Soft team

[DaveW]

Not physically soft, the team mentally looked completely checked out the past two games. The at bats, the pitching, the fielding, the throwing, the overall lack of effort.

 

Playoff caliber teams shouldn't do that, every game counts. You can't dwell just because one game didn't go your way, that is what 90 loss teams do, not playoff teams.

[Craig Arko]

S*** happens.

[TheLeviathan]

 

 

Not physically soft, the team mentally looked completely checked out the past two games. The at bats, the pitching, the fielding, the throwing, the overall lack of effort.

 

Playoff caliber teams shouldn't do that, every game counts. You can't dwell just because one game didn't go your way, that is what 90 loss teams do, not playoff teams.

 

That's preposterous - all teams go through stretches where they look awful.  C'mon.

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Fein or May tonight? Taking bets

[Squirrel]

That's preposterous - all teams go through stretches where they look awful. C'mon.

Yup. And I'd add that even though they've done very well thus far and continue to be 'in the hunt,' I'd hesitate to call them 'playoff calibre' considering some of their ... issues. But that's a discussion for another thread. Bullpen, catcher, SS ...

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

Not physically soft, the team mentally looked completely checked out the past two games. The at bats, the pitching, the fielding, the throwing, the overall lack of effort.

 

Playoff caliber teams shouldn't do that, every game counts. You can't dwell just because one game didn't go your way, that is what 90 loss teams do, not playoff teams.

 

But I thought Gardy wouldn't have allowed this to happen...

[Pius Jefferson]

Is this the same always optimistic Dave from the days of BYTO?

[jun]

 

I'm not bailing on them by any means but they have looked very uninspired and undisciplined since that loss. They need to pull  it together starting tomorrow.

It all started from the BLOWPEN. They need to fix the bullpen asap. Bullpen coach is not doing his job right all season. No reliable bullpen arms other than Perkins. Boyer and Fien need to be let go asap.

[jun]

 

I think the takeaway here is that it's a bit unreasonable to call a team soft after they've spent most of the season over performing in almost every capacity.

Starting a road trip against two tough teams and going 1-3 doesn't change that.

The Athletics is not considered a tough team this season. The pitcher for the Angels last night is NOT one of the best by any means. Look at his ERA, you could tell he had been hit hard quite a few times this season. Yet the Twins made him look like Cy Young.

[bird]

 

Nah,  this team looked plenty as bad as this and worse under Gardy the last couple of years.

 

 

Gardy? Molitor? Pffft. You should've seen how soft they were under Cookie Lavagetto.

[Brock Beauchamp]

The Athletics is not considered a tough team this season. The pitcher for the Angels last night is NOT one of the best by any means. Look at his ERA, you could tell he had been hit hard quite a few times this season. Yet the Twins made him look like Cy Young.

The A's record may be bad but they have a lot of talent on that team. They should be close to .500 but have stumbled to the basement because baseball is weird.

[Bark's Lounge]

July 22, 2015 and the Twins are 7 games over .500.

 

Sure, the last 3 games have been no picnic, and like so many before me on this topic have said "That's just baseball' or "These streaks happen to all teams". They are of course correct in those statements.

 

It's not a requirement to watch this team if the Twins' play disgusts one to the extent that it seems to have disgusted some of you.

 

7 games over .500 on 7-22-15 and FSN will be the station my television is turned to at 9:00pm this evening.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

It's the predictability right now. There wasn't any bunting last night, so expect a full load of it tonight. I admit Molitor is a little constrained with his bullpen but O'Rourke looks legit, so then why waste pitching him for 2 meaningless innings last night, as pointed out earlier. Stuff like that. Where would we be without some timely home runs lately. The Twins need to pick it up and take this by the horns!

[Monkeypaws]

Bah! More doom and gloom?! 

 

Humbug!

[Mike Sixel]

 

The A's record may be bad but they have a lot of talent on that team. They should be close to .500 but have stumbled to the basement because baseball is weird.

 

With the Twins' luck, the A's would be something like 15 games over right now......

[Brock Beauchamp]

With the Twins' luck, the A's would be something like 15 games over right now......

Yeah, exactly. Their record is bad and they're out of the race but until they sell assets, I don't want to face them on any given night.

[Craig Arko]

July 22, 2015 and the Twins are 7 games over .500.

 

Sure, the last 3 games have been no picnic, and like so many before me on this topic have said "That's just baseball' or "These streaks happen to all teams". They are of course correct in those statements.

 

It's not a requirement to watch this team if the Twins' play disgusts one to the extent that it seems to have disgusted some of you.

 

7 games over .500 on 7-22-15 and FSN will be the station my television is turned to at 9:00pm this evening.

Pretty sure my television will be tuned to the inside of my eyelids, but the sentiment is a good one.

