Twins 6, Guardians 3: Matt Wallner Conquers Apple TV+

[JD-TWINS]

8 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Happy to see the Twins get a win against the Guardians with Varland starting. 4.2 IP with 8 hits allowed isn't going to be too successful in most cases, but Varland was able to limit the damage on the scoreboard and the 3 ER was lifted by an outstanding bullpen effort and huge bats.

I really hope Matthews looks good in his start.

8 hits in 4 2/3 isn’t great …….if he just keeps pumping hard stuff away to Naylor it may have been only 5 hits through 5 innings? Team seems to be in love with getting burned throwing hanging off speed to lefties and watching it get pounded. ……..stay away and live with pitch to contact & get away from the “fantastic pitch” mentality. Duran has had same issues ……guys make bad pitches, but throw what you are able to command…..2 outs!!

[jmlease1]

Hard to complain about sweeping a doubleheader (although clearly there are plenty around here who are; why so mad when we win?).

Thought it was a balk, but some of the replays didn't show it well. A little silly for the manager to lose his mind on that call, kinda felt like a guy in the middle of a losing streak just trying to spark his team as much as anything. You're not going to change the umpire's mind on that one. It was a nice insurance run, but hardly game-altering, either.

Wallner is absolutely crushing it right now, and it's great to see. Twins have needed some thump from the left side and Wallner is absolutely bringing it. When he's locked in he's very very dangerous. 

Sands and Thielbar did a great job getting the game to the 9th. Feels a little strange to see Thielbar go 2 innings, but he was so efficient it wasn't a problem and they needed someone to pick up an extra inning with the doubleheader. Excellent work by the bullpen to close down the game, Richards did well too. Only 47 pitches to get through 4 1/3, that's impressive.

[Riverbrian]

Dear Rocco. 
First of all. Loved the sweep… keep it going. Proud of you. 
 

Second of all. I am willing to bet that Wallner will end up with a higher OPS than Margot against lefties if you let him hit them. When a player is hot… There is no way his OPS is going to fall .500 points. 
The bet is a dollar an OPS point but you have to let Wallner play against lefties. 

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

CLE is noted for playing small ball, I liked what Lewis said "We out-balled them" Those 2 were perfect examples. It seems that Vazquez is just warming up.

Sands & especially Thielbar were life-savers in what turned out to be BP game.

Agreed! Sands has best K/Walk ratio on the Team & only Jax has a better WHIP….unsung hero…… Caleb looked very sharp!! 3 1/3 from those two were critical.

[JD-TWINS]

1 minute ago, Riverbrian said:

Dear Rocco. 
First of all. Loved the sweep… keep it going. Proud of you. 
 

Second of all. I am willing to bet that Wallner will end up with a higher OPS than Margot against lefties if you let him hit them. When a player is hot… There is no way his OPS is going to fall .500 points. 
The bet is a dollar an OPS point but you have to let Wallner play against lefties. 

Margot crushes lefties - lead off game one with a double…….scored first run…..gave Buxton a game off. Won 2 games, might as well bitch about Manuel.

[Riverbrian]

1 minute ago, JD-TWINS said:

Margot crushes lefties - lead off game one with a double…….scored first run…..gave Buxton a game off. Won 2 games, might as well bitch about Manuel.

Dear JD-Twins

I’m Happy about the sweep. My comment is about Wallner who is ****ing hot. 
 

Manual Margot has a .726 OPS against left handers. I think Wallner can beat that if given the chance. 
 

What is your definition of crushes? 

 

 

[ashbury]

Whale of an interesting game to watch in person. A three-run homer, and three other runs scored in very unusual ways.  Had a lot of fun, including crossing paths with USAFChief for a few innings.  Recommend highly, Would Watch Again.

[Brock Beauchamp]

7 hours ago, Schmoeman5 said:

OK. Whatever you say. His OPS. 1.059 now but where was that in April? One of the top hitters in all of baseball over his past 2 seasons. Top what? 50, 100, Where was that last Sept and Oct? He's doing well. Enjoy it. Lewis and Wallner just may become stars. Wallner is questionable because as long as Rocco is the coach, his opportunities will be limited to hitting right handers. Even after his homer. He still got ph for.

You mean when he had like 25 PAs in April? Yeah, he looked bad. Young players do that sometimes.

Also, Wallner had a .925 OPS last September. I mean, it's not four digits but maybe you're being unreasonable with your expectations.

