Guardians 5, Twins 4: New Look, Same Struggles as the Twins Lose Again in Cleveland

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, NYCTK said:

It should. This isn't a veteran of the game that spent a season in AA and AAA and really proved himself worthy of the big leagues. This is a lie that we all like, with talent, that was scorching hot and forced his way onto the big league roster. 

He's only had a half season at AA and now 100 PAs at AAA. They really should let him prove himself again fully since there's no rush the rest of the season. He's 22 and there is the psychological risk of letting him flail on a noncompetetive team. 

 

He shouldn't get an automatic recall, but his stats shouldn't be the determining factor. There's never a time when the stat line from 60ish PAs should be the determining factor. Too small of a sample size. To prove that point, he went from a .238/.353/.238/.591 slash on his rehab to a (assuming my quick math is right) .267/.375/.311/.686 slash with 2 hits and a walk last night. Added essentially 100 points to his OPS in 1 night with a triple and a single. His stats absolutely should not be the determining factor. 

He didn't "prove himself" the first time. He was hitting .261/.379/.348/.727 when he got called up the first time. He wasn't called up because he was lighting AAA on fire, he was called up because they were throwing darts. Shoot, throw another extra base hit on his line and he's hitting essentially exactly what he was when he "proved himself" last time. 

He shouldn't just blindly be put on the major league team and left there if he's getting sliced and diced. But his stats in a small sample shouldn't be the determining factor. They're far too volatile in that small of a sample.

[Maybe Next Year]

After the lack of hustle shown by Julien I would have sent him back down to the minors immediately after the game. As for Kiersey, how in the world can a “major leaguer” not know how to bunt. His form was atrocious. Barrel up! Not down. Don’t punch at the ball, let it come to you. I blame Baldelli and the rest of the organization for the lack of basic fundamentals this ball club has. It starts with Baldelli as he should be preaching the teaching of basic fundamentals to all of his minor league coaches as well as working on them at the ML level.

[Nshore]

Reusse has a column today advocating for promising young players to be called up earlier - which I agree with.  Granted, the Major Leagues can be a shock to the system for a young player.  Even Mickey Mantle was sent back to the minors for a time after his initial call up.  But sometimes it works.  Blyleven was spinning curveballs at ML hitters when he was 19 yrs old.  Bring them up!

[USAFChief]

4 hours ago, Patzky said:

I wonder if he even knew a foul bunt with two strikes is an out .. not a rip on him so much as the coaching staff.. are now strategies related to the batters? Rocco seems irritated he considering bunting the first place 

He's been playing baseball for 2 decades. He knows a foul bunt with 2 strikes is strike 3.

And it was Rocco's decision on all 3 attempts. Hitters dont make the call to sacrifice themselves. And Rocco admitted in his post gamer he kept the sign on with 2 strikes.

Maybe he reads TD, where he got ripped the day before for not having porn-stache guy bunt in the 10th.

Edited August 3, 2025 by USAFChief

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

He didn't "prove himself" the first time. He was hitting .261/.379/.348/.727 when he got called up the first time.

 

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

He shouldn't just blindly be put on the major league team and left there if he's getting sliced and diced. But his stats in a small sample shouldn't be the determining factor.

Right. But since he didn't exactly prove himself the first time, isn't really proving himself now, and had a very short sample size in the bigs, why are we in a rush to get him back to the bigs? Because he was fun for a week?

Let him prove himself. There's literally no reason to bring him up right now. He'll get back there eventually. 

[chpettit19]

16 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

 

Right. But since he didn't exactly prove himself the first time, isn't really proving himself now, and had a very short sample size in the bigs, why are we in a rush to get him back to the bigs? Because he was fun for a week?

Let him prove himself. There's literally no reason to bring him up right now. He'll get back there eventually. 

I'm not in a rush. Another poster exclaimed they should get him up now and I guessed he'd be up Friday. A third poster said his stats weren't good enough during his rehab to deserve that and I said small sample size stats shouldn't determine his callup. That's been the extent of my input on Luke Keaschall. 

They'll use the full 20 days of his rehab and small sample size stats shouldn't be a determining factor. That's all I've said about him.

But, if you want to get into it, his first stint in AAA was a small sample size (58 PAs) so I don't care about his line there. His MLB time, as you point out, was a week. And his rehab will be a small sample size (60ish PAs again). So, none of his statistical lines will mean a single thing to me this year. What does matter is how he looks. And he didn't look even a little overwhelmed in the majors. So, there's no reason not to call him up Friday. 

The reason you don't call guys up is because they'll be overwhelmed by clearly superior talent. He wasn't. If he starts to become overwhelmed you can send him back down later. Nothing says you can't, and if he's so mentally fragile that that experience will ruin his career, he's doomed anyways. He wasn't overwhelmed and could clearly hold his own to some extent. So, there's no reason not to call him up when it comes to him alone.

The reasons, as I said in the other post that you deleted out, are external to him. It's wanting to get a deeper look at Julien at 2B before you make a final DFA decision on him. It's wanting to get a deeper look at Clemens. It's an AB distribution question. Luke Keaschall showed he can hold his own. He'll fail (very likely) at some point in the majors and have to make adjustments. No reason not to speed that process up and let those failures come now instead of later so he can get started on those adjustments. There are plenty of very good players in the majors with fewer AAA PAs than Luke Keaschall.

So, no, they don't need to be in a rush, but they also don't need to delay him. It's just a question of who they want to give ABs to and where.

[darin617]

16 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Right? He looked like a power hitting first baseman trying to bunt. Who are the developmental coaches in this organization and can we fire them all? I mean it, all the way down to Cedar Rapids. Guys are coming up with very poor fundamentals and outside of Luke K they are often very overwhelmed.