[SwainZag]

 

The A's record may be bad but they have a lot of talent on that team. They should be close to .500 but have stumbled to the basement because baseball is weird.

 

Oakland is just having a really strange year.  Their starters have been 2nd in baseball in terms of ERA this season while their bullpen has been a cluster ranking 3rd to last.  

[BK432]

 

The twins lose a tough 10th inning game and proceed to spend their next 16 innings getting out scored 21-1. Plenty of terrible pitching, defense and hitting to go around!

This team is way too soft, where is that veteran leadership from Hunter we all heard about!?!?

 

Wow, I went practically off the rails when they were 1-6....but this seems awful short-sighted. Let's all relax a bit. I actually thought you were joking until I saw a couple of your responses. That's how ridiculous this is.

[twinsnorth49]

I think the takeaway here is that it's a bit unreasonable to call a team soft after they've spent most of the season over performing in almost every capacity.

 

Starting a road trip against two tough teams and going 1-3 doesn't change that.

I'm not as hyperbolic as Dave but the way they've looked the last two games is mildly concerning to me. My hope is Molitor gets their heads right because they've looked miserable since the blown 9th inning lead. I know it's only two games but the way they made a pitcher with a 5+ era look like the second coming of Sandy Koufax was pretty off putting.

[SwainZag]

 

I'm not as hyperbolic as Dave but the way they've looked the last two games is mildly concerning to me. My hope is Molitor gets their heads right because they've looked miserable since the blown 9th inning lead. I know it's only two games but the way they made a pitcher with a 5+ era look like the second coming of Sandy Koufax was pretty off putting.

 

And as a rookie last year he went 16-4 with a 3.04 ERA and 3.26 FIP, while he strikes about 8 per 9 innings.  He pitched a very, very good game last night, but he isn't just a scrub.  

[twinsnorth49]

And as a rookie last year he went 16-4 with a 3.04 ERA and 3.26 FIP, while he strikes about 8 per 9 innings. He pitched a very, very good game last night, but he isn't just a scrub.

I didn't call him a scrub, but he's never been much of a prospect and his era this year has ballooned above 5 with an FIP of 4.41. He's been HR friendly, I barely recall the Twins even hitting a deep fly ball.

[Platoon]

Maybe they are returning to the level which their underlying numbers suggest. Overall the offense is a serious problem. Relying on a 22? yr old with 11 games under his belt, to carry you is not a good idea. Plouffe is streaky, and Mauer is not normally a "get on my back" kind of guy. The last four games Dozier has seen the new reality. Few fastballs, none up high unless a mistake, and a preponderance of breaking balls away. He currently is the straw that stirs the drink, and if he doesn't adjust to this, the offense is going to be pretty poor. Will, or can he adjust? Oddly, allowing as to how poorly they have played defense lately, this is a team that seems to prefer defense to offense. Or claims to? The Arcias, Vargas's, ABW, and even Pinto when healthy have been sent off to learn how not to strike out. Strikeouts go with power hitters, but that doesn't seem an accepted fact here. It's generally been the Twins way, strikeouts are not good. Apparently that includes our pitching staff also!

[glunn]

Tonight's game was another disappointment.  I attended and it seemed to me that the defense was sloppy and there was a lack of energy.

[DaveW]

No fight. It looks like half of the team has just thrown in the towel at this point. Can't think of a more most win game then this afternoons game, they can't afford to go into a Yankee series losing 5 straight.

[Squirrel]

 

No fight. It looks like half of the team has just thrown in the towel at this point. Can't think of a more most win game then this afternoons game, they can't afford to go into a Yankee series losing 5 straight.

Ugh. I am dreading the games this weekend.

[mickeymental]

cardinals lost four straight between june 30-july 1 by a combined score of 16-6 -- they are soooo soft!

[drjim]

'Lack of energy" critique is so simple to me. A hit with runners in scoring position seems to pick up energy right quick.

 

The best hitters are scuffling a little and there has been some mediocre starts. The team isn't deep enough to overcome it so they lost a couple of games (and LAA might be the best team in baseball at the moment). Has nothing to do with being soft or not having enough fight or quitting.

[glunn]

The play where the ball bounced between Santana and Dozier seemed to me to suggest a lack of hustle and the play where Hicks fell down on the warning track seemed to me to suggest a lack of hustle and concentration.   

[drjim]

 

The play where the ball bounced between Santana and Dozier seemed to me to suggest a lack of hustle and the play where Hicks fell down on the warning track seemed to me to suggest a lack of hustle and concentration.   

 

I would really, really disagree with that Hicks description, and could go either way on the Santana/Dozier play. Still seems like extremely flimsy evidence to indict the entire team for a lack of energy.

 

I would still call it not getting a hit with runners in scoring position.