Reds 7, Twins 4: Bullpen Struggles, Defense Fails as Twins Lose Fourth Straight

[mbuehrer68]

We gave away the bullpen last year for 25 cents on the dollar. None of this is surprising. We have no quality arms you can confidently call on in a close game. Not one. 

Wasting three quality starts in a row is unacceptable. Hitting w/ RISP was not going to continue. You need your pen to save you once in a while. 

[DJL44]

21 minutes ago, garn from vancouver said:

more and more it appears lee is not the shortstop of the future - he is just the shortstop of right now. and heavens to betsy, why is outman still around? i think my wife thought i was going to shoot the tv once they started booting the ball around in the 10th. 

Going into the offseason it was obvious that the team needed a SS, 1B and a lot of help in the bullpen. Here we are in April and they still need all of those things.

[HarmonK03]

53 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Going into the offseason it was obvious that the team needed a SS, 1B and a lot of help in the bullpen. Here we are in April and they still need all of those things.

They did address 1B in the offseason when they signed Bell.  The genius Mr. Falvey stated that we was signed to play 1B.  For all those who think Falvey was the answer, I think this is a pretty good argument that he was not.

[JD-TWINS]

Am a little surprised Wallner hasn’t been designated to the IL as of this morning after missing yesterday (scratched) with discomfort in his ribs after getting hit in the ribs a few days earlier.

He’s still leading League in K’s with 34 & his WAR is tumbling, now at -.700. ……… Outman, after 2 hits has his WAR up to -.300.

Due to his EFFORTS and flashes of nice play, Keaschall has been going unscathed here. Have lots of faith in him BUT his defense is blah and his offense, right now, is also really Blah. He may need an extra day off or a re-set in St Paul (sacrilege, I know) in another week? Keaschall has an OBP of .258 and only Outman (-13)  has a lower OPS+ on the Club.

[JD-TWINS]

6 hours ago, karcherd said:

I think short term needs to be put on the back shelf.  This year should be about seeing what you have and then knowing what holes need to be filled for next year.  Giving AB's and or regular playing time to these journeyman AAAA players is just setting them back long term.  And it is not really adding a significant number of wins this year.  Make Lee the utility guy and install Culpepper at short.

I have no problem (would prefer Culpepper actually at 2B & Houston at SS) ……… guys deserve to be deemed mentally ready for the step to MLB - everyone’s different……… I gotta rely on the organization to know when that “readiness” has arrived, decision not made on my fandom ………..my “short-term” is to ACT now regarding Lee’s defense while allowing Culpepper another 2-6 weeks to feel ready. If he’s ready Wednesday - let’s go!

[1985Fan]

This was predictable going into the season. Lee is not a SS, we knew Keaschall’s defense was suspect (based on SSS from last year), and we knew that the bullpen was going to be a struggle. Bad defense was a problem last season and nothing was done to improve. It may be time to play Kreidler or Arcia at SS, but then what to do with Lee? Lee is the interim SS until Culpepper is ready to step in, but I’ve heard his defense isn’t great either. Next man up is Houston, but he’s a long way off, if he can prove he can hit. 
Im not a fan of Martin, but he has improved at the plate. Too many mental errors in LF and on the bases IMO. He just doesn’t have high baseball IQ. 
Im sure they’ll stick with status quo until the season is lost, then go with the young guys. Hopefully that happens mid-season to give the young guys enough time to be ready for 2027, but even that timeline would be extremely optimistic. It’s going be a long rebuild process before the Twins are contenders again. 

[SF Twins Fan]

7 hours ago, Trov said:

 

He does have 1 year left of options.  He is dealing with sore ribs thanks to a 95 MPH fastball to them. That cannot be easy to hit when your core muscle is bruised. 

So what about all of the plate appearances prior to being hit in the ribs?

[stringer bell]

6 hours ago, mbuehrer68 said:

We gave away the bullpen last year for 25 cents on the dollar. None of this is surprising. We have no quality arms you can confidently call on in a close game. Not one. 

Wasting three quality starts in a row is unacceptable. Hitting w/ RISP was not going to continue. You need your pen to save you once in a while. 

I don't know if it is true that the Twins "gave away the bullpen last year for 25 cents on the dollar". For Duran, they received Abel and Tait. For Jax, they got Bradley, and for Varland, they got Rojas (promoted today) and Roden. The returns for Coulombe and Stewart were more modest (Garrett Horn and James Outman respectively). What they didn't do is sign or trade for adequate replacements. By every measure, the current bullpen is among the worst in MLB and it didn't have to be that way.

[Jacksson]

The bullpen was gutted so that the net salaries of the guys traded and the guys who replaced them could generate $10MM so that the team could turn around and PAY Houston to take Correa off the Twins' hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Wendelstedt’s game yesterday was the 2nd worst one-sided performance of the season, favoring the Twins by 2.78 runs. 
https://umpscorecards.com/data/games

[USAFChief]

15 minutes ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Wendelstedt’s game yesterday was the 2nd worst one-sided performance of the season, favoring the Twins by 2.78 runs. 
https://umpscorecards.com/data/games

Hahaha. We needed a other run, Hunter. C'mon! You needed to be first, not second!