Twins 16, Diamondbacks 8: Twins Bat Around Twice in Bullpen-Implosion-Proof Victory!

[Mortimerkenny21]

47 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Sixteen runs. The Twins 6-9 hitters with 11 runs scored and 9 RBIs. The main takeaway in the comments seems to be Lawrence. I don’t get it.

That first inning was great Twins baseball entertainment. A big two out hit by Brooks scoring runners from second and third followed by Kreidler’s amazing play to get Carroll at first in the bottom half. Wow!

Thank you! We get , we have all heard about him enough. How about the rest of the team. What an awesome game!

[mnfireman]

23 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Bobby N:

Justin Lawrence was designated for assignment. Kendry Rojas, as expected, was activated before Sunday’s game in Arizona. https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-twins-injury-updates-mick-abel-kendry-rojas-bailey-ober-mlb/601859742

Was just going to ask if I missed a waiver wire transaction has I had not seen anything about DFAing Lawrence, something that should have been done about two weeks ago....

[DuluthDuke]

I appreciate the Twins taking a low cost chance on Lawrence and then cutting him when it wasn't working. Much better to try out a 31 year old like Lawrence than a 39 year old like Garcia or 37 year old Hendricks or 36 year old Chaffin.

So, Rojas for Lawrence

Next up..

Rozek for Adams - taking Lawrence's 40 man spot

Lefty, breathing, local 'kid', 1.194 whip in St. Paul, 34 k's in 36 IP, mult inning guy..

Adams has been scored on in 5 of his last 8 appearances and 7 of 13 overall..

[Fatbat]

2 hours ago, RpR said:

Gee guy just think if the Twins had Arizona's Diaz with an era of 94.50.

94.5 is on the FM radio dial😂

[JADBP]

8 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Lawrence has allowed 12 runs in 6 IP for the Twins. Bullpen was out pitched by Vargas. This club can make a game they win by 8 runs feel icky. 

At the game.  

I’ve never seen a ten spot in person.  It was amazing!!! And when Buxton came up with bases loaded, I turned to my wife and said “they’re gonna regret this!”  Just then…BOOM!  Grand Salami!!

On the other hand….Watching Lawrence was like getting teeth pulled!  Cherry on top of the cake was waking up to see he’s been DFA’ed!!! Yay!!

 

 

[karcherd]

58 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Excellent. Some of these experiments aren't going to work, and he was one of them. Can't hold on to them and hope, need to move on. He showed last night that he simply has no idea where the ball is going. Worth a look because of the stuff, but they weren't able to get him on track quickly like they did with Gomez. Will not miss Lawrence

Here is a novel idea, can they stop trying so many experiments and maybe target players that have a proven track record that they don't have to fix.  How many experiments have they tried this year and Gomez is the only one so far that has worked out.  He is the type they should be going after if experimenting, he and is younger and maybe got caught in the options game.  Now let's hope he can continue being productive for the whole season.

Maybe give some of the guys you have developed a shot or maybe they haven't been developed.  This team needs direction and Zoll is not going to do it by just throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks.  This is what Falvey did and he obviously is going to follow in his footsteps.  They think they are the smartest ones in the room and can outsmart everyone to a winning team.  How has that worked out.

[karcherd]

1 hour ago, Parfigliano said:

The step is tentative, like checking the ice, until he shows he can keep his OBP at .340+ all year.

This, what if they had performed like this in May as well, maybe we would be at .500 or better.  Bell is a streaky hitter, ride him now while he is hot, but the key is can he sustain some level of productivity.

[Maybebaby]

Twins DFA'd Justin Lawrence, guessing Zoll is bobbing for apples.  Better have a long neck to get to bottom (again).

[Saxophone Joe]

I'm kinda over the 'what if?' game at this point (though reserve the right to go back on that haha) with this team. Shelty's Grinders have played competitive baseball for all but a handful of games. Some close games worked out in our favor, a lot haven't. Wasn't always the bullpen's fault - many games could've been won with just one more play by the defense and/or a timely hit. Such is baseball. But, hey, we're almost to the halfway mark and still in this. People wrote this team off in January, March, by the first week of the season, and every few days after that - and continue to dismiss them. I get it: This team ain't a modern masterpiece by any stretch, and surely there's some heartache to come, but a lineup that's capable of 20 hits + a 10-run inning? I'm on board with that. 

In Kreidler we trust. 

