Twins 1, Royals 2: Indifference is Always Worse Than Sadness

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of © Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

Box Score
Pablo López: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Matt Wallner (-.164), Byron Buxton (-.144), Austin Martin (-.117)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

 

So the wagon continues to move. “Lethargic” doesn’t quite cover it; this is a team with dead, calcified innards only playing baseball because everyone involved is contractually obligated to do so. The power of the American dollar. At least Pablo López is back.

And he looked good. Mostly good. He wasn’t quite Sean Connery, but, rather, served as a solid Roger Moore, providing undeniable quality while lacking in the certain something that pushes his play to the top of the heap. The swing and miss—his bread and butter—wasn’t quite back, necessitating a reliance on fly balls. It mostly worked. Until he hung a sweeper to Maikel Garcia in the third. So it goes. 

Unfortunately for the Twins, Michael Wacha was starting for the Royals. The bastard. His endless supply of tricks typically befuddles Minnesota’s batters, and Friday was no exception; his floating changeup and looping breaking stuff portended five strikeouts and a lone earned run across 5 ⅔ innings. The veteran knows how to tangle up his opponent. It’s like watching hitters swing at an invisible ball. Or swing underwater. Or swing blindfolded. You get it.

But they did get him once. The culprit? Jhonny Pereda, who bled a 68.5 MPH double down the first base line to drive in Brooks Lee. 

 

Typically, this would be the paragraph that transitions us from the middle stages to the late stages; describes minor events; recounts reliever entrances; describes any changes in the game state. Not today. The Twins felt no need to alter their position: their suffocating mediocrity fell to the side of bland inaction. No hero journeyed forth. No great lesson was learned. Nothing was risked. Instead, a group of ballplayers strode to the batter’s box, accomplished little of note, and trudged back with indistinction. It would drive one to be upset if there was anything in this team worth finding emotion for. 

A runner reached against Carlos Estévez in the ninth. Mickey Gasper pinch-hit as the go-ahead run. He hit the ball hard, to his credit. Right at Kyle Isbel in center field. It's futile, everything about this team.

Notes:

Trevor Larnach is on a 16-game on-base streak.

Pablo López's four strikeouts give him 497 in his Twins career, the 29th-most in team history. He's seven away from tying Dean Chance. 

Royce Lewis has tied a single-season career-high with six stolen bases. 

The Twins have stolen 30 bases since the start of August, the sixth-most in MLB. They stole 65 in 2024 overall.

Post-Game Interview:

What’s Next?
The Twins play the Royals again on Saturday, as Joe Ryan is set to start opposite Stephen Kolek. First pitch is at 6:15 PM. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

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[thelanges5]

Covering this squad is Yeoman's work. 

[hitterscount]

Welcome back Pablo, a professional start for a unprofessional organization. The best you can hope for…  no not Kenny Rogers… is to be traded in the winter to a real MLB team.

[DJL44]

Brooks Lee had an awful night on defense. Pereda had a good game, he can stick around.

[Vanimal46]

I'm actually kind of jealous that Estevez has 38 saves for a 72 win Kansas City Royals team. It's been 16 years since a Twins pitcher has topped that stat - 2009 Joe Nathan with 47 saves. 

[mikelink45]

Mickey Gaspar is the pinch hitter. That covers it.  

[Parfigliano]

They are harder and harder to watch.  I keep watching.  Is that a good or bad trait?

[Vanimal46]

9 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

I keep watching.  Is that a good or bad trait?

Football was on tonight. College football all day tomorrow, then NFL on Sunday/Monday. You are choosing pain...

[jorgenswest]

I didn’t see the indifference. They didn’t barrel up the ball against Wacha. I am not sure it was indifference that held them back.

[knothole61]

44 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Football was on tonight. College football all day tomorrow, then NFL on Sunday/Monday. You are choosing pain...

Football has given me some of the greatest sports pain in my life, I'm sorry to say, and you have to wait a week to feel better...if even.

Actually, I haven't recovered from the phantom "roughing the passer" penalty on November 24, 1962 that cost the Gophers a national title and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

So it goes...

[D.C Twins]

The Twins can catch Chicago in the draft odds race! 

[Lasorda_This_Out]

In One Graphic? 😞

[Sjoski]

Twins Time Line of Doom

2023…Season of hope ends in joy

First playoff series win since 2002. Fans dared to feel optimism.

2024…Season of hope ends in sadness

Expectations are high, but the team disappoints. Fans feel the sting.

2025…Season of sadness ends in indifference

Continued mediocrity and disorganization. Fans stop caring as deeply.

2026…Season of indifference ends in a fan base completely checked out.
 

The doom and gloom only ends when all three are gone! 

Pohlads-Falvey-Baldelli 

 

[h2oface]

So they think Lee can play shortstop. Right. Lee and Lewis. Settling into being underachieving high first rounders. Was it 5th and 1st overall?

