Giants 4, Twins 1: Bailey Ober's Early Struggles, Twins' Lack of Offense Leads to Loss

[Nate Palmer]

The Minnesota Twins had a Giants bullpen game served up on a platter for them to take game one of the homestand. Instead the night was filled with an uncharacteristic opening for Bailey Ober and a non-existent offense which led to a Twins loss.

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

 

Box Score
SP: Bailey Ober: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (76 pitches, 49 strikes (64.5%)
Home Runs: Kyle Garlick (2)
Bottom 3 WPA: Bailey Ober (-0.247), Kyle Farmer (-0.128), Michael A. Taylor (-0.123)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

Before the game's first pitch, the Twins shared great news after a weekend filled with injuries. That news was that Byron Buxton would, in fact, be able to play Monday night in the series opener against the Giants. As the lineup struggles, it cannot afford to miss Buxton’s bat.  

Walks Will Haunt
Over his first five starts, Bailey Ober has been very good at two things. He has limited walks and home runs. Coming into Monday’s game, Ober had allowed two home runs and seven walks to opposing batters, giving him a fantastic 1.78 ERA and making him a valuable part of the Twins starting rotation. 

It is those pristine numbers that made the sloppy first inning Monday so strange. Ober handed free passes to the first two batters, which set the table for J.D. Davis to double home the game's first run. In the next at-bat, Michael Conforto took Ober deep for a 3-run home run putting the Giants up 4-0 before an out was recorded. 

Haunts to Flaunts
While the first inning was a nightmare, Ober deserves a truckload of credit for settling in and working quickly through the rest of his start. Over the next four innings, Ober only allowed one hit and no walks. The right-hander did great work at saving the bullpen and giving time for the offense to try and chip away at the lead. (More on that later.)

Put Me in Coach…
Edouard Julien was set to get time at second base and hit cleanup for the Twins. Well, he did play second base but never had the opportunity to hit. In the second inning, after the Giants pulled their right-handed opener John Brebbia and turned to left-hander Sean Manaea. Rocco Baldelli made his move. The Twins turned to Donovan Solano over Julien.

While Solano got a base hit to lead off the inning, the Twins could not do anything with it. It is an interesting managing decision not to let a young hitter get any chance against a struggling Manaea, even if he's a left-hander.

The Twins had a plan for pinch hitting against the Giants and stuck to it. Not only was Julien lifted early, but so was Alex Kirilloff in favor of Kyle Garlick. While we will focus mainly on the Twins plan for their own offense, credit to the Giants for their plan. The Giants had a clear blueprint to try and neutralize the Twins bench moves, and that plan was executed masterfully.   

There was quite a level of gamesmanship that went into the Giants plan. Dan Hayes offered up on Twitter that Manaea threw a bullpen session pre-game. A pre-game bullpen would cause any team to assume he wouldn’t be the long arm after the opener. 

Where’s the Offense?
As has plagued the Twins all season long, the offense disappeared. What is most frustrating on a night like tonight is that they did so against a pair of pitchers that have performed more like replacement pitchers than anything. Manaea and Tristan Beck are the type of pitchers a competitive ball club should feast on, and the Twins did the exact opposite of that. 

Garlick did get Beck for a solo home run in the eighth inning in a righty vs. righty matchup. While the home run prevented the shutout, that was all it was good for. Injuries have certainly been an issue for the Twins, but even with the injuries, this lineup is talented enough to have put up crooked numbers against the pitchers they faced Monday. 

What’s Next? 
In the second game of the series the Twins will send Sonny Gray to the mound who is still carrying a 1.64 ERA this far into the season. The Giants will counter with their best starter as Alex Cobb takes the mound who has his own sub two ERA AT 1.94 nine starts into his season. 

Postgame Interviews

 

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TOT
Jax	0	33	0	0	17	50
Sands	0	0	0	0	44	44
De León	0	0	0	31	0	31
J. López	0	0	19	12	0	31
Pagán	0	0	0	0	23	23
Durán	0	0	20	0	0	20
Stewart	0	11	5	0	0	16
Morán	0	0	9	0	0	9

 

 

View full article

[jorgenswest]

36 minutes ago, Nate Palmer said:

The Giants had a clear blueprint to try and neutralize the Twins bench moves, and that plan was executed masterfully.   

