Twins 2, Pirates 0: Dallas Keuchel Flirts With Perfection; Twins Take Series

[BsuNemo]

4 hours ago, Hubie29 said:

How do you like that move in the bottom of the 3rd? Have to go lefty/righty and bring in the mighty Gallo with only a guy on first and 2 out.  Of course a strikeout was the result. I could maybe see it if you were pinch hitting with a contact hitter. But even that would be a sttrrretccchhhh.  Luplow isn't that inept, that he can't face a righty in the third inning.  I wonder what Roccos charts were telling him? This kind of decision making is what has driven me nuts with this regime over the past few years. 

Kepler instead? 

[curt1965]

I’ll just add a couple more Gallo comments. 
If the Twins are worried about playing a 1B the rest of the year? Just play Solano there. He’ll at last give them a chance to produce SOMETHING at that position. He’s one of the reasons the Twins are so terrible with runners in scoring position with less than 2 outs. In addition, if there is an injury there, any healthy body can play 1B for a couple of innings. St. Paul is only 30 minutes away. And in the entirety of everybody who has ever played for the Twins, has anyone ever been so pathetic and still given his number of at bats?

[DJL44]

5 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Gotta have the L-R matchup.  Its crazy.

"It's called playing the percentages. It's what smart managers do to win ballgames" - Montgomery Burns

[stringer bell]

I really don’t want to defend Rocco or Joey Gallo, but even with all the empty at-bats, Gallo has a .751 OPS, which is above league average. He dovetails this positive stat with decent defense. 
 

I heard no word on Kepler’s status today. I presumed he was available to play and would hit for the right handed hitting Luplow, with Matt Wallner moving to left field. Baldelli will use all of his position players and Gallo’s skills merit some playing time. 
 

Solano has started games at first against right handers. Gallo has been benched against right handers, but situations have allowed him at bats and kept him on the roster. I presume he will eventually be benched or DFAed when more players are healthy. Time will tell. 

[mnfireman]

Figured the Twins would take 2 of 3, just figured it would be Friday & Saturday. And sure didn't see 6.1 perfect innings out of Keuchel, not even against Pittsburgh. 

[UK Twin]

That outing from Keuchel has given the Twins something to think about. That was vintage Keuchel, an outing that he produced so often during his Cy Young year. I hope he stays on the roster for rest of the year TBH, another player who has experience of winning in the play offs. His experience could be invaluable for someone like Ryan or Ober. I'd be tempted to move Maeda to the bullpen once Joe's back in preparation for the play offs as that's how he was used by the Dodgers or go with a 6 man rotation for the rest of the regular season to manage workload. 

It was good to see Buxton in good spirits while on the recovery trail. TBH there's no reason to rush him back. We need him back in CF, he's not suited to being a full time DH. Mentally he can't do it and that's fair enough. He's a CF in his mind and he just wants to be back out there. His bat has definitely suffered for not being out on the field. So I'm really hoping this stint on the IL results in him getting back out on the field, at least on a part time basis.  

[TWTwinsFan]

16 strikeouts, ladies and gentlemen

[TWTwinsFan]

https://imgur.com/30QGAmO

need stats padding? he is good at it.

[Dave Borton]

12 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Gotta have the L-R matchup.  Its crazy.

He's like a kid with his first iPad, not a manager who knows his players nor a man who leads with some intuition.

[D.C Twins]

11 hours ago, IaBeanCounter said:

Twins have won 2 of 3 starts.  IMO it could be worse and not much room to be better.  I don't look forward to a DK start against TX, but I'm not sure Ryan will be much better with his HR problems.

Well, I think it is fare to say that they won 2 of 3 despite Gallo, not because of him!

[NotAboutWinning]

7 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I really don’t want to defend Rocco or Joey Gallo, but even with all the empty at-bats, Gallo has a .751 OPS, which is above league average. He dovetails this positive stat with decent defense

Which only illustrates how worthless OPS is as a stat. It's like trying to combine bench press and sprint speed in football and then trying to figure out if you're looking at an offensive lineman or a WR.

[Peter]

Kuechel was magnificent!!! Yes it should’ve been a sweep but it’s a winning series as well home stand and I’ll take it along with largest division lead in 2 years with 6 game lead. Tough week with brewers and rangers as ill take a 3-3 but hoping for 4-2 week as we can sweep Milwaukee split with Texas 

[Blyleven2011]

14 hours ago, BH67 said:

The 2006 Twins: the Piranhas.

The 2023 Twins: the Box of Chocolates.

The piranhas of the early 2000 ...

The possums of 2020 through 2023 , they play dead  ....

Tip of the hat to kuechel  for his control  and keeping us in the game  ...

Bullpen held the win  ....

Again 16 strikeouts  , again that sucks  ...

[NotAboutWinning]

It is kinda fun to sit down to watch a game and think "I could literally see anything happen today" 😉

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, davidborton said:

He's like a kid with his first iPad, not a manager who knows his players nor a man who leads with some intuition.

I'm always amazed when the "Fire Rocco" crowd is out in force after a win, and a series win.

Despite what some constantly insist on, Rocco knows his players just fine; they play hard for him and there's been basically no problems in the clubhouse. The biggest issue this season has been a guy hiding an injury to try and stay in the rotation. People think they want managers who "go with their gut", but will turn on them as soon as one of those gut-shots bombs in a critical moment. I mean, how great was it when Gardy would bat Nick Punto 2nd in the order (a player who was never a league average hitter in any of his 7 seasons with the Twins)? That was an "intuition" move.

[Hubie29]

10 hours ago, BsuNemo said:

Kepler instead? 

