Twins (Festa) vs Rays (Springs): 9/3/24, 5:50pm

[BiggestRoccoFan]

3 minutes ago, TwinsCD said:

As soon as I saw the starting lineup with Jeffers in the leadoff spot and both Larnach & Wallner out of it, I figured it would be a loss.  Correa and Buxton are still out and while they've been gone, Wallner is one of your best hitters.  I don't care if the pitcher is throwing amphibiously (look up the reference), you have to put your best bats in the lineup in September, especially when two of your best bats are hurt.  But we have a manager who decides to put names in a hat and draw them out to figure out his batting order.  We have a manager who refuses to lay a bunt down to get 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the 9th.  We have a manager that is running scared to let a lefty batter face a lefty pitcher but will let a horrific-hitting catcher pinch-hit in a big situation.  I'm really debating how close I want to sit to the dugout on Thursday to let my voice be heard.

We have a manager that is in over his head and quite frankly is not qualified for this job.

[BiggestRoccoFan]

Just now, BiggestRoccoFan said:

We have a manager that is in over his head and quite frankly is not qualified for this job.

Has Rocco been informed that we are in a pennant race yet?

I may send him a Western Union.

[tony&rodney]

The bats are a problem. The pitching has been good. Festa did not give up an earned run tonight. The bigger problem is that if Falvey rosters a team that is below average defensively and never runs, the team needs guys to hit every game. The Twins do not win low scoring games. I believe one all season.

[IndyTwinsFan]

8 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Not quite as disgusting 15-0 

Loss the other day at home ...

It was food pitching though  ...

That wasn't a winnable game.   This one definitely was.  Big difference, in my mind.

[tony&rodney]

2 minutes ago, BiggestRoccoFan said:

We have a manager that is in over his head and quite frankly is not qualified for this job.

Did I miss something? Rocco didn't watch a fly ball drop or make any fielding errors or strike out. The Twins are struggling with position player talent, not managing decisions. 

[TwinsCD]

2 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The bats are a problem. The pitching has been good. Festa did not give up an earned run tonight. The bigger problem is that if Falvey rosters a team that is below average defensively and never runs, the team needs guys to hit every game. The Twins do not win low scoring games. I believe one all season.

You're right.  The 2-0 win over the Jays on Saturday is the only time all season, they've won a game scoring 2 runs or less.

[BiggestRoccoFan]

It's the manager's job to put his players in position to succeed. 

Rocco put 3 infielders in the outfield tonight and the defense was awful.

How about play your best players(Larnach and Wallner) that actually know how to play outfield defense.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

4 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Did I miss something? Rocco didn't watch a fly ball drop or make any fielding errors or strike out. The Twins are struggling with position player talent, not managing decisions. 

Not playing Larnach and Wallner. Not advancing the runners in the 9th. That's on Rocco. Larnach or Wallner probably make the catch that Martin butchered.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

At the end of the day, this team has ZERO margin for error. That's on the front office and ownership.

[tony&rodney]

2 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

probably

?

[USAFChief]

3 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Did I miss something? Rocco didn't watch a fly ball drop or make any fielding errors or strike out. 

You did miss something. It was Rocco who made out the lineup and filled it with the players who did fail to make the plays or drive in any runs. 

These things matter.

[tony&rodney]

1 minute ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

At the end of the day, this team has ZERO margin for error. That's on the front office and ownership.

We all want the Twins to win 162 games this year. The prognosis was somewhere from 82-88 if things were good. Looks like the Twins will make that mark and they have been without Correa and Buxton a fair amount. Losing Ryan and Stewart also hurt. Even with the highest payroll in the division, the Twins are a little shake on talent when they don't hit. Both Cleveland and Kansas City are more athletic and the Twins are holding their own. It is the players who produce.

[Riverbrian]

4 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

One PA each for Larnach and Wallner.

Well played, Baldelli. Well played.

I got my drivers license when I was 16. 

My Dad thought that teenagers were terrible drivers so he wouldn't let me drive the car at all. 

