Article: DET 3, MIN 1: Lynn Overexposed, Offense Overmatched

[Tom Froemming]

Lance Lynn did his job, but things went poorly when he was asked to put in overtime. Lynn held the Tigers scoreless over his first six innings, giving up just three hits in the process. He went back out for the seventh and gave up three runs on a triple, a sac fly, a hit by pitch and a home run. The homer was from JaCoby Jones, who had a career .586 OPS heading into today, and it came on Lynn’s 114th pitch of the afternoon.Snapshot (chart via FanGraphs)

Current record: 29-36

Lance Lynn: 62 Game Score, 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 9 K, 1 BB, 66.7% strikes

Bullpen: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB

Lineup: 1-for-4 w/RISP, 6 LOB

Top three per WPA: Garver .044, Duke .023, Escobar .013

Download attachment: chart.png

Like it or not, it’s unrealistic to expect a starter to continue to perform after he’s pitched six innings or eclipsed 100 pitches. At that point, he’s been overexposed. You put him out there for more and you're playing with fire. Maybe it works out, but the risk is probably not worth it, especially when your team is holding a one-run lead, as the Twins were after six innings on Thursday afternoon.

 

A lot of fans will reject that premise. Players too, as we know Lynn himself has said pitch counts are worthless. It’s a debate that will go on, but it certainly appeared today that the Twins would’ve been better off going to a fresh bullpen arm for the seventh. Matt Magill, who has a 1.31 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 13 appearances, hasn't pitched in more than a week.

 

Or maybe the Twins are just doomed no matter how they manage the pitching staff.

 

The offense mustered just one run and it came in the first inning. It was scored by Eddie Rosario and driven in by Eduardo Escobar. Bet you would’ve never predicted that, huh?

 

The Twins only tallied six hits and drew one walk. Both Brian Dozier and Logan Morrison were 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Max Kepler was 0-for-3 with a walk and also had a pair of strikeouts, bad zone or no bad zone. Miguel Sano was on the bench, even when he could've pinch hit for Jake Cave in the ninth inning.

 

The Twins have won just three of their last nine games as they head to Cleveland for a three-game series.

 

AL Central Standings

CLE 35-31

DET 33-37 (-4)

MIN 29-36 (-5.5)

CHW 24-42 (-11)

KC 22-46 (-14)

 

Next Three Games

Fri at CLE, 6:10 pm (Gibson vs. Kluber)

Sat at CLE, 3:10 pm (Romero vs. Carrasco)

SUN at CLE, 12:10 pm (Odorizzi vs. Plutko)

 

Last Three Games

DET 5, MIN 2: Bulldog Berrios and the Addison Reed Experience

MIN 6, DET 4: More Grand Slams, Please

MIN 7, LAA 5: Jake Cave Sparks a Fire

 

More From Twins Daily

Miguel Sano Optioned to Ft. Myers

Twins Minor League Report (6/13): Lookouts Pace the Action

Twins Daily Roundtable: Romero's Innings

Twins Sign Belisle: What Does This Mean?

 

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[gocgo]

Sano and Cave optioned.  That's sending a message.  I'd rather see Lamarre optioned as I think Cave is hitting the ball hard and hustling, but Sano needs to get his head on straight.

[jun]

This guy Cave has no patience to work for better pitches to hit. This is the second time I noticed he hit the first pitch he saw and then flied out to end the game. I would never let him pinch hit ever. Think about it, he might be worse than Dozier in clutch situation.

[Squirrel]

Sano and Cave optioned. That's sending a message. I'd rather see Lamarre optioned as I think Cave is hitting the ball hard and hustling, but Sano needs to get his head on straight.

Didn’t check the news ... who’s coming up? Assume Mauer but haven’t heard.

[Vanimal46]

[ChrisKnutson]

Please be Gordon. Please.

[bighat]

Wow Sano sent to high A ball, Ft. Myers...that's the report. Mauer replaces Sano, not sure who comes up for Cave.

[jorgenswest]

Needs to be an infielder. Motter is on the 40. Gordon hasn’t done that well in AAA.

[Vanimal46]

Is this real?!!

Yep. Multiple reporters posted the same thing. Good. He's been flat out embarrassing the entire season.

[wsnydes]

 

Didn’t check the news ... who’s coming up? Assume Mauer but haven’t heard.

Mauer activated in Sano's spot.  Haven't seen anything on Cave yet.

[curt1965]

Twins don’t have a lot of choices, if you look at the 40 man. I think it’s time to try Chris Carter, and I can’t believe I just said that. And he is not on 40 man, either. But team needs a jolt!

[slash129]

Nick Gordon at AAA - .671 OPS, 2.2% BB Rate, 87 wRC+, 4 Errors in 183 innings

 

No thanks.

[KirbyDome89]

It's crazy to say, but Morrison's awfulness is flying under the radar thanks to all the other drama going on. 

 

He looked like he was picking it up through mid May but he's been flat out terrible for a month since then. I get that if the Twins sat everybody who wasn't hitting they couldn't field a team but damn, Morrison in the middle of the order is a black hole.

