Article: MIN 6, PHI 2: Twins Find Power Stroke, Slug 3 Homers in Victory

[jokin]

 

 That the umpiring was better than the refereeing in the Final Four ?(how was that double dribble not called?)   

 

Missed the double dribble, but refs also made two inaccurate foul calls on Jerome, forcing him to the bench, that allowed Auburn back into the game.

 

As officiating/reffing goes.... These things tend to even out.

[jokin]

 

 

Absolutely agree with Twodogs on the lineup and this team getting contributions from all over, and not relying on a single player, or two. This lineup has a chance to be deep and dangerous with a quality bench. Kepler and Rosario coming alive after such profound cold streaks, (sarcasm!) They won today and fought back Friday without Cruz. A clunker of a second start by Odorizzi after a great first one and the pen has been very effective thus far. Early? Yep. But I am encouraged. Let's just please not burn out Mejia before the break.

 

Pitching situation dictated hitting the panic button. Mejia was apparently eager and ready to answer the call. Looks like he could be a real work horse out there, hopefully, he's well past his injury bugaboo from last year.

 

Back to panic buttons, I have to think there might have been another way to bring up pitching help without DFAing Tyler Austin. IL list, demoting another player/pitcher, etc. IE-> Surely, Garver has an option left? I also would have rolled with and relied on Berrios, giving him the ball and telling him we need 7+ (or more) innings on Sunday- the emerging team ace is up for that kind of challenge.

 

Cruz is (apparently) already sitting out the next 3 NL games. Plus, Austin is/was a great piece of insurance against something catastrophic happening to Cruz/Cron down the road. (Astudillo is not a very legit option at 1st).

 

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2019 by jokin

[wabene]

You can't have everything. I think we need to get over it on Austin. That 40 man spot will come in handy hopefully. Plus Austin is pretty one dimensional while Cron appears to be a ballplayer.

[Mr. Brooks]

You can't have everything. I think we need to get over it on Austin. That 40 man spot will come in handy hopefully. Plus Austin is pretty one dimensional while Cron appears to be a ballplayer.

That 40 man spot already went to DeJong.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I think Arrieta served up the homer to Max because he was irritated that Buxton scored.

 

And then Willians hit a pitch at his eyeballs 15 rows deep.

 

The double play from Buxton to Willians was a thing of beauty all the way around.

 

Those two guys are quickly becoming “must see TV” on both sides of the ball.

 

My only problem with this game was that Pineda got charged with a run after exiting with a man on first base, doubling his ERA from 1 to 2. Such a dumb system. I think that inherited runs scored should be divvied proprionally to the exiting and incoming pitchers, .25 to the exiting pitcher / .75 to the incoming pitcher for a runner on first, .50 to a runner on second, etc. Thus Pineda should have a 1.25ERA, not 2.

[wabene]

That 40 man spot already went to DeJong.

I meant that the 40 man spot could be used for relief pitchers as needed throughout the season. Dejong is the first of what I hope will be many.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Back to panic buttons, I have to think there might have been another way to bring up pitching help without DFAing Tyler Austin. IL list, demoting another player/pitcher, etc. IE-> Surely, Garver has an option left?

They needed both a 25-man AND a 40-man spot to add a guy for Saturday's game.

 

They could have made an extra move, I suppose: option someone (I'd pick Harper before Garver), DFA someone already in the minors (Duffey?), then add De Jong.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I meant that the 40 man spot could be used for relief pitchers as needed throughout the season. Dejong is the first of what I hope will be many.

It's handy to have a "flex spot" on the 40-man, but hopefully they don't have to use it many times -- that would mean both the MLB club is desperate and the 40-man players in the minors are all hurt or performing poorly...

[bighat]

Whenever Astudillo gets into the on deck circle, I'm absolutely glued to the TV/laptop to watch his at bats. You're right it's absolutely "must see" at this point. Hope they find a way to get him into the lineup today. If I was guessing, Marwin will be back in the lineup today and Castro starts at catcher.

 

Maybe Rocco gives Schoop the day off, and moves Marwin to 2nd? A-Stud starts at 3rd?

[bighat]

Also hoping they can find a way to get Cruz into the game today. Pinch hit, RF, whatever.

[Doctor Wu]

And then there is the forgotten man. Don't the Twins still have a player on the roster named Miguel Sano? But does anyone really care at this point?

