Game Thread Cleveland @ Minnesota 6:40 PM 9/15/2021

[stringer bell]

The Twins entertain Cleveland tonight in the finale and rubber game of a three-game series. Griffyn Jax takes the hill versus Cal Quantrill for the future Guardians. 
 

In looking at the future, Cleveland looks like they will be competitive as soon as next year. They have MLB-ready pitching and improved production from position players. Surprisingly, the Twins have won the season series and played some of their best ball this year against Cleveland. 
 

Griffin Jax gets another chance to stake a claim on a rotation spot next year. The USAFA grad has had some moments, but his overall numbers are poor due mostly to his inability to keep the ball in the park. 
 

At this point, everything is about 2022. Who will be on the 2022 roster? Who can they count on to contribute? The Twins need to develop pitchers and position players to be competitive as soon as 2022. Besides that, we can enjoy 2021 POY Jorge Polanco and witness long homers from Sanó and Buxton and imagine what kind of season Buck might have had if healthy. 
 

Lineups:

Cleveland (70-73)

Straw cf

Zimmer rf

Ramirez 3B 

Reyes DH 

Bradley 1B 

Chang 2B 

Hedges c

Gimenez SS 

Mercado LF 

Quantrill p 5-3 3.04 ERA

 

Minnesota (64-82)

Arraez 3b 

Buxton cf 

Polanco 2B 

Donaldson DH 

Kepler rf 

Sano 1B 

Gordon SS 

Jeffers c

Cave LF 

Jax 3-3 6.72 ERA

[RickOShea]

46 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

The Twins entertain Cleveland tonight in the finale and rubber game of a three-game series. Griffyn Jax takes the hill versus Cal Quantrill for the future Guardians. 
 

In looking at the future, Cleveland looks like they will be competitive as soon as next year. They have MLB-ready pitching and improved production from position players. Surprisingly, the Twins have won the season series and played some of their best ball this year against Cleveland. 
 

Griffin Jax gets another chance to stake a claim on a rotation spot next year. The USAFA grad has had some moments, but his overall numbers are poor due mostly to his inability to keep the ball in the park. 
 

At this point, everything is about 2022. Who will be on the 2022 roster? Who can they count on to contribute? The Twins need to develop pitchers and position players to be competitive as soon as 2022. Besides that, we can enjoy 2021 POY Jorge Polanco and witness long homers from Sanó and Buxton and imagine what kind of season Buck might have had if healthy. 
 

Lineups:

Cleveland (70-73)

Straw cf

Zimmer rf

Ramirez 3B 

Reyes DH 

Bradley 1B 

Chang 2B 

Hedges c

Gimenez SS 

Mercado LF 

Quantrill p 5-3 3.04 ERA

 

Minnesota (64-82)

Arraez 3b 

Buxton cf 

Polanco 2B 

Donaldson DH 

Kepler rf 

Sano 1B 

Gordon SS 

Jeffers c

Cave LF 

Jax 3-3 6.72 ERA

Can you replace a regular starter with a DH in the batter order.  If so, I'd rather have a DH for Keppler and let the pitcher hit.

[RickOShea]

Zimmer's been a thorn in our side, both offensively and defensively.

[Vanimal46]

One of my friends is at the game and did a panoramic showing how empty it is at Target Field tonight…

[mrtwinsfan]

Looking at the games tonight to watch, Noticed Lamont Wade batting 4th for the giants, The kid has really done a great job since we didnt need him, Happy that he got a chance, Do players ever come here and improve ??  Go Twins

[LVTwinsfan]

1 minute ago, mrtwinsfan said:

Looking at the games tonight to watch, Noticed Lamont Wade batting 4th for the giants, The kid has really done a great job since we didnt need him, Happy that he got a chance, Do players ever come here and improve ??  Go Twins

Buxton

[stringer bell]

Lots of "cans of corn" so far, with the exception of the drive against the right field wall by Ramirez. 

[LVTwinsfan]

So I’ll give Ryan a pass for the drama. Besides, I’ve never been hit in the wrist by a ball traveling close to 100 mph so who am I to judge.

[mnfireman]

1 minute ago, LVTwinsfan said:

So I’ll give Ryan a pass for the drama. Besides, I’ve never been hit in the wrist by a ball traveling close to 100 mph so who am I to judge.

