Make it Official! Twins 5, Tigers 3: Minnesota Figures Out Skubal Mastery

[wabene]

That was a good game last night, getting to Skubal and all. Time to forget about Lewis for a while, it's easy if you try.

[Whitey333]

Nice win Twins.  Too bad about Lewis.  Looks like we have another Buxton situation where you can't depend on him to play.  For being such a great athlete he sure is hurt alot.  He's been in a terrible slump.  Oh that's right he doesn't do slumps.  We'll whatever a 2 for like 32 stretch is now called that is what he's been doing.  If he's down for another extended period it's time to give Lee a look see.

[stringer bell]

Probable IL for Lewis means that there is a place for Lee to play. Brock Stewart has already been out for 60 days, so he can be moved to the 60-day with no muss, no fuss. Can Lee stay in the majors? If he's recalled, it will be up to him.

Also, it is a great advantage to have your top farm club 15 minutes away. Lee didn't have to be disrupted yesterday and if it is determined it is time for his promotion, he's a Green Line ride away. 

[stringer bell]

15 minutes ago, wabene said:

That was a good game last night, getting to Skubal and all. Time to forget about Lewis for a while, it's easy if you try.

"Getting to Skubal" means that they scored three runs in six innings, while striking out seven times. That's okay, but it is not like they pounded the Tigers' ace. Winning a game when Detroit started their best and the Twins started a rookie made it a really good day. 

[Major League Ready]

40 minutes ago, $tryf4Life said:

He walked in this game.

One AB means nothing.  Buxton has the lowest BB% on the team other than Vazquez who strikes out before he ever gets a chance to walk.   Buxton would be far more productive if he could learn to layoff sliders 8 inches off the plate.

[USAFChief]

Royce Lewis:

July 2023, oblique strain

September, 2023, hamstring.

March 2024, quad

July, 2024, groin 

 

Someone is doing something wrong. 

[mnfireman]

8 hours ago, mnfireman said:

If only Buxton learned how to take a BB and not K, he might be able to score some runs and help the team win some games...

I forget that sarcasm doesn't translate well on a forum!! 

Someone stated on a different post that Buxton never walks and and another suggested that all he does is chase/swing at sliders out of the zone with no chance of hitting them.

It was also stated that his speed and defense aren't what they once were... oh sorry, sarcasm doesn't work on a forum. He has showed great defense and his speed on the base paths has directly led to some big runs/big innings and given the Twins offense a spark.

[wabene]

20 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

"Getting to Skubal" means that they scored three runs in six innings, while striking out seven times. That's okay, but it is not like they pounded the Tigers' ace. Winning a game when Detroit started their best and the Twins started a rookie made it a really good day. 

Pretty much what I said there Stringer, lol. With 3 runs and 3 innings against their bullpen you've given yourself a good chance to win. And yes that's a good point beating one of the top starters in MLB this year while starting a guy who wasn't even a top 100 prospect last year, a forgotten man, is good stuff.

[Doctor Gast]

11 hours ago, Patzky said:

These guys have to learn to not play when they can't. Ryan last year. Speak up. 

I'm with you Patzky. Polanco played continuously played hurt, Ryan, Kiriloff, Lewis are competitors, they play hurt & their production dips. When they continue to play hurt, it usually ends up to something worse because they're aggravating the injury & they are forcing themselves more to try to compensate. You can't depend on these guys to tell you they can't play because they are hurt. So management needs to be more proactive. When Polanco or Kiriloff hitting suffers over a short time you know they are hurting & most everybody suspects that because they are pure hitters & you know that it most likely isn't mechanical. This type of player should be approached saying "you're sitting, where are you hurting & let's resolve this as soon as possible." 

Lewis (Mr. I don't do slumps), IMO Lewis could have been hurt during his long slump that affected his swing. Determined to overcome this issue he forced himself even more & that extra burst magnified his initial injury. Now with Kepler's injury I felt that they should have rested more & open up an opportunity for Lee to get his foot in the door. At the same time IMO other players could use a rest & Lee could be used to give them a break. During that time Correa got hit by a pitch & Lewis was in his slump. Lee could have been used until the future games.

[mnfireman]

32 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Probable IL for Lewis means that there is a place for Lee to play. Brock Stewart has already been out for 60 days, so he can be moved to the 60-day with no muss, no fuss. Can Lee stay in the majors? If he's recalled, it will be up to him.

