Make It Official! Twins 3, Astros 2: It's Christian Vázquez's World, We're All Just Living In It

[Mike Sixel]

Also, Keaschell is playing half the games at second....I won't be shocked if Julien is traded. I wouldn't do it....

[David HK]

Heh....

Astros announcer as Vazquez steps into the box in the 9th:

"The long ball has been the issue for Josh Hader this season..."

Bang. 🤣😅😂

[RpR]

13 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Also, Keaschell is playing half the games at second....I won't be shocked if Julien is traded. I wouldn't do it....

Julien was 3  for 4 today, 3Ks and a walk.

[AceWrigley]

4 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.

[AceWrigley]

3 hours ago, William K Johnson said:

Anyone know why Miranda hit for Farmer?   Did it have to do with the ball off his wrist in an earlier at bat?   Or was it the two awful looking strike outs?  

Did you want to see another Farmer AB?

[AceWrigley]

1 hour ago, jkcarew said:

Nice series win. I would have pinch hit for Vazquez😅. But, good for him!

If you consider his overall stat line you say pinch hit, but if you consider his swing the last few games, you let him hit.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

His role includes pinch hitting. That is what bench players do.

Somebody should tell him because he seems unaware of that.

[Peter]

Wow!!! Huge thrilling walk off home run to win series finish off winning home stand!!!! Go Twins!!!

[GNess]

Brooks Lee certainly looked the part this week. He joins an exciting group of young players: Lewis, SWR, Miranda and perhaps Larnach, Wallner and Julien.

[minman1982]

I was there today and what a fun game to watch. The one thing that stands out to me is how deep the Twins offensive lineup is right now. It wasn't too many years ago where a couple of injuries was all it took to completely derail the offense. This weekend Brooks Lee got invited to the show and looked great today. Matt Wallner got the call from St. Paul today and he had a hit and an awesome catch in left. Jose Miranda came in for Farmer and hit the first pitch he saw. I hope Correa can avoid the IL (though, if he has to miss some time, at least the White Sox are a terrible baseball team). If I am an opposing pitcher, this is not a lineup I want to face right now.

SWR looked solid, except for the second inning where he walked a couple of guys and ended up giving up some runs. The bullpen was good. Ryan looked good yesterday. This is going to be a fun team to watch down the stretch.

[LambchoP]

How about Staumont hitting 101mph? Still hasn't allowed an earned run this year:)

[9moons27]

5 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

This game is why I've stopped going to game threads. By page three SWR was the worst pitcher ever....

Yikes on CC getting hit again. Happy for Vazquez, dude has really struggled the last year and a half. .

If Lopez could rediscover last year, this team is dangerous. 

But then you miss all the Rocco bashing. The usual suspects are INCREDIBLY BORING!

[Pat]

I am wondering why Miranda was not in the lineup to start,  Hottest hitter on the planet.

[singlesoverwalks]

I mean, Vásquez must go up several notches in the estimate of Twinsdaily.com commentators. That home run at that moment means a LOT.

[wabene]

6 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Quite possibly, but it's hard to predict next week in MLB, much less next year. 

I just found it interesting they specifically went to great lengths not to put Lee at 2nd today.

Even with your infield above, there's room for Julien as extra right side infielder. Castro covers everything and the OF. 

Lee is better than Lewis at 3rd, easy choice there. Very reliable arm, not so much with Lewis. I don't know how you can count on Lewis being available anyway, give priority to Lee if he continues to perform and can actually play. Lewis can move to 2nd or even left field. It'll be interesting to see what they do. Can Lewis come back in August and actually finish out the season and possible playoffs healthy? At this point I need to see it.

[h2oface]

12 hours ago, MMMordabito said:

Manuel Margot is now 0-24 with a .167 OPS as a pinch-hitter. Fix your macro, Rocco.

And Baldelli benched the hottest bat in the game. Formula man. 

[UK Twin]

That's a great series win. Astros came in really hot and to take the series after losing the first game (again!) is excellent. 

