Make It Official: Twins 9, Astros 3, Jose Miranda Makes History; Brooks Lee Bashes First Career Homer

[jkcarew]

The only one (among those with options) I want to see Wallner up for is Larnach. Not that Larnach has been horrible. But, with the way the roster is currently performing, those two are completely redundant. It’s not like the club is starving for another left-handed corner outfielder, nor are they currently starving for offensive production.

Meanwhile, Martin is a handy little right-handed, contact-hitting, base-running, walk-taking, defensively-flexible, widget in the toolbox.

[CoastiePilot08]

49 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

The only one (among those with options) I want to see Wallner up for is Larnach. Not that Larnach has been horrible. But, with the way the roster is currently performing, those two are completely redundant. It’s not like the club is starving for another left-handed corner outfielder, nor are they currently starving for offensive production.

Meanwhile, Martin is a handy little right-handed, contact-hitting, base-running, walk-taking, defensively-flexible, widget in the toolbox.

Larnach isn’t going down. 

[Riverbrian]

About 6:30AM yesterday morning. I was thinking that Miranda might make history today. 

It was also Pablo Lopez bobblehead day.

I had no plans so I checked the Minneapolis forecast. 10% chance of rain. Spur of the moment... I got up... poured coffee into my travel mug and I drove the 4.5 hours to Target field. I didn't pack a thing. 

Walked through the gates at 11:57AM. They were already out of bobble heads so I turned around and went home. 

Just kidding

They were out of bobbleheads but I stayed and I was in attendance to watch Miranda make history. As an extra bonus for my efforts... I saw the very first MLB home run of Brooks Lee. 

I saw the very first dinger from Byron Buxton in Detroit back in 2015. I can add Brooks Lee to that list.

After the game... I went to Portillos in Maple Grove for the Italian Beef. Then drove back home for 4.5 hours. Arriving around 9pm. 

Good Day. 

A bobble head would have made it perfect. 

 

[Doctor Wu]

A fun win with plenty of highlights for the Twins. Take your pick; most of these guys are really starting to click lately, both batters and pitchers (expect for Pablo and company getting lit up the day before). But man, looking at those "special" new caps and uniforms is making my eyes hurt. Go back to the real uniforms and pack away those garish new threads!

[Original_JB]

10 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Not sure why they’d take a look at Wallner for a couple days……

Tradebait viewing? FO has said (eyeroll) that they've had inquiries...

[mikelink45]

11 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

What possible return of interest to the Twins are either or both of those guys going to bring?……both would be rentals and neither are impact guys.

Margot will be on the Roster October 5th, unless he continues to drop fly balls. He’s going exactly what they sought out in the offseason. He was terrible for first 6 weeks - that ended though, 7 weeks ago. His .899 OPS since beginning of June have locked him in here.

What I meant was that if they add somebody and have to cut from the current roster to put that person on the 40 man then those are the two that I would consider first

[Peter]

Huge bounce back win!! Let take this series and finish home stand with a win!

[Twins_Fan_For_Life]

My son thinks the city‐connect uniforms make the players look like Walmart employees. You decide.

[JD-TWINS]

8 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Starting pitchers worth putting in a Twins uniform at the high cost will be very dear in price. Gilbert, Kirby, Miller, Crochet, and even Luzardo will not come without screams and gnashing of teeth. Some combination (I have no idea how many or what combo) of guys like Jenkins, Rodriguez, Lee, Festa, Lewis, or others would be the ask. Who among Twins fans will part with Lewis, Wallner, and Varland for someone like Kirby? Who do the Twins count as an untouchable among the players in the organization?

Jenkins - Lee - Lewis aren’t getting traded.

There are a number of guys/veterans nobody would trade for so I guess they are moot. Don’t see starting pitchers on current roster getting traded.

Wallner - Julien - Festa - Rodriguez - Martin……..most younger prospects are all fair game in the right deal.

[Whitey333]

It's always difficult to evaluate a player when he's very hot.  Miranda has done great.  Let's appreciate what he's done but then also realize it will end soon.  The Twins will need to upgrade their bullpen.  It's scary when relying on the likes of Winder and Funderburk. Twins improved their record Saturday against teams with winning records.  They are now 18-26 against teams above .500.