You would think even in their old ages Tony Oliva & Rod Carew could teach everyone a thing or 2 about bunting.

[darin617]

16 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Kiersey trying to bunt today is a screaming example of the failures our organization.  How in the world can our fastest player literally have no idea how to lay down a bunt?  How does that player with that particular skill set get to the major leagues without developing the most obvious skill needed to maximum his speed.

It’s simply mind boggling. That’s 100% on the coaching staff. 

I'll make 80% blame on coaching staff and 20% on Kiersey. He should know speed is his best skill and that he should have seeked out help on his own to learn how to bunt.

[darin617]

16 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

What magic are AAA pitching coaches working that Maki & co are incapable of?

I have no problem putting Bradley in St Paul. There are no spots open in the rotation and I would rather have him get his normal work in over putting him in the bullpen.

[darin617]

15 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

I think Ryan is a guarantee in the offseason. Especially if he ends the season strong.    I am starting to think we keep Lopez and Ober and see if they can go on a hot streak and get more value. I may be wrong and new management wants to come in and compete right away.  I just think the timeline is moved to 2027-2028. 

Why wouldn't a new owner want to not win right away?  We just need new owners before the Winter Meetings or the Pohlad's could really burn this roster to the ground.

The Twins could compete in 2026 if they fix the bullpen.  Maybe they take 2 of the young starters like Abel & Festa and turn them into Varland & Jax.

[darin617]

14 hours ago, DJL44 said:

With Gasper, he's barely spent a season in the Twins organization, which means the Yankees and Red Sox also don't teach bunting at any level in the minor leagues.

I listened to the Cleveland broadcast on Sirius XM and their announcer (Hamilton?) was shocked at how bad Keirsey is at bunting.

I thought Ohl did a pretty good job coming through when Rocco decided to have a slow hook for the first time in his managerial career. That may be part of the "Ohl is a 3-inning pitcher" directive from the front office.

At least the Brewers hitters know how to bunt. 

[darin617]

12 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

They need to finish the job. Still way too many .190, .215 hitters in the Twins lineup.

I don’t think Larnach is part of the solution nor certainly are Clemens, Gasper, and pains me to say Keirsey, touch and go on Julien. Martin is a keeper but why did Rocco bench him after he went 3 for 5 in his 1st game? Consistently terrible managing for years.

Players I would like to see on the 26 man and/or back in the lineup ASAP are Buxton and Keaschall.

Then, Gabriel Gonzalez may well be ready to hit more than some of the dead weight offense still left over.

And possibly, give Sabato a shot at 1B.

Kyler Fedko may well be worth a look.

And I would not rule out Culpepper and Jenkins as they are part of the future and are tearing up AA. Rodriguez is anybody’s guess due to chronic injury.

 

Guys like Jenkins, Culpepper, and E-Rod won't get called up for service time reasons. They are tanking so why start their clock early?

[darin617]

6 hours ago, hitterscount said:

If Wallner and Larnach are on the team next year than it's just the same crap outfield. They both were handed the keys, and both crashed... miserably. From poor plate approaches, low contact, can't hit with RISP and worse defense, Both are liabilities in the field. They were significant contribuers to this miserable season.

I don't care what they do the rest of the season, it's over... the pressure is off. They have had enough time to show what they could do. Hitting HR's down 10 or up 8 doesn't cut it, pads stats but that's it. I watched way to many important pressure AB's this year from to see they are not part of the future/solution.

If you want to try and resurrect Wallner's career, put him at 1st and see if he can field there. If he looks alright he can earn a spot next spring.

 

I agree with you about Wallner. The only issue is he has a cannon for an arm and it would be wasted at 1st. If I was Wallner I would be volunteering to try to learn to play 1st since there's no real 1st base prospects in the organization that are any where close to the majors.

[DJL44]

33 minutes ago, darin617 said:

I have no problem putting Bradley in St Paul. There are no spots open in the rotation and I would rather have him get his normal work in over putting him in the bullpen.

Huh? Jose Urena is pitching today. There's room in the rotation.

[jorgenswest]

Another competitive game. I don’t see any tanking by anyone in the dugout.

Deadline day hit me hard but it am not going to waste any more energy on it. It is a new day to battle and the men in the dugout appear to be battling.

[darin617]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Huh? Jose Urena is pitching today. There's room in the rotation.

You got me there. Not sure why Urena was starting today.  I guess with all the injuries it's technically Festa's spot. So I'm with you, Bradley should have got this start. The only reason not to give it to Bradley would be when he last pitched.

 

[KirbyDome89]

2 hours ago, darin617 said:

I have no problem putting Bradley in St Paul. There are no spots open in the rotation and I would rather have him get his normal work in over putting him in the bullpen.

They threw a bullpen game today. I mean....

[RpR]

9 hours ago, saviking said:

Can someone explain to me why Keirsey is still up considering he's batting a buck ten after 82 atbats.

There is no hole in his glove.

[Bodie]

On 8/2/2025 at 6:43 PM, Mike Sixel said:

How is Kiersey even on this roster? Or Gasper?

Trade half the roster (the better half, who else you trading?) of a bad team, and refresh it from a worse AAA team.

 

Where do you think Mauer/Pucket/Carew 2.0 is in all that?  Because if any of the Twins everyday roster approached that they'd be gone.  

 

You ain't getting any reset inseason... the best hope is a young guy whose production margainly outpaces the inevitable rookie bloopers.  Considering the product across the river in AAA, that looks unlikely...

[saviking]

21 hours ago, RpR said:

There is no hole in his glove.

Thats right, it's in his bat ..

[Greglw3]

On 8/3/2025 at 1:27 PM, darin617 said:

Guys like Jenkins, Culpepper, and E-Rod won't get called up for service time reasons. They are tanking so why start their clock early?

You may be right but I hate it when that happens!