Huh?

Solano, Garlick and Jeffers were on base in 6 of their 8 plate appearances including the only run after starting on the bench. Hardly neutralized. Give credit to Baldelli for countering the opener so masterfully. It was the starting line up that was the problem. The bench moves were the only offense.

[Vanimal46]

This is likely the last game I watch live for a while. The offense stinks. Absolutely stinks. The honeymoon period for Willi Castro lasted a couple of days and now we remembered he stinks. 

[Aggies7]

16 k’s!!!!

[Vanimal46]

The Giants had 2 hits total after the 1st out of the game and still comfortably won. Let that sink in. 

[Old Crow]

The team right now seems listless and looks sloppy.  A different lineup every night maximizing left right match ups doesn't appear to be working all that well.  Maybe using a set lineup for a few games would allow some of these guys to get a little rythem going.

[darwin22]

This team is UNWATCHABLE trying to hit a baseball.  

Call me a fair weather fan if you want.  Thats fine.  Been a life long fan going back to the early 70s.  Attended many games at the Ol Met as well as the Metrodome.  Followed this team for 50+ years and have witnessed A LOT of bad hitters in Twins lineups since the early 70s.

I know that game has changed.  Many consider batting average obsolete.  I don't.  Many say that high whiff rates just have to be accepted.  I refuse to accept that.  Many more say that stolen bases are meaningless/ too much risk.  Count me opposed to that belief.

For those who've been strong fans of this team for even 10 years, let alone 50+---I have to ask the following:  When was the last time that TWINS PITCHERS this deep into the season have been ranked in the top 4 of MLB in ALL the following categories:

Prior to tonights game:

ERA:  3.43/ 3rd

Quality Starts:  24/ Tied for 1st

HR allowed:  43/ 4th

K's:  464--------1st

Opponents batting average:  .225/ 2nd

WHIP:  1.17/ 2nd

Answer to above question:  I would venture with great certainty to say----NEVER!

One would think with those IMPRESSIVE team pitching staff, you'd have better than a piddling 25-22 W-L record.

Why is that the case?  Simple answer:  A team that is unbearable to watch hitting unless you just love an occasional SOLO HR.

For those unaware---Twins hitters --not counting tonights AWFUL performance--had the following ranks in MLB---See if you notice a "theme" here, especially considering what the pitching staff has done:

Total Bases:  14th/ 649

K's:  1st (or 30th) Pitiful 458----------will still lead MLB after 16 MORE WHIFFS tonight. Just pitiful.

Just a quick note:  Guess what MLB team whiffs the least?  If you answered the team that moved to within 2.5 games of leading the AL Central, you'd be correct.

SB's:  29th/ 16 

AVG:  14th/ .232

OBP:  22nd/ .312

SLG%:  14th/ .408

OPS:  Tied 15th (PIT)/ .720

Commonality:  No rank anywhere the "top 10" in any of those areas.

* For those who might argue I "cherry picked" these stats saying..." Hey the Twins rank #7 in HRs!"  My counter argument would be.  How many of those have been solo HRs?  I'd venture at least 50% of the 63 hit before Garlick's solo job tonight.  I sure as heck know we have ZERO grand slams as we've got to the WORST team in MLB this season with the bases loaded.  At least count, I think  it was 5-43---all singles for a robust .116 avg.

It is just sickening to me that this collection of hitters continues to FAIL to make contact by whiffing at such a horrendous rate.  Now, 474 whiffs in 48 games!  Thats an average of 9.875 per game!  Even with all the changes in MLB---one thing hasn't changed:  Teams only get 27 outs.  Right now this collection of misfits is recording 36.5% of "outs per game" by taking a turn back to the dugout.  That is unacceptable no matter year it is.  If this pace continues, this team...once AGAIN will be playing meaningless games by August into September.  Pretty disgusting as this pitching staff (mainly the SPs) deserves so much better.