I am sure he appreciates that.....

[RickOShea]

1 minute ago, LVTwinsfan said:

So I’ll give Ryan a pass for the drama. Besides, I’ve never been hit in the wrist by a ball traveling close to 100 mph so who am I to judge.

That's very nice of you, but it just wasn't asplit second reaction.  First he made no effort to go for the ball. Second, Baldelli and the trainer walk out to an empty mound.  Unless his hand was severed, he could have at least walked off with them.  IMO it looked liked it was one of those 'all for me reactions'.

[LVTwinsfan]

Just now, RickOShea said:

That's very nice of you, but it just wasn't asplit second reaction.  First he made no effort to go for the ball. Second, Baldelli and the trainer walk out to an empty mound.  Unless his hand was severed, he could have at least walked off with them.  IMO it looked liked it was one of those 'all for me reactions'.

Like I said I’ve never been hit like that. He won’t do it again, I’m good with it

[stringer bell]

Nice play Chulo and Miggy.

[jkcarew]

23 minutes ago, mrtwinsfan said:

Looking at the games tonight to watch, Noticed Lamont Wade batting 4th for the giants, The kid has really done a great job since we didnt need him, Happy that he got a chance, Do players ever come here and improve ??  Go Twins

His HR% and HR/FB are suddenly Sano-like. And the contact was always pretty good. If anyone had seen that coming, he’d still be here. Or, at least we would have got more than Shaun Anderson in the trade. ?

[joefish]

Goffense.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1-0... can these hitters come back from the deficit?

[stringer bell]

Jax really can't survive if he continues to fall behind in the count. 

[LVTwinsfan]

19 minutes ago, joefish said:

Goffense.

There’s a name you don’t forget 

[stringer bell]

Bad decision by the big guy. He really needs to be better than that.

[jkcarew]

9 minutes ago, Sconnie said:

1-0... can these hitters come back from the deficit?

Twins collectively realizing they need to get home and try to find what they did with their passports.

[RpR]

What ever magic Twins had over Cleveland, seems to be gone now; I said earlier win or lose against the Yankees will determine how Twins end the year.

[jkcarew]

6 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Jax really can't survive if he continues to fall behind in the count. 

…or get ahead in the count.

[tony&rodney]

It has become a sad spectacle right now that every pitcher the Twins face is either prime Sandy Koufax or Doc Gooden.  Something seems wrong. It is a long season and disappointment is a difficult dessert to digest but sometimes every individual needs to examine what these September games mean for the paying public and for themselves. Most every job has its tough and ridiculous moments/days/weeks where one needs to renew their focus against all odds. I'm a little disappointed in the Twins these days. Is it possible that there is not any real MLB talent  on the club? Perhaps we all over estimate the potential skills of the Twins players versus those on the opposite squads. It seems rather obvious that Baltimore is over matched. Are the Twins over matched?

[LVTwinsfan]

Jax would be a good batting practice pitcher

[RpR]

Cave should have had that fly ball, arrrhh.

[Danchat]

I want to get behind Jax, but he doesn't look like he has MLB stuff... he's 26 and has already been passed up in the previous 2 Rule 5 drafts. I don't see much upside here. 

[LVTwinsfan]

1 minute ago, RpR said:

Cave should have had that fly ball, arrrhh.

Yeah I believe his first move was forward, hard to overcome that

[RpR]

Between Arraez not catching the ball, Sano's lousy throw and Cave not catching a ball, can not really blame Jax.

Twins defense when the top rank players are not in, is  mediocre on a good day.

[LVTwinsfan]

2 minutes ago, RpR said:

Between Arraez not catching the ball, Sano's lousy throw and Cave not catching a ball, can not really blame Jax.

Ok sure, but he gives up too many home runs, there isn’t any defense that can help him with that

[jkcarew]

1 minute ago, RpR said:

Between Arraez not catching the ball, Sano's lousy throw and Cave not catching a ball, can not really blame Jax.

Except for what still would have been a 2-run homer…and about 500 mph-worth of exit velocity this inning.

[RpR]

Just now, jkcarew said:

Except for what still would have been a 2-run homer…and about 500 mph-worth of exit velocity this inning.

Had Arraez caught the ball, then Sano would have had an easy out and it would have been a 1 run homer.