Game Thread Twins @ Yankees 3:05 ET 9/7/22

[ashbury]

4 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

I wish they could have tried to trade him. Now we’ll probably get beans for him

His contract is no-trade after this season.

[Aggies7]

Just now, TopTwinsFan said:

Sure but those teams were largely devoid of talent. Except for my beloved Radke. Damn I miss him. 

This team is different. They could be a bit better but they expect to lose and choke in big games. 19 straight playoff losses dont happen without a mental block related to winning big games. Falvey/Baldi ball

They were devoid of talent but they had fundamentals, the kind that hasn’t existed in the organization for years. And that even predates rocco 

[UpstateNewYorker]

After a Game 1 loss for the ages, the Twins will tee it up again against the Yankees in Game 2 of the doubleheader.

Twins:

L. Arraez, DH
C. Correa SS
J. Miranda 1B
N. Gordon 2B
G. Urshela 3B
K. Garlick RF
J. Cave LF
G. Celestino CF
S. Leon C

J. RYan, P (10-7, 1.14 WHIP)

Yankees:

A. Hicks LF    
A. Judge DH    
G. Torres 2B    
O. Cabrera RF    
J. Trevino C    
M. Gonzalez 1B    
I. Kiner-Falefa 3B    
E. Florial CF    
O. Peraza SS

G. Cole, P (10-7, 1.01 WHIP)

 

 

[SanoMustGo]

1 minute ago, ashbury said:

His contract is no-trade after this season.

Then we must hope he opts out.  That $35m can go a long way

[IndyTwinsFan]

5 minutes ago, TopTwinsFan said:

Absolutely. He is unwatchable. I have no idea how he got his role. It is hard to imagine someone being worse at analysis. Must be on because of his good lucks.

Good looks??  I hope you're being sarcastic here.

[CRF]

Well...we've proven that we can't beat the Yankee's AAA team. Maybe they can send the AA team in next, and we'll see if we can beat them!

[Aggies7]

Heck, IKF has seemingly had as many clutch hits in this series as correa has in a long while 

[SanoMustGo]

2 minutes ago, UpstateNewYorker said:

After a Game 1 loss for the ages, the Twins will tee it up again against the Yankees in Game 2 of the doubleheader.

Still waiting on the Twins lineup.

Yankees:

A. Hicks LF    
A. Judge DH    
G. Torres 2B    
O. Cabrera RF    
J. Trevino C    
M. Gonzalez 1B    
I. Kiner-Falefa 3B    
E. Florial CF    
O. Peraza SS

G. Cole, P (10-7, 1.01 WHIP)

 

 

I heard the FO called Pat Mears to start at SS for the 2nd game.  Correa to be the SP as we need to move Ryan back so we have a chance to win at least one game in the Cleveland series.

[TopTwinsFan]

2 minutes ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Good looks??  I hope you're being sarcastic here.

Absolutely. A face even a mother might wince at

[LA Vikes Fan]

It's easy to bang on Correa. He hasn't hit up to par and I think he's gone after this year, but where's his help? Arraez, Miranda, Gordon, maybe, and that's it. Buxton is hurt and didn't much after May, Polanco has  had a poor year, Urshela is "fine" (average), Kepler and Sanchez are well below average, and Larnach and Kirilloff have been hurt most of the year and are question marks going forward. Sano? That was supposed to be the core of the lineup. 

Bottom line is it's not injuries, it's lack of high end talent. We have about 65% of a contending lineup (less without the unexpected contributions of Miranda and Gordon), about 60% of a contending rotation, maybe 50% of a contending bullpen, and an inexperienced manager. Recipe for a mediocre team. And guess what? We're a mediocre team. 

[SwainZag]

 

2 minutes ago, CRF said:

Well...we've proven that we can't beat the Yankee's AAA team. Maybe they can send the AA team in next, and we'll see if we can beat them!

If we are being honest, the lineup the Twins put out there isn't that far off their AAA team either

[SanoMustGo]

1 minute ago, SwainZag said:

 

If we are being honest, the lineup the Twins put out there isn't that far off their AAA team either

Cole is shaking in his boots

[Aggies7]

1 minute ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

It's easy to bang on Correa. He hasn't hit up to par and I think he's gone after this year, but where's his help? Arraez, Miranda, Gordon, maybe, and that's it. Buxton is hurt and didn't much after May, Polanco has  had a poor year, Urshela is "fine" (average), Kepler and Sanchez are well below average, and Larnach and Kirilloff have been hurt most of the year and are question marks going forward. Sano? That was supposed to be the core of the lineup. 

Bottom line is it's not injuries, it's lack of high end talent. We have about 65% of a contending lineup (less without the unexpected contributions of Miranda and Gordon), about 60% of a contending rotation, maybe 50% of a contending bullpen, and an inexperienced manager. Recipe for a mediocre team. And guess what? We're a mediocre team. 

