Tigers 3, Twins 0: Tarik Skubal Carves Up Helpless Twins Offense

[tony&rodney]

How healthy is Royce Lewis? Will we see Christian Vazquez inserted as a pinch runner for him late in a game when the other options have been exhausted? 

[Blyleven2011]

Twins had a disadvantage right from the start , bad lineup management against a very very good lefty ...

2 hits , France and Bader  , what is wrong with the twins system  of developing hitters ...

Skubal was good but the twins helped him out at swinging at alot of pitches they couldn't handle , Lee struck out twice with pitches in his eyes for example  ...

It was what everyone expected from Skubal , that he would dominate the twins , even their bullpen held up the shutout , the twins hitters were all worn̈ out facing Skubals nasty stuff ...

Detroit is the better team and they took the series with players i would like to have on the twins roster ...

[Doctor Gast]

I was afraid that we'd be embarrassed. But fortunately, it was just a boring game except for Skubal, which most people tuned in for. We had a chance after Skubal but DET wanted to win the game & their BP upheld the win.

[jorgenswest]

I am not an advocate of the all right handed line up. I know that Skubal is very difficult on left handed batters but they at least need to be able to break up his rhythm. Only two trams have tried the all right handed line up against Skubal this year. Both attempts were unsuccessful.

I should note the Twins did get a win against Skubal last year with the all right handed line up. That was probably Margot’s best game as a Twin. He had a homer off Skubal and scored two runs. The game was tied when Skubal exited and the Twins scored off the Tigers bullpen to get the win.

[LambchoP]

After going hitless in 3 rehab games the Twins are rushing Lewis back to save this crappy offense. It's more likely he goes 0-15 or something and goes down with another leg injury, this time for the rest of the season. Hey, at least we got rid of Bride. Now if we could just do the same for Keirsey and Wentz. Why does Rocco play our worst looking lineup anytime we're on national TV? We always play like **** too. Definitely not making the team look attractive to any potential buyers out there.

[David Maro]

Could only watch 2 innings of this embarrassing game. How hitter after hitter made Skubal look like a Cy Young pitcher. Standing in the on deck circle watching him throw change up after change up blow the zone on 2 strikes. Then swinging at what they had just watched happen,why look at their IPad. 

Looking at how Paddock pitched he didn't deserve the outcome he got.

[Linus]

6 hours ago, Fezig said:

One way Detroit does it is not having Baldelli for a manager.

I think the group of good young players plus Skubal is a little more important. 

[Larry Janisewski]

6 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Maybe

Hinch is doing it with 15 players that add up to around 11M in payroll. Which is about the same price as Vazquez alone.

 

If I remember correctly, the Tigers payroll is about $400,000 more than the Twins and both are just below the middle in team payroll ranking.

[Riverbrian]

1 hour ago, Larry Janisewski said:

If I remember correctly, the Tigers payroll is about $400,000 more than the Twins and both are just below the middle in team payroll ranking.

You are correct. The Twins and Tigers are spending about the same in 2025. 

The Tigers had money to spend this off-season because they didn't 4 million here and 4 million there the money away with players in Arbitration and Cheap Vet Contracts. The Tigers have a roster full of players making the minimum. As a result, the Tigers had about 50 million to spend on DECENT free agents this year while we were sweeping up spilled produce in the supermarket aisles.

The Twins are currently trying to figure out who they can't sign and who they will have to trade next year to make payroll room because we are not filling spaces internally like nearly everybody else does.  

If the Twins can't develop talent. This thing will crash and burn hard. 

The Twins currently compare with the Phillies and Dodgers in regards to players making the minimum. The problem is that we don't have the money the Phillies and Dodgers do. 

If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there.

Brad Pitt says a lot of smart things.   

 

 

[Western SD Fan]

I would suggest that the Tigers still have their own warts.  Javier Baez, for the good year he is having this year, is still a bust of a signing for Detroit.  They are still paying Kenta Maeda $10M to not be close to the team.  Throw in Alex Cobb and his $15M on the IL doing his best Tyler Mahle impression and that just about equates to a bad Correa and Vazquez.  

This iteration of the Tigers reminds me of the Astros ten years ago or a team that we have seen before:  the early 2000's Twins.  A young group breaking in together, growing up together, and playing together.  Mix that in with some veterans either acquired through trade or FA signing (Shannon Stewart, Jose Offerman, Carlos Silva).

[knothole61]

22 hours ago, knothole61 said:

I know that the aesthetics of it are not pleasing, and that purists will say that if he can't be counted on to go 100%, 100% of the time he should just pack his bag, but I think for Lewis to contribute to the Twins in a meaningful way, he'll need to be coached to run the bases at a controlled 75% effort, most of the time.

It's hard to pull a hamstring at a reduced speed. He should have no trouble fielding at third base or shacking around the bases. The pulls occur when you get up on your toes and extend, and surge for at least 10-15 hard strides. If you have the inclination to pull, and Lewis clearly does, no amount of stretching or whatever "vibration technologies" they may have today (I may have made that up?) will keep him from risking a pull any time he puts the pedal to the metal...any time.

I think he can find his hitting stride again, (maybe .900s in OPS?) but I wouldn't have him try to find his full running stride again. It's really not a sellout, just common sense in my humble opinion.    

You know, I completely understand the revulsion at the sight of anyone not running 100%. But I'm pretty sure that if Lewis keeps trying to run full speed he will spend much more than half of his seasons on the IL. His value to the Twins is not as a base stealer or a guy who can stretch out an extra base from time-to-time anyway-yes? He's really pretty earthbound. I say let him use "the better part of valor" on the base paths and live to fight many more days as a result. Channeling my inner Johnnie Cochran: If it's speed he will not succeed. 

Some guys just pull under high strain. The more pulls (tears) you have the weaker the entire mechanism becomes and the greater the likelihood of future injuries. Even when a given tear "heals" it can leave behind a sizable calcified node on the spot. I'm probably not up on the latest medical knowledge, but I do know that chronic hamstring problems can spell doom for an athlete.

Time will tell, and maybe he'll fly around the bases unhindered for years to come...I just wouldn't bet on it. 

[Fezig]

17 hours ago, Linus said:

I think the group of good young players plus Skubal is a little more important. 

That is important indeed! That would be another reason.