Marlins 4, Twins 1: Early Damage Dooms David Festa as Lineup Struggles Continue

[LastOnePicked]

2 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Wallner's 430 foot fly ball would be a HR in "29/30" parks?

Where isn't that a HR?

Yosemite National Park.

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, Doc Lenz said:

You maybe correct however what he’s teaching isn’t working.  If I made a hire that wasn’t working in my business I wouldn’t hesitate to cut the cord.

My point is more that it's the talent that's the problem. How many hitting coaches you want them to go through with the same players? The players are the problem and the guy who brought the players in is the guy who has to go. Him firing and hiring hitting coaches doesn't solve the problem. The average life span of an MLB hitting coach is less than 3 years. They get fired because they're the easy scapegoat for their bosses who failed to provide them with talent. 

Matt Wallner is a streaky hitter. Always has been, always will be. Ty France isn't a great hitter. This is who he's been for years. Bader is a bad hitter. His 99 OPS+ is wildly above what he's been the last several years. Clemens is a bad hitter. He's never put up an above average batting line like he has right now, him coming back to earth was always going to happen. Bride never should've been here in the first place. Lee is having as much success as anyone could ask for. Correa is struggling so that's a mark against the hitting coach. Buxton is having his 2nd best offensive season ever. Vazquez is doing exactly what Vazquez does. Jeffers is being Jeffers. Lewis has been broken for a year and isn't around long enough to establish any kind of rhythm anyways. Castro has his best OPS outside of the nonsense 2020 season. Keirsey isn't a major leaguer. 

This is who these guys are. The hire that isn't working is Falvey and the position player side of his roster. You can hire whatever hitting coach you want and they aren't turning anyone outside of Correa into a better hitter than they're showing. Every hitter currently not named Correa (or Wallner recently) is either meeting or exceeding recent career performance. This is who these guys are. They're simply not very good.

[darwin22]

4 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend! I need a mental break from this team. From top to bottom this organization gives the impression that they don’t care. Batters with poor AB after poor AB. Rocco zoned out in the dugout, and a FO that buries their heads in the sand. 

Agree 100% with your assessment.

Options for the day included:

A.  Taking a nap

B.   Reading a book

C.   Doing some pre-fantasy football prep work

or 

D.  Tuning into to watch the entirety of the Twins game.

E.   A, B and C, but absolutely NOT choice D

My Answer:  E

For anyone answering "D"----my question is WHY???  

The 8th amendment outlaws "cruel and unusual punishment"

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

A little touchy by me, and meaningless when the Twins can't hit, but that 4th run is totally unearned. Line drive to Brooks Lee who has it dribble off his glove; very catchable. When people look at the box score they miss the plays, often ruled hits, that get should get marked as errors. 

Things are not looking good for the Twins because Tampa Bay is as good a team as there is in MLB. They could totally embarrass the Twins. However baseball is a funny game and the players are all good athletes which means the Twins do have a chance.

It was E Lee

[FlyingFinn]

Is it just me, or are we often swinging at pitches that aren't strikes and letting others that are go by without swinging? If we aren't going to hit well, I want much more foot speed and A+ defense. At this point, I don't think it's the coaches. I think it's the hitters that Falvey has given them.

[David HK]

6 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend! I need a mental break from this team. From top to bottom this organization gives the impression that they don’t care. Batters with poor AB after poor AB. Rocco zoned out in the dugout, and a FO that buries their heads in the sand. 

True dat.  I'm grateful that on this side of the globe, those day games start at 2 or 3 AM, so I'm spared the carnage and the pathos until I check the box scores in the morning. 😅

And judging by attendance figures, you're not the only one taking a break from this team.  I heard on one of the podcasts that attendance is the worst since the last-place 2000 team, the Butch Huskey- Midre Cummings era. 

Woof.

[David HK]

5 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

It's going to be a long rest of the summer until the NFL season starts.  At least we have some reason for hope and positive results from the Vikes, which is way more than we have with this pathetic clown show known as the Twins.

😅 Uh-oh... if you're looking to the Vikes to chase a Minnesota championship, you may be in a spot of trouble.  

But hey, the Lynx are going right now, and come November we can cheer on the Frost.  The women's team are en fuego!  🔥

[Blyleven2011]

6 hours ago, Doc Lenz said:

How does our Hitting Coach still have a job????

Because there's 3 of them and when  Rocco consults with them , they point fingers  blaming the the other guy for the lack of hitting  ...

Rocco is satisfied with their response and walks away and he says to himself , that was a pretty good discussion with my 3 hitting coaches  ...

[knothole61]

9 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Wallner's 430 foot fly ball would be a HR in "29/30" parks?

Where isn't that a HR?

 

//searching for something to say about this game/season/team/manager

The Polo Grounds...

[knothole61]

8 hours ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

It's going to be a long rest of the summer until the NFL season starts.  At least we have some reason for hope and positive results from the Vikes, which is way more than we have with this pathetic clown show known as the Twins.

Indy, I really hate to say it, but with a rookie QB facing a tough schedule and Division, I'd expect 9 wins at most. I hope I'm wrong!

[knothole61]

9 hours ago, chinmusic said:

Finally, and yes, it's taken until today.... I no longer have any illusions about making the playoffs.

Guess i've been in denial

C'est la vie.

Chin, it's not over yet...very few "can't miss" teams in the A.L. and lots of wildcard spots!!

[knothole61]

7 hours ago, Bodie said:

3 games.

