Guardians 5, Twins 2: Hiccup of a Comeback Goes for Naught

[Dave Borton]

3 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Now it appears that some are starting to point fingers at some of their teammates.  That's definitely not a good sign.

That is a leadership issue that needs to be addressed. Who steps up, Baldelli, Correa?

[Whitey333]

Wow.  We need to turn this around and soon.  It's one thing to lose but playing so inept baseball is disgraceful.  We continually get out played, out hustled, and out managed.  I hope the Nationals take it easy on us.  

[tony&rodney]

Julien has gotten away from his game. He will need to respond if he wants to play as a regular.

[Linus]

I don’t want to pile on Julien as he is only one of many guys that are struggling but he lacks feel and instincts in the field. Playing middle infield needs to be second nature as there are so many little things happening. Everything in the field looks forced with him. 

[knothole61]

34 minutes ago, davidborton said:

That is a leadership issue that needs to be addressed. Who steps up, Baldelli, Correa?

I think that Baldelli is like a quartermaster general when we desperately need a Patton, at least for a while. 

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, Linus said:

I don’t want to pile on Julien as he is only one of many guys that are struggling but he lacks feel and instincts in the field. Playing middle infield needs to be second nature as there are so many little things happening. Everything in the field looks forced with him. 

Julien is having a hard year thus far, especially at the plate. You are correct about his lack of smooth in the field. There isn't anyone else though. Farmer looks smooth but cover less ground actually and his bat has termites. Everyone seems to like Farmer, including Julien, but this year Farmer has had trouble playing baseball. So it has to be Julien unless there is a more radical move. The season is long so a change is unlikely. I guess we need to hope that Julien gets it together.

[David HK]

Now it's been Duran's turn.

Holy cripe, when the wheels come off, they ALL come off at once. 

(Eye roll, like way back in the head emoji goes here).

[Schmoeman5]

4 hours ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

The radio guys were gushing over Buxton’s speed creating that run in the 9th. True enough, but Buxton looked out on the force at second, which would have ended the game. And then got caught in the rundown but caught a break. 

Speaking of rundowns, it’s crazy that Julien just stood at his position when Gimenez was hung out to dry between second and third. If you are an infielder (including pitcher) and not being useful during a play, and there’s a base uncovered, go cover the empty base. Correa took off following Gimenez when Gimenez broke for third, which was the right play. But then Correa had to go back and cover second when Julien wasn’t there. That might have thrown off Vazquez that no one was really at the bag. 

Correa and Julien have this weird thing where Correa seems to do all the work on any difficult or unusual play that isn’t straightforward cut & dry. Not good!

The simple explanation is that Julien is just not a good 2nd baseman. Yet I always hear how improved he is. Perhaps. But he still has a ways to go just to be considered average. 

[ashbury]

4 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

The simple explanation is that Julien is just not a good 2nd baseman. Yet I always hear how improved he is. Perhaps. But he still has a ways to go just to be considered average. 

Little things that don't show up in the box score, like loitering around in the line of sight between Vazquez and Correa on a crucial throw late in the game, need to be cleaned up for sure.  Run him in for vagrancy, at least!  😀

[David Maro]

Throwing 86 mph meatballs in the middle of the zone has never worked.Why pitch Duran who throws 98-102 when the whole pen throws 82-87 meatballs.Then of course you decide to put Naylor on who is a free swinger can you say dumb. If people think it is going to be a cake walk in Washington they are in for a rude awaking.

 

 

[JD-TWINS]

17 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Duran has great velocity but often lousy location.

He doesn’t use it enough - he’s in love (Team as well) with his Curveball. Both game losing pitches were curveballs………as a hitter, why not sit on the curveball since it’s the only velocity I can hit??? Obviously, Cleveland’s approach.

He had the fastest TWELVE pitches in the game in ‘23. His splinker is 95-98 while dropping. His mid to upper 80’s Curve, if it isn’t down, is a hittable pitch. Gotta change or MIX the approach. OFTEN, he uses 2 pitches (principally) in an outing. If you are batter 3 in an outing and have identified this combination - you have a chance to sit in one pitch. Giving hitters chances for no reason!

I know he walked a guy on 4 fastballs out of the zone…….gotta be able to throw 100 in the zone and live with those results.

[JD-TWINS]

10 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Julien is having a hard year thus far, especially at the plate. You are correct about his lack of smooth in the field. There isn't anyone else though. Farmer looks smooth but cover less ground actually and his bat has termites. Everyone seems to like Farmer, including Julien, but this year Farmer has had trouble playing baseball. So it has to be Julien unless there is a more radical move. The season is long so a change is unlikely. I guess we need to hope that Julien gets it together.

To me, the obvious lack of intuition at 2B for Julien is just something to get used to at this point. Every play looks somewhat mechanical. His bat is why he was the choice at 2B going forward. His bat sucks over most of last month and his approach seems to be a jumble of guessing on pitches. Missing in pitches up & down out of the zone and taking fastballs TOO often. Not sure if moving him down makes sense or not but his Team Value is pretty low right now.

[JD-TWINS]

17 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I can't ever blame. Umpires, this is a losing streak. It goes back to the beginning of the season. We had that wonderful winning streak that made us feel like the twins had their act together. But then we go against two first place teams and seem to lose confidence in ourselves

Agreed! Umpiring can be unfortunate at times but nothing can be done about it so complaining or saying it’s the reason for multiple losses is weak.

Our Closer that hadn’t given up a run in a handful or more outings gave up 2 game ending HR’s on his curveball……..,that’s something to be bothered about. Don’t expect Duran to be perfect BUT losing a second game in 3 days, to a non-power guy throwing a hanging curve is tough to stomach. The guy calling the pitches is culpable as well - surprising people with his curve is behind him if he can’t establish his fastball in the zone!

[USAFChief]

Gonna go out on a limb and guess Duran's pitch mix is mostly coming from the couching staff.

 

[JD-TWINS]

16 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Good question...

My assumption is Duran’s is by far the lesser experienced guy and the reason Vazquez is on the roster is his experience in all situations. Vazquez trumps Duran……. always pitcher’s choice but that’s the rationale, I assume. As a Team, they need to discuss approach Duran is using………can make mistakes with 100 but curveballs up are problematic. His curve is generally great, and never going to be perfect as an athlete, but they’ve (opposition) figured out that it’s their best shot to hit him.

[DJL44]

13 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

the couching staff

That's a great term for all of the nitpickers and second guessers sitting at home.

[tony&rodney]

The pitcher always has the final say on what pitch to throw. If a player is less than convicted then it is a mistake to throw that pitch. Yes, catchers get mad sometimes when you shake them off. That is part of the game.

[ashbury]

7 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Gonna go out on a limb and guess Duran's pitch mix is mostly coming from the couching staff.

 

 

6 hours ago, DJL44 said:

That's a great term for all of the nitpickers and second guessers sitting at home.

Chief, what became of the Barcalounger you used to call home?