And as a person who watches a ton of baseball from a ton of teams, what Rocco does with his LHH against LHP is the norm for good teams with depth. I know none of you ever seem to believe this, but it's true. We have like 125 years of solid data that shows left-handed hitters are ****ing trash against left-handed pitchers 95% of the time.

[Joe A. Preusser]

3 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Dear JD-Twins

I’m Happy about the sweep. My comment is about Wallner who is ****ing hot. 
 

Manual Margot has a .726 OPS against left handers. I think Wallner can beat that if given the chance. 
 

What is your definition of crushes? 

 

 

I mean, Christina Applegate when I was 12.  Alicia Silverstone when I was 17?

I suppose Audra Martin now? 😂

[jorgenswest]

44 minutes ago, JDubs said:

Not sure if you had access to the game live or not, but during an in-game interview, Rocco noted that was 100% Willie doing that on his own. In the kind of tone that implied he wasn't super happy in the moment, but since it worked he wasn't going to complain.

I listened to postgame. Rocco said it was a good play and wasn’t close. Still wonder if they were told to pay attention to that positioning and be aggressive as Vazquez and  Castro were. That would still make it something they did in their own rather than called from the dugout. That is more about preparation.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

10 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Vazquez was tremendous tonight. I couldn’t disagree more with the @Matt Braun 90 minute take. Great base running on that Martin groundball. Perfect lead, timed the pitcher well and went hard through second and third. Later he gets the balk. I am glad he is on this team.

Castro also took advantage of deep positioning of Jose Ramirez on that steal of home. Was that something the Twins planned to exploit?

That looked like a called play, the timing was too good to not have been practiced 

[Craig Arko]

It was the worst of days, it was the best of days.

[wabene]

12 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

It was the worst of days, it was the best of days.

You ain't kidding, Stewart going down is one thing, almost probable, but Joe? Say it ain't so. And Keaschall. Rocco's teams sure show resiliency, thankfully.

[Brock Beauchamp]

52 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Dear JD-Twins

I’m Happy about the sweep. My comment is about Wallner who is ****ing hot. 

Manual Margot has a .726 OPS against left handers. I think Wallner can beat that if given the chance. 

What is your definition of crushes? 

I'm sorry Brian but I'm going to pick on you a bit. I cannot fathom why this thinking still exists. We'll use wRC+ because it's one of the best measures of overall offense we have available and is era-adjusted.

Here are the career splits against LHP for some past and present Twins:

Manuel Margot: 109

Justin Morneau: 85

Joe Mauer: 102

Jason Kubel: 81

Corey Koskie: 81

(no, this is not cherry picking, these are literally the *only* four LHBs I looked up and stopped because it convincingly proves the point)

Manuel Margot is better against left-handed pitching than a first-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best pure hitters of the past 30 years.

Can we cut it out that random-but-decent lefties like Matt Wallner will "figure it out" if they just get more exposure to left-handed pitching?

[karcherd]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

Margot crushes lefties - lead off game one with a double…….scored first run…..gave Buxton a game off. Won 2 games, might as well bitch about Manuel.

I am not sure I would call an OPS of .728 against LH pitching as crushing,.  Wallner needs to play everyday for the benefit of now and next year.  Playing Margot is a push at best for this year and is a negative for next year as he won't be here, play Wallner every day.

[David Maro]

For some reason Varland and Vasquez were in love with the Knuckle curve.That pitch needed to be put on the shelf.The Cleveland hitters were all over that pitch.It is also time for Lewis to put in extra time working on throws to first.You can't give the other team extra outs.When that happens the pitcher ends up throwing more pitches and now has men on base.

[Schmoeman5]

5 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

You mean when he had like 25 PAs in April? Yeah, he looked bad. Young players do that sometimes.

Also, Wallner had a .925 OPS last September. I mean, it's not four digits but maybe you're being unreasonable with your expectations.

And as a person who watches a ton of baseball from a ton of teams, what Rocco does with his LHH against LHP is the norm for good teams with depth. I know none of you ever seem to believe this, but it's true. We have like 125 years of solid data that shows left-handed hitters are ****ing trash against left-handed pitchers 95% of the time.

