GAME THREAD: 5/19/21 Minnesota Twins vs Chicago White Sox, 12:10 CDT

[bighat]

2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Doesn't matter what he does, people here will rip him for it.

 

I've just always thought Rocco tries to get away with B Team lineups way too much. Just my opinion. No need to dismiss my little jab as "Mindless Rocco Criticism" just because I'm not a fan of this element of Rocco's style.

[Danchat]

I really thought Kepler would turn into a cornerstone for this franchise... and then he reaches his prime and gets worse. Say what you will about his 2016-18 seasons, but he was a better player then than he is now. Should have traded him while his stock was still high...

[bighat]

3 minutes ago, Mill1634 said:

Haven't really seen this mentioned anywhere...but Arraez has been horrible for the past month. 

 

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	BAbip
2021 Totals	33	32	136	117	17	32	2	1	1	14	0	0	15	14	.274	.360	.333	.694	39	.298
Last 7 days	7	6	28	27	2	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	.222	.250	.222	.472	6	.231
Last 14 days	8	7	33	31	2	7	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	3	.226	.242	.226	.468	7	.241
Last 28 days	18	17	76	67	10	17	1	1	0	6	0	0	6	7	.254	.329	.299	.627	20	.279
Last 365 days	65	63	257	229	33	68	11	1	1	27	0	0	23	25	.297	.362	.367	.729	84	.325

 

I mentioned Luis' struggles earlier after a bad 3-pitch strikeout. You're not the only one who has noticed.

[Mill1634]

1 minute ago, bighat said:

 

I mentioned Luis' struggles earlier after a bad 3-pitch strikeout. You're not the only one who has noticed.

Oh yeah, I'm sure others have noticed, but I haven't seen anything from writers or people on twitter. Seems like everything he's hitting hard is foul, and isn't squaring up anything in play. 

[shortround81]

11 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Doesn't matter what he does, people here will rip him for it.

Right? I'm not saying he's perfect, but so many people have been calling for him to be fired.

1. Who on the staff would be interim?

2. Did firing a Ryan Saunders early on work for the Wolves? No? Maybe it was deeper than a coaching problem

[Danchat]

9 minutes ago, shortround81 said:

Right? I'm not saying he's perfect, but so many people have been calling for him to be fired.

1. Who on the staff would be interim?

2. Did firing a Ryan Saunders early on work for the Wolves? No? Maybe it was deeper than a coaching problem

I don't follow the Wolves that closely, but from what I can tell there was a big change in going from Saunders to Finch. I think it had more to do with Saunders not being qualified to be a NBA head coach. They went from the worst record in the NBA to 5th worst when Finch was hired, I believe.

(But no, I don't think firing Rocco would help things. Managing baseball and basketball are much, much different.)

[Mike Sixel]

19 minutes ago, Danchat said:

I really thought Kepler would turn into a cornerstone for this franchise... and then he reaches his prime and gets worse. Say what you will about his 2016-18 seasons, but he was a better player then than he is now. Should have traded him while his stock was still high...

No way you trade him then....not with what they thought was a core of players coming. That said, ya, I don't get what it going on.....

[Mill1634]

3 minutes ago, Danchat said:

I don't follow the Wolves that closely, but from what I can tell there was a big change in going from Saunders to Finch. I think it had more to do with Saunders not being qualified to be a NBA head coach. They went from the worst record in the NBA to 5th worst when Finch was hired, I believe.

(But no, I don't think firing Rocco would help things. Managing baseball and basketball are much, much different.)

Baseball managers are the least important coach in all of sports, imo. However, you only notice them when they're bad. 

[Mill1634]

Good outing Caleb

[Mill1634]

Donaldson best be hitting for Rortvedt

[Danchat]

Giolito lowered his ERA from 4.97 to 4.35 from this outing. 11 Ks! Gladden was going off about how he's been inconsistent and how he "gives up too many walks"... yeah, the same guy who's been in the Top 10 Cy Young voting in 2019 and 2020. 

[Taildragger8791]

2 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Giolito lowered his ERA from 4.97 to 4.35 from this outing. 11 Ks! Gladden was going off about how he's been inconsistent and how he "gives up too many walks"... yeah, the same guy who's been in the Top 10 Cy Young voting in 2019 and 2020. 

