Article: CHW 5, MIN 2: Time is Running Out

[Tom Froemming]

It appeared the Twins had turned the corner when they took three of four from Cleveland over the weekend, but they’ve failed to carry over that momentum against one of the worst teams in baseball.

 

There are a lot of games yet to be played this season, but the trade deadline is approaching fast. The Twins have fewer than 50 games between now and July 31. This team either needs to find a way to win games or prepare for the front office to pull the plug.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Current record: 26-32

Jake Odorizzi: 54 Game Score, 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 K, 1 BB, 62.6% strikes

Bullpen: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 K, 1BB

Lineup: 2-for-7 w/RISP, 9 LOB

Top three per WPA: Garver .087, Adrianza .081, Escobar .051

Download attachment: WinEx66.png

This was a bad loss to a bad team. Bad baserunning, bad defense, bad hitting.

 

Mitch Garver cost the Twins a run by failing to score from second base on a double. He also helped gift Chicago a run on a Ryan Pressly wild pitch a major league catcher should be expected to keep in front of him the vast majority of the time.

 

Speaking of Pressly, he had another bad outing, giving up two earned runs in an inning of work. After surrendering just two earned runs over his first 15 appearances, Pressly has given up nine earned in his most recent 17 games.

 

Jake Odorizzi had only given up one run and struck out seven batters over five innings. He gave up singles to the first two batters he faced, the second of which looked like it could have been a double play ball, and exited the game having given up one run. Pressly allowed both the inherited runners to score, meaning Odorizzi was credited with three earned runs.

 

Ehrie Adrianza hit a pair of doubles and Garver had two hits, including a two-bagger of his own. Eduardo Escobar had a double and a pair of walks. The RBIs came from Adrianza and Ryan LaMarre.

 

With Eddie Rosario going 0-for-5 we’ve got a fun race going on for team leader in OPS. Rosie is at .894 with Esky nipping at his heels now at .887. The problem is there’s not a guy within 100 points of those two. Max Kepler is third on the team with a .765 OPS.

 

Rosario left four men on base while Brian Dozier, Kepler and Miguel Sano all left three men on.

 

Logan Morrison sat both games of yesterday’s double header but was at least able to come off the bench to pinch hit tonight. He’s been dealing with a bad back.

 

Postgame With Molitor

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Bullpen66.png

AL Central Standings

CLE 32-28

DET 29-34 (-4.5)

MIN 26-32 (-5.0)

KC 21-40 (-11.5

CHW 20-39 (-11.5)

 

Next Three Games

Thu vs. CHW, 12:10 pm CT

Fri vs. LAA, 7:10 pm CT

Sat vs. LAA, 1:10 pm CT

 

Last Three Games

MIN 4, CHW 2 & CHW 6, MIN 3: Escobar Hits Dramatic Home Run, Twins Split Doubleheader

MIN 7, CLE 5: EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!

 

More From Twins Daily

Twins Minor League Report (6/6): Rooker Starts it Off With a Bang

2018 MLB Draft Day 3 Thread

Twins Daily Roundtable: Extension Candidates

 

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[h2oface]

This is proving to be one disappointing team. You may say Sano is only 24, but all he has been doing since 16, and before too, is playing baseball. I think he needs a wake up, and sent to Rochester. Molitor has totally mismanaged the bullpen. Why was Reed even in the game tonight? They can't even score from second on a double. again! They can't even beat the White Sox, and Santiago, and Detroit traded almost all their stars, and hired Gardenhire, and they are better than the Twins. This is a real disappointing team. 

[jun]

I want Sano to hit much lower in the order. I want Adrianza and Garver gone or demoted.

[Dantes929]

"Bad baserunning, bad defense, bad hitting"   I'll just say its bad baseball.    Kind of blows when your defense first guy in Adrianza has a good night offensively but does not even come close to making up for bad defense.    Ok, maybe I am wrong here.  I only saw it at a bar and MLB did not include it in highlights but how did Adrianza not get an error on that ground ball up the middle?  Conceivably it could have been a double play but from where I sat it definitely should have resulted on one out.    Not only might have cost us the game but gave Odorizzi a couple more earned runs than he should have had.    .

[howeda7]

Santiago was hot garbage and we scored 2 runs off him. This offense stinks. Do something to change it up. 

[beckmt]

Twins are getting eaten alive by junkballers.  This is on coaching and the manager.  You can't fire the players so lets start at the top.  Molly's bullpen mismanagement is classic and the Twins relievers will be out of gas by August.  They need a manager to light a fire up the butts of some of these players.  Do not have any more answers, but change in managers will certainly let the Twins know where they stand by the end of the year.  If players do not respond to that it will be time to do some drastic readjustments to this team. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

The sky is falling. Fire everybody.