You aren’t wrong about the lineup around him but can you name the clutch hits he’s had this year? I can think of maybe one. There was a big home run somewhere I think. But without the help of baseball reference I really can’t think of any. His defense has been outstanding but his clutch hitting has not existed for the twins 

[TopTwinsFan]

16 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

I think it’s an organizational cancer. Guys are showing up unskilled in the basics of the game. And then apparent poor coaching at the major league level doesn’t solve anything.

Becoming more and more obvious why Wes Johnson bailed on a first place team mid season. No doubt the Twins have missed him.

Watkins is horrendous but winning doesnt matter enough to the franchise to change 3rd base coaches.

[Battle ur tail off]

27 minutes ago, RpR said:

No Megill lost the game, he gave up 3 - THREE -hits , it is as simple as that.

Rocco lost it when he pulled a pitcher that was cruising in Varland. Then he had to burn up the rest of his bullpen. Now we will have to punt this game if we even keep it close because we will be running out the bad part of our bullpen. I’m ready for anyone at this point to take over for him. He has lost us 5-6 games at least this season. 

[SwainZag]

Just now, Battle ur tail off said:

Rocco lost it when he pulled a pitcher that was cruising in Varland. Then he had to burn up the rest of his bullpen. Now we will have to punt this game if we even keep it close because we will be running out the bad part of our bullpen. I’m ready for anyone at this point to take over for him. He has lost us 5-6 games at least this season. 

I'm sorry but you don't leave a kid in the game in his 1st MLB start to face Judge a 3rd time, especially after he homered against him in his last AB.  Rocco made the right decision taking him out.  The Twins offense lost this game, plain and simple.

[TopTwinsFan]

Talent level aside I cant remember a Twins team in 35 years that had a stronger craving to lose big games than this team. Started with the bullpen (and Baldelli's poor pitching decisions) which have now spread to the entire teams consciousness.

If you were explaining to someone the definition of finding a way to lose todays Twins game was a classic.

If I was a betting man, Id bet the farm on the Yankees this evening, despite a winner in Ryan pitching. He can only do so much by himself and he will be taken out at the most idiotic time, too early or too late. Then an overlooked bullpen will be run by a poor game day manager. Cant wait to watch.

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 minute ago, Aggies7 said:

You aren’t wrong about the lineup around him but can you name the clutch hits he’s had this year? I can think of maybe one. There was a big home run somewhere I think. But without the help of baseball reference I really can’t think of any. His defense has been outstanding but his clutch hitting has not existed for the twins 

Oh, I agree. Correa has not been clutch at the plate, he has been clutch in the field. It's his defense with a decent bat that got him the contract he has. He was not one of the clutch important Astros hitters, he mostly hit fifth if I remember correctly. He wasn't brought in here to be one of our best middle of the lineup hitters, those were supposed to be Buxton, Polanco, Sano, and Kepler, none of whom have performed.

I guess the silver lining is that we are really seeing that that core we thought we had a couple of years ago was a mirage and we're moving onto the next group. Goodbye Sano, Polanco moves to the 5 or 6 hole, and the bench for Kepler, and on to A seem to be sticking Arraez, Miranda, Gordon, and . . . Next year is looking kind of ugly. 

[SanoMustGo]

Go Miranda and Gordon!  I could care about the rest of the team at this point.

[Tlaker]

23 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I think, from the top down, this organization doesn't value skill at actually playing the game of baseball. 

Amen….. fundamentals, what’s that and why do we need them?

[Battle ur tail off]

4 minutes ago, SwainZag said:

I'm sorry but you don't leave a kid in the game in his 1st MLB start to face Judge a 3rd time, especially after he homered against him in his last AB.  Rocco made the right decision taking him out.  The Twins offense lost this game, plain and simple.

Pitch around Judge either way at that point. He should be pitched around every at bat this series with the way the rest of their current lineup has hit. 

[Aggies7]

At least cole threw 21 pitches, I guess

[sampleSizeOfOne]

1 hour ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

12 innings.

I was premature...

 

Sorry.

[Aggies7]

A nice long AB by the terrible Hicks to start the game. Just what we needed 

[Aggies7]

10 pitches and counting. 

[Aggies7]

Can’t think of a worse possible start for Ryan 

[SwainZag]

2 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Can’t think of a worse possible start for Ryan 

Could have ended the AB with a HR instead of an out.....

[Aggies7]

1 minute ago, SwainZag said:

Could have ended the AB with a HR instead of an out.....

I mean yeah obviously. He’s got 1 out and 24 pitches. Can we throw bundy in there lol

[Aggies7]

We might have to use a starter. Pagan can’t go 5 innings.

[RpR]

52 minutes ago, SanoMustGo said:

He didn't earn the $35 million, not even close.

He was hired for his glove first , bat second, without that glove Twins would be fighting Kansas City for third.