Twins 9, Marlins 1: Zebby Matthews Dominates in Season Debut and Twins Secure Series-Victory

[JD-TWINS]

Clemens ….. he’s now 4th on the Club in OBP (excluding Kreidler’s short stints) & his OPS is 104 ……..he’s elevated to an average to just above average MLB hitter ……. he picks the ball up and moves pretty good at 1B - getting better around the bag. 3-4 weeks ago I didn’t think he had a prayer of being on the Roster after June 1st. He’s doing everything the Team could have expected of him IMO. Never been a fan but both he and LEE have got things going in the right direction, for now.

If Bell & Caratini can get to anything above 0.00 WAR the line-up is capable.

Moved a BIG hole by allowing Wallner to go to AAA to work on things for a couple months. He’s done it before (‘23 & ‘24) so am hoping for good things……….Culpepper for Lewis in 3-4 weeks OR a healthy Rodriguez. Kreidler & Gray can platoon while Lewis works stuff out at AAA. …….the Kreidler/Gray combo almost will certainly blow up offensively over more & more at bats but hopefully they can provide a bridge until Lewis is sorted out.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

22 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Clemens ….. he’s now 4th on the Club in OBP (excluding Kreidler’s short stints) & his OPS is 104 ……..he’s elevated to an average to just above average MLB hitter ……. he picks the ball up and moves pretty good at 1B - getting better around the bag. 3-4 weeks ago I didn’t think he had a prayer of being on the Roster after June 1st. He’s doing everything the Team could have expected of him IMO. Never been a fan but both he and LEE have got things going in the right direction, for now.

If Bell & Caratini can get to anything above 0.00 WAR the line-up is capable.

Moved a BIG hole by allowing Wallner to go to AAA to work on things for a couple months. He’s done it before (‘23 & ‘24) so am hoping for good things……….Culpepper for Lewis in 3-4 weeks OR a healthy Rodriguez. Kreidler & Gray can platoon while Lewis works stuff out at AAA. …….the Kreidler/Gray combo almost will certainly blow up offensively over more & more at bats but hopefully they can provide a bridge until Lewis is sorted out.

OPS+ is league average, not primary position. If your big side of the platoon 1B is only league average while being shielded from RHP… I feel like the bar needs to be raised.

i didn’t expect Clemens to raise that bar, but Zoll needs to aim higher for 1B

im a FG guy, wRC+ is almost identical to OPS+.

the bar to clear for me is Jake Bauers’ 127 wRC+. He’s ranked 15th of qualified 1B.

 

if I open up the PAs to 110 to bring Clemens into the list, his 109 wRC+ ranks 24 of 39.

[jorgenswest]

36 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

OPS+ is league average, not primary position. If your big side of the platoon 1B is only league average while being shielded from RHP… I feel like the bar needs to be raised.

i didn’t expect Clemens to raise that bar, but Zoll needs to aim higher for 1B

im a FG guy, wRC+ is almost identical to OPS+.

the bar to clear for me is Jake Bauers’ 127 wRC+. He’s ranked 15th of qualified 1B.

 

if I open up the PAs to 110 to bring Clemens into the list, his 109 wRC+ ranks 24 of 39.

Would it better to use “as 1B” or maybe league average at 1B? League average as 1B is 115. The problem with average is that it can be heavily weighted  by the top of the list and might not match the median. Going by teams as 1B the median is 113.5.

It does make me wonder how Clemens would compare to 2Bs. He is a better defender than Keaschall. League average as 2B is 100. Team median is 95.5.

[mark allen]

Zebby did great, belongs on the rotation. watched his game in Las Vegas last Friday and he looked strong his velo didn't weaken as game went on. Great to see him in the zone. 

[Senior Softball Guy]

4 hours ago, mickster said:

Martin and Jeffers are the two All-Star possible reps.   Taj was on that path early

Hopefully they can ride "The Buck Truck" to the game!

[mickster]

56 minutes ago, Senior Softball Guy said:

Hopefully they can ride "The Buck Truck" to the game!

That is extremely accurate - we won't get three; so Buck so someone will have to call shotgun

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

OPS+ is league average, not primary position. If your big side of the platoon 1B is only league average while being shielded from RHP… I feel like the bar needs to be raised.

i didn’t expect Clemens to raise that bar, but Zoll needs to aim higher for 1B

im a FG guy, wRC+ is almost identical to OPS+.

the bar to clear for me is Jake Bauers’ 127 wRC+. He’s ranked 15th of qualified 1B.

 

if I open up the PAs to 110 to bring Clemens into the list, his 109 wRC+ ranks 24 of 39.

So, my point is that starting the year and up until 1-2 weeks ago, I didn’t think Clemens should be in the Major Leagues - at all. He, to me, has elevated himself to #11-12 guy on the roster, squarely, in a platoon role being shielded from LH pitching. He’s actually #4 or #5 offensively on the roster currently because 4-6 other guys are underperforming.

Hoping Caratini & Bell get to 0.00 WAR is a terribly low bar - BUT it’s better than where they are at today. Same with the bar for Clemens……..he’s hitting .233 with a 104 OPS+ ……….waaay better than where I thought he was headed at .188 & 68 OPS+ a few weeks ago!! CERTAINLY, the bar should be much higher for the organization BUT they can win games with him playing 1B 70% of the time exclusively v. RH pitching……. I did not think this would ever be the case with Kody.

