Game Thread: Twins (Gray) v Mariners (Gilbert), 7/17/23 @ 8:40 CT

[wsnydes]

Edited July 17, 2023 by wsnydes
Added Mariners lineup for your viewing pleasure.

[Mike Sixel]

So, no Wallner. Why is he up? Seriously? Why is he up?

this is 100% why I said they wouldn't call him up to replace Miranda, because it would be a waste of his growth / time. 

Why is Buxton still batting 3rd?

At least Jeffers is playing....

[USAFChief]

Just now, Mike Sixel said:

So, no Wallner. Why is he up? Seriously? Why is he up?

this is 100% why I said they wouldn't call him up to replace Miranda, because it would be a waste of his growth / time. 

Why is Buxton still batting 3rd?

At least Jeffers is playing....

Rocco told you Saturday. 

"I've got LH hitting OFers."

[Mike Sixel]

11 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Rocco told you Saturday. 

"I've got LH hitting OFers."

My tirade isn't aimed at Rocco......mostly. 

[umterp23]

Buxton needs to be on IL till he is 100% healthy.  Sure doesn't need a rest day since he did a lot of walking back and for dugout to plate to dugout over the weekend.  

Baffled by Wallner not getting a run since being called up.  

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

wow buck dropped below the Mendoza line? nice to see correa pick it up and Kirilloff throw the team on his back for a day

[umterp23]

Rocco looked at his spreadsheet and it screamed righty/lefty rotational lineup.  

[umterp23]

Live in Pittsburgh area, nice thunderstorm rolling through at moment... Guardians/Pirates most likely delayed till 8pm ET or later 

[nicksaviking]

27 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

So, no Wallner. Why is he up? Seriously? Why is he up?

this is 100% why I said they wouldn't call him up to replace Miranda, because it would be a waste of his growth / time. 

Why is Buxton still batting 3rd?

At least Jeffers is playing....

Honestly, the excuses used to continually shoehorn Kepler into the lineup is going to tarnish how we remember him. They're making his last impression with us as the guy who's blocking the more talented young players? He would have been better remembered as traded, DFA'd or fallen back into a rotational bench role instead of forced to play villain.

[stringer bell]

29 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

So, no Wallner. Why is he up? Seriously? Why is he up?

this is 100% why I said they wouldn't call him up to replace Miranda, because it would be a waste of his growth / time. 

Why is Buxton still batting 3rd?

At least Jeffers is playing....

Who on the 40-man roster could they recall? It's basically Wallner or Larnach, and neither of them is a better player than Kepler/Gallo/Kirilloff, in the opinion of the manager or maybe the Front Office. 

I will nominate Matt Wallner as an honorary backup quarterback. Especially with that eight plate appearance on-base streak going for him.

[Mike Sixel]

10 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Who on the 40-man roster could they recall? It's basically Wallner or Larnach, and neither of them is a better player than Kepler/Gallo/Kirilloff, in the opinion of the manager or maybe the Front Office. 

I will nominate Matt Wallner as an honorary backup quarterback. Especially with that eight plate appearance on-base streak going for him.

How about a 3B? And, they have chaffe on the 40 man. If not, then just DFA the AAA guys they won't call up and start promoting guys from lower levels. 

We know Kepler isn't good. hasn't been for 3 years. We don't know if Wallner is better or not, but he's been better this year (in a tiny sample size). 

[nicksaviking]

21 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Who on the 40-man roster could they recall? It's basically Wallner or Larnach, and neither of them is a better player than Kepler/Gallo/Kirilloff, in the opinion of the manager or maybe the Front Office. 

I will nominate Matt Wallner as an honorary backup quarterback. Especially with that eight plate appearance on-base streak going for him.

If they think none of the options in AAA or AA could be better than those three, they must already know they've messed up. Why not at least try something new and hope for the best?

And there's no reason to worry only about options on the 40-man, there are numerous options to DFA or 60-day IL.

[Mortimerkenny21]

Uhh, have to wait so long for these west coast games to start. 🥱

[RickOShea]

47 minutes ago, umterp23 said:

Buxton needs to be on IL till he is 100% healthy.  Sure doesn't need a rest day since he did a lot of walking back and for dugout to plate to dugout over the weekend.  

Baffled by Wallner not getting a run since being called up.  

 

If a manager or a GM, for that matter, was asked about playing someone with Buxton's stats and injury history, they would laugh at you.  they would say he doesn't deserve a MLB  roster spot.  So why is Buxton any different?  His strikeouts and pop ups count the same, as do his runs.  The only difference is his name.  As far as I know, there's no pedigree attached.  So what's the truth?  come on FO, be transparent for once in your tenure.

[stringer bell]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

How about a 3B? And, they have chaffe on the 40 man. If not, then just DFA the AAA guys they won't call up and start promoting guys from lower levels. 

We know Kepler isn't good. hasn't been for 3 years. We don't know if Wallner is better or not, but he's been better this year (in a tiny sample size). 

I really don't disagree with you regarding the existing corner outfielders, but the FO and probably Rocco don't think Wallner is better than either one. Wallner may or may not be a better hitter than Kepler or Gallo and he's certainly not as good a fielder. Frankly, I see Wallner as a LH Rooker. 

