It’s official … Kirilloff and Polanco to start season on the IL

[snellman]

Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff will miss start of Twins season

[stringer bell]

35 minutes ago, snellman said:

Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff will miss start of Twins season

Not a big surprise. I hope the recovery time is still in April, but no one really knows.

[tony&rodney]

The pitching will need to be really good from Opening Day. Luis Arraez gone (in a trade I like), Jorge Polanco down, Alex Kirilloff down, and Byron Buxton to DH changes the calculus for wins. The Twins will need Gordon, Farmer, Larnach, and Kepler to step forward. I'm expecting Miranda, Vasquez, and Correa to be fine. 

Hope both Polanco and Kirilloff are in the lineup every day by May.

[Vanimal46]

40 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The pitching will need to be really good from Opening Day. Luis Arraez gone (in a trade I like), Jorge Polanco down, Alex Kirilloff down, and Byron Buxton to DH changes the calculus for wins. The Twins will need Gordon, Farmer, Larnach, and Kepler to step forward. I'm expecting Miranda, Vasquez, and Correa to be fine. 

Hope both Polanco and Kirilloff are in the lineup every day by May.

I hope the schedule in April, which was already rough with a full slate of health, doesn’t take us out of the race right away. 

[h2oface]

Pretty amazing that Polanco is at the same spot as the end of August. What did he even do to treat it? Did he do the Mahle Method? Nothing but rest? Who knows. Secret secret. 

So we start with Miranda and his questionable shoulder at third, Gallo and little experience at first, or guys that play multiple positions but none great subbing in those spots. Flexiblity is great, but all the positions become compromised because of it. Here we go......

And there is Buxton not in center.

[Jocko87]

5 minutes ago, h2oface said:

Pretty amazing that Polanco is at the same spot as the end of August. What did he even do to treat it? Did he do the Mahle Method? Nothing but rest? Who knows. Secret secret. 

This is my question as well. Kinda the same as Buxton last year, soreness?  That was finally fixed with a procedure.  The knee is pretty well understood from a medical standpoint everywhere but Minnesota it seems.  It does feel like he’s headed for a scope or something that could have happened in November. 

I can appreciate waiting for natural healing but at some point the docs are crazy good at this type of stuff. My 70yo mother just got a hip in 30 minutes and walked out. Blew my damn mind.  With no information we can only speculate the worst and I wonder if they are struggling with that balance. 

[theBOMisthebomb]

From the Strib article, it appears both are participating in baseball activities and there have been no setbacks. There could have been much worse news. 

[MABB1959]

Why can't we ever get anything good or great.  This news and moving Buxton to DH is so depressing.  

[Riverbrian]

The Twins used 62 players last year.

If you invert 62 you get 26. 

I'm going to guess that the number of players that we use this year will be somewhere between 62 and 26. 

So it begins. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

If they are both back in April, then this is a nothing-burger. I'd rather they be fully healthy and ready to go if nothing else, and the depth is there this year to back up.

[tangopudding]

General comment-- but why is everyone on here so annoying when they talk about injuries?  I'm guessing y'all got the kfan brainworms

Like, have any one of you been a competitive athlete and worked through an injury before??

[JD-TWINS]

Both guys are continuing with baseball activities daily. Gotta cool the jets once again on the doom & gloom. 

Good news is there is a roster spot for a hot Larnach and hopefully he can capitalize and stick in the Show………& in a month will be concerned with who’s going to get cut.

Gordon/Farmer platoon at 2B is probably better offensive production than Polanco. It upsets our approach with Gordon principally playing in the OF. Also, Farmer’s ability to float is restricted a bit. 

Patience for these 2 guys to get ready/right for another 2-4 weeks seems to be a minor deal. The conspiracy theory comments on the FO needing to be more open about injuries and disclosing treatment, with progress reports is, IMO, a little nuts. Doesn’t really matter what they say, since we have to assume people running highly scrutinized, half billion $$ businesses are trying to make sure their assets are doing the right thing to be healthy.