 

 

 

 

[Rik19753]

19 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

SB's:  29th/ 16 

AVG:  14th/ .232

OBP:  22nd/ .312

SLG%:  14th/ .408

OPS:  Tied 15th (PIT)/ .720

While those numbers, as well as being 30th in K%, don't paint a pretty picture, it also doesn't explain why this offense looks so bad. If you look at these stats, you would think that their offense is average. And it is, when you look at runs scored, as they are actually a very solid 12th.

Their problem isn't that they aren't scoring runs, it's that they are horrible when the stakes are high.

The Twins have a -2.28 WPA in clutch situations, which is 29th in the league. This essentially means that if they had hit at a league average in clutch situations, they would be 28-20 or 27-21, not 25-23.

Normally, these things even out as the season go on, because clutch hitting isn't thought to be a repeatable skill. So if this were happening to some other team, I would be confident in saying that they are playing below their talent level and that they will be better going forward. However, in the case of the Twins, I can't help but think this is all connected to the playoff losing streak and the bad juju that seemingly surrounds this franchise. We've seen time and time again that the Twins can't perform up to their normal level when the pressure is on, and sadly, I think the lack of clutch hitting is just more of the same.

[D.C Twins]

Buckle up buttercup.... this season could get ugly real quick..... 

[Jocko87]

The purpose of the modern in game manager is to know when to override the chatGPT sabr-autopilot.  We did not have that today. I don’t know what it was.  Interesting to be sure. 

I said in the game thread, before I knew about the extension, that if I were Joe Pohlad I’d have to have Derek explain the math to me in detail. What was the plan here? Make him say it out loud. If it still makes sense OK, but I’d bet he couldn’t get halfway through.

And please don’t let the Garlick home run be some indication of doing something right. If he had a move he would have made it. Larnach was sick I guess which makes emptying the bench early even odder. 

I’m usually a bit of a Rocco apologist but I’ve got nothing tonight.  True that the subs were the only spark, but they were subbing for the only other guys who’ve been a spark lately. He’s been saying he was going to do something crazy with the lineup to jumpstart it but this ain’t it. This was just crazy. 

[USAFChief]

That might be the worst managed ballgame I've ever seen.

[Blyleven2011]

I really don't know what to say  about tonight's game ...

the pitchers deserves better , Ober off in first inning and 4 runs given up and no more , a 4 run deficit is not hard to come back from  ....

27 outs per game and batters strikeout 16 times , again this is not entertaining   , 2 errors ...

a lineup that had Kirilloff and Julien  to start and were replaced by the second inning  and there was no injuries  , we know Kirilloff can hit lefthanders , to small of a sample with Julien  ...

This was not a winnable game the way the batters played ,  they took the field at home and didn't come to play  ...

Small crowd tonight , watch them get smaller if this is the entertainment they are trying to sell to the true fans  , and I mean true passionate  fans ... 

I have been a fan of the twins and all teams in baseball since the sixties ( except for the Yankees ) ...

Baseball is a great game and usually isn't boring to the true fan  , but it's wearing thin with me as I'm starting to watch some other teams lately ( not that I'm rooting for them , i just like to see good baseball games )   , and their lineups don't have batters batting below .235 ...

[Mark G]

2 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

The purpose of the modern in game manager is to know when to override the chatGPT sabr-autopilot.  We did not have that today. I don’t know what it was.  Interesting to be sure. 

I said in the game thread, before I knew about the extension, that if I were Joe Pohlad I’d have to have Derek explain the math to me in detail. What was the plan here? Make him say it out loud. If it still makes sense OK, but I’d bet he couldn’t get halfway through.

And please don’t let the Garlick home run be some indication of doing something right. If he had a move he would have made it. Larnach was sick I guess which makes emptying the bench early even odder. 

