Twins 4, Tigers 2: Taj Bradley Bests Cy Young Skubal to Down Detroit

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Glad to have you back , what do you think of our catching situation now ? ...

Thank you Bly. Glad to be back 

[AceWrigley]

3 hours ago, LewFordLives said:

Bradley set the tone. The bullpen made it more exciting than it needed to be, but they didn't break. Nice win.

Maybe we can call it The Flex Bullpen like the old Dallas Cowboy Flex Defense, bend but don't break.

[AceWrigley]

I really liked Austin Martin's at bat in the 5th inning after Buxton's walk. Never swung the bat and after being down with a 1-2 count he didn't get suckered and let Skubal walk him on 6 pitches.

Seeing the Twins take swings to put the ball in play was refreshing and they were rewarded handsomely with 4 runs.

Taj Bradley impressive again, looked like he could go all night.

Last play of the game why didn't Brooks Lee take the easy out at 2B instead of throwing to 1B? Maybe a bunt-bat to the mouth will do that.

Any time you can beat Tarik Skubal is a good day on the diamond.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Very nice win! Only the 4th time in the last 2 season Skubal hasn't finished 5 innings. 

Taj with another great start! I absolutely loved that he was sent out in the 7th with what is currently called a "high pitch count". I really hope that trend continues. 

Let's get after Valdez the same way tonight! Go Twins!

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

The broadcast said they were hitting .250, at one point last night, with bases loaded. That’s better than their Team average of .211 ………. loading bases isn’t a free pass to runs. In the Twin’s case, if they load the bases they have already used up “the hits for that inning”. Just hope they keep creating the opportunities!

The BAD NEWS is Framber Valdez and his .75 ERA is going for Tigers tonight………hopefully, the weather will rattle him!

 

Luckily we can field an all left handed lineup to counter his left handed pitching arm..

Ok ok let's hope Buxton can hit 2 2 run HRs for 4 runs and the rest of the lineup figures out how to get 1 more and they eek out a 5-4 win today.

[BrokenCompass]

Twins score all runs in one inning and can't do diddly squat otherwise. 

Seen this movie before. Lucky Bradley was on tonight. This offense is horrible. 

Great to see the Twins get a split in this series. 

[Brandon]

While I am enjoying Cy Taj, let's give him a few more starts before we get too excited..  but, his starts are just as exciting as Abel's spring training.  Maybe that's why we should have fun and be patient.....

[Doctor Gast]

2 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Glad to have you back , what do you think of our catching situation now ? ...

Hitting is better, defense is worse. I like Caratini but I’d have done it differently. As always, Jeffers is a great weak side tandem but he’s not a primary catcher. I can’t see signing him top dollar for a primary through Boras. We cannot afford him, so for years I have advocated for picking up a promising young MLB-ready catcher to take over for him.

 

[adjacent]

15 hours ago, knothole61 said:

Poor Lee, he looks like he's in a bit of a stupor at times. I think that a hitch in St. Paul may be in the offing for him. 

Like they say in car races, Culpepper is becoming bigger in his rear view mirror...

[JDubs]

17 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

Yeah but our next 2 pitchers are Ober and Abel.  

Aged like sour milk my dour friend

[tarheeltwinsfan]

19 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Brooks Lee ……… he’s so disappointing to watch ……… his results gotta be in HIS head as well. Need to move him to St Paul before his spirit is completely broken, IMO.

He hurt his mouth bunting - there’s an article here on poor defense by Team, and he’s the poster boy……..confidence has to be at a real low! OPS+ of 30.

Let Gray play v. RH pitching for 6 weeks and bring up some RH option at SS to allow Lee to have a stab at “coming around” at AAA level.

If he’s not somewhat fixed by mid/late May hopefully Culpepper has shown enough to call up?

I  really hate to say this, but JD is correct. Something is very wrong with Lee. His confidence is shot. Something needs to change immediately. This is really sad to watch. It is too damaging to the team to allow this situation to play itself out at the major league level. 

[JD-TWINS]

19 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Hitting is better, defense is worse. I like Caratini but I’d have done it differently. As always, Jeffers is a great weak side tandem but he’s not a primary catcher. I can’t see signing him top dollar for a primary through Boras. We cannot afford him, so for years I have advocated for picking up a promising young MLB-ready catcher to take over for him.

 

TAIT is 2 years away - I think that’s the current “bet” from the organization.🤞

[Doctor Gast]

22 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

TAIT is 2 years away - I think that’s the current “bet” from the organization.🤞

I understand that. Yet, IMO, 2 years away is being very generous, he hasn't faced upper MiLB pitching yet & he still has a long way to go with his defense. The odds that a prep catcher ever makes it to the bigs as a catcher (much less excels) are very slim. Meanwhile, Twins' record of developing catchers since Tanner Swanson left is very bad. So, forgive me if  I don't share the same optimism as the past FO in Taite becoming our future successful catcher. IMO, we should trade Taite while his stock is high & get a promising young, MLB-ready catcher that has already been developed.

[JD-TWINS]

1 minute ago, Doctor Gast said:

I understand that. 2 years away is being very generous & the odds that a prep catcher ever makes it to the bigs as a catcher (much less excels) are very slim. Plus Twins' record of developing catchers since Tanner Swanson left is very bad. So, forgive me if  I don't share the same optimism as the past FO in Taite becoming our future successful catcher.

I don’t disagree on the “bet” as I called it - just seems that’s the plan. I don’t think there’s any plan to sign Jeffers, hence the 2 years to Caratini.

“You’d do it differently” ……. you have a crystal ball on who “the young catcher” might be, that should be on the roster instead of Caratini? It’s pretty easy to state that they should have signed a “young guy”. Who is it & why would “he” be available? AND how do the Twins attract anyone while spending $105M?

They seem to have a couple guys that are functional between Tait & MLB ………….. if they don’t spend on another “Caratini like” guy in ‘27 they’ll be rolling the dice within the organization.

[bunsen82]

6 hours ago, JDubs said:

Aged like sour milk my dour friend

I will gladly take it   🤣🤩

[Doctor Gast]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

I don’t disagree on the “bet” as I called it - just seems that’s the plan. I don’t think there’s any plan to sign Jeffers, hence the 2 years to Caratini.

“You’d do it differently” ……. you have a crystal ball on who “the young catcher” might be, that should be on the roster instead of Caratini? It’s pretty easy to state that they should have signed a “young guy”. Who is it & why would “he” be available? AND how do the Twins attract anyone while spending $105M?

They seem to have a couple guys that are functional between Tait & MLB ………….. if they don’t spend on another “Caratini like” guy in ‘27 they’ll be rolling the dice within the organization.

As I stated before, I like Caratini. Meaning I'm in favor of and see the need for a Caratini-type catcher.

A promising young catcher you don't sign, you trade for. CWS keeps doing that. 1st they got Kory Lee from HOU, then they got Edgar Quero from LAA. After that, Kyle Teel from BOS, lately they picked up Drew Romo on waivers from CO (CO is worse than MN in developing catching). All these transactions have made Lee unnecessary. These catchers are accessible, they just have to be a priority, Which for the Twins, unfortunately, they aren't. LH hitting cOFers are the priority in MN.