Game Thread: Twins v Royals, OPENING DAY! @ 3:10pm CT

[Squirrel]

New season, new game thread format. Just basic information, you all provide the rest in the comments: game day, in-game musings and whatnot. Go Twins!

 

 

[wabene]

This is a good idea since there were struggles to get people to sign up for game thread introductions. Also because now I don't have to feel guilty for not contributing, lol.

I will miss the more creative introductions though. 

[CRF]

Really like the new format! Looks great! Looking forward to a win on opening day down in KC! 

[miracleb]

I will start.......Grienke....let's put him out to pasture!  Twins need to start him off with a 15.0 ERA after game 1.

[wsnydes]

So, the Royals are going to forfeit the first game of the season?  Post a lineup already!

[wabene]

6 minutes ago, miracleb said:

I will start.......Grienke....let's put him out to pasture!  Twins need to start him off with a 15.0 ERA after game 1.

Grienke, the gift that keeps on giving. Weak lineup? Not today! Let's go! 

[wsnydes]

Already behind the Royals in the standings too.  It's all over!

[stringer bell]

I haven't been an advocate for Julien to break camp with the Twins, but there seems to be a glaring need to have a high OBP guy at the top of the lineup. Julien fits that. If Twins leadoff hitters struggle through April, I wonder is Eduord will be up with the big club.

One can hope that Kepler will capture his 2019 magic, but that is now four years ago and actually seems like longer. Max is the only member of the Bomba Squad still in Minnesota and playing the same position. 

[stringer bell]

A comment on the batting order. Without looking at platoon splits, it seems Rocco tried to alternate L-R until he got to the bottom of the order. Gallo-Vazquez-Gordon-Taylor makes more sense to me than Gordon-Gallo-Vazquez-Taylor.

[stringer bell]

18 minutes ago, wsnydes said:

So, the Royals are going to forfeit the first game of the season?  Post a lineup already!

Yeah, only seven hours to first pitch!!!

[wsnydes]

Just now, stringer bell said:

Yeah, only seven hours to first pitch!!!

Exactly!  Don't want to be late on your first day at work!

[FlyingFinn]

Kepler leading off. Argh! Much rather have Gallo as he has a higher OBP.

[Squirrel]

27 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I haven't been an advocate for Julien to break camp with the Twins, but there seems to be a glaring need to have a high OBP guy at the top of the lineup. Julien fits that. If Twins leadoff hitters struggle through April, I wonder is Eduord will be up with the big club.

One can hope that Kepler will capture his 2019 magic, but that is now four years ago and actually seems like longer. Max is the only member of the Bomba Squad still in Minnesota and playing the same position. 

Yeah, I'm iffy on Max and whether or not he can better himself here. But, I understand sending Julien to AAA ... at least for the first few weeks of the season. This decision in part could have been a team control issue. But it also was probably just as much a we are going to see what Kep does first, giving him that opportunity which I think he's earned. BUT ... I hope we don't go past the first month if it doesn't work.

[Puckett34]

Happy Opening Day to all who celebrate!

...which I'm guessing all here do.  lol

[stringer bell]

23 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Kepler leading off. Argh! Much rather have Gallo as he has a higher OBP.

Gallo's OBP last year was .280, Kepler .318.

Gallo OBP vs. RH pitching in '22: .297     Career vs. RH pitching:  .332

Kepler OBP vs. RH pitching in '22  .328  Career vs. RH pitching:  .328

 

[JD-TWINS]

30 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Kepler leading off. Argh! Much rather have Gallo as he has a higher OBP.

There’s 162 of these…………new year, fresh start. 2019 Kepler had .820 OPS & a bunch of homers (32) batting lead-off……..nobody expects him to replicate that year either. Maybe somewhere in the middle for ‘23?

[FlyingFinn]

2 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Gallo's OBP last year was .280, Kepler .318.

Gallo OBP vs. RH pitching in '22: .297     Career vs. RH pitching:  .332

Kepler OBP vs. RH pitching in '22  .328  Career vs. RH pitching:  .328

If we have '22 Gallo, he is worthless. He has had a number of seasons where his OBP was good. Kepler, he has had one great year with a juiced ball. I'm projecting Gallo's OBP to be much higher than Kepler this year. The picture I always see with Kepler is - a weak grounder to 2B and Kepler is thrown out at first, over and over again. Hope I'm wrong about him.

