Twins 2, Tigers 8: Sloppy and Lethargic in Detroit

[Matt Braun]

Maybe we should have rooted for the rain. 

Image courtesy of Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Pablo López: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Pablo López (-.180), Austin Martin (-.085), Carlos Correa (-.065)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

One day wasn’t enough to wait before baseball could be played in Detroit; the previous day’s dampness rolled over and pushed back the game start about an hour. The beauty of April baseball in the Midwest. The weather affected all: neither starter was as sharp as usual, and Adam Beck, calling the game behind the plate, chose to read Gone With the Wind between deciding strikes. 

Pablo López caught the worst of it, though. He kicked off the game by allowing a solo homer to Mark Canha before only escaping the frame when Kerry Carpenter inexplicably attempted to go first-to-third on a hit aimed directly towards Byron Buxton. Kyle Farmer chose War And Peace to hold him over while waiting for the runner.

That inning portended significant labor. Even the clean innings felt painful; a 1-2-3 scoreless 3rd needed 19 pitches. The dam finally broke when dinks, dunks, and a poorly placed fastball to Riley Greene suddenly bloated his earned run total for the day to five, pushing Rocco Baldelli to trudge to the mound and remove his ace.  

López’s off night would have meant more had Minnesota’s offense not remained impotent and unintimidating. They did an admiral job keeping Tarik Skubal inefficient, but the big bop never came. Even the hits were toothless; the pair of infield singles that stood as the only hits they had against Skubal could have just as easily been wiped from the ledger had Detroit’s defense been sharper. 

Michael Tonkin made his first appearance as a Twin since September 30th, 2017. He allowed a pair of runs and struck out five.

The rest of the game was something that happened, I’m sure of it, but its existence rivaled muck and caused a deep glazing of the eyes. Both teams sleepwalked towards inevitability, only occasionally stopping for the rare notable side-show or added run. Willi Castro pitched once the game reached the proper MLB-state-approved run difference. Christian Vázquez played 3rd base. Eyes rolled. 

Mercifully, the game ended after a small 9th-inning skirmish made the beating a little less brutal. 

Carlos Correa exited the game with a right oblique strain. He is expected to hit the IL. Before he left, he was still able to make a fabulous diving play.

Notes:

Kyle Farmer earned his first hit of the season with a 9th-inning double down the 1st-base line.

Michael Tonkin first played with the Twins in 2013. The closer for that team was Glen Perkins, who served as the color commentator for Friday's game. 

Minnesota's pitchers struck out 15 batters, their highest total of the year.

Kody Funderburk's career ERA is now 0.98.

Post-Game Interview:

What’s Next?

The Twins and Tigers will play a straight doubleheader on Saturday. Joe Ryan will start game 1, and Simeon Woods Richardson will serve as the 27th man and pitch in game 2. First pitch is at 12:10 PM. Second pitch will be 30 minutes after the end of game 1. 

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

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[D.C Twins]

Darn... I thought for sure that Tonkin was the answer to our problems! 

[Aggies7]

Been a lot of “lethargic and sloppy” games in recent years.

[h2oface]

Ace, eh? May as well have a real history before anointed. That’s a second off start out of 3. No need to be so desperate. 

It would be nice to start scoring before it doesn’t matter. 

[wabene]

Looks like we have a fight on our hands. 

[mikelink45]

That was brutal and it comes on the day when ESPN has their writers making predictions. They're asked to come up with something that was startling and one of the writers chose Detroit to win the American League Central. Of course another one chose Kansas City. Minnesota needs to regain some respect

[Guest]

Correa-oblique strain-enough said?

Remember how they fired the trainer two years ago and brought in Pappersta to solve the issue. Either he is failing this tear or it wasn’t the other guys fault that players get injured.

Reminds me how the MN Vikings HC ZIMMERMAN threw rookie kicker under the bus in his first game, cut him from the team and the the kicker hooked up with another team and made the pro bowl.

[MMMordabito]

[Mark G]

The big 3, you might say, that we were counting on the most:  Lopez is 1-2 and looks a little off right now, Correa is hurt (again), and Buxton is hitting .220 with almost no power.  Add to that Wallner is 1 for the season, Vazquez is 2 for the season, and Jeffers and Santana are 4 for the season, all 4 of whom played last night and the offense showed it.  Last, but not least, we can't continue to have the pen pitching 45% of the innings pitched forever.