I’m usually a bit of a Rocco apologist but I’ve got nothing tonight.  True that the subs were the only spark, but they were subbing for the only other guys who’ve been a spark lately. He’s been saying he was going to do something crazy with the lineup to jumpstart it but this ain’t it. This was just crazy. 

Agreed.  All of the above.  When you know you only have 3 bench players/moves, and you use 2 of them in the first 3 innings, and the 3rd one is your backup catcher, what if someone gets hurt?  With this team it happens all the time.  Who replaces them?  Put Buck in and rotate everyone else?  Lose your DH?  Or do you put Jeffers in the field?  Or does Larnach come in, sick or not?  It could have happened.  

And I will go one further:  why do you pull your starter after 76 pitches, when he has mowed down 15 of the last, what, 16 hitters? (or was it 17)  That makes your pen pitch 4 innings which could affect what moves you make tomorrow,  

I hear all the time about how the game has changed; no it hasn't.  The game doesn't change, only how it is played changes.  And this bunch, with their golf swings (sorry, "launch angle") and lack of fundamentals, are going to strike out a lot and live or die off of the home run.  Worked in '19; not so much lately.  Last year just over 48% of our games we scored 3 runs or less.  This year it is just under 44%, and if you only go by the first 9 innings (we got the 4th or more runs in extra innings 4 times) it is actually just over 50%.  We only look decent in total runs scored because we get a bunch all at once in the other games.  In the meantime, our record shows the inconsistency, and if you take away the 7 games against the 2nd worst team in MLB (KC) we are 19-22.  And not because of the pitching, although a couple of relievers have contributed to that.  In this older guy's extremely humble opinion it is due entirely to the hitting approach of the team as a whole, which is led by the manager and coaches, and the in game managing, which is some of the worst I have seen in my lifetime,  Rocco has been living off of those 307 home runs ever since, and it is getting old watching the way he manages.  But I guess that is something we will have to live with, extension and all.  Earl Weaver's starters pulled him through; maybe ours can save Rocco in spite of himself.  

[the_brute_squad]

7 hours ago, darwin22 said:

This team is UNWATCHABLE trying to hit a baseball.  

Call me a fair weather fan if you want.  Thats fine.  Been a life long fan going back to the early 70s.  Attended many games at the Ol Met as well as the Metrodome.  Followed this team for 50+ years and have witnessed A LOT of bad hitters in Twins lineups since the early 70s.

I know that game has changed.  Many consider batting average obsolete.  I don't.  Many say that high whiff rates just have to be accepted.  I refuse to accept that.  Many more say that stolen bases are meaningless/ too much risk.  Count me opposed to that belief.

For those who've been strong fans of this team for even 10 years, let alone 50+---I have to ask the following:  When was the last time that TWINS PITCHERS this deep into the season have been ranked in the top 4 of MLB in ALL the following categories:

Prior to tonights game:

ERA:  3.43/ 3rd

Quality Starts:  24/ Tied for 1st

HR allowed:  43/ 4th

K's:  464--------1st

Opponents batting average:  .225/ 2nd

WHIP:  1.17/ 2nd

Answer to above question:  I would venture with great certainty to say----NEVER!

One would think with those IMPRESSIVE team pitching staff, you'd have better than a piddling 25-22 W-L record.

Why is that the case?  Simple answer:  A team that is unbearable to watch hitting unless you just love an occasional SOLO HR.

For those unaware---Twins hitters --not counting tonights AWFUL performance--had the following ranks in MLB---See if you notice a "theme" here, especially considering what the pitching staff has done:

Total Bases:  14th/ 649

K's:  1st (or 30th) Pitiful 458----------will still lead MLB after 16 MORE WHIFFS tonight. Just pitiful.

Just a quick note:  Guess what MLB team whiffs the least?  If you answered the team that moved to within 2.5 games of leading the AL Central, you'd be correct.

SB's:  29th/ 16 

AVG:  14th/ .232

OBP:  22nd/ .312

SLG%:  14th/ .408

OPS:  Tied 15th (PIT)/ .720

Commonality:  No rank anywhere the "top 10" in any of those areas.