Part of me would rather have Gallo's strikeouts in the leadoff position rather than with the bases loaded, which is more likely following our better hitters. At least Kepler's weak groundout might score a run in that position.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, CRF said:

Really like the new format! Looks great! Looking forward to a win on opening day down in KC! 

FYI ... this is just a screen shot of what's up on the Twins/MLB website ... that's the new format ... basic info to get it going ... you guys provide the rest 🙂

[Doctor Gast]

Now that Arraez is gone, Baldelli is back placing Kepler at lead-off. I don't want to seem over confident but we should have a good lead where Pagan & Sands should get some work in & save the BP.

[stringer bell]

9 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

If we have '22 Gallo, he is worthless. He has had a number of seasons where his OBP was good. Kepler, he has had one great year with a juiced ball. I'm projecting Gallo's OBP to be much higher than Kepler this year. The picture I always see with Kepler is - a weak grounder to 2B and Kepler is thrown out at first, over and over again. Hope I'm wrong about him.

Part of me would rather have Gallo's strikeouts in the leadoff position rather than with the bases loaded, which is more likely following our better hitters. At least Kepler's weak groundout might score a run in that position.

Versus right handed pitching, Kepler's OBP in '22 was .328. In his career, his OBP vs. right handed pitching is .328. In his career year in '19, Kepler's OBP vs. right handed pitching was..............wait for it..............................328! 

[stringer bell]

Just now, stringer bell said:

Versus right handed pitching, Kepler's OBP in '22 was .328. In his career, his OBP vs. right handed pitching is .328. In his career year in '19, Kepler's OBP vs. right handed pitching was..............wait for it..............................328! 

The things that made Kepler's 2019 a career year were 1) power--he hit over 30 homers and 2) he handled lefties--.356 OBP and .880 OPS.

[MMMordabito]

53 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Kepler leading off. Argh! Much rather have Gallo as he has a higher OBP.

Do you really want this Batter vs. Pitcher profile leading off today? 

[chpettit19]

2 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

Do you really want this Batter vs. Pitcher profile leading off today? 

He's due?

[stringer bell]

Further down the rabbit hole with Kepler--what made 2022 really disappointing was his second half. For whatever reason the power faded to below Arraez level and as the injuries mounted he became more and more of a black hole at the plate. 

I don't really like Max in the leadoff role, but it's probably the least bad of the options available. He seemed to like batting leadoff in 2019 and had a great year. Maybe this is a case where accommodating a player actually works. He did look better at the plate in Florida than Gallo FWIW.

[Vanimal46]

 

Casual reminder to get the chicken out of the freezer!

[MMMordabito]

PTC: Nick Gordon for me.

[nicksaviking]

39 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Gallo's OBP last year was .280, Kepler .318.

Gallo OBP vs. RH pitching in '22: .297     Career vs. RH pitching:  .332

Kepler OBP vs. RH pitching in '22  .328  Career vs. RH pitching:  .328

 

Gross. Can I pick "other"?

[FlyingFinn]

4 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

Do you really want this Batter vs. Pitcher profile leading off today?

My overall point - we don't have anyone good to leadoff. That is a big offensive weakness. I foresee too many solo homers this year (rather than 2 or 3 run homers) and a lot of 2-1 and 3-2 games. We are counting on our pitching. For now, we don't have the great defense without Gallo in left and Kirilloff at 1B and I'm not a fan of Gordon's defense at 2B.

[nicksaviking]

10 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Further down the rabbit hole with Kepler--what made 2022 really disappointing was his second half. For whatever reason the power faded to below Arraez level and as the injuries mounted he became more and more of a black hole at the plate. 

I don't really like Max in the leadoff role, but it's probably the least bad of the options available. He seemed to like batting leadoff in 2019 and had a great year. Maybe this is a case where accommodating a player actually works. He did look better at the plate in Florida than Gallo FWIW.

I would have just put my best hitter out there and not thought too hard about it. Let your big money free agent lead off the season. It's not a frightening lineup, might as well get your best hitter to the plate as many times as possible and hope for the best.

[wsnydes]

29 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

 

Casual reminder to get the chicken out of the freezer!

don't be jinxing things now.