Brooks Lee looks so at home at MLB level. Our infield looks awesome for years to come. Farmer needs to be DFA'd now. He's not needed against LHP and Julien would provide a better bat against RHP. 

[mickster]

9 hours ago, RpR said:

Julien was 3  for 4 today, 3Ks and a walk.

There will be no spot for him, if we want to keep the versatility of Martin and Lee..........He needs to get hot so we can package him with Kiriloff, who seems to be out of favor now and rightfully so, and possibly Festa for piece at the deadline

[Patzky]

13 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Batting .276 when he's not pinch hitting. Subtract his pinch hitting and he's had a decent season.

You're not wrong! Then there's Miranda who doesn't care how he gets to the plate..

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

10 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Interesting: when Correa left today's game and Farmer entered, Castro went to SS, Farmer to 2nd. Lee stayed at 3rd.

When Miranda entered for Farmer, he went to 3rd, Lee to SS, and Castro back to 2nd.

So it appears to me Castro is ahead of Lee at SS defensively.  Both are ahead of Farmer, and they're reluctant to put Lee at 2nd.

As far as 3b, Lee has looked great, IYAM. 

Lee's throw on the run to get Dubon by 15 feet on a bunt was really impressive.

Castro, to my eye, has been pretty good at SS. He flubs more plays than Carlos, but the extra speed helps him range to balls that Correa wouldn't get to.

I wonder if Royce ends up at 2B. His arm has been somewhat worrying, though I'm sure with more reps it'd be fine. Lee just seems like a more consistent fielder right away. 

[Whitey333]

Great win Twins.  A sign of a good team is when different people contribute.  Such as Vazqueź.  Let's beat up on White Sox this week.  I sure hope Correa won't be out too long.  He is needed badly.  Man if Lopez could get back to his 2023 form Twins could really go far

[Riverbrian]

51 minutes ago, UK Twin said:

Farmer needs to be DFA'd now. He's not needed against LHP and Julien would provide a better bat against RHP. 

A Julien or Farmer decision for a single roster spot is an interesting dichotomy.

Interesting because they need each other. 

Margot pinch hitting for Wallner in the 6th inning yesterday should have reminded all of us. 

If Julien takes Farmer's spot... who will face the left handed pitchers for Julien? 

Many of us wouldn't worry about such things but the Twins have consistently shown that they worry about such things. 

 

[stringer bell]

37 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

A Julien or Farmer decision for a single roster spot is an interesting dichotomy.

Interesting because they need each other. 

Margot pinch hitting for Wallner in the 6th inning yesterday should have reminded all of us. 

If Julien takes Farmer's spot... who will face the left handed pitchers for Julien? 

Many of us wouldn't worry about such things but the Twins have consistently shown that they worry about such things. 

 

The answer that is on the active roster is Willi Castro. Austin Martin also could pair with Julien, but he’s on the IL

I have mentioned it before and I’ll say it again, Baldelli seems to mind much less when right handed hitters are facing a right handed pitcher. He’s not pinch hit for Margot when there were left handed options available a couple of times. He started Martin and Margot occasionally against right handed pitching as well. Kepler has started two games when a lefty starts the game and Julien got three starts early in the year when both Lewis and Correa were injured. 

[Riverbrian]

23 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

The answer that is on the active roster is Willi Castro. Austin Martin also could pair with Julien, but he’s on the IL

I have mentioned it before and I’ll say it again, Baldelli seems to mind much less when right handed hitters are facing a right handed pitcher. He’s not pinch hit for Margot when there were left handed options available a couple of times. He started Martin and Margot occasionally against right handed pitching as well. Kepler has started two games when a lefty starts the game and Julien got three starts early in the year when both Lewis and Correa were injured. 

I agree with you that Rocco seems much less concerned with right against right but then again... he doesn't have a choice on that front because he has 7 pure right handers currently on the roster. 8 of them if Royce Lewis was still on the 26 Man and Lee in AAA. 

You are right... Castro (or Santana) is the obvious choice to turn into a short sider if Julien replaced Farmer on the roster. 