 

Also, I'm not big on the intangibles or "light a fire," thing but after the home plate ump got in Kepler's face and then proceeded to ring him up on 2 consecutive horrible strike calls, the last of which was clearly retaliation for Kepler saying something about the first, it would've been nice to see both Kepler and Molitor go at him. Neither has anything to lose in that scenario and the ump was blatantly crossing a line, I wish they would've checked him rather than lying down. 

[USAFChief]

I asked this in the game thread, I'll ask again here.

 

I wonder how many times Molitor has removed a starter, after the 5th inning, immediately after the starter gives up a tieing or go ahead run.

 

He's possibly the worst manager I've ever seen at waiting until the damage has been done before the grim faced trudge out to the mound to take the ball.

[S.]

 

He's possibly the worst manager

He is certainly trying his damnedest to make that true.

[jtkoupal]

A few things from today:

 

1. I think it's becoming safer to call the Twins sellers. The only thing that might save their season is a sweep in Cleveland, or at least a convincing series win. Now more than ever, though, it looks like 2018 is probably not a playoff year.

 

2. If you want to start to point fingers at Paul Molitor, you have every reason to.

 

3. Sanó has come to a crossroads. He can put up or shut up. Hopefully this is the message that needed to be sent for his own good.

[Dantes929]

Replacing a guy that has been horrible with a great hitter.    I expect better but still need Buxton and Polanco and Dozier to show up.    These losses late after a good win Tuesday really hurts.

[jun]

If you have the talent and don't work hard to produce, you will be demoted. Cave and Sano are perfect examples.

[jun]

 

Sano and Cave optioned.  That's sending a message.  I'd rather see Lamarre optioned as I think Cave is hitting the ball hard and hustling, but Sano needs to get his head on straight.

Cave has more talent than LaMarre though he has no patience at the plate especially clutch situations. Twice in a roll he hit the first pitch he saw to end the game. LaMarre at least works the count.

[jun]

I hope it's Astudillo or Sawyer to replace Cave.

Reed also needs a DL trip. Time to call Duffey up.

[yarnivek1972]

Cave has a 162 OPS+. No place for that on this roster.

[jun]

 

Needs to be an infielder. Motter is on the 40. Gordon hasn’t done that well in AAA.

Astudillo has been an infielder, outfielder and catcher. I am not sure if he can pitch...

[Platoon]

When I said two years ago that Molitor has no 'feel' for the game, this was what I meant. Being a HOF hitter means you have extraordinary hand eye coordination. But it doesn't mean you know anything about baseball.

[Mike Sixel]

If you have the talent and don't work hard to produce, you will be demoted. Cave and Sano are perfect examples.

You know what about how hard Cave works?

[jun]

Morrison clearly should bat lower in the order. Maybe it's time to part with Wilson as well.

[Broker]

 

A few things from today:

 

1. I think it's becoming safer to call the Twins sellers. The only thing that might save their season is a sweep in Cleveland, or at least a convincing series win. Now more than ever, though, it looks like 2018 is probably not a playoff year.

 

2. If you want to start to point fingers at Paul Molitor, you have every reason to.

 

3. Sanó has come to a crossroads. He can put up or shut up. Hopefully this is the message that needed to be sent for his own good.

Wait a minute. It's not even quite half way through June. They are only 6 games back. If they sweep Cleveland in the next few games they will only be down by 3 games. The All Star break is in about a month. If things go well they could be a handful of games up and in first place.

 

I think Molitor has done fine with what he has. The players are the guys that have to preform well. If they don't play well no matter what Molitor does will improve their record.

 

Sano is still a young guy. There is plenty of time for him to be an All Star again. A little time in the minors will probably do him some good. It might be a confidence builder. He didn't come off his leg injury very well and it might have messed with his confidence

[jun]

 

You know what about how hard Cave works?

Yeah, twice in a roll he hit the first pitch he saw to end the game with a loss. Tell me that's the definition of working hard.

[whatyouknowtwinsfan]

All around frustrating. It seems like the only way the offense will come around is if they make a Shannon Stewart-like move to jump start the offense. Even doing that, there are too many easy outs in this lineup right now. 

 

Re: Lynn-

I don't have a problem leaving Lance in there. Matt Magill does need to pitch at some point though. That being said, the offense needs to support the pitching staff, which is giving this team a decent chance to win. Yes, they're giving up high leverage runs late in games, but in my opinion, that's due to the fact basically every pitch needs to be a perfect pitch. Every pitcher on the staff right now knows that if you make a mistake and give up a 2-run homer, you're going to lose. That puts a lot of pressure on a pitching staff to be perfect. 

[Danchat]

Cave getting demoted probably has more to do with him being the 5th OF and not "effort struggles". Also, his 162 OPS+ comes with a tiny sample size that he isn't going to continue. I think we'll understand the move more when a second player is brought up.  With Sano going down and Petit gone, they need another infielder. Probably Motter?

Edited June 14, 2018 by Danchat

[jun]

One good game does not save your life. Cave is an example. Adrianza should take note on that and work harder.