Twins (Prielipp) vs Guardians (Messick): 5/8/26, 6:15pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

All right, so Simeon Woods Richardson is a problem. That's rather clear. Would you move him to the bullpen? What would you do with him? And Prielipp has been a revelation this season. State your faith level that he's legitimately an above-average starting pitcher.

	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	THU	TOT
Taylor Rogers	32	0	0	0	26	58
Luis García	0	0	13	14	0	27
Kody Funderburk	3	0	0	17	0	20
Justin Topa	17	0	0	32	0	49
Eric Orze	24	0	16	0	0	40
Anthony Banda	0	0	19	0	20	39
Andrew Morris	57	0	0	14	0	71

[Patzky]

I am always hopeful! These are the games that try Twins fans' souls...in order of preference.

1) Bullpen game.. Bowman Morris Sim

2) Zebby to start, Sim outright to pen

3) Ride with it but start warming someone up in the fourth no matter what. Adjust rotation so Sim falls between Ryan and Taj. The reason is obvious.

4) Four man rotation until Abel is Able.

[LakesPibble]

There's a reason folks caution against making decisions on a small sample size.  Solidly in wait and see mode here.

[nicksaviking]

Does SWR still have an option? I suspect not since he’s been a prospect for about a decade. I put him in the pen either way, but I send him to St Paul until June to start the transition if he does.

[LA Vikes Fan]

SWR needs to go to the bullpen, at least for now. He actually might be effective there - 4.38 ERA first time though, 6. 92 second time through. Seems to match the eye test and not unusual for guys who don't throw hard - once you see the junk once, it's easier to anticipate and hit. Moreover, he's killing us in the rotation going 4 -5 innings when followed by another guy going 5, maybe 6. . 

I would move Matthews up to take Sim's spot in the rotation, add Gomez ( the guy they just got from Tampa), drop Garcia, and either demote Klein or put Topa on the IL (Topa looks bad; wonder if he's pitching through something). Morris moves to a later inning 1 inning per appearance role.

Also, give someone a real chance to be the closer. My money is on Funderburk or Orze, probably in combination. Give them the role and live with the results for a month. Only way to find out if they can do it. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

Just now, nicksaviking said:

Does SWR still have an option? I suspect not since he’s been a prospect for about a decade. I put him in the pen either way, but I send him to St Paul until June to start the transition if he does.

No. SWR is out of options according to MLB.com.

[nicksaviking]

24 minutes ago, LakesPibble said:

There's a reason folks caution against making decisions on a small sample size.  Solidly in wait and see mode here.

What’s the small sample size? SWR?  Most have suggested he’s not starter material since 2024.

[nicksaviking]

1 minute ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

No. SWR is out of options according to MLB.com.

Then ride or die in the MLB pen, no matter how thin the rotation gets.

Results don’t usually show up the same year, so I won’t hold transition results against him in 2026. It’s all about putting the right starters in the pen for 2027.

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, LakesPibble said:

There's a reason folks caution against making decisions on a small sample size.  Solidly in wait and see mode here.

Yeah I’m giving SWR at least 5 more starts before making any changes. He’s been a solid back end of the rotation pitcher for us. 

Can’t option him to St Paul. Can’t DFA him because a team will claim a 25 year old with an MLB track record in a heartbeat. 

[Vanimal46]

58 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Most have suggested he’s not starter material since 2024.

? That’s news to me. 

2024-2025: 50 starts - 245 IP - 4.11 ERA - 4.2 bWAR 

that’s a pretty damn solid #4 or 5 in MLB. 

[Parfigliano]

God dmn Apple TV game tonight.

[LakesPibble]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

What’s the small sample size? SWR?  Most have suggested he’s not starter material since 2024.

I was referring to my level or hope (or not) with Prielipp.  I like Sim, but he's not starter material.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Kind of glad this one is on AppleTV because I can do without the 3-3 tie headed into the 7th only to see the Twins lose 7-3. Even when the Twins were somewhat competent, the Guardians kicked sand in their face in close games. With this bullpen? Woof.

[Patzky]

The lefty lineup. Wallner and Lewis in tonight. Win Twins!