There was a post some days ago that questioned if spring training actually got this team ready for the regular season, or was just a necessary evil we had to get through to avoid injuries.  He didn't put it into those exact words, of course, but I got the drift.  And he was dead on:  we were not ready for the regular season, and we better get ready in a hurry, before even more of the guys get hurt and it gets out of hand.  

This division is not as good as it looks right now, but it isn't nearly as bad as it was last year, either.  There is still more than enough time to get right, but we don't want to wait until the All Star break this time around, because 2nd place isn't going to be 10 games under .500 this year.  How about we start by winning 2 today?  

[Dave Borton]

Quote

 Willi Castro pitched once the game reached the proper MLB-state-approved run difference. Christian Vázquez played 3rd base. Eyes rolled. 

No one threw from the BP on Thursday and we are treated to amateur hour in MLB (sic).

[howeda7]

Season over. 

[Patzky]

3 hours ago, Mark G said:

The big 3, you might say, that we were counting on the most:  Lopez is 1-2 and looks a little off right now, Correa is hurt (again), and Buxton is hitting .220 with almost no power.  Add to that Wallner is 1 for the season, Vazquez is 2 for the season, and Jeffers and Santana are 4 for the season, all 4 of whom played last night and the offense showed it.  Last, but not least, we can't continue to have the pen pitching 45% of the innings pitched forever.

There was a post some days ago that questioned if spring training actually got this team ready for the regular season, or was just a necessary evil we had to get through to avoid injuries.  He didn't put it into those exact words, of course, but I got the drift.  And he was dead on:  we were not ready for the regular season, and we better get ready in a hurry, before even more of the guys get hurt and it gets out of hand.  

This division is not as good as it looks right now, but it isn't nearly as bad as it was last year, either.  There is still more than enough time to get right, but we don't want to wait until the All Star break this time around, because 2nd place isn't going to be 10 games under .500 this year.  How about we start by winning 2 today?  

There's no help coming without a trade. Lee and Larnach are hurt. Sure Duran and Staumont may be back soon but what will there be to save when they lose every game 3-1?

 

I'm willing it to chalk Pablo's day up to the cold rainy and windy conditions. His velocity's fine. But the control got away from him as you noted. 

 

A week's ago I said Wallner and Kepler need to go. But now.. we're stuck. A month ago I said look up Donnie Barrels..

[CRF]

Wow...could this be a last place team? Whether it's due to injuries, or just plain inept play, this team is pretty bad right now. 

[Doctor Wu]

the article said:

 Willi Castro pitched once the game reached the proper MLB-state-approved run difference.

Is there actually such a thing now as a "proper run difference" for a position player to pitch?! And if so, what is the number?

[Doctor Wu]

On a somewhat positive note, what a joy it is to see Buxton playing center field again. Okay, he's among several guys not hitting much, but it's great that he's out there roaming in his old stomping grounds. And even though he coughed up a couple of runs, Tonkin DID strike out 5 batters in only 2 innings. And Funderburk is pitching well. But yeah, other than that, another depressing game, compounded by the injury to Correa. 

[mikelink45]

4 hours ago, Mark G said:

The big 3, you might say, that we were counting on the most:  Lopez is 1-2 and looks a little off right now, Correa is hurt (again), and Buxton is hitting .220 with almost no power.  Add to that Wallner is 1 for the season, Vazquez is 2 for the season, and Jeffers and Santana are 4 for the season, all 4 of whom played last night and the offense showed it.  Last, but not least, we can't continue to have the pen pitching 45% of the innings pitched forever.

There was a post some days ago that questioned if spring training actually got this team ready for the regular season, or was just a necessary evil we had to get through to avoid injuries.  He didn't put it into those exact words, of course, but I got the drift.  And he was dead on:  we were not ready for the regular season, and we better get ready in a hurry, before even more of the guys get hurt and it gets out of hand.  

This division is not as good as it looks right now, but it isn't nearly as bad as it was last year, either.  There is still more than enough time to get right, but we don't want to wait until the All Star break this time around, because 2nd place isn't going to be 10 games under .500 this year.  How about we start by winning 2 today?  

Thanks for remembering my comment on Spring Training.  I was really frustrated by it.  We seemed to be more interested in getting the scrubs playing time than getting our regulars to find their bats and arms.

