Twins 4, Royals 0: Stellar Defense, Brilliant Bullpen Ensure the Series Sweep

[Doctor Gast]

2 hours ago, SwainZag said:

Who do you DFA off the 40 man to make room for Palacios?  Unless he needs time on the IL, who do you demote to make room for him on the roster? Who's bat do you take out of the lineup?  Buxton, Arraez, Miranda or Urshela?  All 4 of them have hit better since the break than he has hit in AAA.  Arraez isn't the best option at 2B, but isn't awful.  I would rather see all 4 of those guys get regular AB's, the Twins could certainly you use the runs.  The only time realistic time Palacios probably gets regular playing time is if Correa needs extended time off.

Beckman, -

Correa & Polanco could use more time off. Palacios is our best option and he needs the MLB experience not only for this year but next when Correa will probably be gone. We need someone to learn from the best, the only one is Palacios that fits the bill since Lewis is gone.

[jkcarew]

4 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

They've also made the postseason twice in the 28 years the AL Central has existed, but yeah, exemplary franchise. I mean, c'mon...

It was a self-depricating joke (from a fans perspective)

Still, I wonder what KC fans call our franchise? Probably not perennial ‘winners’.

[MMMordabito]

55 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I don't call 2 innings long relief, 2 innings are extended short relief in my book. 1 long RF covers 3-4 short RPs innings so a short RP or 2 could be sent down to make room for a long RP. Most of our pitching problems and lost games is the result of no long relief. Even w/ the added proven arms especially this problem w/ Mahle if we wait until the Sept. call up it could be too late and we can send everyone home.

Palacios is our best glove to sub SS, 2B or 3B if need be, and should be used as much as possible in those situations, not only for this year but also he might start at SS in the beginning next year and will be our best INF sub. It'd very irresponsible to throw him that situation with very little prior experience. Who can he learn the most from than Correa while he's still here.

It's irresponsible to throw him into that situation at the beginning of next year, but it's OK to bench Arraez or someone else to get him into the lineup regularly during a playoff push before rosters expand? And, he's going to do this with very little experience at 2B over the last three years and a player from a different position teaching him how? 

[KirbyDome89]

39 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

It was a self-depricating joke (from a fans perspective)

Still, I wonder what KC fans call our franchise? Probably not perennial ‘winners’.

Whoosh. Hard to tell around here sometimes.

Compared to them the Twins kinda are, but 25 other franchises could probably make the same claim.

[USAFChief]

Heh. Detroit led Cleveland 4-2, bottom 8, 2 out nobody on. Strike 3 on next batter to end the inning...except the catcher let the ball go to the backstop, batter safe at first. Innumerable bloops, walks, errors, and silliness later, 6-4 Cleveland. 

 

Sigh...

[SwainZag]

22 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Heh. Detroit led Cleveland 4-2, bottom 8, 2 out nobody on. Strike 3 on next batter to end the inning...except the catcher let the ball go to the backstop, batter safe at first. Innumerable bloops, walks, errors, and silliness later, 6-4 Cleveland. 

 

Sigh...

Wow.  They score 6 runs after the 1st three batters of the inning strike out.  That has to be some sort of record.

[rv78]

Can you believe it? It's really hard to fathom. How is it possible? No way should this happen. Daniel Lynch went 6 innings for KC even though he was behind 4-0 and retired all 7 batters he faced the 3rd time through the lineup. It's totally inconceivable, unbelievable, and remarkable. He could never pitch for the Twins.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, h2oface said:

I was concerned about trading for damaged goods when they acquireed Mahle. It seems this FO really disregards the injuries. Dyson is not too far in the rearview. They ignored Chris Paddock's history. Maeda was always a concern and it finally happened. Now we gave up a haul to get Mahle, and he wasn't anything close to a 1 or 2 anyway. I hope it is not a season ender. I know you can't control injuries, but it would be nice to make the right call a few times, and these guys actually stay on the field and pitch.