Buxton is a physical mess - always has been!! Great looking, speedy, and talented athlete that can’t stay healthy! 92 games last year is his second highest total in 7 seasons. Being excited about him making great catches in CF is fine & understood. Somehow placing more value on 10 cool hi-light grabs per year v. having him in the line-up 130 games or better is upside down. We can find, & have for 6 of 7 years, others to play CF. He needs to DH at least 50 of his 130 starts - maybe half of his starts.

Would we rather have Buxton make 2-3 game winning catches that only he can make by sending him into OF everyday or have in the line-up an extra 45 - 60 games? If you add 2015 & 2020 season’s games together, to be fair to Byron, his total seasons played reduces to 7 from 8. In 6 of his 7 seasons he’s averaged 74 games (that’s 74 games/year) per season. Gotta do something pro-active to keep him in the line-up. DH!

[Dave The Dastardly]

49 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

If they are both back in April, then this is a nothing-burger. I'd rather they be fully healthy and ready to go if nothing else, and the depth is there this year to back up.

Where can a guy get some of these nothing-burgers? My wife's on a diet.

[baul0010]

14 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Good news is there is a roster spot for a hot Larnach and hopefully he can capitalize and stick in the Show………& in a month will be concerned with who’s going to get cut.

In a month....that is usually when Larnach is hurt.  That could be perfect timing for a Kiriloff return!!!

[Jocko87]

26 minutes ago, tangopudding said:

General comment-- but why is everyone on here so annoying when they talk about injuries?  I'm guessing y'all got the kfan brainworms

Like, have any one of you been a competitive athlete and worked through an injury before??

Maybe we are skeptical because we have?

We do talk with the benefit of hindsight but Buxton's knee was handled completely improperly last year for myriad reasons.  Enough that the trainer was replaced.  If Polanco has to go for a knee procedure after all this time, we will properly chastise them for handling it wrong as well.  I have no issues with the Kiriloff injury, this outcome is within 5 degrees of expectation from last year.  Polanco is 180 out.

[Cory Engelhardt]

27 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Where can a guy get some of these nothing-burgers? My wife's on a diet.

Gotta say, impossible burgers do taste pretty good :)

[Nashvilletwin]

 Kiriloff and Polanco out and Buxton pretty much a full time DH. Maeda and Mahle do not appear to be 100% either (hopefully Ober gets the ball every fifth day, but we likely will have to wait on that).

Its been clear all along - we TDers just never fully put 2+2 together.  Gallo, Taylor, Solano, and the Lopez/Arraez trade were all the clues we needed. What else could the FO have done?  They have a plan this year and come hell or high water they are going to it implemented.

Quick question - where’s the “fun” on this team? For me, it will be watching Gordon, Miranda, and Larnach among the position players. Correa and Vasquez too perhaps.  And Buxton ABs for sure. But Farmer, Solano, Gallo, Kepler, Taylor, and Garlick - nah, I pretty much have no interest in these one year guys.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Hard to be upset about the Kirilloff situation, he literally had a bone shaved down in an attempt to get back on the field.

I’m less impressed with the Polanco situation. He had seven months off, it seems like *something* could have been done to prevent this. 

[Mike Sixel]

7 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

 Kiriloff and Polanco out and Buxton pretty much a full time DH. Maeda and Mahle do not appear to be 100% either (hopefully Ober gets the ball every fifth day, but we likely will have to wait on that).

Its been clear all along - we TDers just never fully put 2+2 together.  Gallo, Taylor, Solano, and the Lopez/Arraez trade were all the clues we needed. What else could the FO have done?  They have a plan this year and come hell or high water they are going to it implemented.

Quick question - where’s the “fun” on this team? For me, it will be watching Gordon, Miranda, and Larnach among the position players. Correa and Vasquez too perhaps.  And Buxton ABs for sure. But Farmer, Solano, Gallo, Kepler, Taylor, and Garlick - nah, I pretty much have no interest in these one year guys.

