Make It Official! Twins 4, Rays 3: Early Power, Dominant Pitching Help Twins Split Series in Tampa

[JD-TWINS]

Anyone remember…. “Elizabeth, I’m coming to join you….” from Fred G. Sanford? That’s what immediately came to mind as I grabbed my chest in real time as Julien’s ball went out for a Home Run!!! April 25 - September 5 is a real drought……..so glad he was able to come up big…….hoping he can earn a spot to stay up after CC & Buxton are activated……at some point. Thanks Eddie!

Griffin Jax is a stud! Ground ball to save Pablo’s inning and then after giving up a triple he K’s the next guy easily to get out of his own mess. He’s not perfect but awfully close.

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

A nice much-needed squeaker win, thanks to good pitching. More than 9 out of 10 CFers wouldn't make that catch that Keirsey missed. That close to the wall the present Buxton might not have made that catch. The ease that Keirsey got to the ball made it look easier than it was. Under different situations, Keirsey would have made that catch.

“Under different situations, Keirsey would have made that catch.” …….. not sure what you mean by this? Reality rules. I think he’s really talented outfielder based on reviews and that catch was nearly impossible, granted. If it was an easy fly ball he definitely would have caught it routinely.

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

KC is w/o Vinnie which is why they are losing. He made up a lot of their offense. With him, they'd give CLE a lot more trouble. We shouldn't have that much trouble even in KC.

Pasquantino’s absence is really a hole in their line-up!

Ya gotta hit and score to win though - Twins aren’t exactly tearing it up offensively lately……..even 1 of 3 wouldn’t be disastrous in K.C……..IMO.

[Riverbrian]

I have no idea what Keirsay will be in the major leagues. I have no idea what kind of opportunity he will get to be something in the big leagues. 

However... I was impressed with Keirsay in CF after the triple. 

He got to it at full speed, briefly had the ball before running into the wall at full speed. Hitting the wall at full speed can and will jar a ball loose.

I watch OF'ers lay up on catchable balls. I'll take what Keirsay did every single time.  

[Jeff K]

I've felt positively towards the Twins all season (after the awful start); however, they are running out of players who can realistically contribute.  I just don't see how the pitching staff can hold up in the playoffs.  Our top two starters are studs, but it's all youngsters after that.  And our vaunted relief depth is pretty well exposed.  Perhaps Varland can be a one or two inning guy and do well.  They certainly need that.  Always hopeful, but a nice playoff run doesn't seem to be in the cards this season.  

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Jeff K said:

I just don't see how the pitching staff can hold up in the playoffs.  Our top two starters are studs, but it's all youngsters after that.  And our vaunted relief depth is pretty well exposed.  Perhaps Varland can be a one or two inning guy and do well.  They certainly need that.  Always hopeful, but a nice playoff run doesn't seem to be in the cards this season.  

The other playoff teams in the American League are not exactly loaded with pitching. If you look at the top 60 pitchers by WAR:

Out of Playoffs: Skubal, Greene, Fedde, Skenes, Anderson, Crochet, Webb, Ortiz, Houck, Abbott, Yates, Imanaga, Woo, Sanchez, Keller, Gilbert, Lorenzen, Eovaldi, Holton, Assad, Helsley, Walker, Gomber, Miller, Crawford, Soriano

In Playoffs (NL): Sale, Wheeler, Lopez, Nola, King, Suarez, Cease, Flaherty, Iglesias, Scott, Manea, Peterson, Fried, Hudson, Glasnow, Myers, Estevez, Adam

In Playoffs (AL): Lugo, Ragans, Blanco, Valdez, Clase, Gil, Wacha, Brown, Jax, Gaddis, Lopez, Bibee, Burnes, Ober, Joe Ryan, Eflin, Lorenzen

The Royals have all the pitching, then Houston. The Twins match up fine with everyone else.

[LambchoP]

Pablo pitching like a true ace. Nice to have him anchoring our rotation. If Ober can just figure out KC we'll have a real good one-two punch. Jax has got to be one of the best relievers in the game and Duran has been pitching much better lately. Our bullpen is still a mess other than the top 4. Too bad Winder just went on the IL, I thought he could have been our first reinforcement. Varland should be in the pen as well. His last 8 run outing should be his last chance. I'd bet he can pitch better and help the team more pitching one or two innings of relief rather than getting absolutely shelled trying to be a starter. Looks like we're not going to see Topa, Paddack or Funderburk this year. Hopefully management addresses the bullpen in the off-season. And actually addresses it, not doing the minor league, waiver wire, rehabbing type signings. We've all seen how that played out...

[Doctor Gast]

6 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Big picture—I am trying to be impartial about Keirsey Jr. I hope he is a late bloomer who can be a big contributor for the next few seasons, but my skeptical side sees another Andrew Stevenson—speedy, decent glove, but not a big league hitter despite gaudy AAA numbers.

The play in question looked like a tough one—he wasn’t going to be charged with an error if he got leather on the ball—but I don’t know if he got a great jump and I don’t know if he showed elite sprint speed.  He made a better play for the ball than Siri did on Jeffers double in the ninth, that’s for sure.

Further, making one good/great catch doesn’t make him a defensive wizard and not making the catch doesn’t preclude him from playing center field. Perhaps the best catch all year by a Twin was Austin Martin robbing a homer and so far he’s shown to be overmatched as a center fielder. 

Now I'm not accusing you, Stringer but there are many who like to put negative labels on rookies with negative expectations. Let's get this Andrew Stevenson out of our heads & give Keirsey every benefit of the doubt, he hasn't even swung a bat yet! Let's understand that he's a rookie let's not put up standards on him that veterans can't do. Martin is another rookie that many look down on. He has shown great athleticism but everyone is expecting him to be a Buxton. He's a rookie who has been asked to learn a new MLB premium position on the fly facing difficult MLB RHPs. A position he should have been brought on slowly but had been thrown into the fire of playing there regularly (no wonder it's sometimes overwhelming) while Buxton has been hurt while babying veteran Margot.

[Doctor Gast]

5 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

“Under different situations, Keirsey would have made that catch.” …….. not sure what you mean by this? Reality rules. I think he’s really talented outfielder based on reviews and that catch was nearly impossible, granted. If it was an easy fly ball he definitely would have caught it routinely.

The situation was that this was Keirsey's 1st MLB game ever, which means there's a lot of nerves, hasn't developed any confidence, not knowing this OF, where the wall is, being cautious of the wall while trying to make that catch. Once he gain confidence, feel of the MLB OFs & etc IMO he would make that catch.

[stringer bell]

One play is just too little to make judgments about someone's defensive capabilities. FWIW, BBRef is showing Keirsey Jr. as being one run below average after one inning.