* For those who might argue I "cherry picked" these stats saying..." Hey the Twins rank #7 in HRs!"  My counter argument would be.  How many of those have been solo HRs?  I'd venture at least 50% of the 63 hit before Garlick's solo job tonight.  I sure as heck know we have ZERO grand slams as we've got to the WORST team in MLB this season with the bases loaded.  At least count, I think  it was 5-43---all singles for a robust .116 avg.

It is just sickening to me that this collection of hitters continues to FAIL to make contact by whiffing at such a horrendous rate.  Now, 474 whiffs in 48 games!  Thats an average of 9.875 per game!  Even with all the changes in MLB---one thing hasn't changed:  Teams only get 27 outs.  Right now this collection of misfits is recording 36.5% of "outs per game" by taking a turn back to the dugout.  That is unacceptable no matter year it is.  If this pace continues, this team...once AGAIN will be playing meaningless games by August into September.  Pretty disgusting as this pitching staff (mainly the SPs) deserves so much better.

 

You have summed up everything I've been saying. You've actually taken the time to look at the numbers! I'm done giving this team, more particularly Rock head and the two celebrated dunces in the front office, any time other than a glance at this site so I can catch the lowlights. I'd rather shake my head once than incessantly over the course of 2.5 hours. 

 

 

 

[weitz41]

Man on man..This was the 1st game I have watched in a week or so. The teams going to need a bath in tomatoe juice after this one. They stunk. By the 6th inning I found something else to watch and flipped back and forth so it wasn't a complete waste of a couple hours.

[Eephus]

Any time +50% of the outs are from strikeouts it's probably going to be a tough game to watch. After Sunday's flailfest, I needed a night off. Those pitchers aren't exactly Roger Clemens/ Nolan Ryan. It looks like Correa is taking higher quality at bats. Maybe that will trickle through the the lineup. Done 0 analysis, but watching guys swing and miss at low and inside sliders is gets old. 

[Riverbrian]

7 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Huh?

Solano, Garlick and Jeffers were on base in 6 of their 8 plate appearances including the only run after starting on the bench. Hardly neutralized. Give credit to Baldelli for countering the opener so masterfully. It was the starting line up that was the problem. The bench moves were the only offense.

You are correct -- 10 baserunners total in the game. 4 hits, 4 walks and 2 hit by pitch. 

Solano with a single and two walks - 

Garlick with a walk and a home run AGAINST A RIGHT HANDER that Rocco never would have allowed to happen if he didn't paint himself into a corner by the third inning. 

Jeffers got plunked by a pitch as a pinch hitter for Gallo in the 9th.

That is 6 out of 10 base runners in the game. 

The rest of the lineup managed:

Castro 1 Single - 1 Double

Vasquez 1 BB

Buxton 1 HBP

I'll add that the ERA's (prior to the game) that befuddled our offense were:

1 Inning - Brebbia - 4.26 (RHP)

3.1 Inning - Manaea - 7.81 (LHP)

2.2 Inning - Beck - 5.71 (RHP)

0.2 Innings - Tyler Rogers - 2.22 (RHP) (He's been good)

1 Inning - Alexander - 4.67 (LHP)

And I'll echo what plenty have said - 16 strikeouts. 

 

Now that we got that out of the way. 😉

It was a stupid move. 

 

[Maybebaby]

7 hours ago, darwin22 said:

This team is UNWATCHABLE trying to hit a baseball.  

Call me a fair weather fan if you want.  Thats fine.  Been a life long fan going back to the early 70s.  Attended many games at the Ol Met as well as the Metrodome.  Followed this team for 50+ years and have witnessed A LOT of bad hitters in Twins lineups since the early 70s.

I know that game has changed.  Many consider batting average obsolete.  I don't.  Many say that high whiff rates just have to be accepted.  I refuse to accept that.  Many more say that stolen bases are meaningless/ too much risk.  Count me opposed to that belief.

