Friday Forum: Hope-O-Meter Drops, But Reasons to Believe Remain

[USAFChief]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

 

Personally, I don't have much hope for contention this year. One survey seems to indicate I'm not alone among my fellow Twins freaks. Some interesting takes here:

https://twinsdaily.com/forums/topic/73646-twins-fall-to-bottom-of-the-athletics-hope-o-meter/page/3/#comment-1618834

Everybody has an opinion on last year's trade deadline. Good? Bad? To be determined? At least one asset acquired last summer is making a name for himself, at least in a tiny sample size to date. Taj Bradley ...what say ye?

https://twinsdaily.com/forums/topic/73731-with-the-taj-bradley-deal-twins-might-have-fleeced-the-rays-again/page/3/#comment-1618717

In my estimation, founding owner Nick Nelson is this site's best writer. Here's his review of last week's games, along with some pithy observations from our members. Nick usually stops by and responds to questions and/or comments, too, making the conversation even better. 

 

 

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[Nick Nelson]

Thank you so much for the kinds words Chief! Loving these features.

[C-Gangster]

Love this feature @USAFChief Looking forward to it every friday!

[Brett]

This is always a fun time of year when most fans still have hope and stats usually don’t mean much (but we fixate on them anyway).

Today’s stat du jour is OPS. Why, do you ask? Because Josh Bell is sitting 8th in all of MLB. The only 2 other Twins in the top 100 are Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner.

Will things stay that way? Of course not. Will the Twins stay above .500? Probably not. But it’s spring in Minnesota and winter was a period of time we’d like to forget.

So big thanks to Josh Bell for making the grass a bit greener. Enjoy your Friday!

[tony&rodney]

Well, since 1961 I pick the Twins every year .... to an extent. 

The one hope (for me) is for the Twins to play cleaner baseball in 2026 than in the last three years. By that I mean fewer mental errors. This can be seen in numerous ways. The easiest to see are players throwing to the correct base. Other items are not getting picked off or running into outs through obviously poor choices. Getting bunts down when called for is possible when the pitchers give the batter a pitch to bunt. Less obvious but quite important is for batters to be aware of the pitcher, situation in front of them, and the count. For example, moving runners over is important with 2 on base and no outs or cutting down on the swing after two strikes to force the defense to make plays with runners on base. Mental preparation is difficult but well within every player's ability. Physical mistakes or simple lack of talent limits what each guy can accomplish; play within your skill set. 

Thus far the efforts have been decent.

[big dog]

I would like to see a two-week moratorium on Wallner tapping his helmet. 

[LastOnePicked]

"At least one asset acquired last summer is making a name for himself, at least in a tiny sample size to date. Taj Bradley ...what say ye?"

I say he ain't doing too bradley so far. Keep it up, young feller.

[USAFChief]

7 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

"At least one asset acquired last summer is making a name for himself, at least in a tiny sample size to date. Taj Bradley ...what say ye?"I say he ain't doing too bradley so far. Keep it up, young feller.

If he's indeed a "young Feller," we did all right in that trade.

Edited April 11 by USAFChief