Royals (Ragans) vs Twins (Varland): 8/14/24, 12:10pm

[Aggies7]

Just now, Peter said:

Everything is bigger in Texas!!!

Even the cities? Doesn’t bode well

[CRF]

5 minutes ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

Well, i'm glad we handle this adversity with dignity and with style. Next time maybe even panache.

It was my understanding, that there would be no French!

[CRF]

1 minute ago, Peter said:

Everything is bigger in Texas!!!

Pete...I thought you were anti bigger?

[Peter]

Not crazy about playing the big city teams with Texas and San Diego!😬😤

[USAFChief]

A 4 and 3 homestand feels like...such a letdown, somehow. 

[nicksaviking]

9 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

For me, it isn't necessarily about 'wasting' Duran as it is the guy has struggled in non-save situations - so if Rocco felt that the 7th inning, down 2 runs, was high leverage - use someone that is more used to or comfortable in that role.

Now if the answer is Duran's lost his manager's confidence, that's a different story but as of yet, it isn't out there.

Well than this might be a controversial take and I'll await the barrage of thumbs downs: If Duran can't be used in situations other than closing games, I probably look to move him in the off season. Flexibility leads to efficiency and a thrifty club is going to need efficiency to be most effective.

[gregens]

5 minutes ago, CRF said:

It was my understanding, that there would be no French!

I don't know any French, my mom said she'd wash my mouth out with soap.

[cHawk]

7 minutes ago, Peter said:

Everything is bigger in Texas!!!

Including Dallas Cowboys playoff losses

[Aggies7]

6 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Well than this might be a controversial take and I'll await the barrage of thumbs downs: If Duran can't be used in situations other than closing games, I probably look to move him in the off season. Flexibility leads to efficiency and a thrifty club is going to need efficiency to be most effective.

I guess that depends upon if you believe anyone can close games. For instance, Jax has 4 blown saves in 12 chances this season. Duran has 1 in 17 chances. Someone has already opined that Jax is the new closer

[KirbyDome89]

19 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Let's talk about this game, that is what I am referring to and Varland has given us the opportunity to win.  Most comments are making it seem like he gave up 10 runs in the first inning,  If you don't think he belongs in the rotation, that is a fair opinion but the results have been there the last two games.  And I think sometimes we look for all the different stats and are they hitting a pitcher and forget to look at the results.

10.2 IP, 16 hits, 3 HR, 1 BB, 7 Ks, 6 ER in his last two games. That's at best neutral as far as contributing to a W. If you want to argue that simply avoiding implosion provided the chance to win today, ok, but that's a pretty low bar. 

 

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

I guess that depends upon if you believe anyone can close games. For instance, Jax has 4 blown saves in 12 chances this season. Duran has 1 in 17 chances. Someone has already opined that Jax is the new closer

It looks that way.... I'm not arguing if that's the right decision or not 

[Doctor Gast]

34 minutes ago, gregens said:

Pretty sure you're not suggesting Martin is the next Rod Carew, correct?

Of course not. My point is you don't need to have power to be an asset which was stated. If you don't like how Martin plays the OF or how he hits. Don't blame Martin, blame those who kept playing him at SS & trying to mold him into a slugger, instead of letting be himself & see our need for him in the OF sooner.  Martin is a very athletic player & IMO he doing a great job under the circumstances & I can see that he can be a great asset for this club. If patient with him we'll see great dividends. Who knows how high his ceiling is?

[Aggies7]

6 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

It looks that way.... I'm not arguing if that's the right decision or not 

Which is odd considering the numbers. He had 7 blown saves in 11 chances last year as well. I totally understand that it’s tough to tie a guy up to certain inning usage only. However, I don’t believe every pitcher can close games. And I never will believe that. Some guys are better at it than others. 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

1 hour ago, cHawk said:

What kind of car does a sheep drive?

 

A subaaru.

I guess i expected a chance to guess...

Perhaps the world has moved on. But i might have dug this up:

 

[USAFChief]

18 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

It looks that way.... I'm not arguing if that's the right decision or not 

Curious what you say that...Duran got the last 9th inning save opportunity. (Cleveland)

[karcherd]

28 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

10.2 IP, 16 hits, 3 HR, 1 BB, 7 Ks, 6 ER in his last two games. That's at best neutral as far as contributing to a W. If you want to argue that simply avoiding implosion provided the chance to win today, ok, but that's a pretty low bar. 

 

And last game Kepler doesn't catch a foul ball and if he does he is out of the inning with no runs.  He has to pick up his defense, but he needs help from the defense.  He gave up 3 runs in 6 innings today and he is the # 4 or 5 pitcher however you want to rank him, most teams would take that from the backend rotation guys.  He wasn't the reason we lost today, it was the offense.

[KirbyDome89]

1 hour ago, karcherd said:

And last game Kepler doesn't catch a foul ball and if he does he is out of the inning with no runs.  He has to pick up his defense, but he needs help from the defense.  He gave up 3 runs in 6 innings today and he is the # 4 or 5 pitcher however you want to rank him, most teams would take that from the backend rotation guys.  He wasn't the reason we lost today, it was the offense.

And he hasn't caught any breaks? I thought you wanted to argue the results?

Nobody is blaming him for today's loss. 

[stringer bell]

4 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

I guess that depends upon if you believe anyone can close games. For instance, Jax has 4 blown saves in 12 chances this season. Duran has 1 in 17 chances. Someone has already opined that Jax is the new closer

Jax has been mostly a seventh or eighth inning guy. If he doesn’t hold the lead in those cases he gets charged with a blown save, if he does hold the lead he gets a “hold”, but it’s a one-way street as far as the save since someone else will pitch the ninth for the actual save. 

[insagt1]

Bats were dead today. They had a couple of decent chances but the key guys had weak AB's. Get back on the horse tomorrow. Key AB was Lewis with sacks juiced. That could have turned the game. As a fan, frustrating to watch. As a player, they usually take this in stride. Long season.

I want to know if anyone knows when Buck and Carlos may be back. Is Buck day to day or is he slated for a few weeks on the IL, which would stink.

Can Twins legitimately catch Cleveland? They had their best shot this past weekend. They should be a solid WC though. 1st place, not so much especially if key players are consistently out of the lineup.