Only three good pitchers were traded, and two were potentially hurt, and they couldn't match what Seattle did. They tried to win, rather than sit still. I can't believe people wanted them to do nothing? 

[D.C Twins]

If this ends up being thoracic outlet syndrome? ?  

And yes, shoulder problems are definitely more concerning than elbow problems.... so if the FO missed something serious and more long term that is egregious.

[h2oface]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Only three good pitchers were traded, and two were potentially hurt, and they couldn't match what Seattle did. They tried to win, rather than sit still. I can't believe people wanted them to do nothing? 

Who said anyone wanted to do NOTHING! You just made that up, yourself, here.These guys weren't the only pitchers with talent or potential. And most, including me, wanted them to do a lot more and acquire more and higher quality pitching. Lots to pick from other than these guys over the years. Call it consistent bad luck? Whatever it is, it is something. 

[h2oface]

3 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Heh. Detroit led Cleveland 4-2, bottom 8, 2 out nobody on. Strike 3 on next batter to end the inning...except the catcher let the ball go to the backstop, batter safe at first. Innumerable bloops, walks, errors, and silliness later, 6-4 Cleveland. 

 

Sigh...

I watched it. Unbelievable. It is also one of my least favorite rules. The batter has already struck out, regardless if the catcher catches the third strike. And especially if it is such a nasty pitch that the batter swings and missed a WP, gets beat that bad, and he still gets to stay in the game and there is no out. Is a strikeout an out or not? A bizarre rule.

Anyway, it seemed Cleveland is under a spell, and all is with them, the stars are aligning for them. Unbelievable. They are pumped and feelin' it. I guess there still could have been a 9th inning at bat if it was a 3rd out.

[Blyleven2011]

9 hours ago, TwinsChupacabra said:

The Royals are beyond bad. 

There better  than the 2021 twins  ....

[Mark G]

4 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

They've also made the postseason twice in the 28 years the AL Central has existed, but yeah, exemplary franchise. I mean, c'mon...

Proves the old adage that even a broken clock is right twice a day.    

[Mark G]

31 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

There better  than the 2021 twins  ....

Just out of curiosity, how?  The Twins were a .450 winning percentage team for the season.  Royals today .403.  I must be missing something?

[Blyleven2011]

8 minutes ago, Mark G said:

Just out of curiosity, how?  The Twins were a .450 winning percentage team for the season.  Royals today .403.  I must be missing something?

The first half or up to deadline of 2021 the twins were constantly blown out  , they were not competitive games  , they did start to play better the final 2 months that  probably inflated the winning percentage ...

In my eyes 2021  was the worst twins season of ball I have ever witnessed  , even worse than the season we lost 103 games  , there were alot of competitive games we lost that year .....

[Mark G]

2 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

The first half or up to deadline of 2021 the twins were constantly blown out  , they were not competitive games  , they did start to play better the final 2 months that  probably inflated the winning percentage ...

In my eyes 2021  was the worst twins season of ball I have ever witnessed  , even worse than the season we lost 103 games  , there were alot of competitive games we lost that year .....

Makes sense.    

[rwilfong86]

Another complete team victory. Need some more of these in the next month

[bighat]

14 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Pitchers aren't just randomly off 5-7 mph.

No they're not, and this is why Mahle's likely either gone for the year or gone until the last week of the season. Incredibly bad luck with the Twins big pitching additions (Paddack, Mahle). 

Time to stop trading for guys with injury histories, maybe? 

[bighat]

5 hours ago, h2oface said:

Who said anyone wanted to do NOTHING! You just made that up, yourself, here.These guys weren't the only pitchers with talent or potential. And most, including me, wanted them to do a lot more and acquire more and higher quality pitching. Lots to pick from other than these guys over the years. Call it consistent bad luck? Whatever it is, it is something. 

Agreed. 

Twins do most of their shopping at garage sales and thrift stores - so when they go to TJ Maxx and get a guy like Mahle, we're supposed to be impressed. Wake me up when they're looking through the new collection at Macy's. 

