April schedule

[Number3]

The early season schedule is really weird maybe because of Target weather and last year's postponements. Bunch of games on the road and against Mets and Phillies early. Then a lot of games against Astros and looks like they are done with the Orioles  after April. After being in FL for a month they might as well stay packed. If they can be around .500 after April, they can start the season in May in decent shape. It won't be easy.

[bighat]

Let's take a lookie what we got here:

 

April 2-3 @ Royals

April 5-7 @ Phillies

April 9-10 @ Mets

April 12-18 - vs. Tigers, vs. Jays

April 19-21 @ Orioles

April 22-24 @ Astros

April 26-30 - vs. Orioles, vs. Astros

 

If they could sweep the Royals to start the season, and steal one game each in Philly and NYC, they'd be .500 coming into the home opener. Seven straight against the lowly Jays and Tigers at home, you'd hope they could take 4-5 of those. Then at another soft opponent, Baltimore. Houston's gonna be awful tough, but then with Baltimore back in town the Twins could be okay by the end of April.

 

Essentially we should be worried if they're NOT at .500 by the end of the month, IMO.

[MMMordabito]

I wonder if they'll do April ballpark passes.

 

I also wonder if Vlad II will be up for that Jays series.

[MMMordabito]

 

If they could sweep the Royals to start the season, and steal one game each in Philly and NYC, they'd be .500 coming into the home opener. 

 

Don't forget, the home opener is in March vs. Cleveland.

[sweetmusicviola16]

5 series against teams that it could be said are not even trying to win to start out April.

[nicksaviking]

 

Don't forget, the home opener is in March vs. Cleveland.

 

I love March home openers. It typically snows on me only about a third of the time.

[diehardtwinsfan]

personally, I prefer they be on the road more in the spring when they are fresh... it also means more home games in the fall... which comes in handy if they are in the mix. 

[bighat]

 

Don't forget, the home opener is in March vs. Cleveland.

 

Wow, totally missed that. Thanks.

[Doomtints]

As things stand today I would expect them to go 12-16 over this stretch, including the three games in March.

 

The schedule next year will be the easiest for them in August and September, so if they hover around .500 until then good things could happen. Right now I don't expect them to do so.

[notoriousgod71]

 

5 series against teams that it could be said are not even trying to win to start out April.

 

 

Their fans are saying the same thing about us.

[yarnivek1972]

Don't forget, the home opener is in March vs. Cleveland.

Today’s over/under

 

 

How much snow will be officially on the ground in Minneapolis for the Home Opener.

 

The number is 6 inches.

 

 

Over/Under

[IndianaTwin]

And as I've noted in a couple of other places, with five off days in the first 15 days, a fifth starter is not needed until April 14. Given that it will tough (I think) for Pineda to stay healthy for 32+ starts, I'd welcome finding a way for him to start on the DL and keep another position player for at least that long.

 

With that many days off, they actually ought to be able to get by with a seven-man bullpen as well and have 14 hitters available.

[Nine of twelve]

I believe I remember reading that the primary reason the Twins are away for 3 consecutive series after the opening home series is because of the Final Four and associated activities.

[Old Twins Cap]

I will take the "under" on 6" of snow on the ground for the March Cleveland series.

 

It's possible, of course. Late season storm.

 

And, I do remember Opener 2008(?), when in March, at the Dome, perfectly attractive women slogged up the concourse in wobbly heels during a vicious snow squall to watch the Twins play Detroit.

 

But, the average high temp on March 31st is @47 grados in Minneapolis.

 

We call that a heat wave right now.

 

So bring it!

[nater79a]

 

I wonder if they'll do April ballpark passes.

 

I also wonder if Vlad II will be up for that Jays series.

 

If my math is right, the earliest that Vlad can come up and not accrue 172 days for a full year of service time is April 12th.  So that would be prior to the Twins series on the 15th.

 

So, yeah, we could see Vlad Jr at Target Field.  Would be cool.

[Doomtints]

 

And as I've noted in a couple of other places, with five off days in the first 15 days, a fifth starter is not needed until April 14. Given that it will tough (I think) for Pineda to stay healthy for 32+ starts, I'd welcome finding a way for him to start on the DL and keep another position player for at least that long.