 

[rv78]

Decisions, decisons..... let's have our main roster players play minimal time during spring training so they don't get injured.......... Result..... they aren't ready for the start of the season...... and...... they still get injured. Hmmm.... How's the "all or nothing" approach at the plate working out? Hmmm.... How's Rocco's incessant and relentless lefty/righty matchups working? It's complete idiocy to have 1 of your players who is ACTUALLY hitting the ball (Kirilloff) sit the bench in favor of a guy (Santana) who's hitting .114 on the season. I saw this coming a mile away. Doesn't matter who's hitting and who's not, Rocco goes with his matchups and the good/hot player rides the bench. I mean, it's not like they need the offense, this team is scoring runs at will.... LOL! They got lucky and won the division last year despite Rocco's bad decisions. The competition within the division isn't going to be so easy this year.

[Fezig]

On the bright side, if the Twins continue down this path they'll be forced to replace the manager.

[bighat]

Worst offense in baseball right now. I'm not just saying that. Twins rank 30th out of 30 teams in batting average and runs. Unwatchable. Royce Lewis seems to be the only guy that can save this team and we won't see him until the 4th of July. 

Couldn't have scripted a worse start to the season. I don't know how anyone can be positive or hopeful based on what we've seen. 

 

[mikelink45]

6 minutes ago, Fezig said:

On the bright side, if the Twins continue down this path they'll be forced to replace the manager.

Will he strain an oblique coming out to remove the starter?

[John Belinski]

8 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

That was brutal and it comes on the day when ESPN has their writers making predictions. They're asked to come up with something that was startling and one of the writers chose Detroit to win the American League Central. Of course another one chose Kansas City. Minnesota needs to regain some respect

The way they have been playing they are not going to regain much respect.  I know it is early in the season, but as days go by they keep playing bad baseball and do not know when they will improve.

[Doctor Gast]

Our large INF surplus sure got depleted pretty quickly. Our INF stinks all a way around. CLE, KC &DET are hot (lucky to get those 2 wins in KC with Lewis). That hole could get pretty deep before Lewis comes back.  

[Whitey333]

Yes very frustrating indeed.  It's going to be tough if Correa is out for any substantial length of time.  He was actually playing very good.  But injuries not withstanding this team continues to play listless baseball.  Can we chalk up yesterday's subpar performance by Lopez to the weather?  Perhaps but it didn't overly affect Detroits pitching.  The final score was 8-2.  Twins blaming cold weather, rain outs, too many days off, poor umpiring, injuries, is a tiring refrain.  The team, like the first half of last year is becoming unwatchable.  

[jmlease1]

33 minutes ago, Fezig said:

On the bright side, if the Twins continue down this path they'll be forced to replace the manager.

what will be funny is how little of a difference it will make. If the players don't play better, changing the manager isn't likely to make much difference. This isn't a case of the Twins having an incompetent manager who has lost the team (what MN fans refer to as a "Les Steckel Situation"). It's a bad storm of poor play, some injuries, and ownership forcing a payroll cut.

Really thought the Twins were going to get rolling when they were taking good ABs against Skubal and pumping up his pitch counts in the 3rd & 4th, but they couldn't make him pay. You could see Lopez struggling with his grip in the weather on the other side.

Not a fun game. Team's in a real funk right now. Hope the Correa injury doesn't sink them deeper.

[sweetmusicviola16]

2 hours ago, davidborton said:

No one threw from the BP on Thursday and we are treated to amateur hour in MLB (sic).

The excuse will be that we have a doubleheader. So Willie Castro got the guy out. It still sends a bad message to the team and the fans. You're telling Jackson that we have no confidence in you to throw 6 more pitches and get 1 more out. You're telling your fans that the game is a joke and that this is a clown show.

Yes it's just 1 game and we're only 11 games in. But this is nonsense and a poor way to move ahead.

[Original_JB]

Ouch....

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/04/carlos-correa-leaves-game-with-oblique-strain.html

[Riverbrian]

55 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Our large INF surplus sure got depleted pretty quickly. 

Every year we forget that this happens every year. 

 

[Matt Braun]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

the article said:

 Willi Castro pitched once the game reached the proper MLB-state-approved run difference.

Is there actually such a thing now as a "proper run difference" for a position player to pitch?! And if so, what is the number?

Yes. The winning team must be up by 10 or more in the 9th, and the losing team must be down by at least eight runs but can use a position player in any inning once that target is met. 

[Original_JB]

1 minute ago, Riverbrian said:

Every year we forget that this happens every year. 

 

Where's that "logjam" thread again.....

[Aggies7]

2 hours ago, CRF said:

Wow...could this be a last place team? Whether it's due to injuries, or just plain inept play, this team is pretty bad right now. 

No, only because the white sox exist. They are completely, utterly, totally devoid of talent.