Game Thread: Twins v Detroit, 5/1 @ 1:10pm CT

[Riverbrian]

 

Yeah, but now the pressure's off. Time to enjoy come what may. We may even improve.

 

We will improve 

 

But now I worry that the front office will Aaron Hicks the young talent before we get a chance to. 

[Riverbrian]

 

Why couldn't the Twins have hired someone like Joe Maddon a couple years ago?? He is absolutely worth his salary. Molitor, not so much...

 

I wanted Dave Roberts. 

 

Joe Maddon is so far ahead of everyone else in my opinion.

 

I would have taken the guy who was working with him. 

[Riverbrian]

 

I guess I would counter with:  a competent manager makes good decisions regardless the personnel.

 

Or, maybe, the need for good decision making is amplified by a lack of personnel.

 

You can. not. let. Ricky. Nolasco. loose. the. lead. after. the. fifth. inning.  

 

Molitor can do a lot about that.

 

I won't disagree with you on this

 

But I will say that it would have been a lot easier for Molitor to make that decision if the bullpen would have been addressed in the off season. 

[jokin]

 

What happened to DaveW?

 

On hiatus, consulting with his team of lawyers...

[Reider]

There's a reason why people say baseball is a game of inches. This game was no different.

 

- Bottom of the 3rd inning with Joe Mauer on 1st and 0 out, Sano hits a ground rule double down the left field line. Mauer would have scored on the play, but he was put back at 3rd base. Neither Mauer or Sano would end up scoring that inning because Park and Arcia struck out followed by Escobar grounding out. The Twins need to score at least one of those runs!

 

- I'm not sure why Dozier was out in center field trying to catch a ball, which he ended up dropping. The center fielder needs to run forward and catch those.

 

- Joe Mauer hits the top of the wall and instead of bouncing over the fence for a home run, it bounces back onto the field. He ended up scoring anyways, so it's not a big deal, but that's how close he was to hitting a home run.

 

- Iglesias gets called out at first base. In my opinion video replay showed that he was safe. The umpires in New York agreed with the umpires in Minnesota and ruled him out. The Twins got lucky here.

 

- M. Cabrera makes a running error (by running to second base) on a single to the outfield. Sano catches the ball at second base well ahead of Cabrera getting to second base, but instead of applying the tag on Cabrera's foot, he applies it way up higher on his leg / thigh area. I thought Cabrera's foot was on the bag by the time Sano tagged him, but I could be wrong. I would have liked to see it in slow motion another time or two and from a different angle. Luckily the Tigers did not challenge the play.

 

- Paul Molitor pulls Nolasco after he gives up a 3 run home run in the 6th inning. Hind sight is always 20/20. Fans are angry, but if Molitor pulls him before the home run and the Tigers still hit a 3 run home run off of the reliever, then fans would be angry that they didn't leave Nolasco in to at least finish out the inning.

 

- What's going on with those balls hit over Rosario's head that hit the wall?

 

- With two out in the bottom of the 9th and down 1 run, Sano hits a double down the first base line, but decides to be aggressive and turn a double into a triple. Sano gets thrown out at 3rd base to end the game. I don't mind when players are aggressive and try and make things happen, but when there's 2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning and your team is down a run, you have to be content with your double and stay at second base. The risk was way too great in that situation.

 

 

[Platoon]

I think you should build the team looking at each player and asking what they would.could be on a contending team. That's World Series contending team. Play the guys you think can be part of that kind of team and not the rest. So what do we have among the more veteran players (and how are the being played)?

 

Mauer, Sano - Can hit 2-6 on a contending team, good enough in the field (played that way)

Plouffe - Complimentary piece on a contending team, hits 6 or 7 (cleanup, not good enough for that)

Dozier - Second level complimentary piece, hits 7 or 8 (2nd? Not even close to that good)

Escobar/Nunez - Utility man (starting SS?  No way)

Park - maybe a DH/part time player (core of the order)

Arcia -  maybe a complimentary piece, play him to see (probably being played the right way)

Santana - 4th OF (starting CF)

Rosario - AAA depth (starting OF)

Suzuki - seldom used backup (starting C) 

Hughes, Santana, Gibson - 3-5 SP (core of rotation)

Nolasco - Trade bait (trade bait, I hope)

Bullpen - Only Jepsen, May and Abad are in it, rest in AAA or released (see results, except maybe Tonkin or Pressley holds down the 12th pitcher spot as a developmental guy)

 

Bottom line - we have 2 position players you can see on a contending team, and 2 more that are placeholders/complimentary pieces that play while you look for someone better. We have a legit 3 hitter in this year's Mauer, a legit 4/5 hitter in Sano, and three guys who can hit 6 or 7 in Park, Plouffe and Arcia.  That's it. Everybody else should only play part time and hit 8 or 9 when they do.  We have 3 medium starters and two or three BP, one more if Perkins comes back like he was in 2015 first half, something that seems unlikely (he's probably done).  You can have one or two holes on a good team; we have at least 5 in the lineup, 2 in the SP and 3-4 in the BP.  It's no surprise that we stink. More importantly, this group is unlikely to get much better. The core of a contending team simply isn't here.

 

The solution? Since contraction is out of the question, blow this up and see what you got in the minors. This group isn't good enough. Try Duffy, Berrios, Meyer and Polanco now, Kepler Buxton, Chargois and Burdi when they master their present levels.  Spend this year trying to create that core.

 

I more or less agree, and have contended much of this last year. Earlier this year I said this: If you have Plouffe as your cleanup hitter, your lineup isn't anywhere near as good as you think it is!

[USAFChief]

I must disagree! It's only the 6th, plus Nolaso has been the most successful of the rotation and the bullpen is suspect! Your comment is based totally on the fact that he failed and not that leaving Nolasco in the game a poor option.

I must disagree. That is most certainly not what my comments were based on.

[stringer bell]

 

Detroit can hit... 2016 AL Central champs.

Nope, too much age and not enough depth. KC wins again, I'll wager. That said, right now the Tigers are really hitting. It looked like some good pitches got turned into hits and they hit a number of long drives that got caught. Nolasco had them at 3 hits with two outs in the sixth (IIRC) and they ended up with 14.

[stringer bell]

When Castellanos worked the count full and fouled off Ricky's best breaking ball, I said to my significant other that he was going to hit the ball hard. I was right. I expect Molitor must have felt the same thing, but the die was cast when he kept him in after Upton singled. With two outs, none on and less than 100 pitches, I didn't see anyone warming in the 'pen. Upton singled on the first pitch IIRC, so maybe they didn't have time to get someone ready.

 

I don't bunt Zuke unless I'm going to hit for the #9 guy, but it is old-timey Baseball 101 to play for the tie at home. When sitting with RB yesterday, he said that almost every team in the AL made acquisitions to improve their weaknesses and I think he's right. The Twins had Hunter retire and allowed Pelf, Duensing, and Boyer to leave and added Park and Abad. They didn't address the bully and they still have issues all over the field.

[Reider]

 

Nope, too much age and not enough depth. KC wins again, I'll wager. That said, right now the Tigers are really hitting. It looked like some good pitches got turned into hits and they hit a number of long drives that got caught.

Where do you see the first place White Sox finishing?

[Otto von Ballpark]

Nope, too much age and not enough depth. KC wins again, I'll wager. That said, right now the Tigers are really hitting. It looked like some good pitches got turned into hits and they hit a number of long drives that got caught. Nolasco had them at 3 hits with two outs in the sixth (IIRC) and they ended up with 14.

Almost, 5 hits at that point. Thr next 3 guys got hits and Nolasco finished with 8 hits allowed.