Red Sox 6, Twins 1: Ryan Jeffers Homers in Sisyphean Loss

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of © Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Box Score
Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (2)
Bottom 3 WPA: Louis Varland (-.140), Danny Coulombe (-.124), Carlos Correa (-.106)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Fresh off a standard Cleveland series—what with the multiple walk-offs and unlimited late blown leads—Rocco Baldelli looked to change things up. The repetition felt stale; something about the team needed altering if they wanted to avoid the pitfalls of 2024. That’s how we get a lineup featuring Trevor Larnach hitting leadoff with Brooks Lee in the three-hole. Would it work? Let’s see. 

Early returns were not favorable. Not that it had anything to do with the lineup. Joe Ryan sliced up Boston’s first two hitters before an old foe in a new uniform appeared. Alex Bregman may have traded Houston’s orange for Boston’s white and red trim, but he’s still a Twin-killer at heart—and new threads didn’t change that. He saw one of Ryan’s signature high fastballs and cracked the pitch 410 feet into left-center.

Annoying as the run was, Minnesota responded fairly quickly, finding their redemptive gumption through Ryan Jeffers’ bat, which found kinship in a hanging Brayan Bello slider, soon to become one of those classic high-rising line drive homers that appear capable of leaving Boston altogether. 

That quieted things. Both starters settled in. Ryan shed the 1st-frame inefficiency to cut through the Red Sox lineup, collecting whiffs with his impossibly squirrely fastball; before it was all said and done, he earned 12 swings-and-misses on the pitch, and eight strikeouts overall. Not quite the bat-missing wizard, Bello decided to let his defense work for him, striking out just five while Jarren Duran performed Olympic-level gymnastics in left field. The two crossed the six-inning threshold with just their lone solo homers as blemishes. Sometimes there were threats. Often, there wasn’t. Any trouble seemed inconsequential as the starters dove deep into the game.

As it always seems to be, drama didn’t fully arrive until the bullpen entered the game. Louis Varland took the mound rearing, ready to fire heaters, but walked off the mound puzzled after just five pitches when two singles and a bunt placed two men in scoring position. Enter Danny Coulombe. The Great Problem-Solver. Capable of wriggling out of anything. He struck out his first batter, Duran. Rafael Devers? A little trickier. He shot a grounder somewhere between routine and tricky to Edouard Julien, who couldn’t handle the opportunity, falling all over himself as two runs scored. 

And that portended the worst of it. Things continued to slide: Jorge Alcalá entered in the 8th and found no favor in the mound; in his arm; or in his fortune in attempting to accrue outs. Three runs scored on his watch. It was nearly four, but grace blessed him in a most minor and, frankly, somewhat insulting way, as Duran was originally called safe when sliding into home, yet was called out on review. 

Liam Hendriks ended the inevitable in the 9th, perhaps as a way to salt the wound.

Notes:

Joe Ryan's eight strikeouts give him 572 in his career, the 18th-most in Twins history. He's 14 away from tying Rick Aguilera.

Ryan Jeffers hit his 61st career homer on Friday, the 4th most by a primary catcher in Twins history. He's 15 away from tying Earl Battey.

Danny Coulombe appeared in his 302nd career MLB game.

Byron Buxton is slashing .444/.444/.444 in two games in May. 

Post-Game Interview:

 

What’s Next?
The Twins and Red Sox battle again on Saturday, with Bailey Ober set to face off against Hunter Dobbins. First pitch is at 3:10 PM.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

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[MMMordabito]

[Aggies7]

“In slang, "clowned" generally means to be ridiculed, mocked or made fun of, often in a public or embarrassing manner. It implies being the target of mockery or teasing, suggesting that someone has been put in a vulnerable or humiliating position”

As in, the Red Sox were clowning the twins on the basepaths all night. We’re at that point now, where other teams can humiliate us. What has happened to my team?

 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Ctrl <c>

Ctrl <v>

[miller761]

How much longer do I have to watch Alcala and Julien. Neither are MLB ball players. 

[Vanimal46]

9 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

What has happened to my team?

Remember back when Leslie Frazier was coaching the Vikings before he was fired? After every game he’d tell the media “We got to look at the tape.” on our way to a 3-13 record? That’s how it feels right now each passing game with Rocco leading the way. We are just wasting time until someone in a position of power notices and makes changes.

This team has no answers right now

[jkcarew]

It’s “sisyphEAn”.

