Article: MIN 14, NYM 8: Beating the Best

[rdehring]

 

I am old enough. Bob Gibson (in 1968 especially) was incredible. And scary. It was a much different game in that era and Gibson embodied it with his high and tight fastball (once clocked at 103.4) to anyone that challenged him. He ended his career with 255 complete games.

Unfortunately, didn't have all that many games televised back then.  Was at the end of my college journey and didn't have a lot of time to watch what was on tv.  But do recall the hype that surrounded him seemingly every time he went out on the mound.  Damn, he was special.

[Monkeypaws]

 

I am old enough. Bob Gibson (in 1968 especially) was incredible. And scary. It was a much different game in that era and Gibson embodied it with his high and tight fastball (once clocked at 103.4) to anyone that challenged him. He ended his career with 255 complete games.

13 more than our friend Bert Blyleven.

 

That 68 MVP, CYA season: 1.12 ERA, 12 shutouts, 304 IP. Still managed to lose 9 games somehow, along with 22 wins.

 

I always liked the Dusty Baker quote that Gibson would throw at his own mother if she dug in on him.

[USNMCPO]

 

We should swap out the Mets with the Yankees in the AL and NL. Think how many world series we would've won in the 2000s if we just made that simple switch!

MLB would have a wet dream thinking about all the Red Sox - Yankee World series possibilities.

[jmlease1]

Fun game tonight, if a bit long. Great to see Schoop get that first dinger out of the way; I'm betting he was starting to press a little bit.

 

The only regular really scuffling right now is Marwin, and he's a solid enough veteran I'm not really worried about. He'll get there.

 

Gibson is going to be ok, he just needs time and more starts. When you lose that much weight that fast via illness, it really does take a while to get the stamina all the way back up. It's going to take a little time before he's able to go deep into games.

 

That extension for Polanco is looking pretty smart right now, huh?

[caninatl04]

I am worried about starting pitching in general and (our) Gibson in particular.

 

And as for the Indians being 7-3, they've played or will play the White Sox, Blue Jays, Royals and Tigers. In fact, their schedule looks incredibly soft until mid-May.

 

I know this is factually untrue, but comparing schedules, it looks like the Indians always play KC, Detroit, White Sox and Orioles, while the Twins only play again Philly, Yankees and Houston.

[Doomtints]

This was an interesting game, but come on, we all knew the Mets were gonna put up a rally in the 9th. No surprise.

 

If the Twins can keep hitting like this, the Detroit series will be interesting... They are pitching well but not hitting well. 

[MN_ExPat]

The Twins are fun to watch and not just because they are winning. They have several really interesting players. I disagree with most about bullpen usage. This is smoke and mirrors and guys are pitching a lot. Not sustainable

 

Have you watched any other games/teams this year thus far? Twins BP usage is pretty much on par. So, I’ll have to disagree on the smoke and mirrors part.

[Rosterman]

De Jong. Will he get another opportunity or is he gone from the Twins. Tough world, baseball. You get a chance. Did he show more than enough to keep a roster spot by actually getting thru the inning?

[nicksaviking]

I feel bad for De Jong, but I was never terribly interested in him due to his inability to miss bats in the minors. I'd like to see Vazquez or Stewart in the pen instead. Assuming Romero isn't ready.

[JD Green]

I see either Adrianza or Castro being dealt  by the time Sano comes back. Probably the other soon after to make room for another pitcher. Can't see any reason why they would send Garver or The Turtle down. At this point, they both need to be regulars on the field. Another choice to improve the team could be either Marwin or Cron or Castro or Adrianza as part of a trade package for a GOOD pitcher. Gonna have to give something to get something.

[nicksaviking]

 

I see either Adrianza or Castro being dealt  by the time Sano comes back. Probably the other soon after to make room for another pitcher. Can't see any reason why they would send Garver or The Turtle down. At this point, they both need to be regulars on the field. Another choice to improve the team could be either Marwin or Cron or Castro or Adrianza as part of a trade package for a GOOD pitcher. Gonna have to give something to get something.

 

With managers' reluctance to play both catchers in the same lineup, it's probably hard to see Garver and Astudillo regularly on the field if Castro is sent down. 

 

I'd rather Castro be removed from the roster than either Garver or Astudillo sent down, but I'd keep him around if it allows for the other two to play most days.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I like the subtext here as well. Even though they're not in the same clubhouse, Garver's still chatting up the pitchers. That sounds like a real catcher to me!

 

Garver and Gonsalves are really close, have been since both were drafted in 2013. And, I'm sure you recall, they teamed this offseason and won the MLB Fortnight championship in a tournament in Las Vegas around the Winter Meetings. I believe they beat a team with Trevor May. And Nick Gordon was in the same tournament too. 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Garver looks so much better blocking pitches in his new stance. Night and day. (Though I missed the last couple innings where a ball or two got past him.)

[joefish]

Gotta love the offense. And one really slick play by Marwin helped to ease his bat woes.

Go Jorge! Go Mitch.

[h2oface]

 

I am old enough. Bob Gibson (in 1968 especially) was incredible. And scary. It was a much different game in that era and Gibson embodied it with his high and tight fastball (once clocked at 103.4) to anyone that challenged him. He ended his career with 255 complete games.