 

With that many days off, they actually ought to be able to get by with a seven-man bullpen as well and have 14 hitters available.

 

32 starts would be never missing a game. Don't take that bet on Pineda. I would be surprised if he averages one start per week, and that's 25 starts.

[IndianaTwin]

 

32 starts would be never missing a game. Don't take that bet on Pineda. I would be surprised if he averages one start per week, and that's 25 starts.

 

Exactly -- that's why I'd like to hold him out for the first several weeks. In theory, that could give him up to 30 starts in a five-man rotation the rest of the way, but I'd also look to sneak in a strategic rest or two along the way, either by skipping him or perhaps using him as the opener a couple times. Averaging five innings over 30 starts or six over 25, either way he gets to about 150 innings, which I think would be a great season. 

 

 

[ahart10]

We’d be fools for counting on anyone make a full set of starts for any given season. Pitch your best when you’ve got them and do the best you can to fill when they’re not available.

[howieramone2]

Last season we were .500 after May 1st. Hence Perez instead of Mejia. The time to win is right now.

[yarnivek1972]

Last season we were .500 after May 1st. Hence Perez instead of Mejia. The time to win is right now.

How does being a .500 club for most of last year make this team a contender this year?

 

PS, I also don’t think it is a given that Perez is better than Mejia.

[howieramone2]

 

How does being a .500 club for most of last year make this team a contender this year?

PS, I also don’t think it is a given that Perez is better than Mejia.

What it means is we need to get off to a fast start. It's more than given, it's practically a fact. When was the last time a starting pitcher threw 25 innings, was then shut down for the rest of the season with nerve damage to his elbow, then came back the next season and shined on day one. He might be ready sometime, but I bet he starts on the DL, for no other reason than he is out of options, and needs to be handled carefully.

[yarnivek1972]

I’m not sure what’s on the ground in the metro area. I’ve heard it’s considerably less than here in southeastern Minnesota.

 

However, we’ve had 3-4 feet of snow fall since the last werk of January with little to no melting. Another 3-4 inches is in the forecast for the coming week along with near record low temperatures in the teens below 0.

 

 

With all that in mind, just a little reminder that the home opener is in 28 days.

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

Their fans are saying the same thing about us.

 

Teams not trying don't spend $26M on Nelson Cruz and Marwin Gonzalez.  I'm not saying Falvey is "going for it", but they clearly want to be at least competitive this year.  Teams not trying can't say the same thing.

[Cap'n Piranha]

For the life of me, I'll never understand why 70-80% of April games aren't played in Tampa, Toronto, Anaheim, Oakland, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.  That's 13 teams with either a controlled environment, or lower chances of inclement weather.

[yarnivek1972]

For the life of me, I'll never understand why 70-80% of April games aren't played in Tampa, Toronto, Anaheim, Oakland, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. That's 13 teams with either a controlled environment, or lower chances of inclement weather.

70-80% of games would be excessive and result in very unbalanced home/away schedules. But, playing more in “safer” locales would be a good idea and is something MLB has done to various degrees in the past. You could add Seattle too. They aren’t fully enclosed, but it is protected from rain. Average low in Seattle in April is 43, which is chilly but not frigid and 6 degrees warmer than Minneapolis.

[woolywoolhouse]

 

For the life of me, I'll never understand why 70-80% of April games aren't played in Tampa, Toronto, Anaheim, Oakland, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.  That's 13 teams with either a controlled environment, or lower chances of inclement weather.

 

I've been told that teams in the south don't want to host more home games than average in April and May (and March this season) because they don't sell as many tickets when school is still in session. So the schedule-makers are forced to schedule games in the north that have a very good chance of being snowed out so Miami doesn't have a host of low-attended games (at least, more than they normally do.)

[Nine of twelve]

 

For the life of me, I'll never understand why 70-80% of April games aren't played in Tampa, Toronto, Anaheim, Oakland, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.  That's 13 teams with either a controlled environment, or lower chances of inclement weather.

Because it isn't fair to anyone to have the same 15 teams always open with 3 series at home and the same 15 teams always open with 3 series on the road. It just isn't.