[IndyTwinsFan]

Yet another absolutely pathetic performance, at home, against an eminently beatable opponent!   Physical mistakes (which are somewhat excusable), numerous mental mistakes, poor hitting, poor pitching, yada yada yada!   This has gotten completely ridiculous and has become inexcusable due to its apparent frequency.  

 

Something drastic needs to change here and the sooner the better.   Just wish I had a good sense of what the answer(s) is/are.

 

Don't mean to be a Debbie-downer here.   That's just how I feel right now.

[yarnivek1972]

That Pressly has 32 appearances on June 6 (58 team games) really explains a lot of his struggles IMO. The Twins are dealing with the repurcussions of carrying 2 useless pitchers for the first 4-5 weeks of the year.

 

The Twins have 3 relievers in the top 25 for reliever IP, Pressly, Hildenberger and Reed. The only other MLB team that does is the Mets. Keep in mind that no team in MLB has played fewer games than the Twins (Yankees and Cubs also have 58).

Edited June 7, 2018 by yarnivek1972

[rdehring]

That was just an UGLY game.  Very difficult to watch.  Unfortunately, you won't allow me to print much of what I was saying about the team during that disaster.

 

Let's not beat up Adrianza too much.  Yes, he probably could have (maybe even should have) gotten one out, but it was a difficult play up the middle.  But it seemed to me that the team quit when Garver didn't score from second on a double in the second inning.  If I were managing that team I would have gone nuts when he got to the dugout.  I also would have pulled his butt from the game.  Unfortunately, with these short benches and only two catchers I understand why they didn't.  

 

But my #1 b....ch with this team for most of the year has been Sano.  If he isn't 300 pounds, I will eat a box of raisins (I hate raisins).  At 270+/- he was overweight, but able to be an effective part of this team.  At whatever he now weighs, he is a danger to himself and his team while on the field. 

 

If Sano hasn't figured something out in a couple weeks when Polanco comes back, I would ship his butt off to Rochester.  They have to do something to get his attention.  He needs to work at his profession to be anywhere near the 'best he can be.'  Maybe there was a reason the team went on their hot run last year about the time he went on the DL for the remainder of the year? 

 

And what the heck happened to Pressley.  Wasn't he really good earlier in the season?  And all those runs in the last 17 games probably doesn't include a lot more inherited runners who scored.  I expect I know the answer, as usual he has been more than overused.  But our bullpen leaves a lot to be desired. 

 

OK, time to stop this rambling.  But I am one old fan who is just plain pis........d.

 

 

[Vanimal46]

That Pressly has 32 appearances on June 6 (58 team games) really explains a lot of his struggles IMO. The Twins are dealing with the repurcussions of carrying 2 useless pitchers for the first 4-5 weeks of the year.

 

The Twins have 3 relievers in the top 25 for reliever IP, Pressly, Hildenberger and Reed. The only other MLB team that does is the Mets. Keep in mind that no team in MLB has played fewer games than the Twins (Yankees and Cubs also have 58).

Exactly. Molitor is wearing him out like he does every season with 2-3 pitchers. Not even the immortal Bryan Shaw can handle the pace Pressly is on.

[rv78]

Can't even beat Hector Santiago.  Stick a fork in 'em, they are done.

[jtkoupal]

This is the SAME Twins team that we saw before the Cleveland series.

 

The Indians have picked up where they left off before that series.

 

The Twins sit with an 11% chance to make the playoffs after yesterday's play.

 

Brian Dozier's last game as a Twin is looking more and more like it will be in July and not in October.

[EddieMatthews]

Pulling the plug?  I'm not sure if this team is on life support, or has lost the will to thrive.    They have had several failures to start the year.  Polanco suspension, Buxton and Sano have stalled out of the gate (maybe they need glasses).  Last year Buxton and Polanco carried the team in September.  Dozier has stumbled at the plate and on the field, no comparison to last year's results.  

 

So they are playing without their regular catcher, first baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and center fielder for most of this season.  Two pitchers (Santana and May) who were expected to have an impact are still out, and a third (Lynn) is stumbling.  The reigning Manager of the Year has forgotten how to manage the bullpen.  

 

No team in the Central Division is running away with the lead.  It's baseball.  There is a lot of time to make up 5 games.  Right now the Twins are difficult to watch, but when the pieces come together they will be able to make a run at the Central.

[gunnarthor]

I wonder how much more Levine needs to see before he moves on from Molitor. Molly just isn't a fit for this club. 