 

I too was old enough.... 13 in 1968. I was wondering... just what was he clocked at 103.4 with in the 1960s?

[h2oface]

 

Aside from the Turtle I didn't really see guys taking wild swings.   I especially liked Garver saying he would take DeGrom to center.    Twins in the past from Young to Valencia to Morneau to Dozier have gotten off track by trying to pull the ball keeping in mind there is a difference between pulling the ball (good) and trying to pull the ball (bad).

 

Buxton swung at a slider about a foot outside just before he hit one of his doubles on a high fastball.

[h2oface]

Because Gibson has not found consistent command of his pitches in all of 2 starts to begin the season.... does not mean he is "nibbling", as trendy as it is to accuse him of. Missing is not nibbling. Gibson seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of the Twins staff. Maybe one day he will actually get some respect. deGrom should be chastised for the same, I guess.

[nicksaviking]

 

Garver and Gonsalves are really close, have been since both were drafted in 2013. And, I'm sure you recall, they teamed this offseason and won the MLB Fortnight championship in a tournament in Las Vegas around the Winter Meetings. I believe they beat a team with Trevor May. And Nick Gordon was in the same tournament too. 

 

I may have missed that. Congrats I'm sure are due to all who participated, I'm very proud of the e-talent our club has assembled. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

I may have missed that. Congrats I'm sure are due to all who participated, I'm very proud of the e-talent our club has assembled. 

 

I'm not sure, but this seems kind of petty, or judgmental, of people that have hobbies outside the game.....

[pbrezeasap]

There has been lots of talk about roster revamping.  The Twins have what, three potential bullpen guys (McGill, Mayo and Reed) on the IL and will need spots for a couple at some time over the coming weeks.

 

Did autocorrect do that or could you just not come up with a good way to misspell Reed? :-)

[mikelink45]

 

13 more than our friend Bert Blyleven.

 

That 68 MVP, CYA season: 1.12 ERA, 12 shutouts, 304 IP. Still managed to lose 9 games somehow, along with 22 wins.

 

I always liked the Dusty Baker quote that Gibson would throw at his own mother if she dug in on him.

As another old timer on this site I have to speak for Gibson - he might be the best pitcher I ever saw and I attended a number of Koufax games.  Give me Gibson, Spahn, Marichal and Koufax and we would settle for 150 wins - in the old 154 game seasons.  Gibson dominated, intimidated and caused MLB to lower the mound because they did not think it was fair to the hitters when he was out there. 

[Longdistancetwins]

 

The Twins are good again - there I said it!

...feels really good to get that off my chest.

Mets radio announcers were surprisingly dismissive of the Twins in the pre-game show.   Surprising, because they are both interesting up-and-coming teams.  They acted like they had a huge dominance over us because a few long-ago interleague series wins.  I was thinking, "Dude, you aren't the Yankees..."

[rghrbek]

 

Because Gibson has not found consistent command of his pitches in all of 2 starts to begin the season.... does not mean he is "nibbling", as trendy as it is to accuse him of. Missing is not nibbling. Gibson seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of the Twins staff. Maybe one day he will actually get some respect. deGrom should be chastised for the same, I guess.

Uh, Gibby's profile, since he came up, was he had the stuff, but would not attack, he would nibble on the outside corners (with his sinking fastball).  

 

I don't think this has been based solely on his 2 starts.  This observation was earned over his entire body of work.  Over the past 1.5 years, his success is directly correlated to him attacking hitters, and throwing his curve ball more.  

 

It could also be he is not at full strength yet, as another poster brought up.

[Old Twins Cap]

On Gibby nibbling....

Sure, it could be he didn't have good command or lost it after the 1st inning.

 

But, it would be a great piece of research to correlate his Strike vs Ball percentage with other pitching metrics and see if it compares or how it compares to other MLB starters.

 

Got to throw strikes is the way I would look at it.

[Doomtints]

Gibson is the oldest starter on the staff and his start this year has been predictable.

 

He should be let go at the end of the year.

[jmlease1]

 

Gibson is the oldest starter on the staff and his start this year has been predictable.

 

He should be let go at the end of the year.

 

His illness and sudden 20lb weight loss was predictable? You've closed the book on his season after a couple of starts? Good lord.

 

 

[cmoss84]

 

With the way Garver and Astudillo have been playing, would it be reasonable for the Twins to at least look into trading Castro??

 

Garver's stock is as high as it is ever going to be after hitting 2 missiles off of deGrom-trade him in a package for a SP. 

Bundy, Jon Gray, Mike Minor kind of guys...

[bighat]

Looks like the lineups are out for Wednesday. Astudillo batting 3rd again.

[bighat]

 

 

On Gibby nibbling....

 

Gibby was nibbling in Haiti also - on undercooked fish. Nibbling has got him into a lot of trouble this year on the field and off.

[Mr. Brooks]

Garver's stock is as high as it is ever going to be after hitting 2 missiles off of deGrom-trade him in a package for a SP.

Bundy, Jon Gray, Mike Minor kind of guys...

I don't think teams evaluate players for trades based on how well they did in their last game.

Garver's trade value is exactly the same as it was at this time yesterday.