 You watch a ton of baseball. Most of the better hitters are left handed hitters. 125 years of data. Let's start with Cobb  Ruth maybe Gehrig Williams Musial. Perhaps more modern Brett Carew Oliva. Today Soto Seagar. Freeman. I'm pretty sure they hit lefties at a lesser clip than righties. **** ing trash data. Wallner is NOT one of best hitters in all of baseball. That statement alone is preposterous.  If you go 2-10 with 8 strike outs and 2 homers you have a great OPS. He's not even a Matt Olson. Schwarber maybe. A lot of people think he's great too. He's Joey Gallo with out the defense. As @RpR would say. Oh and his 25 PA in April equals about 1/2 the amount of PA he's had against lefties.

[Riverbrian]

50 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I'm sorry Brian but I'm going to pick on you a bit. I cannot fathom why this thinking still exists. We'll use wRC+ because it's one of the best measures of overall offense we have available and is era-adjusted.

Here are the career splits against LHP for some past and present Twins:

Manuel Margot: 109

Justin Morneau: 85

Joe Mauer: 102

Jason Kubel: 81

Corey Koskie: 81

(no, this is not cherry picking, these are literally the *only* four LHBs I looked up and stopped because it convincingly proves the point)

Manuel Margot is better against left-handed pitching than a first-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best pure hitters of the past 30 years.

Can we cut it out that random-but-decent lefties like Matt Wallner will "figure it out" if they just get more exposure to left-handed pitching?

I understand the splits both historical and small sample. In all of my arguments I have always acknowledged the numbers of left vs. left. 
 

In this particular discussion. If a batter is hot like Wallner is hot. Would that hotness only apply to right handers? Could he be seeing the ball good… swing feeling good to the point where he just might hit some homers against left handers. 

[karcherd]

Not all good teams use the platoon system like the Twins.  Baltimore lets their young LH hitters play every day and don't pinch hit for them,  Milwaukee has two good young LH hitters and they play every day and no Milwaukee didn't pinch hit for Frelick when we brought in a LH pitcher.  We are also second in pinch hitting appearances because of the insistence of not letting Wallner or Larnach hit LH pitching.  That is not what the good teams do, yes there is more platooning today but not at the extremes the Twins do.  And carrying a player who can only do one thing, hit LH pitching at a little over league average is not good roster management.  You can't match up every at bat like they try to do.  You need to play your best players and let them play.  The results over the season will be more successful.

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

That looked like a called play, the timing was too good to not have been practiced 

That was simply Wallner running on a 3-2 pitch, which is called, and Castro taking advantage of a long lead and a catcher brain fart.

Wallner running is called,  and fairly routine. Castro scoring isn't "called." It can't be.

[Brock Beauchamp]

4 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Not all good teams use the platoon system like the Twins.  Baltimore lets their young LH hitters play every day and don't pinch hit for them,  Milwaukee has two good young LH hitters and they play every day and no Milwaukee didn't pinch hit for Frelick when we brought in a LH pitcher.  We are also second in pinch hitting appearances because of the insistence of not letting Wallner or Larnach hit LH pitching.  That is not what the good teams do, yes there is more platooning today but not at the extremes the Twins do.  And carrying a player who can only do one thing, hit LH pitching at a little over league average is not good roster management.  You can't match up every at bat like they try to do.  You need to play your best players and let them play.  The results over the season will be more successful.

I guarantee I watch more Brewers games than you. There’s a reason I said “good teams with depth”. Milwaukee is sorely lacking in the latter, particularly at key positions. 

[madtowntwin]

Don't be psyched out by that daunting Winfield HR total Matty Wallner - Your a mere 211 HR behind this guy named Molitor....One Minnesota Legend at a time. Win Twins!

[bean5302]

9 hours ago, Schmoeman5 said:

If Varland's defense did what they should have he throws shutout ball over 5 innings and gives up 5 hits. There were at least 4 plays that should have been made, but weren't.  Louie did fine until the Naylor homer. Naylor should have never hit that inning.

Varland allowed 8 hits in 4.2 innings. If the plays were so egregiously bad, they would have been ruled an error. I didn't see any "plays that should have been made."

Are you talking about the very difficult play where Ramirez singled off the glove of Castro, just multiplying that one play x4? Castro managed to get a glove on it with a 100% effort dive running the opposite way. He got a lot of glove on the ball, it should have been caught. That said, Ramirez is a pretty fast runner. Even if Castro manages to grab that medium speed grounder, to then get up, spin, and make a 110 foot throw and still nab Ramirez? Most players without Carlos Correa's arm have little chance at that. Castro had already made a heck of a nice play fielding a hopper that bounced over Varland's head which could have been a hit earlier in the game.