For those who've been strong fans of this team for even 10 years, let alone 50+---I have to ask the following:  When was the last time that TWINS PITCHERS this deep into the season have been ranked in the top 4 of MLB in ALL the following categories:

Prior to tonights game:

ERA:  3.43/ 3rd

Quality Starts:  24/ Tied for 1st

HR allowed:  43/ 4th

K's:  464--------1st

Opponents batting average:  .225/ 2nd

WHIP:  1.17/ 2nd

Answer to above question:  I would venture with great certainty to say----NEVER!

One would think with those IMPRESSIVE team pitching staff, you'd have better than a piddling 25-22 W-L record.

Why is that the case?  Simple answer:  A team that is unbearable to watch hitting unless you just love an occasional SOLO HR.

For those unaware---Twins hitters --not counting tonights AWFUL performance--had the following ranks in MLB---See if you notice a "theme" here, especially considering what the pitching staff has done:

Total Bases:  14th/ 649

K's:  1st (or 30th) Pitiful 458----------will still lead MLB after 16 MORE WHIFFS tonight. Just pitiful.

Just a quick note:  Guess what MLB team whiffs the least?  If you answered the team that moved to within 2.5 games of leading the AL Central, you'd be correct.

SB's:  29th/ 16 

AVG:  14th/ .232

OBP:  22nd/ .312

SLG%:  14th/ .408

OPS:  Tied 15th (PIT)/ .720

Commonality:  No rank anywhere the "top 10" in any of those areas.

* For those who might argue I "cherry picked" these stats saying..." Hey the Twins rank #7 in HRs!"  My counter argument would be.  How many of those have been solo HRs?  I'd venture at least 50% of the 63 hit before Garlick's solo job tonight.  I sure as heck know we have ZERO grand slams as we've got to the WORST team in MLB this season with the bases loaded.  At least count, I think  it was 5-43---all singles for a robust .116 avg.

It is just sickening to me that this collection of hitters continues to FAIL to make contact by whiffing at such a horrendous rate.  Now, 474 whiffs in 48 games!  Thats an average of 9.875 per game!  Even with all the changes in MLB---one thing hasn't changed:  Teams only get 27 outs.  Right now this collection of misfits is recording 36.5% of "outs per game" by taking a turn back to the dugout.  That is unacceptable no matter year it is.  If this pace continues, this team...once AGAIN will be playing meaningless games by August into September.  Pretty disgusting as this pitching staff (mainly the SPs) deserves so much better.

 

 

 

 

darwin 22 NAILS IT!  This teams strikeout rate is Sano-like....atrocious!  For you stat guys...what is the team strikeout rate with RISP?  Ugly, Ugly...

 

 

[Maybebaby]

darwin 22 NAILS IT!  This teams strikeout rate is Sano-like....atrocious!  For you stat guys...what is the team strikeout rate with RISP?  Ugly, Ugly...from a fan since day 1.

[mikelink45]

7 hours ago, darwin22 said:

This team is UNWATCHABLE trying to hit a baseball.  

Call me a fair weather fan if you want.  Thats fine.  Been a life long fan going back to the early 70s.  Attended many games at the Ol Met as well as the Metrodome.  Followed this team for 50+ years and have witnessed A LOT of bad hitters in Twins lineups since the early 70s.

I know that game has changed.  Many consider batting average obsolete.  I don't.  Many say that high whiff rates just have to be accepted.  I refuse to accept that.  Many more say that stolen bases are meaningless/ too much risk.  Count me opposed to that belief.

For those who've been strong fans of this team for even 10 years, let alone 50+---I have to ask the following:  When was the last time that TWINS PITCHERS this deep into the season have been ranked in the top 4 of MLB in ALL the following categories:

Prior to tonights game:

ERA:  3.43/ 3rd

Quality Starts:  24/ Tied for 1st

HR allowed:  43/ 4th

K's:  464--------1st

Opponents batting average:  .225/ 2nd

WHIP:  1.17/ 2nd

Answer to above question:  I would venture with great certainty to say----NEVER!

One would think with those IMPRESSIVE team pitching staff, you'd have better than a piddling 25-22 W-L record.