Their plan is to have viable backups for guys. What would you like different? Because all the guys your listed are part of the plan. 

[Nashvilletwin]

35 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Their plan is to have viable backups for guys. What would you like different? Because all the guys your listed are part of the plan. 

Agree, the FO put together a viable, if not a really solid, group of professional baseball players as back ups.  Nothing not to like per se.

Winning cures all, so let’s hope for that.  It’s probably just me, but I don’t feel like I want invest as much of my “fan” capital in a lot of these guys who are going to be one and done.

I know I have a rep on the site for not liking the Arraez trade.  My view is that Arraez was much more than a great hitter and decent enough fielder - he was the spark (did you see the WBC?) Who’s the spark now - Gordon, Buxton?

My theory is that the g2 on Mahle and Maeda came in too late in FA to solve the problem with a signing. So they turned to the trade market.  

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Agree, the FO put together a viable, if not a really solid, group of professional baseball players as back ups.  Nothing not to like per se.

Winning cures all, so let’s hope for that.  It’s probably just me, but I don’t feel like I want invest as much of my “fan” capital in a lot of these guys who are going to be one and done.

I know I have a rep on the site for not liking the Arraez trade.  My view is that Arraez was much more than a great hitter and decent enough fielder - he was the spark (did you see the WBC?) Who’s the spark now - Gordon, Buxton?

My theory is that the g2 on Mahle and Maeda came in too late in FA to solve the problem with a signing. So they turned to the trade market.  

Fair. It's hard to for me to imagine most teams backups being players to be excited about.

[Schmoeman5]

1 hour ago, tangopudding said:

General comment-- but why is everyone on here so annoying when they talk about injuries?  I'm guessing y'all got the kfan brainworms

Like, have any one of you been a competitive athlete and worked through an injury before??

No but a lot of people have been injured and had surgeries and had to rehab to get on with living. What's your point. Do you have to be an athlete to understand?

[Minderbinder]

Really glad about all the results the change in the Twins' training staff is producing.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, tangopudding said:

General comment-- but why is everyone on here so annoying when they talk about injuries?  I'm guessing y'all got the kfan brainworms

Like, have any one of you been a competitive athlete and worked through an injury before??

To answer the first question, in part, the Twins added depth this year to protect against players missing time. Many (myself included) believe this is a good thing. Perhaps the discussion of injuries is a reflection of the fans wanting to see the best players on the field from Opening Day. I have to ask you what a kfan brain is? I never heard that term.

To answer your second question - yes. It takes time and dedicated work.

[Beast]

Well, all those wringing their hands over the reasons why the Twins would sign Gallo and Solano now have their answer.

[Doctor Gast]

To begin the season. Most likely Miranda will share time at 1B with Gallo, with Farmer starting at 3B, and unfortunately leaves Solane at 2B. With Gallo at 1B, that gives more time for Larnach & Gordon in the OF with Gordon helping out at 2B. Kepler at RF, with Buxton at DH so Taylor will take over CF.

Especially w/o Polanco we need a LH bat in the INF. So we should add Willi Castro to the active roster.

[bloomwcjkl]

3 hours ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Where can a guy get some of these nothing-burgers? My wife's on a diet.

All the free Sheboygan sausages add up and take a toll on the health. Extra inflammation. :-)

[DJL44]

3 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Gordon/Farmer platoon at 2B is probably better offensive production than Polanco. It upsets our approach with Gordon principally playing in the OF. Also, Farmer’s ability to float is restricted a bit. 

Also better defensively than Polanco with bad knees.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

3 hours ago, tangopudding said:

kfan brainworms

There is the nine to noon brainworms that describes every player injury and front office move as genius and according to plan, then there is the noon to three and three to six dose-of-reality kfan. I recommend the latter. 🙂

[DJL44]

The news about Kirilloff is the most disappointing. His career is in jeopardy.