3 runs.

3 mediocre (at very best) opposing pitchers.

Zero signs of any Twin giving a fiddler"s fu...

 

Why should we care???

Bodie, in answer to your question: I can't help myself.

[BrokenCompass]

12 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

My point is more that it's the talent that's the problem. How many hitting coaches you want them to go through with the same players? The players are the problem and the guy who brought the players in is the guy who has to go. Him firing and hiring hitting coaches doesn't solve the problem. The average life span of an MLB hitting coach is less than 3 years. They get fired because they're the easy scapegoat for their bosses who failed to provide them with talent. 

Matt Wallner is a streaky hitter. Always has been, always will be. Ty France isn't a great hitter. This is who he's been for years. Bader is a bad hitter. His 99 OPS+ is wildly above what he's been the last several years. Clemens is a bad hitter. He's never put up an above average batting line like he has right now, him coming back to earth was always going to happen. Bride never should've been here in the first place. Lee is having as much success as anyone could ask for. Correa is struggling so that's a mark against the hitting coach. Buxton is having his 2nd best offensive season ever. Vazquez is doing exactly what Vazquez does. Jeffers is being Jeffers. Lewis has been broken for a year and isn't around long enough to establish any kind of rhythm anyways. Castro has his best OPS outside of the nonsense 2020 season. Keirsey isn't a major leaguer. 

This is who these guys are. The hire that isn't working is Falvey and the position player side of his roster. You can hire whatever hitting coach you want and they aren't turning anyone outside of Correa into a better hitter than they're showing. Every hitter currently not named Correa (or Wallner recently) is either meeting or exceeding recent career performance. This is who these guys are. They're simply not very good.

Good take and this has always been my stance also. What's Rocco supposed to do? Step into the batter's box? 

[Peter]

I’m watching every twins game this season no matter what win or lose!!! So if Vikings get off to bad start or have losing season-sell the team and fire KOC!!!

[DJL44]

10 hours ago, David HK said:

And judging by attendance figures, you're not the only one taking a break from this team.  I heard on one of the podcasts that attendance is the worst since the last-place 2000 team, the Butch Huskey- Midre Cummings era. 

They are 12th in the AL in attendance (785000). Two AL teams are playing in minor league parks this summer. The other team behind the Twins is the White Sox. The Rockies and Brewers draw nearly 9000 more people per game.

[Doctor Wu]

14 hours ago, shimrod said:

Plenty of criticism that Rocco has little leeway with how the team is run, simply implements the FO philosophy. How likely is it the batting coaches are in the same boat? We've changed the coaches but the players are still playing "guess the pitch". And they guess wrong a lot. 

There are too many at bats where the players only swings are at balls out of the zone, while watching called strikes down the middle. And the booth crew agree "he must have been looking for something else". Rinse and repeat. 

 

I keep thinking about the coaches in general. We have pitching coach, a hitting coach, and I think assistants for both of those positions, plus a bench coach, the first base coach, third base coach, bullpen coach .... so, a lot of "voices" for the players to listen to, But how much do these coaches actually affect or help the players perform? In the case of the Twins, it appears we are getting very lackluster results from the "expertise" of our coaches. 

[David Maro]

Too busy to watch the game,but it was over in the 1st inning anyway. Can't believe all the talk about Wallner's solo homerun. The team still lost 4-1 and its time he should be sent to St.Paul. He looks more like Joey Wallner with all the strike outs. This team is a bunch of self absorbed players who only care about swinging for the fences. They haven't played baseball for the better part of the season.

[Bodie]

8 hours ago, knothole61 said:

The Polo Grounds...

Shibe Field (later Connie Mack Stadium) measured 515 feet (yep!) to CF.  

Heard stories of how fast guys could've circled the bases twice on poorly played inside the park homers...

[mnfireman]

36 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

What I don't get is why yesterday's home plate umpire was obviously calling balls low and out of the zone strikes for both teams, but the players did not adjust.  Is it the players or hitting coaches who should be making bat-to-bat adjustments based on how the umpire is calling that day's game?

How does that saying go,,, keep doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results?

According Baseball Savant pitch illustrator there were 6 called strikes at the very bottom of the zone, 3 for each team and there were 3 called balls at or just below the very bottom of the zone, 2 of which could have been called strikes, 1 for each team (the Marlins had the pitch actually out of the zone.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=7/3/2025&gamePk=777263&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=Ball&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=illustrator&sportId=1&liveAb=

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=7/3/2025&gamePk=777263&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=Called Strike&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=illustrator&sportId=1&liveAb=

[mnfireman]

I understand the complaint about the Twins seeming incapable of making in-game or in-plate appearance adjustments, I notice it also.

[jkcarew]

22 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Wallner's 430 foot fly ball would be a HR in "29/30" parks?

Where isn't that a HR?

 

//searching for something to say about this game/season/team/manager

At Tropicana it hits a stanchion. Must not have replaced it with Steinbrenner Field in the computer program.

The other accepted answer is…Yellowstone.

[knothole61]

15 hours ago, Bodie said:

Shibe Field (later Connie Mack Stadium) measured 515 feet (yep!) to CF.  

Heard stories of how fast guys could've circled the bases twice on poorly played inside the park homers...

Yeah, the 1909 version had a sharp corner in center that was 515' from the plate. By 1925 it was down to 468' and 447' during the 1950s. The last iteration in 1968 had a distance of 410 to center...very reasonable. I love the old ballparks!