Oddly enough, the only two signings that have really impressed me (Correa, Donaldson) have been extremely disappointing. It's a shame the Twins have missed on these big swings, as I'm afraid it will keep them from trying again. 

[prouster]

11 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

 extended short relief 

Now there’s turn of the phrase. Have you ever thought about going into politics?

[mikelink45]

I am glad that Pagan got through the innings but if you look at the number of runners on base and the excellent Fielding that bailed him out I don't think we can celebrate his rise to reliability.  It really is a puzzle why we don't have a true Long relief man in the bullpen. We see a nice group of young players in the positions who can take us into the future. I keep hoping to see the same thing in the pitching side. 

[Mike Sixel]

9 hours ago, h2oface said:

Who said anyone wanted to do NOTHING! You just made that up, yourself, here.These guys weren't the only pitchers with talent or potential. And most, including me, wanted them to do a lot more and acquire more and higher quality pitching. Lots to pick from other than these guys over the years. Call it consistent bad luck? Whatever it is, it is something. 

Three good pitchers were traded. Two were possibly hurt, and one was too expensive. Those were the options, whether we like it or not. So, Mahle or ?  Whether you wanted more or not isn't relevant to which starter was actually available. So, of the three, did you want one, or not? If so, which one? Castillo would cost Lewis, SWR and two more top five guys. 

[Mike Sixel]

4 hours ago, bighat said:

Agreed. 

Twins do most of their shopping at garage sales and thrift stores - so when they go to TJ Maxx and get a guy like Mahle, we're supposed to be impressed. Wake me up when they're looking through the new collection at Macy's. 

Oddly enough, the only two signings that have really impressed me (Correa, Donaldson) have been extremely disappointing. It's a shame the Twins have missed on these big swings, as I'm afraid it will keep them from trying again. 

Which other pitcher was traded that was better, that they could get? Mahle wasn't some cheap, bad, pitcher. 

[Mortimerkenny21]

15 hours ago, RpR said:

Yet they shut out the Dodgers. a team the Twins looked like  a AA team when playing.

Baseball is weird.

[cHawk]

10 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

There better  than the 2021 twins  ....

[Shaitan]

6 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I am glad that Pagan got through the innings but if you look at the number of runners on base and the excellent Fielding that bailed him out I don't think we can celebrate his rise to reliability.  It really is a puzzle why we don't have a true Long relief man in the bullpen. We see a nice group of young players in the positions who can take us into the future. I keep hoping to see the same thing in the pitching side. 

Because a specialized long reliever is essentially a 6th starter, aka somebody who spends more games on the bench than on the field. It's more efficient to use the roster spot with a rotation of AAAA arms.

I think the days of a Tony Fiore or whoever are gone.

[USAFChief]

33 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

Because a specialized long reliever is essentially a 6th starter, aka somebody who spends more games on the bench than on the field. It's more efficient to use the roster spot with a rotation of AAAA arms.

I think the days of a Tony Fiore or whoever are gone.

I don't know, but I don't think anyone is using a spot on a dedicated "long guy" any more.

 

[mikelink45]

2 hours ago, Shaitan said:

Because a specialized long reliever is essentially a 6th starter, aka somebody who spends more games on the bench than on the field. It's more efficient to use the roster spot with a rotation of AAAA arms.

I think the days of a Tony Fiore or whoever are gone.

Give me a Smeltzer or use Bundy or Archer or Sands to fill innings.  Save the short time - one inning RP.

[bighat]

22 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Which other pitcher was traded that was better, that they could get? Mahle wasn't some cheap, bad, pitcher. 

In my analogy, "thrift store" pitchers are the Bundys and Archers of the world. I compared Mahle to a TJ Maxx purchase - nothing to sneeze at, but everyone knows they're not top-of-the-line.

Mahle's fine.

[bighat]

18 hours ago, USAFChief said:

I don't know, but I don't think anyone is using a spot on a dedicated "long guy" any more.

 

 

The "long guys" of yore would pitch more innings per appearance than the starters of today.

Diff game.