Why is that the case?  Simple answer:  A team that is unbearable to watch hitting unless you just love an occasional SOLO HR.

For those unaware---Twins hitters --not counting tonights AWFUL performance--had the following ranks in MLB---See if you notice a "theme" here, especially considering what the pitching staff has done:

Total Bases:  14th/ 649

K's:  1st (or 30th) Pitiful 458----------will still lead MLB after 16 MORE WHIFFS tonight. Just pitiful.

Just a quick note:  Guess what MLB team whiffs the least?  If you answered the team that moved to within 2.5 games of leading the AL Central, you'd be correct.

SB's:  29th/ 16 

AVG:  14th/ .232

OBP:  22nd/ .312

SLG%:  14th/ .408

OPS:  Tied 15th (PIT)/ .720

Commonality:  No rank anywhere the "top 10" in any of those areas.

* For those who might argue I "cherry picked" these stats saying..." Hey the Twins rank #7 in HRs!"  My counter argument would be.  How many of those have been solo HRs?  I'd venture at least 50% of the 63 hit before Garlick's solo job tonight.  I sure as heck know we have ZERO grand slams as we've got to the WORST team in MLB this season with the bases loaded.  At least count, I think  it was 5-43---all singles for a robust .116 avg.

It is just sickening to me that this collection of hitters continues to FAIL to make contact by whiffing at such a horrendous rate.  Now, 474 whiffs in 48 games!  Thats an average of 9.875 per game!  Even with all the changes in MLB---one thing hasn't changed:  Teams only get 27 outs.  Right now this collection of misfits is recording 36.5% of "outs per game" by taking a turn back to the dugout.  That is unacceptable no matter year it is.  If this pace continues, this team...once AGAIN will be playing meaningless games by August into September.  Pretty disgusting as this pitching staff (mainly the SPs) deserves so much better.

 

 

 

 

As someone who started out as an usher the first year, I have been a lifelong Twins fan and I loved your post - you nailed it.  I had a debate yesterday with another poster who pointed out the Twins total runs.  I tried to make the point that big blow out games distorted the record - yesterday the score was right in line with the majority of our losses and it is not acceptable. 

The strikeouts are driving me crazy -Another post yesterday said 38% of Gallo's hits are HRS.  So what - he hardly gets any hits.  Larnach seems to be following that pattern except he is not hitting HRS.  Give me the Piranha Twins - they were fun to watch and I believe this is supposed to be entertaining. 

Yesterdays big strategy of substituting batters as soon as the pitcher changed had some validity, but taking Julien and Kiriloff out did not.  

[Riverbrian]

8 hours ago, Nate Palmer said:

 

 

 

A simple usage chart would have pretty much laid out who was available to pitch last night. 

And... And... If they were fooled by a 30 pitch bullpen session. I'll add these considerations:

A: Manaea threw a bullpen session and his ERA is 7.81. How long do you think Manaea was going to pitch? 

B. His ERA was 7.81 going into the game. That's the ERA you are setting your lineup for? 

 

 

[mikelink45]

I have to post this note from the PULSE - put out by the Athletic:

The current standings produce the unbelievable visual: The entire AL East is better than the AL Central, with the caveat that Toronto (last place in the East) is tied in the standings with first-place Minnesota. 

A couple of facts:

• The AL East has a +218 combined run differential. The AL Central clocks in at -170.

[rwilfong86]

6 hours ago, USAFChief said:

That might be the worst managed ballgame I've ever seen.

I was about to write this exact thing.

[jorgenswest]

The bench moves provided the offense. Letting Ober continue after the awful start worked. I don’t think any manager would have replaced him before the three run home run. In game as far as bench and pen moves I don’t think Rocco could have been more effective compared to the results of the bench hitters and pen.

In anticipation of an opener he could constructed the lineup so the first three hitters were left handed. Why not start with Julien, Kirilloff and Gallo followed by Buxton and Correa? If the left handed trio goes down Manaea comes in against a long string of right handed batters. If they get on base Buxton and Correa are there to drive them in. Ultimately if those right handed batters that started the game are as awful as they were last night there is nothing a manager can do to hit the ball for them.

