Game Thread: Twins @ White Sox, 4/8/17 @ 1:10 PM CT

[BK432]

Full warning to everyone: I think my record in writing in game threads is like 0-5, so I could be single-handedly putting an end to this 162-0 dream.

 

But seriously, how cool is this? We got robbed of a season of fandom last year; I personally still watched a lot of baseball, enjoyed the season, the postseason, all of that. But it's hard to keep a lot of hope in the Twins when they start 0-9. So without gleaning anything meaningful out of 4-0, let's just agree that it's a lot more fun and allows us to be fans. It allows for hope, which we all deserve a bit since last year.

 

Chicago is a cool town, right? I've actually never been to Comiskey Park....that's not right....US Cellular Field?....um....that changed, didn't it? Ah, that's right, Guaranteed Rate Field (ugh). I've never been to Guaranteed Rate Field before, but I hear they've done a lot to focus on fan experience. Good food selections, and then....look at the beer selection at their Craft Kave. Click here and scroll down. I'll wait for you.

 

Amazing, right? I mean, why can't that happen at Target Field?

 

Anywho, it's about the baseball anyway, and so far this year, the Twins have been the superior team. As Riverbrian noted yesterday, the Sox sold off a lot of pieces over the offseason. And it's too early to expect to see some of those returns, such as Lucas Giolito and Yoan Moncada. So far now, we face a pretty neutered lineup that gets pretty weak 5 through 9. The main bullpen setup pieces, Nate Jones and Zach Putnam, looked nasty last night. Makes it a near certainty in my mind that David Robertson will be moved as well later this season, and Jose Quintana is likely to move too. So it's a reload in the Second City, and the Twins shoud win more games against the Sox than they lose.

 

Speaking of lights-out relief pitching, the Twins 'pen has been outstanding through four games. Leading the way in my mind was last night's purveyor of filth, Tyler Duffey. Duffey gave up two weak hits but was otherwise nearly untouchable in two innings of work. I'm not comparing him to Andrew Miller, but he has a chance to be our version. And don't forget, Miller is nothing but a failed starter himself.

 

We'll have to likely get work out of others today, maybe 4 innings' worth, with Adalberto Mejia's first start of the season coming. Mejia looked pretty good in the Grapefruit League over 14 innings and he won the spot in the rotation over Duffey and Jose Berrios. Still, expecting much more than 15 outs from Mejia is fools' gold. If the pen can support Mejia with another strong performance, the Twins' run prevention could be looking solid again today.

 

So yeah, we're 4-0. First time since 1987. That was a good year for a certain young team that lost a lot of games the year before. I'm not saying.......I'm just saying. Enjoy the game.

 

---

 

LINEUPS

 

I gotta run the boy to swimming lessons - I will add in a post below.

[stringer bell]

Nice baseball-centric intro BK. I suspect people will want to talk more about baseball if the Twins are relevant. BTW, best record in baseball! One of only two teams yet to lose and leaders in the Central by a full game over Cleveland.

[USAFChief]

Great job BK!

[USAFChief]

Really looking forward to seeing Mejia.

[Squirrel]

 

Really looking forward to seeing Mejia.

Me, too ... in person ... for a 2nd time ... (I saw him pitch at a ST game)

 

Look for me ... I'll be sitting .... ----------------> there.

[ashbury]

BTW, best record in baseball! One of only two teams yet to lose and leaders in the Central by a full game over Cleveland.

I just posted this to the Funnin' Around With Numbers thread, but it seems appropriate to the game thread too: the Twins' magic number, taking into account play versus divisional rivals, is 149. I've started my countdown already!

[Squirrel]

Nice baseball-centric intro BK. I suspect people will want to talk more about baseball if the Twins are relevant. BTW, best record in baseball! One of only two teams yet to lose and leaders in the Central by a full game over Cleveland.

Yeah, we've always stated in the past when people complained the threads weren't enough about baseball, that when there is good play, there is plenty of baseball talk. And there has been in the threads thus far. When there isn't we are easily .... SQUIRREL!!!

[Vanimal46]

Me, too ... in person ... for a 2nd time ... (I saw him pitch at a ST game)

 

Look for me ... I'll be sitting .... ----------------> there.

I'll be looking forward to the pic of your seats for things to think about!

[bluechipper]

Dozier

Kepler

Sano

Mauer

Polanco

Castro

Buxton

Rosario

Escobar- DH

 

Looks like Molitor has seen enough of Buxton batting 3rd for now.

[bluechipper]

Also interesting choice on Sano and Escobar regarding who plays 3B.

[BK432]

LINEUPS

 

Twins

 

2B Brian Dozier

RF Max Kepler

3B Miguel Sano

1B Joe Mauer

SS Jorge Polanco

C Jason Castro

CF Byron Buxton

LF Eddie Rosario

DH Eduardo Escobar

 

SP Adalberto Mejia

 

White Sox

 

2B Tyler Saladin

SS Tim Anderson

LF Melky Cabrera

1B Jose Abreu

3B Todd Frazier

RF Avisail Garcia

C Geovany Soto

DH Matt Davidson

CF Jacob May

 

SP Miguel Gonzalez

[stringer bell]

Love seeing the DH hitting ninth!