[wabene]

16 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I understand the splits both historical and small sample. In all of my arguments I have always acknowledged the numbers of left vs. left. 
 

In this particular discussion. If a batter is hot like Wallner is hot. Would that hotness only apply to right handers? Could he be seeing the ball good… swing feeling good to the point where he just might hit some homers against left handers. 

I agree with this and especially dislike the early game PHing robbing a hot Wallner of late game opportunities against rightys.

[USAFChief]

35 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

  Wallner is NOT one of best hitters in all of baseball. That statement alone is preposterous.  

He might not be. I'd say there's not nearly enough data to make that call.

However, it's fair to say, in a small sample, he certainly has produced like "one of the best hitters in all of baseball."

Wallner has accumulated 451 MLB PAs: 

.251/.371/.523

.894 OPS

149 wRC+

Now it's not enough PAs. And he's been largely shielded from LH pitching. 

But let's not pretend he hasn't produced. 

He has. In spades. Like...one of the best hitters in all of baseball. 

For the record, he looks pretty serviceable as a corner outfielder  too. 

 

 

[karcherd]

12 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I guarantee I watch more Brewers games than you. There’s a reason I said “good teams with depth”. Milwaukee is sorely lacking in the latter, particularly at key positions. 

Or maybe the better teams are having success because they are playing their best players and don't have to platoon.  Because over the course of a season you will have more favorable results by playing your best players every day despite any shortcomings they may have.  Milwaukee has the third best record in the NL so maybe their depth is not as lacking as you may think.

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I'm sorry Brian but I'm going to pick on you a bit. I cannot fathom why this thinking still exists. We'll use wRC+ because it's one of the best measures of overall offense we have available and is era-adjusted.

Here are the career splits against LHP for some past and present Twins:

Manuel Margot: 109

Justin Morneau: 85

Joe Mauer: 102

Jason Kubel: 81

Corey Koskie: 81

(no, this is not cherry picking, these are literally the *only* four LHBs I looked up and stopped because it convincingly proves the point)

Manuel Margot is better against left-handed pitching than a first-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best pure hitters of the past 30 years.

Can we cut it out that random-but-decent lefties like Matt Wallner will "figure it out" if they just get more exposure to left-handed pitching?

The cost of this, though, is ... Manny Margot. Who still has more PAs against RH pitching than LH. And often robs Larnach or Wallner PAs against LH pitching later in games because Rocco gonna Rocco.

I've been a firm believer in the platoon advantage forever. I'm the guy who always laughed when Bremer would tell us Mauer didn't care which handed pitcher he faced.

But, it's gotta be done smartly. And with a hitter who makes it worthwhile. 

 

If we're gonna platoon all the time, at least get someone who ends up making it valuable. 

That ain't Margot. Margot has given the Twins 242 PAs of .640 OPS. That's not helpful. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

8 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Or maybe the better teams are having success because they are playing their best players and don't have to platoon.  Because over the course of a season you will have more favorable results by playing your best players every day despite any shortcomings they may have.  Milwaukee has the third best record in the NL so maybe their depth is not as lacking as you may think.

Brice Turang has a .608 OPS against LHP.

Sal Frelick has just 60 PAs against LHP and has been pulled from a game he started 15 times and has been inserted into a game late 12 other times.

The Brewers have depth in one place, the outfield. Where Frelick plays. Huh. 

[wabene]

8 minutes ago, wabene said:

I agree with this and especially dislike the early game PHing robbing a hot Wallner of late game opportunities against rightys.

I meant to add that "suffering" through one mid-game plate appearance against a lefty reliever by one of our young left-handed hitters likely doesn't hurt more than the impact of a mediocre right-handed veteran batter facing a tough righty reliever in a crucial late game situation.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, USAFChief said:

The cost of this, though, is ... Manny Margot. Who still has more PAs against RH pitching than LH. And often robs Larnach or Wallner PAs against LH pitching later in games because Rocco gonna Rocco.

I've been a firm believer in the platoon advantage forever. I'm the guy who always laughed when Bremer would tell us Mauer didn't care which handed pitcher he faced.

But, it's gotta be done smartly. And with a hitter who makes it worthwhile. 

If we're gonna platoon all the time, at least get someone who ends up making it valuable. 

That ain't Margot. 

To be clear, I would not pinch-hit quite as aggressively as Baldelli. But I agree with him maybe… 80% of the time? And at that point, I’m splitting hairs.