The only time I drove the car was practicing for the drivers test and the test itself. 

A year later when I was 17... Mom and Dad were out of town. Dad called me and said that I would have to take the car, pick my Aunt and take her to the hospital. She would be standing in her driveway waiting for me. 

I had told my Dad over and over again... There was going to come a time when you would need me to drive the car. And I reminded him of those conversations... I was telling him I told ya so as he gave me the combination for the safe that he kept the keys locked up in. 

At the last second... he told me to bring the keys to our neighbor Larry with the drinking problem instead.  

The moral to the story. 

Somebody was going to run over my poor Aunt standing in the drive way. 

 

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Farmer's range is measured metrically. 

in centemeters.

And he's Rocco's go to D replacement for Julien

[Aggies7]

Outfield defense has directly cost at least 3 wins in the last 2 weeks. You’d wish Byron would get find a way to get himself back on the field. 

[BiggestRoccoFan]

Just now, tony&rodney said:

We all want the Twins to win 162 games this year. The prognosis was somewhere from 82-88 if things were good. Looks like the Twins will make that mark and they have been without Correa and Buxton a fair amount. Losing Ryan and Stewart also hurt. Even with the highest payroll in the division, the Twins are a little shake on talent when they don't hit. Both Cleveland and Kansas City are more athletic and the Twins are holding their own. It is the players who produce.

The Twins have more talent than you think they do.

For baseball players it's all about rhythm and being comfortable.

When you are being played up and down the diamond and are hitting 8th one day and batting leadoff the next it's tough to get into a groove. Baseball is a game of rhythm.

The Manager's primary job is to put his players in positions so they can succeed. How can a player succeed when they are an infielder and they find themself in the outfield all of the time. How can a left handed hitter ever hit left handed pitching if they are never given the opportunity?

Why does this team make so many blunders in the field and on the basepaths?

Some of this is on the players but most of the blame is on Rocco. 

 

 

[Schmoeman5]

23 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Did I miss something? Rocco didn't watch a fly ball drop or make any fielding errors or strike out. The Twins are struggling with position player talent, not managing decisions. 

It's Roccos decision to put Martin in LF. Larnach or Wallner make that catch. Martin has been terrible all year on balls he has to come in to catch. So no. Rocco didn't miss it. He just put his name on the lineup card

[tony&rodney]

Kepler and Buxton are out. Correa is out. Santana is the only decent fielder on the team. Falvey makes the decisions on the roster. He put the team together. Even the lineups and strategies are discussed between front office and manager. This is why Molitor was not kept on as a manager. 

If you want to see athletic teams, watch Kansas City or Cleveland. The Twins have a plan and it is to put offense on the field. One can likely tell from my tone that I would prefer some decent or fair defensive players but as a fan of the Twins since 1961, the Twins are my team. The players are doing as much as they can and the system of carrying 13 (now 14) position players means that subs play. Nobody on the team that hits is tearing it up. The subs that played tonight (Jeffers, Farmer, Lee, Martin, Castro, Helman, & Miranda) need to be better. Wallner, Larnach, Julien, and Vazquez each had a chance. It is what it is.

If the Twins score 4-5 runs they will win most of their remaining games. If they cannot hit, we get tonight. Festa was brilliant. It is rather remarkable that the Twins are getting these good starts. Tomorrow it will be Louie Varland. 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

16 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

The moral to the story. 

Somebody was going to run over my poor Aunt standing in the drive way.

Is that why she needed to go totl the hospital?

[Riverbrian]

1 minute ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

Is that why she needed to go totl the hospital?

Nope... She had a giant hairball that occurred from too much licking of her cat. 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

17 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

Nope... She had a giant hairball that occurred from too much licking of her cat. 

So... the difficult decision could have been avoided if you had just been allowed (or given appropriate opportunities) to drive more, or your family had gotten her a hairless cat.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Just now, sampleSizeOfOne said:

So... the difficult decision could have been avoided if you had just been allowed (or given appropriate opportunities) to drive more, or your family had gotten her a hairless cat.

PS how come cats are so popular?