Yankees 5, Twins 1: Umpires Stubbornly Refuse to Award Five Runs for Cool Homer

[cmoss84]

Bad calls on both sides. But don't ruin your reputation (Curtis Granderson) by saying a pitcher is pounding the strike zone after 2 terrible calls.

[Ted Schwerzler]

3 hours ago, purplesoldier4u said:

Why even watch this team ... even if you can? They just are not good enough to beat good teams, and the management's failure to make the team better has created a great deal of apathy amongst the fan base. What a sad, sad mess this team has become.

"management's failure" is a wild way to define an ownership group that took away all spending power.

[Ted Schwerzler]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

"both Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee were activated from their rehab assignments as well."

 

Why did Jenkins get pulled early? Usually only happens on rehab assignments.

He's still been out of action for two months...

[Fezig]

"Minnesota certainly didn’t foresee him becoming the American League Pitcher of the Month in May 2024, but here we are."

From now on, when the Twins are going to trade someone they need to see if the other team accepts the offered player. If it's an immediate yes they need to reconsider and offer up someone else. 

[William K Johnson]

Random thoughts - 

-  Was surprised that Phil Cuzzi wasn't assigned to this series, but tonight's home plate umpire did his best to fill in.  There is just a different strike zone for the Yankees.   The ball four call on Judge was atrocious.   An earlier poster indicated that it did not make a difference in the outcome, I disagree.    It ran up Ober's pitch count and frustrated him as well.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- With the exception of the catcher position, I liked our lineup tonight.   I know we only had two hits, but the defense was good, and that lineup will hit most right-hand pitchers.   The problem is going to be when we switch back to that right hand hitting lineup with Margot, Santana, Farmer and Vasquez.    Lewis will help with that, but those four bats in the lineup are not going to win many games.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- The Jorge Polanco trade will go down as one of the worst Twins trades ever.   Keep in mind that includes the Bill Smith era.  For the second time in three years the Twins trade a solid major league player to clear room for a prospect (see Gio Urshela).   Mistakes like that are not easily overcome.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- I realize it is early June but quite honestly, we are playing for a wild card position.   Cleveland will run away with this division.  Better front-line pitching, unexpected contributions from Freeman, Fry and Brennan, and Classe can pitch every day.    Jose Ramirez is the best player in the division and Kwan seems to be over his injury.

- Did I mention that Royce Lewis is a real baseball player?

 

 

[CRF]

We can't beat them...we know we can't beat them...they know we can't beat them...and we know, that they know, that we can't beat them. It's been going on forever, and won't ever stop. It's depressing as hell. 

[Patzky]

16 minutes ago, William K Johnson said:

Random thoughts - 

-  Was surprised that Phil Cuzzi wasn't assigned to this series, but tonight's home plate umpire did his best to fill in.  There is just a different strike zone for the Yankees.   The ball four call on Judge was atrocious.   An earlier poster indicated that it did not make a difference in the outcome, I disagree.    It ran up Ober's pitch count and frustrated him as well.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- With the exception of the catcher position, I liked our lineup tonight.   I know we only had two hits, but the defense was good, and that lineup will hit most right-hand pitchers.   The problem is going to be when we switch back to that right hand hitting lineup with Margot, Santana, Farmer and Vasquez.    Lewis will help with that, but those four bats in the lineup are not going to win many games.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- The Jorge Polanco trade will go down as one of the worst Twins trades ever.   Keep in mind that includes the Bill Smith era.  For the second time in three years the Twins trade a solid major league player to clear room for a prospect (see Gio Urshela).   Mistakes like that are not easily overcome.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- I realize it is early June but quite honestly, we are playing for a wild card position.   Cleveland will run away with this division.  Better front-line pitching, unexpected contributions from Freeman, Fry and Brennan, and Classe can pitch every day.    Jose Ramirez is the best player in the division and Kwan seems to be over his injury.

- Did I mention that Royce Lewis is a real baseball player?

 

 

I agree. It's not resignation to accept the wild card slot. It's posturing and health to make sure we take advantage of it. If we were NL we'd be a lock..

