This offense is going to drop off... or will it, given the addition of Sano?

[stringer bell]

Cave is more of a redundancy that the Turtle. I like the idea of no more than 12 pitchers, with the bench being Castro/Garver, Astudillo, Gonzalez and Adrianza.

[Craig Arko]

Just a rumination; with the coming off day next Thursday to preserve the pitching rotation, I wonder if Sano will be the 26th man for the Detroit doubleheader on the 11th. And then activated on the 12th, if he looks ready.

[Kelly Vance]

No,we don't trade Marwin when Miggy is back. Marwin is a Swiss Army Knife. Rare for a team to have someone on the bench who can play any position except catcher. Those of you who wanted Marwin last winter are proving to be wise men. He has plugged in nicely for Sano, but even with a cold bat to start, his value to the team has not shown itself as much as it will in the dog days of summer. I think Marwin rotates around as an Eduardo type super sub, giving different guys a day off on different days. Good FO forethought adding him.

 

Last winter when the Twins added Cron and Schoop, some people were howling mad because they wanted something different (Austin at 1b and somebody else at 2b). I said I liked the additions and that the Twins could hit 20 HRs 1-9 (in AL games). I was probably too optimistic in predicting HR production, but I am feeling like one of you wise men right now (as opposed to just being my typical wise guy).

 

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that there is a reason guys like Falvey have the job they do and guys like us have the jobs that we have. Now we don't hear so much about how the FO was blowing it, because --- turns out they nailed it.

 

Sano will lift the club. You can't add a guy with All Star potential who is finally healthy without it helping. 

 

Enjoy the ride folks. It is finally our year.

 

 

[denarded]

 

Dave St. Peter is too busy to notice that. He's still scratching his noggin and wondering why the stands are empty even though he's giving the fans a "great ballpark experience".

 

I'm not in MPLS but am in the midwest and today might be the second day this year that i would want to go to a ball game. I hate seeing a 3/4 empty stadium with no energy the players can feed off of. Weather warms, crowds grow, Target Field becomes a Home Field

 

[Don Walcott]

I'm warming up to Marwin, especially with his play in the outfield yesterday, and his right-handed swing. I think he should be the primary sub for the corner outfielders against tough lefties, and when giving Buxton a rest (moving Kepler to center). Unfortunately, the one that got away is EscoBear, who has an OPS over .900 right now. But I'm not sure he'd play the outfield like Marwin, so maybe he wouldn't be as good of a fit for this team as Marwin is right now. I still miss EE, and am still disappointed in the FO that the D-Bags were able to sign him for such a bargain. But the FO has done a lot of things right this year, so I'm generally pleased with them.

 

I think Sano is going to be the good Sano, and this lineup will continue to seriously rake. This is going to be fun to watch.

[Doomtints]

These are good questions. I have been wondering what Sano's return will mean as well.

 

Cruz makes Sano superfluous this year, but Cruz is a rental and Sano will (probably) be around a bit. Sano's gotta play, though I don't think anyone disputes that.

 

I have to think Sano will make the hitting even better, but this has been the best hitting I have seen from the Twins since the 80s. It's difficult to imagine it getting better. If this run lasts at all we will be in for some exciting baseball.

 

Hrbek infected the hitters in the 80s ... who is infecting everybody now? If it's Astudillo, we are in for a long run of success. If it's Cruz, well, enjoy the year.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Cave is more of a redundancy that the Turtle. I like the idea of no more than 12 pitchers, with the bench being Castro/Garver, Astudillo, Gonzalez and Adrianza.

who makes room in this scenario. Mejia?

[Brock Beauchamp]

These are good questions. I have been wondering what Sano's return will mean as well.

 

Cruz makes Sano superfluous this year, but Cruz is a rental and Sano will (probably) be around a bit. Sano's gotta play, though I don't think anyone disputes that.

 

I have to think Sano will make the hitting even better, but this has been the best hitting I have seen from the Twins since the 80s. It's difficult to imagine it getting better. If this run lasts at all we will be in for some exciting baseball.