Also, it is a great advantage to have your top farm club 15 minutes away. Lee didn't have to be disrupted yesterday and if it is determined it is time for his promotion, he's a Green Line ride away. 

Julien or Wallner will be called up before Lee, they are both on the 40 man roster, its the "Twins way".

[Doctor Gast]

SWR pitched 4 scoreless innings & battled hard for 1 2/3, great job, especially for a rookie. The offense kept the pressure on Skubal. Buxton & Lewis gave it all that they had. Margot & Farmer had good games. A good appreciated win.

[Patzky]

14 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

 When they continue to play hurt, it usually ends up to something worse because they're aggravating the injury & they are forcing themselves more to try to compensate. You can't depend on these guys to tell you they can't play because they are hurt. So management needs to be more proactive. 

A couple reporters say Lewis' comments last night weren't just voicing frustration about being injured but also about how the Twins might manage him. I can see his point, he's an exciting guy who's just getting a name for himself, would parlay nicely into paydays down the road. It won't happen that way if he's constantly in the IL.

Twins have to protect their investment and their interests too. The two perspectives might not mesh together so well, even after repeated shared experiences in dealing with it.

Hope he doesn't hurt himself, or hurt the team by 'fighting through it' if he can't. Hell I really hope it's nothing at all.

 

When Correa says he'll play tomorrow he'll play. 

[Patzky]

17 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Julien or Wallner will be called up before Lee, they are both on the 40 man roster, its the "Twins way".

So teams are 'inquiring' about Wallner. Guess it would be the right time to show him off.

[JD-TWINS]

43 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

One AB means nothing.  Buxton has the lowest BB% on the team other than Vazquez who strikes out before he ever gets a chance to walk.   Buxton would be far more productive if he could learn to layoff sliders 8 inches off the plate.

He walked twice last night and had a double. That’s really good.

If he didn’t have a weakness with sliders he’d be next to perfect & he’d hit .450………..there are no perfect players…….back to reality.

Just think how many home runs Pete Rose would have hit if he was only 6’2” and 210lb.!!

[JD-TWINS]

7 minutes ago, Patzky said:

A couple reporters say Lewis' comments last night weren't just voicing frustration about being injured but also about how the Twins might manage him. I can see his point, he's an exciting guy who's just getting a name for himself, would parlay nicely into paydays down the road. It won't happen that way if he's constantly in the IL.

Twins have to protect their investment and their interests too. The two perspectives might not mesh together so well, even after repeated shared experiences in dealing with it.

Hope he doesn't hurt himself, or hurt the team by 'fighting through it' if he can't. Hell I really hope it's nothing at all.

 

When Correa says he'll play tomorrow he'll play. 

His issues today forward nor in the past have anything to do with Team treatment of him. You can’t play if you can’t run. He said last night he would have had no chance to score on a base hit from 2B…….. poor communication & judgement from a young player who is anxious to contribute.

Lewis needs to be physically able to play and the Team will happily put him in the line-up.

[JD-TWINS]

Lee up……..Lewis to 10 Day IL.

Stewart or even Canterino to an extended IL designation of some sort? Seems Stewart is out or should be out through July at this point.

Seems like clearly an automatic move to be made.

[LambchoP]

Sadly Lewis is looking more and more like Buxton. Immensely talented, but cannot seem to stay on the field long enough to put up big numbers. With him probably going on the IL does Brooks Lee finally get the chance to play? Article states Brock Stewart is still a long ways from returning, but I read he's throwing one more bullpen on July 5th and then a rehab assignment next week. That sounds like he could be back in two to three weeks, which would be huge for our bullpen.

[jmlease1]

Beating Skubal is a very nice way to start the series. he's a terrific pitcher, shame Detroit isn't being stupid and dumping him for a coupe of prospects that probably won't pan out. :P

Correa had a good game last night; the dinger was important but the long AB he had with Skubal in the 3rd was good too. Skubal won the battle, but Correa really made him work for it, and who knows it might have helped Lewis a little get that double.

Bullpen did well to slam the door; Alcala seems to be finding a nice groove and Jax is pitching well. It's funny to worry about Duran's velocity when he's still throwing 101mph but when you've hit 104, it's still fair. but he did well too.

SWR kept us in the in the game and dueled with Skubal fairly well, but he can't be very happy with giving up a dinger to Kreidler who had 1 career HR before last night and has been a bad hitter his whole career. the Malloy shot is a little more forgivable; he's got a better track record in the minors and there was no one on base but the Kreidler one made me very nervous that we were going to throw a winnable game away.