[bighat]

Thielbar is toasted
Twins certainly will be swept
Royce Lewis is great

[Cap'n Piranha]

28 minutes ago, William K Johnson said:

Random thoughts - 

-  Was surprised that Phil Cuzzi wasn't assigned to this series, but tonight's home plate umpire did his best to fill in.  There is just a different strike zone for the Yankees.   The ball four call on Judge was atrocious.   An earlier poster indicated that it did not make a difference in the outcome, I disagree.    It ran up Ober's pitch count and frustrated him as well.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- With the exception of the catcher position, I liked our lineup tonight.   I know we only had two hits, but the defense was good, and that lineup will hit most right-hand pitchers.   The problem is going to be when we switch back to that right hand hitting lineup with Margot, Santana, Farmer and Vasquez.    Lewis will help with that, but those four bats in the lineup are not going to win many games.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- The Jorge Polanco trade will go down as one of the worst Twins trades ever.   Keep in mind that includes the Bill Smith era.  For the second time in three years the Twins trade a solid major league player to clear room for a prospect (see Gio Urshela).   Mistakes like that are not easily overcome.

- Royce Lewis is a real baseball player

- I realize it is early June but quite honestly, we are playing for a wild card position.   Cleveland will run away with this division.  Better front-line pitching, unexpected contributions from Freeman, Fry and Brennan, and Classe can pitch every day.    Jose Ramirez is the best player in the division and Kwan seems to be over his injury.

- Did I mention that Royce Lewis is a real baseball player?

 

 

Just to be clear, you’re referring to the same Jorge Polanco currently sporting a .595 OPS for the Mariners, and currently on the IL?

[Cap'n Piranha]

The three best teams in the AL are very clearly CLE, NYY, and BAL.  They have the three best records, the three best run differentials, and are the only three teams above .500 against opponents who are also above .500.

The Twins are now 0-11 against those teams, and have been outscored 22-67.  Only twice have the Twins kept those teams at 3 runs, and only twice more at 4 runs.  Meanwhile the Twins have only put up 4 runs twice in those 11 games, and one of those times was the utterly meaningless 9th inning against CLE when they were already trailing 11-0.

If this team somehow makes it to the playoffs, they will—as currently constructed—do precisely nothing beyond maybe pulling a surprise upset in the wild card round.  Barring some significant roster shakeups, which we can all agree are almost certainly not coming, it’s time to start thinking 2025.

[Cap'n Piranha]

5 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

"management's failure" is a wild way to define an ownership group that took away all spending power.

Just out of curiosity, say the Twins had $40M more to spend on 2024 this past offseason—who do you realistically think they would have signed that would have made such a massive difference?

[Doctor Wu]

I don't think this team is a mess by any means. Plenty of good players who can turn into GREAT players some days. But I would agree that the Twins need to up their game if they want to consistently defeat the top-tier teams. We aren't at that level yet. 

[Patzky]

9 hours ago, strumdatjag said:

Bailey Ober would disagree.  He was exasperated over the lousy balls and strikes calls tonight. 

Ober Ryan and Pablo seem susceptible to concentration lapses after faulty ball/strike calls.. Often the successive pitch(es) yield runs if not outright souvenirs.  Gonna happen especially in NY. Gotta stay focused.

 

I haven't seen Simeon fall prey to this.. he's a tough cookie mentality.

[Patzky]

22 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

I don't think this team is a mess by any means. Plenty of good players who can turn into GREAT players some days. But I would agree that the Twins need to up their game if they want to consistently defeat the top-tier teams. We aren't at that level yet. 

Why do I feel that Lee is the missing link for this batting order?

[Doctor Wu]

2 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Why do I feel that Lee is the missing link for this batting order?

You could be right. It seems as if the lineup needs an extra tweak or two in order to become more of a force. 

[MABB1959]

1 hour ago, Fezig said:

"Minnesota certainly didn’t foresee him becoming the American League Pitcher of the Month in May 2024, but here we are."

From now on, when the Twins are going to trade someone they need to see if the other team accepts the offered player. If it's an immediate yes they need to reconsider and offer up someone else. 

Especially when trading with the Yankees where it seems we get the short end of the stick.

[PatG]

IMO, we need "Hrbek pulling Gant off first base for the Out", Moment in Time!!  (I know Gant was Atlanta)

Then get nasty with the Yanks; Can anyone say "inside pitch"??!!

[MABB1959]

Great things:  Got to watch it on TV finally (isn't that pathetic), Lewis is back and they didn't get shutout.  Does Buxton need time off for a reset.  Always wondering if this is his new normal.  Hard to forget the good times and hope to see them again.  His fielding and running were unbelievable.  