 

Hrbek infected the hitters in the 80s ... who is infecting everybody now? If it's Astudillo, we are in for a long run of success. If it's Cruz, well, enjoy the year.

The team has a 2020 option on Cruz.

[USAFChief]

The team has a 2020 option on Cruz.

let's hope it's a no brainer to exercise it.

[h2oface]

Since Baltimore, the offense has already dropped off big time, as expected. No need to wait. Rosario's average has plummeted about .080.... from .300 to .220. Almost all are in the regression to what will be their norm. Two games with Houston had 3 hits each. A great Odorizzi outing even won one of those. Timely hitting makes a winner, not necessarily the greatest stats. This could go really cold, or they will be winners. It is fun to watch right now if you are a Twins fan. It would be more fun if pitching was more reliable. But results don't lie. You have to love it.

[h2oface]

 

......Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that there is a reason guys like Falvey have the job they do and guys like us have the jobs that we have. Now we don't hear so much about how the FO was blowing it, because --- turns out they nailed it.......

.

 

I think I will not be making a decision on whether they nailed it until at least August, Only 31 games in here........ like the nail barely in and just sticking in the stud, and has a long way to go to be embedded. The bullpen.... I don't know that I could say they even "tacked" it. The Ks are coming. So are the slumps. We will see it the nail gets too much rust on it to get all the way in.

[Doomtints]

 

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that there is a reason guys like Falvey have the job they do and guys like us have the jobs that we have. Now we don't hear so much about how the FO was blowing it, because --- turns out they nailed it.

 

Sano will lift the club. You can't add a guy with All Star potential who is finally healthy without it helping.

 

Two things:

 

1) The Giants added Pierzynski and it didn't help them, for example.

2) These Twins haven't won anything yet. We should resist the temptation to be Vikings fans and believe they cracked the formula before they accomplish anything.

 

I still question this team's ability to win in the playoffs. To me, this is all that really matters. Finishing first in the AL Central doesn't mean anything.

[Kelly Vance]

 

Two things:

 

1) The Giants added Pierzynski and it didn't help them, for example.

2) These Twins haven't won anything yet. We should resist the temptation to be Vikings fans and believe they cracked the formula before they accomplish anything.

 

I still question this team's ability to win in the playoffs. To me, this is all that really matters. Finishing first in the AL Central doesn't mean anything.

Well, it means you finished first in the AL Central, for example. Me, I am grateful this team is finally playing to its potential. 

[Kelly Vance]

 

I think I will not be making a decision on whether they nailed it until at least August, Only 31 games in here........ like the nail barely in and just sticking in the stud, and has a long way to go to be embedded. The bullpen.... I don't know that I could say they even "tacked" it. The Ks are coming. So are the slumps. We will see it the nail gets too much rust on it to get all the way in.

A CBS Sports article said this, although before Hildy blew up last night:

 

 

Foremost, the Twins bullpen has yielded 48 earned runs this season -- 11 (or nearly 23 percent) of those were charged to Alberto Mejia in about 12 percent of Minnesota's total relief innings. Beyond that, the Twins' main five relievers have been phenomenal. Take a look:

PITCHER IP ERA SO/9 SO/BB
Blake Parker               9 1/3       0.96     7.70    1.60
Taylor Rogers            13 2/3   1.98     13.2    5.00
Ryne Harper              12 2/3    2.13.              3.00
Trevor May                11 1/3     3.09    8.50     2.20
Trevor Hildenberger   10 1/3   3.48   10.50    3.00

 

Although that unit doesn't have much starpower, it does have talent. Blake Parker was a questionable non-tender by the Los Angeles Angels last winter, while Taylor Rogers, Trevor May, and Trevor Hildenberger have shown flashes of being high-quality relief arms in the past. Then there's Ryne Harper, a soft-tossing minor-league journeyman with a pretty curveball who is authoring one of the nicer stories of the young season.