But, it’s futile.

[Rik19753]

Didn't watch the game so this isn't really a comment about this game, but if feels like this team just isn't built to maximize their chances to win when their better pitchers are on the mound, especially Ryan and Ober.

Not that it matters when the hitting is this poor, at this point we wouldn't be able to win if prime Johan were pitching every night, but how many times over the years have we seen a great Ryan or Ober start go to waste because they are literally getting 0 run support?

It seems like Ryan and Ober are pitchers that have a lot of variance in their performance. Most days they are dominant and give the team a great change to win, and some days they have off days where they are  pounded and the game is over within the first few innings. So if the offense were consistently scoring 3-4 runs per game, most of their outings would turn into wins. But what we have is an offense that seems like it is build to explode for 10 runs on good days, but on most days have trouble even scoring multiple runs. Thus it seems like we aren't leveraging the Ryan and Ober outings to our advantage.

The player evaluation and development is obviously poor, but the roster construction may just be the worst part about this team.

[GNess]

5 minutes ago, miller761 said:

How much longer do I have to watch Alcala and Julien. Neither are MLB ball players. 

Sadly I agree at least keep Julien away from 2B. Please help me understand why Gasper gets some AB's at DH and Julien gets a lot of 2B starts? He just can't field the position. Have Lee play 2B, Bride play 3B (until Lewis returns) and if Rocco wants Julien's bat in the lineup for some reason let him DH. 

[tony&rodney]

1 minute ago, Rik19753 said:

the roster construction may just be the worst part about this team.

This is what makes the Twins the team they are - roster construction.

It is pointless to point at Vazquez, Jeffers, France, Miranda, Julien, Lee, Correa, Lewis, Bride, Clemens, Gasper, Larnach, Bader, Keirsey Jr., Buxton, Wallner, Martin, etc. much less any of the pitchers. This is the result of Falvey's dream team with Baldelli making all the moves.

[mikelink45]

Rocco - maybe the pen needs a rest. Varland is over worked, the top 5 have been in 12 - 16 of the games.  That is not sustainable.  And Alcala just does not have it.  Put a SP in the pen, someone who can piggy back and give us innings since you don't like the SP to go 8 or 9 (and most of the time 6 or 7).  Too painful.  I just don't have the words.  The SP have now gone 164 out or 276 innings.  

How about McCusker - I know how stubborn execs can be, but let's get someone who has the potential to sting the ball.  Do something Twins or there will be no one in the stands by the end of the season.

[Parfigliano]

At some point someone on team Pohlad is going to notice that the FO and everything TC  is tanking the value of the TC asset they allegedly want to sell.

[miller761]

It is a bad stretch. Whatever can go wrong does. We hit the ball right at someone and they hit them where we ain't. But there is no excuse for pitchers not being able to throw to first, relief pitchers not paying attention to runners or attempting to hold them on and our 2nd baseman hitting under .200 not being able to field his position. This has to end now. Bride at 3B, Lee at 2B and Julien and Alcala in the minors. If you make mistakes repeatedly you don't belong. Someone needs to light the fire and show some urgency or you won't see anyone in the stands next week. There are minor league teams more fundamentally sound than the Twins. Roco's laid back style is not working. Light the fire or be gone!

[Parfigliano]

21 minutes ago, miller761 said:

How much longer do I have to watch Alcala and Julien. Neither are MLB ball players. 

On a team with Gasper being a leadoff and DH hitter, Kody Clemens and Christian Vasquez starting.....

[Parfigliano]

8 minutes ago, miller761 said:

It is a bad stretch. Whatever can go wrong does. We hit the ball right at someone and they hit them where we ain't. But there is no excuse for pitchers not being able to throw to first, relief pitchers not paying attention to runners or attempting to hold them on and our 2nd baseman hitting under .200 not being able to field his position. This has to end now. Bride at 3B, Lee at 2B and Julien and Alcala in the minors. If you make mistakes repeatedly you don't belong. Someone needs to light the fire and show some urgency or you won't see anyone in the stands next week. There are minor league teams more fundamentally sound than the Twins. Roco's laid back style is not working. Light the fire or be gone!

Or fire Rocco 

[LastOnePicked]

"The curse, in this case, being the fan of a team capable of such consistent mediocrity."

Are we following the same team? These Twins have a long way to go before they reach the heights of mediocrity.