[jmlease1]

3 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Here is a novel idea, can they stop trying so many experiments and maybe target players that have a proven track record that they don't have to fix.  How many experiments have they tried this year and Gomez is the only one so far that has worked out.  He is the type they should be going after if experimenting, he and is younger and maybe got caught in the options game.  Now let's hope he can continue being productive for the whole season.

Well, that's the thing: relievers that have a proven consistent track record aren't available as often and if they are, they are going to cost quite a bit. Lawrence was excellent in limited exposure with the Pirates in 2025 and was a quality reliever for Colorado in 2023. It's not unreasonable to look at a guy like that, who has struggled mightily in 2026 and think that maybe with a couple of adjustments (like the Twins made with Gomez) and maybe he can start hitting the strike zone enough to be useful. Didn't happen, so you move on. But this is the way a "churn & burn" strategy works in MLB and teams like Tampa Bay have had a lot of success with it.

Would it be nice if the Twins could be more targeted about it and have fewer flameouts like Lawrence? Sure, but baseball is hard.

[JADBP]

45 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Here is a novel idea, can they stop trying so many experiments and maybe target players that have a proven track record that they don't have to fix.  How many experiments have they tried this year and Gomez is the only one so far that has worked out.  He is the type they should be going after if experimenting, he and is younger and maybe got caught in the options game.  Now let's hope he can continue being productive for the whole season.

Maybe give some of the guys you have developed a shot or maybe they haven't been developed.  This team needs direction and Zoll is not going to do it by just throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks.  This is what Falvey did and he obviously is going to follow in his footsteps.  They think they are the smartest ones in the room and can outsmart everyone to a winning team.  How has that worked out.

I agree 200%!!  Sill’s experiments are just idiotic.  And very very embarrassing!  If I were Zoll, I’d be ashamed of myself.  
 

But here’s a good question:  who is watching over Zoll?  Who is there saying “This is just plain stupid!”  Does the skipper ever chime up and say “Hey, enough already!  Quit bringing me these losers!”  Or does the owner ever say “What TF are you doing with this revolving door on waiver wire claims?   I don’t see other teams doing this.  Are you sure about this strategy because it definitely is NOT WORKING!”  
 

Geez, someone please stand up and kick Zoll in the ass so he snaps out of this daze?

[karcherd]

13 minutes ago, JADBP said:

I agree 200%!!  Sill’s experiments are just idiotic.  And very very embarrassing!  If I were Zoll, I’d be ashamed of myself.  
 

But here’s a good question:  who is watching over Zoll?  Who is there saying “This is just plain stupid!”  Does the skipper ever chime up and say “Hey, enough already!  Quit bringing me these losers!”  Or does the owner ever say “What TF are you doing with this revolving door on waiver wire claims?   I don’t see other teams doing this.  Are you sure about this strategy because it definitely is NOT WORKING!”  
 

Geez, someone please stand up and kick Zoll in the ass so he snaps out of this daze?

Better yet, bring in someone who knows how to run a baseball operation.  Zoll is in charge, it is Tommy who needs to step in.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I just went and rewatched the 5 hits he gave up. 

An infield single to Gabriel Gonzalez that should have been an out. A towering pop up that either the SS of the CF should have caught. It landed between them. Two weakly hit loopers at least one was a broken bat.  A throwing error following a bloop hit advancing runners. A double over Wallner’s head off the wall. Some right fielders get to that ball. He did enough to get 6 outs. If he gets 6 outs over two innings and no runs scored did he still pitch bad?

In 10 batters he gave up on well hit ball and a walk with a strike out. Everything else was weak contact.

 

One strikeout in 10 batters is well below par for Rojas.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, DuluthDuke said:

Rozek for Adams - taking Lawrence's 40 man spot

Lefty, breathing, local 'kid', 1.194 whip in St. Paul, 34 k's in 36 IP, mult inning guy..

Adams has been scored on in 5 of his last 8 appearances and 7 of 13 overall..

I can't see them loading up the bullpen with four lefties.

[JADBP]

20 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Better yet, bring in someone who knows how to run a baseball operation.  Zoll is in charge, it is Tommy who needs to step in.

Can we just DFA Zoll?  How long before Tommy Boy figures this out?  He really is embarrassing the team.  We all know that he is just mimicking Falvey—because he’s young and probably doesn’t know any better.  For Pete’s sake…if Tom said we’re gonna be competitive, then throw him some bucks to get a REAL BP! 
 

or, if Wonderboy Zeroes Zoll had a brain, he COULD bring up some of the AAA pitchers and spell them some innings in the BP.  They get some MLB experience and it can’t possibly be as bad as “the Lawrence Experiment!”