[yarnivek1972]

Pulling the plug? I'm not sure if this team is on life support, or has lost the will to thrive. They have had several failures to start the year. Polanco suspension, Buxton and Sano have stalled out of the gate (maybe they need glasses). Last year Buxton and Polanco carried the team in September. Dozier has stumbled at the plate and on the field, no comparison to last year's results.

 

So they are playing without their regular catcher, first baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and center fielder for most of this season. Two pitchers (Santana and May) who were expected to have an impact are still out, and a third (Lynn) is stumbling. The reigning Manager of the Year has forgotten how to manage the bullpen.

 

No team in the Central Division is running away with the lead. It's baseball. There is a lot of time to make up 5 games. Right now the Twins are difficult to watch, but when the pieces come together they will be able to make a run at the Central.

 

If all the Twins can do is split at home against the White Sox, they aren’t catching anyone.

 

btw, they still have to win today just to do that.

Edited June 7, 2018 by yarnivek1972

[Squirrel]

I wonder how much more Levine needs to see before he moves on from Molitor. Molly just isn't a fit for this club.

 

No kidding. In my opinion this is where the trouble begins. It’s certainly not all on him and it doesn’t help when Santana, Mauer, Buxton, Castro are all on the DL, Polanco out on suspension, and Sano, Morrison, and Dozier make you wonder if they’ve ever play professional baseball before, but man, let’s just start with the lineups and work our way through to the BP. He is not a motivator and he just can’t get it together. I don’t even know where to start with the rest it’s just awful.

[Han Joelo]

Oh, this team.  Fool me once, shame on me.   Fool me like, I dunno, 12 times, and shame on me for believing they are contenders.  I'm changing my mindset for now, at least until the 13th time, and just treating this team like the science experiment gone bad that it is.  Fascinating to watch.

[USAFChief]

 

I wonder how much more Levine needs to see before he moves on from Molitor. Molly just isn't a fit for this club. 

The quality of play--not the talent, the quality of play--is bad and keeps deteriorating.

 

Baserunning, cutoffs, how to defend other team's baserunning plays, etc etc etc are things that make a huge difference at this level of play. The Twins are bad at all these things, and IMO that is a direct reflection of the manager and coaches.

 

Rosario showboating basically every catch, until he inevitably drops one, is another example. You often get the level of performance you accept.

 

 

[ThejacKmp]

It's June 7th. We must chill.

[rdehring]

 

This is the SAME Twins team that we saw before the Cleveland series.

 

The Indians have picked up where they left off before that series.

 

The Twins sit with an 11% chance to make the playoffs after yesterday's play.

 

Brian Dozier's last game as a Twin is looking more and more like it will be in July and not in October.

Who is going to give them anything for the Brian Dozier we see on the field today?  If Dozier doesn't have a second half like the last two years, he is going to be begging the Twins to resign him for a contract like the one he has now.  And as he gets older, there is no guarantee that second half will happen.

[Tom Froemming]

 

Pulling the plug?  I'm not sure if this team is on life support, or has lost the will to thrive.    They have had several failures to start the year.  Polanco suspension, Buxton and Sano have stalled out of the gate (maybe they need glasses).  Last year Buxton and Polanco carried the team in September.  Dozier has stumbled at the plate and on the field, no comparison to last year's results.  

 

So they are playing without their regular catcher, first baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and center fielder for most of this season.  Two pitchers (Santana and May) who were expected to have an impact are still out, and a third (Lynn) is stumbling.  The reigning Manager of the Year has forgotten how to manage the bullpen.  

 

No team in the Central Division is running away with the lead.  It's baseball.  There is a lot of time to make up 5 games.  Right now the Twins are difficult to watch, but when the pieces come together they will be able to make a run at the Central.

This is true. The Twins are as far off from a playoff spot today as they were on July 31st of last season. That team caught fire and took a wild card. It could happen again, but it's going to take an extended run of excellence.

 

I'm losing confidence that this team has that kind of a streak in them. Yes, there are important guys who will be coming back from injury/suspension, but there's no telling what that's going to look like. There's not much room for error, so everyone coming back needs to hit the ground running upon return.

 

The biggest difference to me this year is that the AL is so much better. The Twins are already 9.5 back in the Wild Card and 10th overall in the league. They've been fortunate that Cleveland hasn't taken off yet, but I suspect they'll be working hard to improve their bullpen in anyway possible.

 

Everyone has been preaching that things will get better once the Twins start playing the AL Central more. Well, you've gotta keep in mind that Cleveland should be expected to clean up against the division too. Their next 16 games are all against AL Central opponents.

