How to lose a division in April

[Whitey333]

Remember this spring when the FO said games in April or May don't matter?  They kept saying it's too early to be concerned.  They were wrong!! Then they imply we are too stupid to realize it.  We see bad baseball for what it is.  They created this pitching mess and we are going to suffer for it for a while I'm afraid

[Brock Beauchamp]

16 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

Remember this spring when the FO said games in April or May don't matter?

Yeah, I'm going to need a link to an actual quote to believe they said this.

[darwin22]

On 8/16/2021 at 5:27 PM, Craig Arko said:

When Donaldson went down on his first at-bat of the season it was a portent of things to come.

Quite true.  Also the same game that Colome blew a save with a 5-2 lead entering the 9th.  

[cHawk]

On 8/16/2021 at 11:16 AM, gunnarthor said:

This isn't a .500 team but there are some reasons for optimism - especially offensively - for next year. I think the pitching we're seeing is a bit of smoke and mirrors but I hope I'm wrong. I'd be really worried if the FO looks at this team and says "well, we started bad but the team that finished the year was basically a .500 team and that team just needs a few small moves to make it a 90+ win team."

I can’t imagine they wouldn’t be embarrassed with this pitching staff. It was Top 10 in 2019 and Top 5 in 2020. They’re Bottom 5 this year.

[Nine of twelve]

On 8/15/2021 at 7:24 PM, RonCoomersOPS said:

I blame Andrelton Simmons.

To subdivide the first portion of the season a bit further, we were 5-2 in our first seven games. That was when the team was exposed to COVID-19. This threw the roster and the schedule into chaos and we proceeded to go 9-26 from that point through May 20. Now, the virus is certainly not the only reason for the team not being in postseason contention. But had the team stayed more competitive it would have made a difference in how team leadership approached roster management and even game management. I think Falvine would have been much more aggressive in adding new players, and we almost certainly would not have sold at the trading deadline.

I assume Simmons was not the only one who was not vaccinated but he's the only one that I am aware of. But whether it was one person or more, individuals not being vaccinated gave the accursed virus access to the organization. And I remain convinced that this was by far the biggest reason for that horrid 9-26 stretch. So I blame him, but even more so I blame team ownership and leadership for not mandating vaccinations, the wisdom of which is evidenced by the increasing number of employers, schools, and other entities doing so.

[Mike Sixel]

29 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

To subdivide the first portion of the season a bit further, we were 5-2 in our first seven games. That was when the team was exposed to COVID-19. This threw the roster and the schedule into chaos and we proceeded to go 9-26 from that point through May 20. Now, the virus is certainly not the only reason for the team not being in postseason contention. But had the team stayed more competitive it would have made a difference in how team leadership approached roster management and even game management. I think Falvine would have been much more aggressive in adding new players, and we almost certainly would not have sold at the trading deadline.

I assume Simmons was not the only one who was not vaccinated but he's the only one that I am aware of. But whether it was one person or more, individuals not being vaccinated gave the accursed virus access to the organization. And I remain convinced that this was by far the biggest reason for that horrid 9-26 stretch. So I blame him, but even more so I blame team ownership and leadership for not mandating vaccinations, the wisdom of which is evidenced by the increasing number of employers, schools, and other entities doing so.

A team could not mandate vaccines because the FDA had not yet approved one. That would be a violation of law, unfortunately. Now that they have....a business can.

[Nine of twelve]

41 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

A team could not mandate vaccines because the FDA had not yet approved one. That would be a violation of law, unfortunately. Now that they have....a business can.

Management at my workplace obtained legal advice that they had the option of mandating vaccinations in January when employees began receiving them. (They chose not to do so but I wish they had.) I work for an organization that provides health care, which may be why that would have been allowed. I don't know if this would have applied to other types of organizations.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

Management at my workplace obtained legal advice that they had the option of mandating vaccinations in January when employees began receiving them. (They chose not to do so but I wish they had.) I work for an organization that provides health care, which may be why that would have been allowed. I don't know if this would have applied to other types of organizations.

Interesting. That was not my understanding. I probably won't research it, as I thought I had. Given that NO ONE did, though, I find it hard to believe they could. That said, I would endorse any company that did that.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Nine of twelve said:

And I remain convinced that this was by far the biggest reason for that horrid 9-26 stretch. So I blame him, but even more so I blame team ownership and leadership for not mandating vaccinations, the wisdom of which is evidenced by the increasing number of employers, schools, and other entities doing so.

Baseball players are unionized, management can't just make a medical decree of that kind and force players to be vaccinated.

[Otto von Ballpark]

1 hour ago, Nine of twelve said:

To subdivide the first portion of the season a bit further, we were 5-2 in our first seven games. That was when the team was exposed to COVID-19. This threw the roster and the schedule into chaos and we proceeded to go 9-26 from that point through May 20.

Not sure what you mean by "when the team was exposed to COVID-19" but the Twins didn't have their first positive COVID test of the season until April 14th, at which point we had already lost 3 straight games at home (including a Colomé implosion) to fall to 5-5.

Also, the only player we lost on April 14th was Simmons, while we actually activated Donaldson and called up Kirilloff that same day. We still got swept in a non-COVID doubleheader at home by Boston, then after salvaging a win on April 15th, we lost decisively 10-3 in a road series opener vs the Angels on April 16th, dropping to 6-8 before any further COVID dominoes fell (Kepler, Garlick, Thiebar).

Oh, and Buxton had already missed the last 4 games at that point due to his hamstring, unrelated to COVID. I think the 2021 Twins weaknesses were already on display.

[Battle ur tail off]

They lost it in the offseason when they decided to let go of most of their bullpen and replace it with guys that are castoff, no talent bums. 

 

[Nine of twelve]

5 hours ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

Not sure what you mean by "when the team was exposed to COVID-19" but the Twins didn't have their first positive COVID test of the season until April 14th, at which point we had already lost 3 straight games at home (including a Colomé implosion) to fall to 5-5.

 

It takes a few days after exposure to test positive. 

[Nine of twelve]

6 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Baseball players are unionized, management can't just make a medical decree of that kind and force players to be vaccinated.

Ah, yes, I believe that is probably the case. So that means I'm back to blaming the individuals themselves.

[Dman]

On 8/18/2021 at 10:44 AM, Whitey333 said:

Remember this spring when the FO said games in April or May don't matter?  They kept saying it's too early to be concerned.  They were wrong!! Then they imply we are too stupid to realize it.  We see bad baseball for what it is.  They created this pitching mess and we are going to suffer for it for a while I'm afraid

I don't think they said they didn't matter just that they had plenty of time to get hot and not to worry about a SSS of games played.  Unfortunately that trend of poor play continued and ended up defining the season but I don't think they said or felt April or May games didn't matter.

April and May feel different because the season is soo long and it just takes a solid win streak to get back in it and make the playoffs.  For proof look at Washington's season that ended in a world series victory.  All games matter it's just that in April and May you have another 100 games to change things. In August and September not much time left so it feels more important, although the Twins did do the unthinkable and catch the Tigers late in the year once, so it can be done late too, just have to get hot at the right time.

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

Ah, yes, I believe that is probably the case. So that means I'm back to blaming the individuals themselves.

Oh, absolutely. Blame away.