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Jenkins - Lee - Lewis aren’t getting traded.

There are a number of guys/veterans nobody would trade for so I guess they are moot. Don’t see starting pitchers on current roster getting traded.

Wallner - Julien - Festa - Rodriguez - Martin……..most younger prospects are all fair game in the right deal.

Well, I don't completely disagree, but that does mean that no starting pitcher better than what is currently rostered can be considered. If people want to discuss acquiring a top SP, it will cost. We read so many posts that suggest adding a top SP, but also seem to think those type of players will be available for extra Twins players. The Lopez-Arraez trade is an example. Now folks want someone even better, which means _ _ _ _ _ goes the other way.

[stringer bell]

Congratulations to Miranda--no person alive has done what he has done in major league baseball. Also, congrats to Brooks Lee. He has done very well in his first few days in the majors.

[LambchoP]

I also like Martin and hope they don't send him down. On the other hand, he hardly ever plays. I'd like to see him over Margot any day. Same with Lee or Castro over Farmer. If we can get anything at all for them, even cash considerations, it would be worth it just for the roster spots.

[Dave The Dastardly]

Again with the trade. You're obsessed with a trade. The best "addition" for the Twins right now is via subtraction. Subtract Farmer and Margot. Give the younger guys some Major League playing time.

[yeahyabetcha]

3 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Again with the trade. You're obsessed with a trade. The best "addition" for the Twins right now is via subtraction. Subtract Farmer and Margot. Give the younger guys some Major League playing time.

Which “younger guys “ do you want called up to replace Farmer and Margot?

[Dave The Dastardly]

1 hour ago, yeahyabetcha said:

Which “younger guys “ do you want called up to replace Farmer and Margot?

Wallner and Julien in a "prove it mode" to the Twins, Emma Rodriguez and Luke Keaschall to the Saints. I can't see Wallner or Julien doing worse that Margot and Farmer, neither of which has a future with the Twins. Time to find out if Wallner and Julien do.

Rodriguez and Keaschall are only a year or two away if they can prove themselves in AAA so the Twins should make room for them in St. Paul now.  And there's Kearsey...

[Patzky]

14 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

You're catching all my mistakes. 😀  Yes, the Paddack move happens Monday, not Tuesday as I've been speculating. Which means that Paddack gets the Sunday game heading into the break, though with the off day Thursday, they could also bring back Ober from Tuesday to pitch on Sunday. But that's a later conversation. 

So basically the question right now is whether you'd rather have Martin or Winder on the roster tomorrow. I guess my thought is that since we know that Winder won't pitch tomorrow, we might as well have Martin available for pinch-running. 

Martin via the 10 day IL, and Wallner called up this morning.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Beat me to it. Martin to 10 day IL with an oblique strain and Wallner up. Seems like a pretty straight forward "one guy got hurt and another takes his place" kind of deal. As they say, move along Johnny, nothing to see here . . .

Will be interesting to see if Wallner starts today. Maybe Correa gets an off day, Lee plays short, Miranda 3B, Wallner in LF and Larnach DH?

[Riverbrian]

3 hours ago, Twins_Fan_For_Life said:

My son thinks the city‐connect uniforms make the players look like Walmart employees. You decide.

Walmart employees at Target Field. 

Ouch!

[chinmusic]

27 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Will be interesting to see if Wallner starts today. Maybe Correa gets an off day,

Wallner is batting 8th in LF, and it's Miranda with the off day.

[D.C Twins]

5 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

About 6:30AM yesterday morning. I was thinking that Miranda might make history today. 

It was also Pablo Lopez bobblehead day.

I had no plans so I checked the Minneapolis forecast. 10% chance of rain. Spur of the moment... I got up... poured coffee into my travel mug and I drove the 4.5 hours to Target field. I didn't pack a thing. 

Walked through the gates at 11:57AM. They were already out of bobble heads so I turned around and went home. 

Just kidding

They were out of bobbleheads but I stayed and I was in attendance to watch Miranda make history. As an extra bonus for my efforts... I saw the very first MLB home run of Brooks Lee. 

