Twins 1, Cardinals 5: Erick Fedde and Lars Nootbaar's Terror Reigns Again

[PDX Twin]

Quote

a rare infield double

Please! Number 4 tried to pick up the ball to hold him at first, and whiffed, letting the ball trickle into the outfield. Single and an error on our inexpensive, nervous, rookie shortstop. At least he's knocking the cover off the ball at the plate. Oh ... wait ...

[Karbo]

2 games that the hitters looked anxious, got so aggressive I thought they were catching the next flight out.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Still too early.  Obviously Rocco's new ST strategy does not have us sprinting, but I am still waiting for another 10 games.

  But sprint training is over.

[Fatbat]

Somewhere between 160-2 and 0-162. Don’t panic. 

[DocBauer]

Wow! So the season is over after 2 games huh? 

I never want to place blame on anyone in particular for any loss, but Pablo really had a pair of mental errors in game 1...though he really might not have committed a balk from what I hear...that might have been the difference in the game. And the pen was just fine.

Ryan throws a great game, Alcala gets drilled by a 95mph comebacker, and things just kind of went off the rails. The bats were silent.

What was that sound? The sky is falling? Nope. Just a snow shovel not hung up well and crashed to the garage floor.

Maybe it's just me, but I've never panicked over 2 games to start a season.

[GNess]

I plan to withhold my grim acceptance of a meh season at least until April! 

[Parfigliano]

3 hours ago, SteveLV said:

Prediction:  Baldelli is fired by Memorial Day, if not sooner.  This team is already listless.

Prediction he is not fired at all

[shimrod]

Someone noted the lack of commercials on the broadcast. It's nice. 

It is, however, financial malpractice for a team complaining of revenue shortfalls. Still no branding on the uniforms either. 

Is the team so toxic no one wants their product associated? Or is this similar to the attempt to sell an (estimated) 1.5 Billion dollar franchise for no less than 1.7 Billion? It would be so on-brand for ownership to set an outlandish price for uniform labeling and get nothing rather than accept the highest offer. Or demand top dollar for a 30 second spot between innings and get...nothing. 

I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. But I'm also not going to have any sympathy when the team pleads poverty. 

 

 

[IndyTwinsFan]

22 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Prediction he is not fired at all

Agreed.  The Pohlads are not paying for 2 managers, regardless of the circumstances. 

[terrydactyls]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Twins.tv is great - no commercials at all

Commercials were the highlight of the game.

[Blyleven2011]

3 hours ago, SteveLV said:

Prediction:  Baldelli is fired by Memorial Day, if not sooner.  This team is already listless.

Baldelli should have been fired after the first game this year to send a message to the players that this team management means business and wants to win , I sure hope your right  , I've been a non believer of baldelli since the 2019 playoffs , chief is on bored also for a different voice  , Rocco pure and simple is not a major league manager  ...

[DJL44]

Mickey Gasper reminds me of Don Mattingly, but the 1990s version after the back injuries took away his ability to hit for power.

[Maybe Next Year]

5 hits, 1 run and only 82 pitches and Ryan gets pulled after5 innings. What a crock of crap. This pitch count nonsense needs to stop. 

[Old Crow]

5 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

A few quick observations:

1. It’s tough when the highlight is an infield single by your 29 year old rookie. Btw, no knock on Gaspar. Congratulations - you’ve worked hard for decades to achieve that. I hope there are a lot more to follow.

2. Best bullpen in the majors? Yeah, right. 

3. Yankees hit 9 dingers today - this entire Twins team may not have that many by tax day.

4. The Cardinals hit, pitched and fielded better in both the first two games - by a lot.  

5. Fielding is not going to be strength of this Twins team.  Come to think of it, hitting won’t be either. It’s too early to tell about pitching, but the early returns are not overly encouraging.

6. This team is boring, let’s just admit it.  They exhibit as much personality and fire as their manager.

7.  We stole another base today. That’s two in two games. Hell has officially frozen over.

8. Given all that’s going on with ownership and tv, etc., the under on 1.75MM in home attendance this season looks like a solid bet.

9. Since that Texas series in August last summer, are the Twins the worst team in baseball?  They sure look it.

10.  See you tomorrow.

On a  brighter note their launch angles looked fairly good.

[Aggies7]

2 hours ago, PDX Twin said:

Please! Number 4 tried to pick up the ball to hold him at first, and whiffed, letting the ball trickle into the outfield. Single and an error on our inexpensive, nervous, rookie shortstop. At least he's knocking the cover off the ball at the plate. Oh ... wait ...

That was a comical scoring decision. 

[Aggies7]

24 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Mickey Gasper reminds me of Don Mattingly, but the 1990s version after the back injuries took away his ability to hit for power.