 

[Linus]

12 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Impressive outing from Matthews. As many are saying, there really is no such thing as too much starting pitching. Obviously, there will be injuries and disappointments, but Matthews, Abel, Bradley, Ober, Prielipp and Ryan should be the envy of most teams in terms of upside and cost control.

Reading through the game threads, there are plenty of negative comments. Many are deserved and the Twins have a boatload of players who are producing far below expectations. I try to temper my complaints by looking at other teams and seeing if they are similarly afflicted and most teams are. It's far from automatic to get a runner in from third with less than two out and hitting with runners in scoring position comes and goes for every club. We live in a high strikeout era and many teams have bad defenders. The last three teams the Twins have played all are behind the Twins in defensive runs saved.

Shelton is in a bit of a honeymoon phase right now, but he'll eventually be criticized for pulling (or not pulling) a pitcher and using the "wrong" players.  

Very well reasoned post. Being a big leaguer is really hard - I’ve always believed each of these guys is trying their best regardless of outcome. If they aren’t good enough that’s more on the FO for not finding better players. I will admit to getting frustrated when basic mental errors are made - it always amazes me that guys get to the bigs while making basic mental errors. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

Would it better to use “as 1B” or maybe league average at 1B? League average as 1B is 115. The problem with average is that it can be heavily weighted  by the top of the list and might not match the median. Going by teams as 1B the median is 113.5.

It does make me wonder how Clemens would compare to 2Bs. He is a better defender than Keaschall. League average as 2B is 100. Team median is 95.5.

This is an interesting take about moving Clemens to 2B, where he would likely be better than Keashall in the field. The problem is we then have no 1B and there is no one in the Minors likely to help. Clemens is 2 OAA and Bell is a butcher at 1B. Besides, Keaschall is only 23 and could/should improve with reps. So overall, interesting idea but I don't thank it works right now. Something to think about come mid-season if Keaschall still isn't playing well and GG starts to hit and play 1B every day in AAA.   

By the way the "league average OPS" by position at Stat Muse (https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/what-is-league-average-ops-this-season-by-position) is .777 at 1B, and .684 at 2B. Clemens is .739. Comparison of Twins "starters" with this average by position - Jeffers .941/Caratini .520 - C avg. .671, Keaschall .600 - 2B avg. 2B .682, Lee .720 - SS avg. .710, Lewis .559/Gray .676 - 3B avg. .674, Larnach .779, LF avg. .719, Buxton .899, CF avg. .675, Martin .883, RF avg. .730 (Wallner was .551), Bell .607, DH avg. 736. Sure shows the weak spots -DH, 1B, 2B, 3B. Also shows how well Jeffers and the OF is playing, especially when you consider all 3 OFs are even or positive in OAA -Buxton +4, Larnach +1, Martin +1 (surprising, thought he would be higher).       

[JD-TWINS]

3 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

I may be the only one, but do not go to sleep on Kreidler.

He is hitting for average and power right now, albeit mainly in AAA.

What if he shows up as a capable MLB hitter?  What then?

Personally, I would go with an infield of Kreidler, Lee, Culpepper and Arcia.  Sort the positions out how you will, but those are the ones playing the best baseball right now and the Twins wanted to figure out how to be competitive.

Simple, if he (Kreidler) shows up as a decent Big League hitter, he’s in the line-up at 3B or SS or CF, 4 of 6 games per week.

Just 7-8 weeks ago I repeatedly saw here that Kreidler was maybe the worst hitter in professional baseball - right?? ………use him while he’s hot - I agree. The offense may be fleeting? He needs to face LH starting pitching 100% & an occasional starter v. RH pitching. Later game defensive replacement, as needed. I think he could take Outman’s spot, longer term, due to versatility  as other LH outfielders become healthy and are performing at AAA.

He looks more athletic than Lee or Gray and seems comfortable in the OF. He seems to add to this group of 13.

[Danchat]

3 hours ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

The problem is we then have no 1B and there is no one in the Minors likely to help. Clemens is 2 OAA and Bell is a butcher at 1B. Besides, Keaschall is only 23 and could/should improve with reps. So overall, interesting idea but I don't thank it works right now. Something to think about come mid-season if Keaschall still isn't playing well and GG starts to hit and play 1B every day in AAA. 

You could cross-train Brooks Lee to play some 1B, he is hitting well enough to justify starting him there and his poor range and arm wouldn't be an issue.

[LA Vikes Fan]

31 minutes ago, Danchat said:

You could cross-train Brooks Lee to play some 1B, he is hitting well enough to justify starting him there and his poor range and arm wouldn't be an issue.

That is an interesting play, although I think the better play might be to put Lee at second base with Keaschall moving over to first. You could almost experiment with something like that now with Kreidler playing shortstop where he looked very good defensively in spring training. That might tell you if Lee and Keaschall can be a decent right side of the infield for you when Culpepper is ready to come up and play short. I kind of hate to do it right now since Lee has really taken to the shortstop position and by the metrics his defensive markedly improved to average over the last month. Unlikely he’ll ever be more than average at SS though.

[Twins_Fan_For_Life]

On 5/14/2026 at 5:52 PM, Parfigliano said:

SWRs meatballs will get hit just as easily out of the bullpen.  He isn't MLB material.

He'll fit right in with the other members of the Twins bullpen 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

On 5/14/2026 at 5:52 PM, Parfigliano said:

SWRs meatballs will get hit just as easily out of the bullpen.  He isn't MLB material.

At least there will be fewer of them?

in a bullpen role, Sim will be able to concentrate on fewer pitches and hopefully get a little more juice out of them.