I also love seeing a guy get to 111 pitches rather than pulling him at 90 while he's cruising.

[mnfireman]

5 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Giolito lowered his ERA from 4.97 to 4.35 from this outing. 11 Ks! Gladden was going off about how he's been inconsistent and how he "gives up too many walks"... yeah, the same guy who's been in the Top 10 Cy Young voting in 2019 and 2020. 

He's not wrong, go look at his game log for this year

[wavedog]

Bloop and a blast and let's go home

[Danchat]

2 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

He's not wrong, go look at his game log for this year

I am aware, but he has a strong track record and I wouldn't be too concerned about his struggles this year. 

[shortround81]

Off topic: The cynic in me hopes this "LaRussa's unwritten rules" vs "White Sox unwritten rules" unravels the team

[operation mindcrime]

At least we won't have to face Trout tomorrow!

[wavedog]

Well, not the way to continue the momentum from yesterday's win.   Bullpen did a very nice job today, Cruz as well. 

[Mill1634]

Least shocking news all year..that that lineup couldn't hit Lucas Giolito. Actually somewhat impressed with how close the game was. Shoemaker was bad, but got good results in a weird way. Polanco looked good at SS, and Cruz hammered the ball. Colome staying rolling is pretty big for nothing else than trade value. Twins just have too many journeymen types on the roster right now, or a few guys who should be in AAA still (Rortvedt, Ober). Oh well. Starting to get numb to many of the loses, including this one. At least we'll have always have yesterday. 

[bighat]

Another pathetic effort.

Sano hit 3 HR yesterday and the Twins scored 4 total runs off them. Another solo HR today and that's it.

This team has no idea how to play small ball. I don't care what the spreadsheets say, the Twins can't keep playing this same style of baseball any longer. It's not going to work. They must adapt, adjust, and make major changes in the way they approach the game on offense.

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, bighat said:

Another pathetic effort.

Sano hit 3 HR yesterday and the Twins scored 4 total runs off them. Another solo HR today and that's it.

This team has no idea how to play small ball. I don't care what the spreadsheets say, the Twins can't keep playing this same style of baseball any longer. It's not going to work. They must adapt, adjust, and make major changes in the way they approach the game on offense.

So, what should they do differently? Try to softly hit the ball?

[Mill1634]

Also..if anyone like me is done with the first half Minnesota twins and just want to get on with seeing some young guys play and figure out if they’re any good, I wrote about some guys we could see in the second half of the year, starting with starting pitchers. Feedback and interaction is encouraged and appreciated! 

[bighat]

2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

So, what should they do differently? Try to softly hit the ball?

Am I supposed to come up with my own strategy and present it to the group or something?

Dude there are lots of ways to approach the game offensively, the Twins way under Baldelli has been to swing for the fences. Clearly not working. They're not advancing runners (as evidenced by their extra innings record). I could say "play smallball" but that will end up getting me run out of here tarred and feathered. But yeah, something like that.

 

[lukeduke1980]

14 minutes ago, shortround81 said:

Off topic: The cynic in me hopes this "LaRussa's unwritten rules" vs "White Sox unwritten rules" unravels the team

In Larussa's quotes,, he was mad that Yermin ignored the 'Take' sign, not even speaking to the game situation. 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Oh well. We lost.

 

To the airport, and better luck next game.

 

2-1 is better than 16-4, even if they are all powers of 2.

[shortround81]

23 minutes ago, lukeduke1980 said:

In Larussa's quotes,, he was mad that Yermin ignored the 'Take' sign, not even speaking to the game situation. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vjz2UKPdFCU

[insagt1]

TWins can't seem to build off of any of their rare successes. Close doesn't get you W's and even though a few things went well today, the hitting was not there. They faced a tough pitcher, but still, that means making adjustments. I'm not the manager but thats what they are paid big bucks for. To figure these things out. The 8th and 9th today were particularly annoying. The swings and misses were just plain ugly.  But thats why the Sox are on top and we are on the bottom.

Wonder why they aren't starting Refsnyder?