I saw the very first dinger from Byron Buxton in Detroit back in 2015. I can add Brooks Lee to that list.

After the game... I went to Portillos in Maple Grove for the Italian Beef. Then drove back home for 4.5 hours. Arriving around 9pm. 

Good Day. 

A bobble head would have made it perfect. 

 

Well played sir.... well played indeed!

[DJL44]

57 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

I can't see Wallner or Julien doing worse that Margot and Farmer, neither of which has a future with the Twins. Time to find out if Wallner and Julien do.

Wallner and Julien will be terrible platoon players vs LH pitchers which is what the Twins are paying Margot and Farmer to do.

[bean5302]

It's a curious move to call up Wallner. Not saying he hasn't earned it, but he's not the type of AAAA depth guy the Twins would generally add for a handful of days. I do think Larnach is probably on the edge now.

Larnach's last 40 G = .211/.269/.383 OPS .652, 7.6%BB, 20.0% K wRC+ 84
Exit Velocity 90.9mph (89.5mph MLB median, 71%)
Barrel Rate 9.5% (8.7% MLB median, 57%)
Hard Hit 39.0% (41.2% median, 41%)
Those percentiles are compared against 143 MLB qualified hitters.

[USAFChief]

10 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Wallner and Julien will be terrible platoon players vs LH pitchers which is what the Twins are paying Margot and Farmer to do.

Both Margot and Farmer have more PAs vs RH pitching than LH.

And in Farmer's case, he can't hit either....sub .600 OPS vs both handed pitchers.

I'd dump Margot in a second, but at least he can still provide a little offense against LH pitching. Of course, Rocco misuses him, so even that singular skill gets watered down. 

But I doubt Julien is less useful than Farmer.

[USAFChief]

5 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

It's a curious move to call up Wallner. Not saying he hasn't earned it, but he's not the type of AAAA depth guy the Twins would generally add for a handful of days. I do think Larnach is probably on the edge now.

Larnach's last 40 G = .211/.269/.383 OPS .652, 7.6%BB, 20.0% K wRC+ 84
Exit Velocity 90.9mph (89.5mph MLB median, 71%)
Barrel Rate 9.5% (8.7% MLB median, 57%)
Hard Hit 39.0% (41.2% median, 41%)
Those percentiles are compared against 143 MLB qualified hitters.

Not curious. All RH starters upcoming in Chicago. 

I'd guess both Larnach and Wallner are likely lineup adds all three days 

[Patzky]

22 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

Well played sir.... well played indeed!

Is it true that the Pablo bobblehead rotates as well as bounces? (Do with that what you will.)

[USAFChief]

Just now, Patzky said:

Is it true that the Pablo bobblehead rotates as well as bounces? (Do with that what you will.)

I got a Pablo bobblehead yesterday. 

It comes with a blow-up inning.

[Riverbrian]

4 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Not curious. All RH starters upcoming in Chicago. 

I'd guess both Larnach and Wallner are likely lineup adds all three days 

Yep... Twins won't see a left handed starter until Sunday against Blake Snell possibly. 

 

[Patzky]

2 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Yep... Twins won't see a left handed starter until Sunday against Blake Snell possibly. 

 

If the rotation holds we will miss Crochet too.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Arguably now is the perfect time for Martin to go on the IL and Wallner to get an audition. With the Twins likely facing all RH opposing starters from here until the ASB there should be room to get Wallner starts in 5 of the next 7 with the off day rotating between Santana, Castro, Larnach, Lee, Miranda, and Kepler.  Margot and Farmer will be limited to late inning switches to face LH relievers. Margot could go to CF for Buxton once or twice, but I'd see prefer to him planted on the bench against RH pitching and Castro playing CF with Lee at 2B against RH starters.  

We need to know who can be counted on as a LH hitter against RH pitching in the second half. Here's Wallner's chance to show he can be and move ahead of Larnach. Let's give him his shot. While we're at it, I wouldn't mind giving Julien a shot as long as it doesn't take away ABs from Miranda, Lee, or Wallner.