were giving these away right after the security setup, which slowed everyone up getting through security.  The security staff at the gate I went into was being incredibly thorough searching bags as well.   

 

It took me about 20 minutes to get through the line.  They were out of sweatshirts at the gate I went to, so I got a voucher for one and was able to pick one up a little later in the game.  They probably did as well as they probably could have given the situation.

 

As far as the game goes, I thought May pitched pretty well.  He definitely got burned by the defense.  It's tough to say what to do exactly, but I can say for sure, some moves are going to have to be made sooner rather than later.  

[Mike Sixel]

This cracked me up:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/whats-already-happened-in-the-al-central/al-central-playoff-odds/

 

[h2oface]

 

This cracked me up:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/whats-already-happened-in-the-al-central/al-central-playoff-odds/

Please. That is just too funny. It looks like they are very wrong about the Royals. Maybe they could be wrong about the Twins? I know... doubtful.

 

Driving around the LA area today and stopping in on 3 different sports talk radio channels, the Twins got air time on all 3. While most of the talk is about the LA Clippers and Angels and Dodgers, the Twins have become the laughing stock of the airwaves.  All three couldn't believe how bad they were, and that they could still be this horrible after 4 years...... especially the pitching. It appears that only the Twins' management and players are not seeing what the rest of the country of baseball fans are seeing.

Edited April 14, 2015 by h2oface

[h2oface]

 

The security staff at the gate I went into was being incredibly thorough searching bags as well.   

Is there a terrorist scare or something? What exactly is the thorough searching all about? Any ideas? How did the crowd take the searching?

[James]

 

Is there a terrorist scare or something? What exactly is the thorough searching all about? Any ideas? How did the crowd take the searching?

They always search bags over a certain size.  I'm pretty sure they were searching for alcohol that fans were trying to sneak in.