[JADBP]

5 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I can't see them loading up the bullpen with four lefties.

Whats wrong with that?  Could it work better than Lawrence?

[DJL44]

37 minutes ago, JADBP said:

I agree 200%!!  Sill’s experiments are just idiotic.  And very very embarrassing!  If I were Zoll, I’d be ashamed of myself.  
 

But here’s a good question:  who is watching over Zoll?  Who is there saying “This is just plain stupid!”  Does the skipper ever chime up and say “Hey, enough already!  Quit bringing me these losers!”  Or does the owner ever say “What TF are you doing with this revolving door on waiver wire claims?   I don’t see other teams doing this.  Are you sure about this strategy because it definitely is NOT WORKING!”  
 

Geez, someone please stand up and kick Zoll in the ass so he snaps out of this daze?

What reliever on the waiver wire do you wish Zoll had picked up instead of the guys he picked up? He's sorting through the discards. There is a reason other teams didn't want them.

The only real whiff I see is cutting Woods Richardson before they ever gave him a real chance in the bullpen.

[JADBP]

5 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I can't see them loading up the bullpen with four lefties.

Sorry, that was a mean question.  Didn’t mean to be so dismissive.  But, what is wrong with 4 lefties? Can happen and I’d give it a try.  It’s likely temporary.  

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, JADBP said:

Sorry, that was a mean question.  Didn’t mean to be so dismissive.  But, what is wrong with 4 lefties? Can happen and I’d give it a try.  It’s likely temporary.  

Relievers are used for particular matchups. Most batters are right handed. It's hard to find enough left-on-left matchups to use four lefthanded relievers.

[JADBP]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

What reliever on the waiver wire do you wish Zoll had picked up instead of the guys he picked up? He's sorting through the discards. There is a reason other teams didn't want them.

The only real whiff I see is cutting Woods Richardson before they ever gave him a real chance in the bullpen.

Ok.  But it has rarely ever worked out.  There’s Johann that we got because he was left unprotected.  But otherwise, there’s this.  The inanity of it is this:  Zoll does this like a Zombie:  he jumps on any RP that is dropped, no matter how good or bad, even paying $$$ to skip to the head of the line.  No thought process at all. Lawerence is totally cooked yet he got a ton of chances to drop on 9 runs.  Fine on WW pickups, just take the good ones!

[DJL44]

Just now, JADBP said:

Ok.  But it has rarely ever worked out.  There’s Johann that we got because he was left unprotected.  But otherwise, there’s this.  The inanity of it is this:  Zoll does this like a Zombie:  he jumps on any RP that is dropped, no matter how good or bad, even paying $$$ to skip to the head of the line.  No thought process at all. Lawerence is totally cooked yet he got a ton of chances to drop on 9 runs.  Fine on WW pickups, just take the good ones!

It's not going to work out often, but when it does you can acquire a competent reliever for absolutely nothing. Since the worst reliever on the roster has been pretty bad for the last 150 games, he has nothing to lose by trying.

[ashbury]

21 minutes ago, JADBP said:

just take the good ones!

Now there's a strategy we can all support!  😉

[JADBP]

41 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

It's not going to work out often, but when it does you can acquire a competent reliever for absolutely nothing. Since the worst reliever on the roster has been pretty bad for the last 150 games, he has nothing to lose by trying.

Why not rotate through the AAA pitchers for a few innings instead!!  Give the kids some exposure to the Biggs?  Can it possible be as bad as Lawrence?  
 

Personally I hate this Falvey/Zoll strategy.  It’s embarrassing always dumpster-diving.   It just leaves oks so desperate, so tasteless, so clueless. 

[jorgenswest]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

One strikeout in 10 batters is well below par for Rojas.

True.

I am not concerned about his performance against the 10 batters. He was getting ahead and giving up weak contact.

I do wonder if 10 batters is enough of a rehab. It appears he will continue to rehab in the majors. That won’t be easy.

 

[Andy MacPhail]

We are in desperate need in the BP. SWR has 7 scoreless innings in relief since joining TOR with 1 win.

[Wedman13]

Let's go fella's!  It's a negative game so it's easy to pick parts but it's fun now.  Outman, Fedko. Lawrence, whatever....  enjoy it.