Let's forget Julien for the moment because the more immediate interesting question is this:

What would Rocco and the front office do when/if: 

A. The team remains healthy when Lewis comes back.

B. Brooks Lee continues hitting... let's say he has an OPS over .900 when Lewis returns. 

Who goes to make room? Farmer cut? Larnach sent down?

Who plays 2B? Lee? Lewis? Castro? 

 

 

 

[stringer bell]

9 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I agree with you that Rocco seems much less concerned with right against right but then again... he doesn't have a choice on that front because he has 7 pure right handers currently on the roster. 8 of them if Royce Lewis was still on the 26 Man and Lee in AAA. 

You are right... Castro (or Santana) is the obvious choice to turn into a short sider if Julien replaced Farmer on the roster. 

Let's forget Julien for the moment because the more immediate interesting question is this:

What would Rocco and the front office do when/if: 

A. The team remains healthy when Lewis comes back.

B. Brooks Lee continues hitting... let's say he has an OPS over .900 when Lewis returns. 

Who goes to make room? Farmer cut? Larnach sent down?

Who plays 2B? Lee? Lewis? Castro? 

 

 

 

Great questions. Larnach hasn't been scorching the ball as often in the past couple weeks, so I think it puts him on the bubble with Wallner, who looked very good for six innings yesterday. Castro's flexibility means any position player (except catcher) can be replaced by someone who doesn't play the same position. 

I think in-season the Twins won't play around with Lewis. He may get quite a few days at DH, but I don't see him being moved to another position in 2024. For today, my best infield against a right handed pitcher would be Lee at third, Correa at short, Castro at second and Miranda at first, with Lewis the DH. For 2025 and beyond????

[Squirrel]

10 hours ago, Pat said:

I am wondering why Miranda was not in the lineup to start,  Hottest hitter on the planet.

Maybe because he got hit in the hand with a pitch the night before and it was decided to give him a rest. 

[USAFChief]

6 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Maybe because he got hit in the hand with a pitch the night before and it was decided to give him a rest. 

I'd buy that, except he entered the game to replace Farmer. 

So why not start him? Or why Farmer for Correa initially?

He was obviously able to play.

[umterp23]

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

I agree with you that Rocco seems much less concerned with right against right but then again... he doesn't have a choice on that front because he has 7 pure right handers currently on the roster. 8 of them if Royce Lewis was still on the 26 Man and Lee in AAA. 

You are right... Castro (or Santana) is the obvious choice to turn into a short sider if Julien replaced Farmer on the roster. 

Let's forget Julien for the moment because the more immediate interesting question is this:

What would Rocco and the front office do when/if: 

A. The team remains healthy when Lewis comes back.

B. Brooks Lee continues hitting... let's say he has an OPS over .900 when Lewis returns. 

Who goes to make room? Farmer cut? Larnach sent down?

Who plays 2B? Lee? Lewis? Castro? 

 

 

 

All good points and I'll add on to the conversation.  Kids growing up playing baseball all the way through college still run into the same problem today.  Not many lefties on the mound at all levels of baseball.  Righties from a stat a couple years ago were 80% at MLB level, College roughly the same and almost 90% at the youth levels prior to college.  So Righty vs Righty is way more common to hone your skills growing up and now it is not much of a concern as you did it your whole life.  Lee and Castro as switch hitters can cover any change in pitchers during any point in the game.  Sometimes you have to let lefty bats stay in the game vs Lefty pitching, especially middle innings of a game.  

I like the position the Twins are in with a tough decision having to be made when all are healthy.  Farmer would be the odd man out as I wouldn't be sending Lee down when Lewis is back healthy which still may be a month or so.  Lee will have his moments of failure, players all do but his mental prep based on playing for a coaching dad makes me believe it will a small bump in his career vs a sink hole that Farmer is in.

Great 2 wins, shame Friday night slugfest didn't go our way

[GCTF]

Is anyone else at the point when you see SWR you just read it to yourself as swur?

[saviking]

I just realized I have not posted in a long time. Had to look in the mirror and realize I post when there is something I feel is going wrong, not right 😜

I'm actually happy not to need to post.