Twins 5, Tigers 1: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

[laloesch]

10 minutes ago, David Maro said:

Good win today but don't forget the same manager is still in dugout.

 

Exactly, I'll take it, but they've got quite the nasty hole to dig themselves out of and I'm not convinced they will, this could be a flash in the pan and then back to what we were seeing before.  

 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

Nobody contributes at .192 & striking out - Buxton will come around……time and a couple of breaks will help.

You probably need to recalibrate your head to a league batting .230. Buxton, surprisingly, has been just slightly below league average offensively at the plate and his baserunning makes him an average contributor on offense.

[laloesch]

44 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

They are 16 games into the season……..how is the bullpen being abused? …….starters are often built up on pitches over the first 3-4 starts of the year - pretty typical.

Through Saturday, 7 of the guys in our PEN currently have thrown between 4.2 - 6.1 innings to date. Varland had thrown 8.0 innings.

An average Starter’s innings in 2023 was 5.18 & in 2024 it was 5.24……….in 2024 the Twins starters averaged 5.26 innings. This includes the Bailey Ober 1 2/3 inning blow ups, etc.

Nobody expects Paddack to throw more than 110-120 innings all year - SWR is going to push for 150 innings plus - Festa, maybe 135 innings. 5.25 innings x 30 starts is 157.5 innings for the year. Lopez has averaged about 185 - 190 innings over past 2 years - Ryan, if healthy is targeting 180 innings (5.8 innings per start in ‘24) - Ober, essentially same as Ryan (178.1 innings in ‘24).

Do not see any glaring issues with how pitching is being deployed…….”length of games” is certainly not a criteria to manage by at any level.

 

If SWR stays healthy I hope he reaches 150 innings.  I think it's unlikely Festa gets to 135 innings without Paddack going down to the minors or missing significant time with injury.  

[stringer bell]

Rocco's early pulls are more defensible than they might appear. López is the most trusted and he was taken out due to injury, Ryan is coming off a serious injury and didn't get a lot of work in Florida. He worked 7 innings his last start. Ober was set back by illness and then threw a short start in St. Louis to start the season. I believe he went four innings his next time and went six his third outing. The trust isn't there for Paddack, Festa or SWR, and much of that is justified, particularly Festa. If the score is tied or the Twins have a small lead, Baldelli is pretty quick with the hook for the #4, #5 and #6 guys. With a larger lead or a slight deficit, he lets them go longer and that makes sense to me. Example #1 is SWR going over 100 pitches in his second start. 

[Linus]

The biggest limiting factor on innings accumulated is efficiency. If you consistently need 90 pitches to get to the fifth you just aren’t going to rack up many innings. 

[LambchoP]

So all we have to do is bench Correa:). The guy is hitting like .160. worst avg on the team? He still helps the team defensively but man does he need to figure it out at the plate. Buck is only hitting like .180 but at least he's doing it with power and stealing some bases. Correa is doing nothing but hitting into double plays, hitting grounders to the SS just about every time. How much longer until we get the inevitable report that he's been dealing with plantar fascitis in his feet and that's the reason he's sucked so far. Soon as Royce comes back I can see Correa taking his place on the IL....

[USNMCPO]

duck snort single - gotta love that

[JD-TWINS]

7 hours ago, laloesch said:

Incorrect.  Starters USED to be built up prior to the start of the regular season starting.  It's only the past 12-15 years that has changed and it's stretched into the beginning of the regular season.

What’s happening in 2025? ……..did I say we were in 2012? It is NOT incorrect per your own statement…….Team’s pitchers are pitching the same amount of innings OR More than other staffs around baseball. Why are so many people complaining? It’s not 1975 nor is it 2005! With max velocity as the goal, starter innings have dropped  & arm injuries are up - it’s not new.

[JD-TWINS]

Looking at Batting Averages just now…….3-4 guys get hot for a game or two (Correa - Larnach - Buxton  -  Jeffers) and most of the Team will be at League Average, which is a meager .235.

Gasper & Kiersey are a combined 2-24 ……. if they can be replaced by Keaschall & Lewis over the next few weeks, I still think this team can generate some reasonable offensive production……….once these two are on Roster Castro can shift to many more OF innings & Larnach can play more in LF which has Bader  sitting down v. RH pitching - we’ll have 2 others available to DH in Lewis & Keaschall.

[knothole61]

On 4/14/2025 at 6:13 AM, Karbo said:

This announcing crew are complete "homers". I miss the good old days with Dick and Bert!

Dick was like a favorite pair of slippers and I appreciated his true love of baseball, while Bert was several shades more caustic--but they both left the booth rather unceremoniously. As I recall, there was very little warning when Circle-Me-Bert left...I mean, he seemed to have developed a bit of an attitude at times during his last couple of seasons and it's possible he just quit in a fit of pique. Dick, on the other hand, would have died at the mic if they'd let him, but they didn't.

The best thing about Bert was his curveball, and the worst was the way that he'd read laconically from the press guide when giving us background on a new pitcher or hitter. The best thing about Dick was his almost childlike optimism and devotion, while the worst were the odd things he'd say between pitches at times, such as: "Hey Bert, who was your favorite grade school teacher...did you have a favorite?"

"Yester-me yester-you yesterday..."