He doesn’t even remind me of Ron Mattingly 

[Maybebaby]

Paid the $100 bucks for Twins.TV awful early to give up on them but they sure look like wimps!  After 2 games they only have 3 hitters with 2 or more hits yow, so-o-o-o-o-o-o listless.  Ready for some of the youngsters to step in. 

[Danchat]

The bats will eventually get hot, but their volatility paired with them being a below average unit defensively is a bad combo.

Not a good sign to see a AAAA hitter DH'ing in the #6 spot on the second game of the season. Yikes.

[Brandon27]

It's only two games with injuries this roster is not good 

[1985Fan]

Futile offense so far. Looks like the same as late last year. Every mistake gets amplified when you can’t score runs. Not surprised, nor am I confident in this group of hitters.. I don’t think this team can hit consistently enough to be contenders. 

[knothole61]

7 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Just not much there to get enthused about. Today, or long term.

Been on the "Fire Rocco" bandwagon for some time now. Caught a lot of **** for that. But I'm still riding that wagon. 

 

I'm also ready for a change...Rocco is too phlegmatic (at least in his public persona) for my liking and his inability to pull the team even partially out of last season's tailspin was the last straw for me. In addition, when players hit the IL they seem to stay, and stay, and stay. Ultimately, of course, the Twins' medical staff guides the healing and rehabilitation process, but I can't help thinking that Rocco has some influence on what I believe is an excess of caution when it comes to his players' injuries--a byproduct perhaps of his own sad experience with injuries in MLB?

At any rate, he will not survive this year as manager unless he make the postseason, and regardless, as soon as the Twins have a new ownership group he's gone. 

[knothole61]

7 hours ago, Dave Borton said:

Think of yourself as Gabby Hayes, riding shotgun for John Wayne on the stagecoach.

"Dagnabbit"

[knothole61]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Mickey Gasper reminds me of Don Mattingly, but the 1990s version after the back injuries took away his ability to hit for power.

Gordon Liddy's moustache but not his ferret face?

[BrokenCompass]

Gasper popping up on the first pitch with a man on 3rd and one out is on-brand. Why in the heck are the Twins DH'ing a 29 year-old rookie who never had a major league hit? It's not like we're late in the season and giving the guy a cup of coffee, this is OPENING WEEKEND! 

The offense has been so, so, so disappointing and abysmal to watch, it's been a year now of being forced to watch the unwatchable. 

If the Twins are going to be relying on Harrison Bader and Willie Castro for their offense, we're in for a long season. Buxton's looking like his prime is firmly behind him. 

Overall a shameful effort on opening weekend. 

[BrokenCompass]

6 hours ago, 1985Fan said:

Futile offense so far. Looks like the same as late last year. Every mistake gets amplified when you can’t score runs. Not surprised, nor am I confident in this group of hitters.. I don’t think this team can hit consistently enough to be contenders. 

Agreed. I'm always confused when people blame pitchers in a 5-1 loss. 

Blame the pitcher if you lose 10-6. Otherwise, the blame goes on the guys swinging the lumber. 

[CRF]

When the highlight of the game, is Gasper getting an infield hit for his 1st major league base hit...you know something is really wrong. 

[beckmt]

14 hours ago, Linus said:

The 69 Dodgers had elite pitching with Koufax, Drysdale, etc.  Their hitting was horrible.  Drysdale was on the injured list and wasnt with the team.  He was told that Koufax threw a no hitter that day.  His response: “Did we win?”

Not sure why the Twins make me think of that story.

Learn your history, Koufax retired after 1966.  At that point the dodgers had Don Sutton, very good, but not Koufax.

[shimrod]

2 hours ago, BrokenCompass said:

Why in the heck are the Twins DH'ing a 29 year-old rookie who never had a major league hit?

I will give the manager the benefit of the doubt and assume Rocco thought this lineup gave the Twins their best chance to win. 

Scary thought...what if Rocco is right? 

[beckmt]

7 hours ago, knothole61 said:

I'm also ready for a change...Rocco is too phlegmatic (at least in his public persona) for my liking and his inability to pull the team even partially out of last season's tailspin was the last straw for me. In addition, when players hit the IL they seem to stay, and stay, and stay. Ultimately, of course, the Twins' medical staff guides the healing and rehabilitation process, but I can't help thinking that Rocco has some influence on what I believe is an excess of caution when it comes to his players' injuries--a byproduct perhaps of his own sad experience with injuries in MLB?

At any rate, he will not survive this year as manager unless he make the postseason, and regardless, as soon as the Twins have a new ownership group he's gone. 

hopefully sooner, like this weekend.

[Linus]

1 minute ago, beckmt said:

Learn your history, Koufax retired after 1966.  At that point the dodgers had Don Sutton, very good, but not Koufax.

I probably have the year wrong too but it’s a story that has become part of baseball lore.  Sorry you didn’t enjoy it.