[Doctor Gast]

Things are the way they are. Under the circumstances, it wasn't so bad (Even though I didn't watch it). Pablo pitched much better than I expected coming off a lengthy IL. Got a look at Pereda, which inspired some hope (maybe we can move on from Gasper & Julien). Let me break it to you, we aren't making the postseason (I dealt with that after the offseason). So, I don't mind losing to KC if there is a chance for them to beat out NYY for the last WC, fine. My hope is for them to sweep NYY. Then I"d say we had a good season.  :- )

[Patzky]

7 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I didn’t see the indifference. They didn’t barrel up the ball against Wacha. I am not sure it was indifference that held them back.

Wacha has done that to a lot better lineups over the last few seasons. The Lee errors.. we didn't have enough base runners to have base running errors?

[tarheeltwinsfan]

8 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

They are harder and harder to watch.  I keep watching.  Is that a good or bad trait?

 Sad trait

[tarheeltwinsfan]

35 minutes ago, Sjoski said:

Twins Time Line of Doom

2023…Season of hope ends in joy

First playoff series win since 2002. Fans dared to feel optimism.

2024…Season of hope ends in sadness

Expectations are high, but the team disappoints. Fans feel the sting.

2025…Season of sadness ends in indifference

Continued mediocrity and disorganization. Fans stop caring as deeply.

2026…Season of indifference ends in a fan base completely checked out.
 

The doom and gloom only ends when all three are gone! 

Pohlads-Falvey-Baldelli 

 

Sad, sad sad. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

8 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I didn’t see the indifference. They didn’t barrel up the ball against Wacha. I am not sure it was indifference that held them back.

I did not see  the indifference either. Maybe it was because I didn't turn my tv on. 

[Maybebaby]

9 hours ago, hitterscount said:

Welcome back Pablo, a professional start for a unprofessional organization. The best you can hope for…  no not Kenny Rogers… is to be traded in the winter to a real MLB team.

Like "Know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em 🎶" Kenny Ro(d)gers?

[DJL44]

8 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Football was on tonight. College football all day tomorrow, then NFL on Sunday/Monday. You are choosing pain...

I would still rather watch a random baseball game than a random football game.

[DJL44]

48 minutes ago, h2oface said:

So they think Lee can play shortstop. Right. Lee and Lewis. Settling into being underachieving high first rounders. Was it 5th and 1st overall?

They have two below-average 3B to show for those picks. I really don't know how they fix this without finding a new team for one of them. I guess they'll keep putting Lee out at SS to try to prove everyone else in the world wrong. Trust the process.

[sstolen]

9 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Mickey Gaspar is the pinch hitter. That covers it.  

Well said...and a look at that reliever list...OMG. We're relying Topa and Funderburk. Grim.Just grim.

 

[mikelink45]

22 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

They have two below-average 3B to show for those picks. I really don't know how they fix this without finding a new team for one of them. I guess they'll keep putting Lee out at SS to try to prove everyone else in the world wrong. Trust the process.

The fact that we pick so high and thought these guys would be stars does not give us a lot of satisfaction with the fact that we may get the number to pick this year. What will you do with it and will it work out.  

[Bodie]

30 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I would still rather watch a random baseball game than a random football game.

All week, and twice on weekends!

[Rod Carews Birthday]

8 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

The fact that we pick so high and thought these guys would be stars does not give us a lot of satisfaction with the fact that we may get the number to pick this year. What will you do with it and will it work out.  

Hopefully they find a pick that can't be screwed up, like Mauer or Paul Skenes.  I'm tired of believing in Lewis' amazing potential and Lee's super high floor.  Right now they both look like filler on a bad team.  This season has definitely gone from "getting ugly" to just plain ugly in a hurry.  

[Old Crow]

9 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I didn’t see the indifference. They didn’t barrel up the ball against Wacha. I am not sure it was indifference that held them back.

You think maybe they are just not that good?

[Eris]

There is nothing indifferent about the final weeks of the season. I am sure the teams fighting for the last playoff spot are expecting a full effort on games that potentially impact playoff standings. Some players are playing for arbitration stats. Others are playing for a spot on the Twins or another team. Still others are playing for their last chance at a professional career. One such individual is Mickey Gasper, down to his last gasp in Major League Baseball, pinch hitting in the 9th. While the outcome is not what I would have liked, Mickey Gasper had a quality at bat. 

[Nshore]

1 hour ago, sstolen said:

Well said...and a look at that reliever list...OMG. We're relying Topa and Funderburk. Grim.Just grim.

 

"Topa the mornin' to ya!  Here's another meatball" !

[terrydactyls]

Is it too late to catch Chicago?  Chicago's magic number is 13.

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Chicago White Sox	54	88	0.380	-
Minnesota Twins	62	79	0.440	8.5
Pittsburgh Pirates	64	78	0.451	10.0
Atlanta Braves	64	77	0.454	10.5
Whatever Athletics	65	77	0.458	11.0
Baltimore Orioles	65	76	0.461	11.5
Miami Marlins	65	76	0.461	11.5
Los Angeles Angels	66	75	0.468	12.5
St. Louis Cardinals	70	72	0.493	16.0
Cleveland Guardians	70	70	0.500	17.0
Arizona Diamondbacks	71	71	0.500	17.0
Tampa Bay Rays	71	70	0.504	17.5
San Francisco Giants	72	69	0.511	18.5
Texas Rangers	73	69	0.514	19.0