[MangLitch]

Here lies the problem with 162 games. We are a society of daily reactions and the MLB is the perfect inverse of daily reactions. 1 of 162. Was it disappointing. Absolutely. Have I seen worse losses. Yep.

 

Positives - Odorizzi got back on track after an awful start. At least we know he isn't coming of the rails and will be able to give us 6 out of 7 solid starts. That is something to value. 

 

The negatives have been well covered here. 

 

But for real, there is no move at this point or no real need to get worked up. Like Tom wrote, they have 50 games to figure it out. Buxton, Mauer, Morrison, Santana, Polanco all out for some or all of the season so far. They were key guys at some point last year, morrison would have been if on the twins. This team has been injury plagued. Simple as that. 

 

Rosario and Escobar are raking. Have some high level prospects looking good. Have potential boosts coming from injury/ suspension. I think we are seeing the worst of the worst right now. 

 

So we should give something a try in the day and age of instant gratification.... LET IT PLAY OUT. Worst case, we trade the expendable pieces at the deadline and move on to next year and a high draft pick. But I think July-Sept could be a good ride yet. If the last 3 years has proved anything, it is that this offense is full of streaky hitting. But we actually have some pitching it seems this year without our ace of last year healthy. Just keep the Tribe within 5 games at the end of June and it should get interesting. 

 

Rant over

 

[Squirrel]

 

 and Detroit traded almost all their stars, and hired Gardenhire, and they are better than the Twins.

 

While I was one that felt strongly we needed a change in management, including Gardy ... I guess the proverbial adage ... 'Be careful what you wish for' ... is pretty spot on.

[Darius]

A lot of people seem to think this team is a sleeping giant waiting to awaken. I used to think that. I'm not sure anymore.

 

Dozier and Sano are the drivers of this lineup, even with Rosario and Escobar hitting well. Those were the 40 homer type guys that can hit them in bunches and put teams away by themselves. They're pretty bad this year and there isn't much light at the end of their tunnels right now.

[gunnarthor]

 

A lot of people seem to think this team is a sleeping giant waiting to awaken. I used to think that. I'm not sure anymore.

Dozier and Sano are the drivers of this lineup, even with Rosario and Escobar hitting well. Those were the 40 homer type guys that can hit them in bunches and put teams away by themselves. They're pretty bad this year and there isn't much light at the end of their tunnels right now.

I think we have a lot of talent but I think we've dug too big of a hole to make the wildcard this year. We absolutely should not get rid of our core but we should get a new manager and make moves that help 2019, like bringing up Gordon.

[dbminn]

Yeah, Molitor force-fed Sano like a French goose bound for liver pate, dropped a bowling ball on Buxton's toe, spiked Polanco's vitamin drink, and twisted Castro's knee while dancing merengue. Or maybe not. Molitor also signed LoMo and is forcing Gordon to play at AAA. Or maybe not.

 

It might just be that the team they're fielding right now isn't that good.   

[Squirrel]

 

I think we have a lot of talent but I think we've dug too big of a hole to make the wildcard this year. We absolutely should not get rid of our core but we should get a new manager and make moves that help 2019, like bringing up Gordon.

I actually didn't think we were in play for a WC at all this year. It was pretty iffy at best. BUT ... we play in a very weak division, winning the division was probably higher in probability ... and I still think  it can be done ... BUT ... ugh ... not like this. If we could play like we played Cleveland, yes; but not like how we play the teams we should be beating. Losing to the White Sox and to Hector Santiago ... just ugh. I'm just not a happy camper right now.

[Squirrel]

 

 

Yeah, Molitor force-fed Sano like a French goose bound for liver pate, dropped a bowling ball on Buxton's toe, spiked Polanco's vitamin drink, and twisted Castro's knee while dancing merengue. Or maybe not. Molitor also signed LoMo and is forcing Gordon to play at AAA. Or maybe not.

 

It might just be that the team they're fielding right now isn't that good.   

I was pretty clear when I said ... he is not without partners in blame ... but he is where it starts, imo.

[MangLitch]

 

Yeah, Molitor force-fed Sano like a French goose bound for liver pate, dropped a bowling ball on Buxton's toe, spiked Polanco's vitamin drink, and twisted Castro's knee while dancing merengue. Or maybe not. Molitor also signed LoMo and is forcing Gordon to play at AAA. Or maybe not.

 

It might just be that the team they're fielding right now isn't that good.   

 

Don't forget he bent Santana's finger back while playing a game of thumb war. Santana tried to pull the tag team cheat with the finger and Molitor bent that b!@#$ right back. You don't cheat in thumb war versus Molly