[rdehring]

Now that's the way to play baseball.  What a fun game to watch.

 

Expect the FO knew that Austin was the first to go when they needed that next roster spot (12th pitcher after next week or Sano).  Just ended up pulling the trigger early. 

 

Still have a big decision when Sano is healthy.  Will it be Cave or one of the two catchers with options to the minors?  Or will they do something with one of their two backup infielders.  Has to be one of those 5.  Or maybe there will be another injury by then which will delay the inevitable.

[terrydactyls]

Sano has been inactive for so long that perhaps the Twins should put him in the minors for an extended period until he proves he is ready to displace a current roster member.

[wabene]

Yes Duffy is still on the 40 man. They must see something. I'm afraid of what they'll do with Addison when he comes off the 10 day.

Edited April 7, 2019 by Original Whizzinator

[BJames]

Great to see Astudillo batting 2nd in the line-up.  I don't think Molitor would have done that.  Also, It's good to see Cave, Gaver, Adrianza getting AB's.  The Twins Bench is solid, so its good to keep everyone involved.  Looks like De Jong was called up to fill the long relief role.  Mejia and Perez have the most inning in relief.   Friday we'll need to go back to a 5 man rotation, so this was a couple game early.   

[jokin]

 

They needed both a 25-man AND a 40-man spot to add a guy for Saturday's game.

They could have made an extra move, I suppose: option someone (I'd pick Harper before Garver), DFA someone already in the minors (Duffey?), then add De Jong.

 

Harper, Garver, Cave...?

 

Definitely DFA Duffey over axing Austin. It seems dumb to just axe him before April 12 decision day. And as expected, Berrios did fine and DeJong wasn't needed. I preferred risking one game shorthanded at pitching versus losing Austin as an insurance policy for whatever the duration was of his Twins career.

 

Do the Twins think they can sneak him through waivers?

Have to think Austin's agent will try to find him a team with less options at 1st.

[jokin]

 

And then there is the forgotten man. Don't the Twins still have a player on the roster named Miguel Sano? But does anyone really care at this point?

 

Who? Wu?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Harper, Garver, Cave...?

 

Definitely DFA Duffey over axing Austin. It seems dumb to just axe him before April 12 decision day. And as expected, Berrios did fine and DeJong wasn't needed. I preferred risking one game shorthanded at pitching versus losing Austin as an insurance policy for whatever the duration was of his Twins career.

 

Do the Twins think they can sneak him through waivers?

Have to think Austin's agent will try to find him a team with less options at 1st.

Is there something special about April 12th?

 

We didn't wind up needing De Jong on Saturday, but the odds of needing him that day were almost certainly higher than the odds we'd find a path to playing time for Austin in the near future.

 

Austin has been a walking DFA candidate for awhile now. That it finally happened on April 6, rather than April 12, or April 1st, doesn't seem all that important of a distinction.

[yarnivek1972]

Is there something special about April 12th?

 

 

My foster daughter has an ice skating performance that evening.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

My foster daughter has an ice skating performance that evening.

Perhaps Tyler Austin can attend!

[jokin]

 

Is there something special about April 12th?

 

We didn't wind up needing De Jong on Saturday, but the odds of needing him that day were almost certainly higher than the odds we'd find a path to playing time for Austin in the near future.

 

Austin has been a walking DFA candidate for awhile now. That it finally happened on April 6, rather than April 12, or April 1st, doesn't seem all that important of a distinction.

 

Insurance policies are good until they expire, or until the holder lets it lapse. (And remember, the Twins appear to have chosen not to play Cruz in NL road games.)

 

Austin was clearly always the odd man out, but, he certainly has more potential value vis a vis a potential calamity via injury/suspension than risking one game with your young, healthy ace on the mound.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2019 by jokin

[Otto von Ballpark]

Austin was clearly always the odd man out, but, he certainly has more potential value vis a vis a potential calamity via injury/suspension than risking one game with your young, healthy ace on the mound.

The game risked was with Pineda on the mound, on Saturday afternoon, after a bunch of relievers were used on Friday night. That's the game for which we called up De Jong.

 

And an injury insurance player is not necessarily more valuable than 1 game in the short term (i.e. your reference to April 12). And over the long term, the cost of the roster spot will put more than just a single game at risk.