Game Score: Twins 3, Mariners 4 (Buxton Blasts, but Bullpen Blows Save)

[lukeduke1980]

If my closer was traded the day before the season I put whomever I feel like in the 9th.  If it fails its on the front office, at least for a couple of weeks of letting the bullpen pecking order reset.  

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, lukeduke1980 said:

If my closer was traded the day before the season I put whomever I feel like in the 9th.  If it fails its on the front office, at least for a couple of weeks of letting the bullpen pecking order reset.  

I have little doubt that prior to the trade, Levine had a discussion with Baldelli - "look, we have an opportunity to trade Rogers for some younger arms - what will your plan be if he is off the roster next week?"  And then Levine listened, and formed the rest of the plan accordingly.

This FO and their manager surely don't engage in the kind of passive-aggressive behavior you described. 

[h2oface]

3 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

A couple things from an old fart.

1.  When your 3 through 7 hitters go 0-19, don't blame the loss on your pitchers.

2.  When Sano has two strikes, fast forward to the next hitter.

3.  If Baldelli had used Alcala or Duran and the same result happened, would he still be a terrible manager?

4.  Two games does not a season make!

When you hand the pitchers a 1 run lead in the 9th, nothing else matters. The pitchers were handed a free run, and it is virtually a 1 inning game, and you get to start the game ahead 1-0.  The rest of the 8 innings played no longer matter. At all. In fact, as the home team, you don't even need your hitters anymore to win the game. Seems pretty clear to me.

[Old fox]

My grandpa told me this  a long time ago “If you live by the numbers, then, you will die by the numbers.”  There a lot of truth in that statement because they also generate a contra set of data of predictability to neutralize the first set of numbers and defeat. I too often feel that Rocco doesn’t develop a contra situation or game plan. This is also called “thinking-a-head.”
It easy to be 20-20 after the event has happened. In baseball going 162-0 is impossible to do, and in fact no team has finished a season with a 750 winning percentage. The gold standard in baseball is finishing at or above 600%.  I agree a win in the first month of season  is worth as much as a win in the last month of the season.   There is another unwritten rule in regard  to “hitter momentum “ versus “ mandatory regular day off”. Because “momentum “ is so fraudual it’s best not to interrupt with the process of “momentum “.  I understand why rest is so important but the “process of momentum is generally a limited duration of its own time”. This unwritten rule seems to have a greater effect on average or below skilled players. 

That’s why we play the game.