[TwinsDr2021]

7 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Looking back at all the pitches to Yankees hitters it seems like Ober got the benefit on a couple calls. There was only one single significant miss IMHO which helped Judge earn a walk. 

Royce Lewis... can we clone him?

Absolutely I watched the whole game and besides the horrible ball call on Judge it seemed like a typical game where neither side really benefited. 

I believe Royce Lewis will never get out this year or make an error.

Also I think last night Miranda proved he is more than capable defensively at first (he does need to work on his foot work)

[TwinsDr2021]

19 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Why do I feel that Lee is the missing link for this batting order?

To me the missing link is Buxton, because this version of Buxton might as well be hurt.

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, Fezig said:

"Minnesota certainly didn’t foresee him becoming the American League Pitcher of the Month in May 2024, but here we are."

From now on, when the Twins are going to trade someone they need to see if the other team accepts the offered player. If it's an immediate yes they need to reconsider and offer up someone else. 

Can we get over the Gil trade, he never even played for a Twins minor league team and had pitched all of 65 innings in the Dominican league in three years. Maybe give the Yanks credit for developing an injury prone ball throwing machine into a dominant starting pitcher for now.

[umterp23]

Waiting to see if Hans wants to give Kudos to Vazquez for his pitch calling sequences, especially since 2 strike hanging curve to Stanton was blasted into the night.  

[h2oface]

1 hour ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Just to be clear, you’re referring to the same Jorge Polanco currently sporting a .595 OPS for the Mariners, and currently on the IL?

Kinda like Correa last year. Short memory for how good Polanco can and will be.

[singlesoverwalks]

10 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Can we get over the Gil trade, he never even played for a Twins minor league team and had pitched all of 65 innings in the Dominican league in three years. Maybe give the Yanks credit for developing an injury prone ball throwing machine into a dominant starting pitcher for now.

If he had been traded for anyone other than Jake Cave you would find a much more sympathetic audience.

[rv78]

6 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

"management's failure" is a wild way to define an ownership group that took away all spending power.

Disagree. They found money for Santana, Margot and a bunch of 1 year wonders for the bullpen. Spent money to keep Farmer for a bench/platoon spot. Spending power, even if it was limited, was wasted on floor type players, not on players that would IMPROVE the team. This happens pretty much every year. Even last year when they spent extra money they wasted it on a guy like Joey Gallo. But that's ok..... We know you drink the kool-aid. The first thing this FO looks for and wants in a starting pitcher is to see if he has an injury.

[Patzky]

27 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

To me the missing link is Buxton, because this version of Buxton might as well be hurt.

You're right. I guess I was thinking of an insertable link as opposed to a repairable (hopefully!) one.

[MMMordabito]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

I don't think this team is a mess by any means. Plenty of good players who can turn into GREAT players some days. But I would agree that the Twins need to up their game if they want to consistently defeat the top-tier teams. We aren't at that level yet. 

Consistently! Who's talking about consistently?! They haven't won a single game!

[TwinsDr2021]

12 minutes ago, singlesoverwalks said:

If he had been traded for anyone other than Jake Cave you would find a much more sympathetic audience.

or maybe the Twins actually develop a young player like that into a viable starting pitcher, until they do, I can only assume Gil wouldn't have been developed here.

[TwinsDr2021]

12 minutes ago, rv78 said:

Disagree. They found money for Santana, Margot and a bunch of 1 year wonders for the bullpen. Spent money to keep Farmer for a bench/platoon spot. Spending power, even if it was limited, was wasted on floor type players, not on players that would IMPROVE the team. This happens pretty much every year. Even last year when they spent extra money they wasted it on a guy like Joey Gallo. But that's ok..... We know you drink the kool-aid. The first thing this FO looks for and wants in a starting pitcher is to see if he has an injury.

Don't forget they picked up Polanco's 10 million option and flipped it for ..... a prospect?

[Patzky]

47 minutes ago, PatG said:

IMO, we need "Hrbek pulling Gant off first base for the Out", Moment in Time!!  (I know Gant was Atlanta)

Then get nasty with the Yanks; Can anyone say "inside pitch"??!!

I don't want to see anyone hurt but a soft plunk on Stantons keister would rile up the natives