I'm still leery of Margot (let a ball drop that a better OF could have made a play on, and I have zero faith in him against a righty) but he certainly did the job at the plate against Skubal.

[Jeff K]

10 hours ago, mnfireman said:

If only Buxton learned how to take a BB and not K, he might be able to score some runs and help the team win some games...

Bad timing on this comment.  I think he walked twice yesterday.  But yes, his k/walk ratio isn't great.  But what we are getting is excellent.

[mnfireman]

1 minute ago, Jeff K said:

Bad timing on this comment.  I think he walked twice yesterday.  But yes, his k/walk ratio isn't great.  But what we are getting is excellent.

I clarified that the comment was sarcasm....

[Jeff K]

11 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Beating Skubal is a very nice way to start the series. he's a terrific pitcher, shame Detroit isn't being stupid and dumping him for a coupe of prospects that probably won't pan out. :P

Correa had a good game last night; the dinger was important but the long AB he had with Skubal in the 3rd was good too. Skubal won the battle, but Correa really made him work for it, and who knows it might have helped Lewis a little get that double.

Bullpen did well to slam the door; Alcala seems to be finding a nice groove and Jax is pitching well. It's funny to worry about Duran's velocity when he's still throwing 101mph but when you've hit 104, it's still fair. but he did well too.

SWR kept us in the in the game and dueled with Skubal fairly well, but he can't be very happy with giving up a dinger to Kreidler who had 1 career HR before last night and has been a bad hitter his whole career. the Malloy shot is a little more forgivable; he's got a better track record in the minors and there was no one on base but the Kreidler one made me very nervous that we were going to throw a winnable game away.

I'm still leery of Margot (let a ball drop that a better OF could have made a play on, and I have zero faith in him against a righty) but he certainly did the job at the plate against Skubal.

Alcala, to Jax to Duran looks like a nice playoff relief pitching plan.

[Jeff K]

5 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

I clarified that the comment was sarcasm....

Saw the clarification.  The sarcasm gave me a haircut!

[JDubs]

Ted, the wrongest you have ever been is to call those corduroy hats anything but dope

[Patzky]

3 hours ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Nice win although we had to burn through our three best relievers.  Hopefully, Festa gives us 6-7 tonight (highly unlikely though) and we don't need to rely on the pen much.

I'm hoping we can pound the rookie callup starter going for Detroit, like we did Montgomery last time Festa pitched. If Festa can go six and we have a three or four runs lead we should be able to Sands and Staumont our way to a win.

 

So score early and score often!

[Patzky]

10 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

It may be just me as an old timer but Lewis and Buxton always are injured and seem to me to be wound too tight.  In effect, maybe they over work out to put on muscle thus causing their injuries.  I don't recall Mr. Hrbek having many, if any, soft tissue injuries.

I don't think Herbie had any 'soft tissues' lol..

[NYCTK]

Serious Question: Why aren't Canterino or Headrick on the 60 Day IL? Twins need to add Brooks to the 40 man if he's going to get called up, which I think is the appropriate move. But it is full right now since those two appear to be on there yet. 

[MABB1959]

Probably a stupid thought/question:

Seems like the Twins should make the Wildcard.  Will they play the NYY's?  If yes, do you think the Twins shouldn't make any trades letting our good prospects go?

Call me pessimistic but we all know they won't spend to improve.

 

[David Maro]

Lewis needs to change his work out routine.He looks like he quit jacked and has probably shortened muscles in his body.Now he is lost until after the ASG and maybe longer.If that is the case it's time to get Lee up.

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, mnfireman said:

Julien or Wallner will be called up before Lee, they are both on the 40 man roster, its the "Twins way".

It will be interesting, for sure. It is defensible to recall either player from a roster construction standpoint and Wallner has performed very well for the Saints. Julien hasn’t performed as well, but (I noted he has made 8 errors in the field for the Saints) he is an infielder who would replace an infielder.

I think the Twins will promote Lee because he is hitting well and he can be a good third baseman and he has time there.

The wild card is Miranda. If the Twins want to give him run as a regular third baseman, then recalling Wallner or Julien is prudent. 

[Mortimerkenny21]

40 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

I clarified that the comment was sarcasm....

Hello...hello....is this mic on???? Crickets.