[Nashvilletwin]

7 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Small crowd tonight , watch them get smaller if this is the entertainment they are trying to sell to the true fans  , and I mean true passionate  fans ... 

Yep, this was a complete snooze fest last night. Let’s face it, other than most of our starting pitching (and Duran), this team is pretty darn boring.  Gray, Ryan, and maybe Duran could make the all star team.  We do not have a single position player, not a one, who could even remotely be considered to be selected. ZZZZZZZZZ

[wabene]

Kirilloff should not be pinch hit for, full stop. He is maybe our best pure hitting prospect and he needs as many at bats against leftys as you can feed him. Get him dialed in. Early this year when it became apparent we were going to ride the platoon advantage more I was excited. Last night was a bridge too far. 

[Riverbrian]

54 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

In anticipation of an opener he could constructed the lineup so the first three hitters were left handed. Why not start with Julien, Kirilloff and Gallo followed by Buxton and Correa? If the left handed trio goes down Manaea comes in against a long string of right handed batters. If they get on base Buxton and Correa are there to drive them in. Ultimately if those right handed batters that started the game are as awful as they were last night there is nothing a manager can do to hit the ball for them.

This is a good point. If playing the platoon splits is the only card that he knows to play and assuming he doesn't know who will pitch the 2nd. 

Brebbia is the only pitcher that he knows where he will pitch. Lead off with your three left handers as you suggest. 

This probably forces Kapler to throw Beck in the 2nd instead of Manaea and he will get a string of right handers but why are we worried about Beck.... just like why are we worried about Manaea.  Later in the game... it forces Kapler to throw a left hander  against the trio of lefties at the top... Rogers or Alexander are available for use but they probably don't throw Manaea because it's just 3 lefties and Beck was his chosen bulk guy). Garlick and Solono are still available to pinch hit later in the game when he turns to Taylor Rogers or Alexander.  

When he pinch hits as early in the game. He has spent those moves... Kapler can now manage the game free and clear with the matchups that he wants. 

It was a bad move... but ultimately you are right. The team overall hitting was awful and there isn't much a manager can do about that.

The only idea that I have to get this team hitting better... is to give Kirilloff and Julien a chance to see if they can do better and it shouldn't be a high bar to clear. 

Kirilloff just took the lefty Moore deep on Sunday. He's been our best hitter since he hit the roster. So... Nope... the platoon splits trump everything. 

   

[wabene]

With Jax pumping slider after slider everybody was calling for a change of strategy by Jax, Vasquez or both.

It looks like someone was listening. 5.9% was his lowest slider total by a huge margin and the results were good. I liked him attacking the edges with his fastball and countering with the highest usage of his change and cut fastball. Nice mix. Looking at his season as a whole, there is no reason to get stuck in a slider rut. Mixing it up more will make that slider more effective. 

[Rik19753]

10 hours ago, Nate Palmer said:

 

 

I always go to MLB daily lineups on Rotowire (https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/daily-lineups.php) to see the Twins lineup for the day, and they had Sean Manaea expected to be the primary pitcher two hours before the game. So even if they didn't expect Manaea to come in, they should have at least prepared for that possibility.

And even if they didn't expect Manaea to come in, it still doesn't justify Rocco's moves. If anything, if they knew he had thrown a bullpen session, they should've stuck with Julien and Kirilloff knowing that Manaea didn't have a ton of bullets in him.

[Whitey333]

Yes Rocco was totally outmanaged last night.   UT that is really quite the normal thing.  Also we are probably stuck with him for a while as Ken Rosenthal reports Baldelli is now signed through 2025 after twins pick up two options on him.  Both Baldelli and Levine should be gone.  This team us very boring and has been for over 2 and a half years.  This organization is so messed up right now.  Kiriloff needs to pkay everyday.  They sure mess with the young players and placate the vastly overpaid and overrated veterans. When are we going to get a major league team in the Twin Cities?