[IndyTwinsFan]

57 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

“In slang, "clowned" generally means to be ridiculed, mocked or made fun of, often in a public or embarrassing manner. It implies being the target of mockery or teasing, suggesting that someone has been put in a vulnerable or humiliating position”

As in, the Red Sox were clowning the twins on the basepaths all night. We’re at that point now, where other teams can humiliate us. What has happened to my team?

 

In a word, "apathy", all the way around.  No other way to put it, IMO.

[wavedog]

What, no mention of Julien's great slide into 2nd base?  I don't think I ever seen a slide so bad in little league.  I have Mlb.tv and watch a lot of other teams - no team has worse fundamentals than Minnesota.   Tom Kelly must be rolling over in his recliner.    I think it's time for Julien, Alcala and Rocco to go and I am not a big fire the manager guy but if a situation every called for a shake-up, this is it.         

[IndyTwinsFan]

35 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Rocco - maybe the pen needs a rest. Varland is over worked, the top 5 have been in 12 - 16 of the games.  That is not sustainable.  And Alcala just does not have it.  Put a SP in the pen, someone who can piggy back and give us innings since you don't like the SP to go 8 or 9 (and most of the time 6 or 7).  Too painful.  I just don't have the words.  The SP have now gone 164 out or 276 innings.  

How about McCusker - I know how stubborn execs can be, but let's get someone who has the potential to sting the ball.  Do something Twins or there will be no one in the stands by the end of the season.

Can't hurt to try because what we have now clearly isn't working at all.

[Aggies7]

1 minute ago, wavedog said:

What, no mention of Julien's great slide into 2nd base?  I don't think I ever seen a slide so bad in little league.  I have Mlb.tv and watch a lot of other teams - no team has worse fundamentals than Minnesota.   Tom Kelly must be rolling over in his recliner.    I think it's time for Julien, Alcala and Rocco to go and I am not a big fire the manager guy but if a situation every called for a shake-up, this is it.         

I said in the game thread that sometimes I’ll watch some twins games on YouTube from their better years. Just to see how the organization played at one time. I watched a spring training game of theirs from 1988 yesterday. Gagne laid completely out to make an incredible catch in the 8th inning of a meaningless game. Our current guys are devoid of the fundamentals of the game and have been for years.

 

[miller761]

Agree about the bullpen usage. We need a long man (Festa) in the bullpen to piggyback SWR and Paddock. Festa and Matthews have proved themselves last year and this year. Bring them both up and put one in the bullpen along with Paddock. Or put both in the pen if you keep your starting rotation the same. Our starting pitching has been great (5th in MLB lately). Let them lose the game. That would require some out of the box thinking. We the fans want to see some change cause what you are doing now is not working!

[miller761]

Amen! Aggies7.

[Parfigliano]

12 minutes ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

In a word, "apathy", all the way around.  No other way to put it, IMO.

It's...check cleared...next payday check clears... I'm good.  

Then, maybe baseball 

[strumdatjag]

Alcala needs to be sent down to AAA.    I don’t care if it’s waived or optioned.  He is a disaster right now.  Move SWR or Paddack to the pen.  Call up Festa to start.   The Zebster needs to get himself in a position to be next. 

[RpR]

The Chicago White Sox, took 2 out of 3 from Boston a short time ago, my oh my.

[FlyingFinn]

I am ready to get rid of Rocco, though about 4-5 hitters on the roster don't belong there. Fundamentals and lack of hustle is my problem with Rocco. At least Gasper hustled and hey he forced an error. Go outside the box with a new manager, Brian Dinkleman from the minors. His teams have always played well and he knows many of these players with the Twins.

[Parfigliano]

3 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

I am ready to get rid of Rocco, though about 4-5 hitters on the roster don't belong there. Fundamentals and lack of hustle is my problem with Rocco. At least Gasper hustled and hey he forced an error. Go outside the box with a new manager, Brian Dinkleman from the minors. His teams have always played well and he knows many of these players with the Twins.

 Have a contest.  Buy a ticket...you could manage TC.

Could it be worse?

[USAFChief]

Someone do me a favor....check with Fangraphs and find out if we still have the best bullpen in baseball.

[thelanges5]

Offense has scored 7 runs in the past 4 games. 

[S Bart]

The only enjoyable part of the Friday night game was listening to Roger Clemens' stories on the TV broadcast.  Julien over sliding 2nd base and his fielding...ugh.