Game Thread: Royals @ Twins, 8/17/22, 12:10PM CDT (10:10AM PDT)

[Cap'n Piranha]

Here's where I would really love to see the Twins tack on, so we can feel comfortable letting Sands handle innings 7-9.

[LVTwinsfan]

A League of their own is a classic baseball movie

[mnfireman]

5 minutes ago, Hrbowski said:

He has one of the highest swing and miss rates in all of baseball, and his fastball spin is in the 96th percentile, so this take is objectively wrong.

Stop using facts on here, most of the posters don't like them ?? (sarcasm intended)

[LA Vikes Fan]

5 minutes ago, Hrbowski said:

He has one of the highest swing and miss rates in all of baseball, and his fastball spin is in the 96th percentile, so this take is objectively wrong.

interesting. I would never have guessed that. Why is he so bad then? I think the 49% hard hit rate this year is a big part of it, but it seems like he can't get the strikeout when he needs it and, much like today, he gives up hits on soft contact. Is it just bad luck? That seems hard to believe given his track record of futility over the last 3 years. 

[LVTwinsfan]

4 minutes ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

Can Griffin Jax record any more outs at a 0.5 pitch per out clip?

Not in this game.

oops forgot about the IBB rule

[Vanimal46]

17 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

If Mahle is hurt, I'd like to see the Twins be as aggressive as Atlanta has been, and promote SWR into the rotation. No chance of that, of course, but one can hope. And, I get others won't agree. Not trying to convince anyone.

He was just promoted to St Paul today, so maybe there’s a chance. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

2 minutes ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

Can Griffin Jax record any more outs at a 0.5 pitch per out clip?

Only if the Twins decide to intentionally walk hitters.  Theoretically, a pitcher could pitch an inning without throwing a single pitch by intentionally walking 3 batters, and then picking them all off.

[stringer bell]

14 minutes ago, mrtwinsfan said:

And Eddie was a infielder also till he got to the Majors

Eddie played second only in rookie league IIRC. He had been an outfielder for a while before he was promoted.

[nicksaviking]

14 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I would think Varland would be ahead of SWR in the promo list, to say nothing of Devin Smeltzer.

I'd be fine with either. I'd rather have the rough around the edges young guys than the other riff raff in AAA.

[Cap'n Piranha]

1 minute ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

interesting. I would never have guessed that. Why is he so bad then? I think the 49% hard hit rate this year is a big part of it, but it seems like he can't get the strikeout when he needs it and, much like today, he gives up hits on soft contact. Is it just bad luck? That seems hard to believe given his track record of futility over the last 3 years. 

Pagan throws 3-5 good pitches, and then throws a middle middle fastball with no movement that gets hammered.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Stop using facts on here, most of the posters don't like them ?? (sarcasm intended)

Truth, not sarcasm. 

[Twins_Fan_For_Life]

1 minute ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

interesting. I would never have guessed that. Why is he so bad then? I think the 49% hard hit rate this year is a big part of it, but it seems like he can't get the strikeout when he needs it and, much like today, he gives up hits on soft contact. Is it just bad luck? That seems hard to believe given his track record of futility over the last 3 years. 

In almost every outing he will leave a ball in the middle of the plate that gets crushed for a home run. He also will walk too many hitters.

[nicksaviking]

2 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

interesting. I would never have guessed that. Why is he so bad then? I think the 49% hard hit rate this year is a big part of it, but it seems like he can't get the strikeout when he needs it and, much like today, he gives up hits on soft contact. Is it just bad luck? That seems hard to believe given his track record of futility over the last 3 years. 

Yeah, the correlation between his talent and his results is beyond explainable.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Just now, stringer bell said:

Eddie played second only in rookie league IIRC. He had been an outfielder for a while before he was promoted.

Nope, he actually was an outfielder exclusively in 2010-2011 (no data available for the Appy League on MiLB.com).  He played some outfield in both 2012 and 2014, but only 2B in 2013.  In 2015 he played exclusively in the outfield, and was then promoted to MLB.  For his MiLB career, Eddie actually has twice as many innings at 2B as at all other positions combined.

[MMMordabito]

Jax might be able to close this one out at this rate.

[LVTwinsfan]

At this rate Jax could pitch every inning of every game

[Hrbowski]

3 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

interesting. I would never have guessed that. Why is he so bad then? I think the 49% hard hit rate this year is a big part of it, but it seems like he can't get the strikeout when he needs it and, much like today, he gives up hits on soft contact. Is it just bad luck? That seems hard to believe given his track record of futility over the last 3 years. 

Interestingly, a huge part of the damage against him has come on his cutter, a pitch he didn't throw at all during his best years with the Rays. His fastball has been getting hit harder recently, but it's possibly because he's tipping his pitches (he seems to show some pretty noticeable forearm movement when he changes his grip from his splitter to fastball sometimes, but not when he throws the splitter). His walk rate is also way up this year. I'm surprised the Twins haven't had him ax his cutter and go back to the curveball he threw with the Rays, which was pretty good. With how good his peripherals are and how poorly he has performed compared to them, I think he's still got quite a bit of potential. I won't hold my breath that it will be the Twins who fix him, though...

[stringer bell]

7 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Here's where I would really love to see the Twins tack on, so we can feel comfortable letting Sands handle innings 7-9.

They can use their A team in the late innings with the day off tomorrow. Jax should get them through the sixth, then Megill or Fulmer, Duran and Lopez.

[Cap'n Piranha]

What a display of pitch to contact by Jax.  I always thought the doctrine had merit, TR was just really bad at executing it.

[Mike Sixel]

I'm beginning to suspect KC isn't all that good at the hitting part of the game.....

[Cap'n Piranha]

Just now, stringer bell said:

They can use their A team in the late innings with the day off tomorrow. Jax should get them through the sixth, then Megill or Fulmer, Duran and Lopez.

They can.  Certainly Duran and Lopez are both available.  But I'd rather they didn't have to.

[LVTwinsfan]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'm beginning to suspect KC isn't all that good at the hitting part of the game.....

I think it has merit too, but it’s not for everybody, Liriano for example.

sorry I quoted the wrong post

[LA Vikes Fan]

Yes, the explanation that Pagan throws some good pitches and then a bad one that gets hammered seems true to observation but just can't be the whole answer. He has a good strikeout rate at 12.8, high walk rate at 3.8, and he never seems to get soft contact outs early in the count. Every at bat seems like a struggle of several pitches waiting for that one bad pitch.. I can see why the Twins don't want to DFA him. His talent is such that you just have to think the results will come. Yet they haven't come for 3 (almost) full seasons and his FIP offers no real hope. It's truly bizarre. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

Would be great to get nine more outs and get this win, have an off day tomorrow, and then figure out what the heck is going on with Mahle.

[Winston Smith]

Nice for the Twins to get this series against a AAA team.

[Battle ur tail off]

KC has packed it in here in this getaway day game. This game SHOULD be un-loseable. Not having good at bats at all. Finish it out guys and let's wait to hear about Mahle.

[CRF]

Bremer just said that Mahle left the game with right shoulder fatigue. 

[IowaBeancounter]

I don't think Sands will be used today.  Yesterday was the equivalent of a bullpen session for a starter.  With Bundy and Archer going the next two day Sands will be called on to relieve one of them. 

[Winston Smith]

Right shoulder fatigue announced for Tyler Mahle, the #MNTwins say.

[Cap'n Piranha]

Dick says Mahle left with right shoulder fatigue ?