Nobody instead.  It's only the third inning. Let the game play out a little.  Ludlow could get a hit as easily as anyone else.  BUT, if the powers say you have to make a change, cuz that's what Rocco does, Kepler would have been better. But like I said, that doesn't make sense either. 

[Dave Borton]

20 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

I'm always amazed when the "Fire Rocco" crowd is out in force after a win, and a series win...

One win and a series win needn't be the only small sample on which to render an opinion of a manager's ability to assess, know, and lead a ball club.

Baldelli? A man with an over-reliance on statistical analysis. Please don't categorize fans as an "either/or." It's a faulty syllogism. Just one fan who believes  he is not getting the most from his ballplayers or club. Can he take this assembled group to the next level in their potential or success?

No.

20 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

they play hard for him

Our assessments differ, that's all. We view through different lenses. 

[laloesch]

You can't help but like Keuchel.  Guy has competitive spirit and wants to win badly.  He pitched well.  He still doesn't have enough velocity and never will, but in games like this against lesser opponents he might be able to squeak a few wins off.

Note: The Rodriguez and Williams called 3rd strikes were awful terrible calls.  That of course is not Keuchel's fault, he did what he had to.

[jorgenswest]

Other teams use this strategy of starting a bench player like Luplow against an opener and then pinch hitting once the opener leaves. Another option is to start Gallo a bat him at the bottom thinking that the opener will be out of the game by the time that spot comes up. 

[Dave Borton]

1 hour ago, Peter said:

Kuechel was magnificent!

I was torn between attending town ball or seeing Kuechel throw -- I had seen him pitch at St Paul and wanted to see him in MLB. Town ball was our choice.

I think he can serve as a mentor to the younger staff. He is a class act and has been to the dance. If he falters as a starter, room for him in the pen to eat innings.

[saviking]

What makes me scratch my head about the strike-to-ball ratio for a pitcher is they don't need to throw an actual pitch in the strike zone to get credit, for a strike. They just need to get a batter to swing. Therefore a lot depends on whether they face a batter with good plate discipline vs a free swinger.

Sorry, I always found that a little thought-provoking as you usually think it shows how many times they threw their pitch into the rectangular box ..

[David Maro]

Time to have a talk with Polanco about his health. Looks like he is having leg issues again. Falling out of the box on every swing. Had 25% of the 16 strike outs Sunday. I see Gallo DFAed September 1st when Buxton and AK are back. With the strike zone in this game,a pitcher needed to use what the umpire was calling. Now comes a very tough road with the next 15 games.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

After 3 starts the Keuchel experiment is working out great -  Allowing Ryan to get healthy and rejuvenated.   Well worth it.  Keuchel will likely get crushed again in the future with a tighter strike zone,  but for the day and 3 starts going 2-1,  that is everything we could have expected along with getting into the 7th inning.   

[IaBeanCounter]

4 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Well, I think it is fare to say that they won 2 of 3 despite Gallo, not because of him!

I apologize, I thought the "but I would rather see a AAA backfill get a chance" comment was regarding Keuchel, not Gallo.  

[Steven Trefz]

2 hours ago, saviking said:

What makes me scratch my head about the strike-to-ball ratio for a pitcher is they don't need to throw an actual pitch in the strike zone to get credit, for a strike. They just need to get a batter to swing. Therefore a lot depends on whether they face a batter with good plate discipline vs a free swinger.

Sorry, I always found that a little thought-provoking as you usually think it shows how many times they threw their pitch into the rectangular box ..

Announcers leaned into this with Duran in the 9th...how overly spiking his curve and split actually caused batters to lay off of multiple pitches, hence the climbing walk and hard hit rates. Yet when he just threw normal out of the zone pitches, hitters couldn't tell the difference until its too late, and definitely couldn't make hard contact.

Keep those pitch counts down across the board...bonus.

[terrydactyls]

3 hours ago, davidborton said:

Baldelli? A man with an over-reliance on statistical analysis.

Has anyone considered that pinch hitting for Luplow was a "gut" decision?  I'm not saying it was but it is a possibility.

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

Has anyone considered that pinch hitting for Luplow was a "gut" decision?  I'm not saying it was but it is a possibility.

It was the plan all along with a bullpen / starter game from Pitts. 

[Hubie29]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

It was the plan all along with a bullpen / starter game from Pitts. 

Whether it was a plan or not, isn't that over planning?  3rd inning?  Gallo?  I would rather have Luplow vs right, rather than Gallo vs my grandmother.  Ok, grandmother was a stretch.  Seriously, these types of moves are classic Baldelli, and drive me crazy. 

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Hubie29 said:

Whether it was a plan or not, isn't that over planning?  3rd inning?  Gallo?  I would rather have Luplow vs right, rather than Gallo vs my grandmother.  Ok, grandmother was a stretch.  Seriously, these types of moves are classic Baldelli, and drive me crazy. 

No other manager makes a different decision there. It is how the game works. I don't even know how this is debatable (other than the FO only gave him the choice of Gallo, but that's not his fault).

[SwainZag]

4 minutes ago, Hubie29 said:

Whether it was a plan or not, isn't that over planning?  3rd inning?  Gallo?  I would rather have Luplow vs right, rather than Gallo vs my grandmother.  Ok, grandmother was a stretch.  Seriously, these types of moves are classic Baldelli, and drive me crazy. 

If Luplow is only going to get at max 1-2 AB in this game, does it matter if it's automatically known he will hit against a LHP in the 1st inning, or just possibly against a relief arm later?  I don't have a problem with the pinch hitting, especially because Luplow is on this team for one reason and that is to bat against LHP.