[Joe A. Preusser]

I'm glad Buxton is still in the lineup. Without him in CF we are 2-2 at best right now.

[Doomtints]

4-0 is infinitely better than 0-wtf.

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

I'm glad Buxton is still in the lineup. Without him in CF we are 2-2 at best right now.

Good point.

Certainly the first inning of last night's game would have been different.

[Doomtints]

Biggest difference so far this year:  The position players are playing good defense.

[crapforks]

Interesting to see Mauer stay at cleanup. I would prefer to keep Sano behind him in the lineup because he wears pitchers down a bit, or at least can. It has been fun to figure the reasoning for the lineups. I would have preferred:

 

2B Brian Dozier

SS Jorge Polanco

1B Joe Mauer

3B Miguel Sano

RF Max Kepler

DH Eduardo Escobar

C Jason Castro
CF Byron Buxton
LF Eddie Rosario
 

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Interesting to see Mauer stay at cleanup. I would prefer to keep Sano behind him in the lineup because he wears pitchers down a bit, or at least can. It has been fun to figure the reasoning for the lineups. I would have preferred:

 

2B Brian Dozier

SS Jorge Polanco

1B Joe Mauer

3B Miguel Sano

RF Max Kepler

DH Eduardo Escobar

C Jason Castro
CF Byron Buxton
LF Eddie Rosario
 

I like this lineup, too. Should always have a high OBP guy in front of Sano.

[Danchat]

Park really needs to be DH'ing here... I like Escobar, but he shouldn't be DH'ing.

[Squirrel]

Van, here you go ... hardly anyone here yet and I'm the only one so far in my section. Nice sun, winds from the south, I may take off my big fleecey outer layer before long, but so far it's gorgeous.

 

 

[Pardon My Dinger]

Hey Van, get a load of that groundskeeper in right! Hotchie motchie!

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Van, here you go ... hardly anyone here yet and I'm the only one so far in my section. Nice sun, winds from the south, I may take off my big fleecey outer layer before long, but so far it's gorgeous.

Looks like a beautiful day. Enjoy the game.

[Squirrel]

Sano got some oohs and aahs during batting practice and few people in the outfield seats got souvenirs.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Buxton hitting 7th.

 

Hopefully hitting is the operative word there.

 

But i wouldn't object if he followed Casttro's walking ways, so long as he doesn't lap him.

[jimbo92107]

 

Dozier

Kepler

Sano

Mauer

Polanco

Castro

Buxton

Rosario

Escobar- DH

 

Looks like Molitor has seen enough of Buxton batting 3rd for now.

Based on what I've seen so far, I would go

 

Dozier

Polanco

Sano
Kepler

Mauer
Castro
Rosario
Escobar- DH

Buxton

 

Dozier insists on batting 1, otherwise I'd have Polanco leading off, with Doz at 2.

[bluechipper]

 

Based on what I've seen so far, I would go

 

Dozier

Polanco

Sano
Kepler

Mauer
Castro
Rosario
Escobar- DH

Buxton

 

Dozier insists on batting 1, otherwise I'd have Polanco leading off, with Doz at 2.

I would generally avoid hitting 4 lefties in a row.

[jimbo92107]

 

I like this lineup, too. Should always have a high OBP guy in front of Sano.

I think Molitor is trying to take a little pressure off Sano and Buxton, so they can keep a cool head at the plate. Both guys got swing-happy last season. So far Sano looks reasonably disciplined, while Buxton is back to looking almost clueless. 

 

As I said before, Byron Buxton still sees the pitcher as a threat. He needs to reverse that psychology, see himself as the cat, and the pitcher as the mouse he is toying with. It's a fundamental shift, and when it happens, it will happen very quickly. One day he will show up and look like he's in charge, like he really believes it. On that day Buxton will start doing in games what he does in batting practice. 

 

BTW, good write-up, BK!   :-)

[AZTwin]

LINEUPS

 

Twins

 

2B Brian Dozier

RF Max Kepler

3B Miguel Sano

1B Joe Mauer

SS Jorge Polanco

C Jason Castro

CF Byron Buxton

LF Eddie Rosario

DH Eduardo Escobar

 

SP Adalberto Mejia

 

White Sox

 

2B Tyler Saladin

SS Tim Anderson

LF Melky Cabrera

1B Jose Abreu

3B Todd Frazier

RF Avisail Garcia

C Geovany Soto

DH Matt Davidson

CF Jacob May

 

SP Miguel Gonzalez

With this group, here is my lineup:

 

SS Jorge Polanco

1B Joe Mauer

3B Miguel Sano

2B Brian Dozier

RF Max Kepler

C Jason Castro

LF Eddie Rosario

CF Byron Buxton

DH Escobar (yuck - can we have Park back and put him in the 5 spot?)

[D. Hocking]

I might not be remembering things correctly, but I am pretty sure we have already won more games than all of last year.

[bighat]

Glad to see Bux moved down....he clearly deserves to be hitting 9th but I think Molitor wanted to soften the demotion.  Hope it's a laugher so Bux can settle down a bit and relax during his ABs.  Last September he blew up in meaningless games.  His one hit this season came in the 9th inning of a blowout.  He CAN hit, but if there's any semblance of pressure it's a guaranteed K.  

 

Can't wait to see this Mejia kid!  Good luck Aldaberto!