[CRF]

The decisions that the FO/Rocco make are just baffling. This would've been a good game to stick Wallner in there, but apparently that doesn't fit in with the master plan. As others have said...why did they bring him up if all he's gonna do is ride the pine? They'll probably send him back to StP before he gets any meaningful playing time. 

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

Rocco told you Saturday. 

"I've got LH hitting OFers."

He's got outfielders who stand on that side of the plate, I'll grant him that.

Unless, that is, he pronounced the word "o-fers."  Those, he's got.

[Mike Sixel]

18 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I really don't disagree with you regarding the existing corner outfielders, but the FO and probably Rocco don't think Wallner is better than either one. Wallner may or may not be a better hitter than Kepler or Gallo and he's certainly not as good a fielder. Frankly, I see Wallner as a LH Rooker. 

If they don't think he's better, they should trade him. And, they are in real trouble next year if Wallner and Larnach aren't even as bad as the two corner guys on teh roster now. They literally start 3 backup / DFA Ofers right now......that's not a recipe for post season success.....and will be apparently even worse off next year when all three of those guys are gone.

[SwainZag]

Just now, Mike Sixel said:

If they don't think he's better, they should trade him. And, they are in real trouble next year if Wallner and Larnach aren't even as bad as the two corner guys on teh roster now. They literally start 3 backup / DFA Ofers right now......that's not a recipe for post season success.....and will be apparently even worse off next year when all three of those guys are gone.

Why would you trade your young OF depth, especially when there are real no viable options after them?  That's how you run into a situation like last season where you are forced to play Celestino/Cave/Williams/Contreras in almost a full time role.  I get people want to see Wallner, I thought he might get a start today, but he's been up for 2 whole games.  

I don't see how being worried about the 2024 starting OF lineup right now is a concern.  There's probably a pretty decent chance that Taylor is roaming CF next year.

[Mike Sixel]

6 minutes ago, SwainZag said:

Why would you trade your young OF depth, especially when there are real no viable options after them?  That's how you run into a situation like last season where you are forced to play Celestino/Cave/Williams/Contreras in almost a full time role.  I get people want to see Wallner, I thought he might get a start today, but he's been up for 2 whole games.  

I don't see how being worried about the 2024 starting OF lineup right now is a concern.  There's probably a pretty decent chance that Taylor is roaming CF next year.

Because they don't think they are good players.....isn't that what I responded to? That the FO does not think they are better than Gallo or Kepler.....so, ya, that means the FO thinks they are bad at baseball. If they don't think they are worse, why aren't they playing?

He's only been up for 2 games (3 now) because they don't think he's better than Gallo or Kepler.....clearly. Or he'd have been up.

[Mike Sixel]

But, I've made my point, and want to focus on the game at this point......

[ashbury]

I'd like to see Wallner in there tonight too, but the approach of the trade deadline makes roster tactics take precedence, unless we have a sure Cal Ripken being blocked by Pedro Florimon or whoever.  I'll wait two weeks to see what if any return is gotten.   If both Kepler and Gallo are still on the roster on August 2 and with poor performance blocking Wallner and Larnach both, then my pitchfork is ready and I know how to light a torch.

[wsnydes]

Mariners lineup added above for your viewing pleasure.

[stringer bell]

I checked the ESPN Gamecast and it is like looking into a mirror. The Twins are hitting .233 as a team, the M's are at .231, Twins have scored 400 runs, Seattle 410, Both teams have a .311 OBP, .372 ERAs and 1.17 WHIPs. Seattle is 46-46 and the Twins are 48-46, Sounds like a split of a four-game series to me.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Quote

Mariners lineup added above for your viewing pleasure.

We like to do Twins all time lineups, so here's a Seattle one

• LF Ichiro
• CF Griffey
• SS A Rod
• DH E. Martinez
• 3B Kyle Seager
• 1B Alvin Davis
• RF Jay Buhner
• 2B Harold Reynolds
• C Dan Wilson (he went to Minnesota, ya know)

[stringer bell]

Last year, the outfielders got injured. This year (currently), it is infielders. Lewis, Polanco and Miranda are out (Gordon too, if you count him as an infielder). There’s no one left that can help in the infield. 

[USAFChief]

3 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

We like to do Twins all time lineups, so here's a Seattle one

• LF Ichiro
• CF Griffey
• SS A Rod
• DH E. Martinez
• 3B Kyle Seager
• 1B Alvin Davis
• RF Jay Buhner
• 2B Harold Reynolds
• C Dan Wilson (he went to Minnesota, ya know)

Harold Reynolds. 

Heh.

The top 4 ain't too shabby though. 

[mrtwinsfan]

1 hour ago, RickOShea said:

If a manager or a GM, for that matter, was asked about playing someone with Buxton's stats and injury history, they would laugh at you.  they would say he doesn't deserve a MLB  roster spot.  So why is Buxton any different?  His strikeouts and pop ups count the same, as do his runs.  The only difference is his name.  As far as I know, there's no pedigree attached.  So what's the truth?  come on FO, be transparent for once in your tenure.

Thanx for your post,-- i get to worked up about this front office to post ,  And even worse is those on here who Question it 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

4 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Harold Reynolds. 

Heh.

The top 4 ain't too shabby though. 

speed guy? dunno, i was grasping for straws

[USAFChief]

2 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

speed guy? dunno, i was grasping for straws

Bret Boone?