Twins 8, Astros 3: Home Runs At Bat and Strikeouts On Mound Propel Twins to Series Victory

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, friedbrycenbeans said:

Bell since June 1st:

.900 OPS
.566 SLG
150 wRC+
24 RBI

He's basically been identical across the board with Buxton since June. 

Look at his whole career. It is a history of hot and cold streaks. He won’t maintain June forever.

He is like Minnesota weather in April. Depending on the wind direction we are either 10 degrees above or below average but never the average temperature.

[JD-TWINS]

My addition after looking at results on schedule …… to me it appears that after going 3-11 from April 15-April 30, since May 1 the Team is 28-28 through July 1st.

With some addition to OF depth from Farm - just one guy - it allows Kreidler to play SS 80% plus of games. He can’t play everyday & they need a second guy that’s capable….. Gray or even Arcia. LH bat and roster stability, Gray probably gets the nod.

With Jeffers back, do they play him & lose Jackson via waivers? Do they carry 3 Catchers for couple weeks?…….do they immediately trade Jeffers when he’s ready, to a team betting on the come for Jeffer’s health?

Bottom line, if Ober can be just OK & Prielipp holds together, they can add Rojas - Sands Paredes to PEN in July. To me, it’s realistic for them to win 40 of last 74 games……maybe not likely, but realistic.

2B - 3B - 1B all seem to be stabilized defensively & offensively. Big change from late April!…….. Big change since late May!

The organization seems intent on trying to win by actually making moves, only internally to date. Maybe a surprise buy or trade at the deadline……..🤞

[JD-TWINS]

12 minutes ago, friedbrycenbeans said:

Bell since June 1st:

.900 OPS
.566 SLG
150 wRC+
24 RBI

He's basically been identical across the board with Buxton since June. 

I saw the other night that Caratini was 4th in OPS in June in baseball (don’t think I misunderstood?)……. they are also riding him a bunch behind the plate. Maybe he’s relaxed with every day AB’s??

He and Bell have completely turned around what they did in May, which was really bad! Keaschall is riding their coattails……..throw in Lewis resurgence and the line-up is Looong all of a sudden.

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

The season is half over and Bell has a 97 OPS+.
 

Yankees have lost 7 in a row.

Lewis has a 84 OPS + but seems everyone sees he’s turned a corner……. Bell, coming in this year, has always been streaky. Not a great attribute. Bottom line (he hit in April) is he’s been hitting for 28 games and he’s driving in runs …… I’ll give him a break on the cumulative season numbers……….I very well could be negatively pointing to them by end of the month?? Hope not!

[David Maro]

Who do all of you want at bat after 90 game with RISP, Bell or Buxton? For me I go Bell every time. A majority of Buxton's RBI are solo homeruns. As it stands Lee,Clemens,Bell and Larnach are the hitters you want in the box with RISP.

The biggest problem this team has is the BP, with a 7-1 lead the game was not over. Just like last Friday with a 7-0 the BP fell apart putting Laweryson in the 6th let the Astros back in the game.

Both Laweryson and Gray should be on their way to the Saints today. Watching Gray his bat is now affecting his play in the field. And Laweryson is a RH Funderburk can't put hitters away.

[Blyleven2011]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

The season is half over and Bell has a 97 OPS+.
 

Yankees have lost 7 in a row.

Cole isn't his normal self yet  , pitched 37 innings so far , given up 7 homeruns in 7 starts ...

Maybe we can hit him hard and paredes can handle the fans in the stands heckling  ...

Bell could heat up in the second half , that has been his norm in most seasons ...

[JD-TWINS]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Will Keaschall move back to 2B with Clemens to the bench?

If Buxton is not back, they have to give him an IL stint and call someone up. 

Keaschall may not play a total of 15 innings the rest of the season at 2B.

Clemens not going to bench unless he’s hurt!

I agree on Buxton ….. not sure how far back they can go with retroactive IL stint?

1 week off for Buck would allow somebody to get their toes wet before the Break. 2 lefties in NY this weekend though.

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Why just 5?  With our BP we need starters to go 7

do you really think it's a good idea to have him throw 115-120 pitches to get through 6? And 130-140 to get through 7?

Taj pitched effectively but not efficiently, and I don't think he had a single inning under 15 pitches. It made perfect sense to pull him after 5 with a 6 run lead and him at 97 pitches. (Especially considering about a month ago he was on the IL) If he'd been around 70-80 pitches through 5, he'd be out for the 6th, and if he was still under a hundred after 6 he might have gotten a 7th if he was in a groove. But he didn't and wasn't, having walked a guy in the 5th and averaging nearly 20 pitches an inning.

The math isn't that hard, and the last thing this team and it's injury history needs is someone doing a Tommy Lasorda and running our starters out there for huge pitch counts.

[Andy MacPhail]

At the deadline, Taj Bradley was the only trade that I really approved of. Happy he's proving me right.

Twins seems to use too many of our best RPs in low-leverage situations & too many poorer RPs in higher-leverage situations. Why use Gomes & Morris in basically a mop up condition? I know Lawyerson made us worry a little but still I'd used lower-leverage RPs here, to save Morris & Gomes for NYY.

[DJL44]

41 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Cole isn't his normal self yet  , pitched 37 innings so far , given up 7 homeruns in 7 starts ...

Maybe we can hit him hard and paredes can handle the fans in the stands heckling  ...

Sounds like the Yankees have several players recovering from food poisoning.

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, friedbrycenbeans said:

Bell with RISP this year

.348/.380/.663 with a 183 wRC+

Luck and SSS does not equal talent.

[DJL44]

11 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Keaschall may not play a total of 15 innings the rest of the season at 2B.

Clemens not going to bench unless he’s hurt!

I agree on Buxton ….. not sure how far back they can go with retroactive IL stint?

1 week off for Buck would allow somebody to get their toes wet before the Break. 2 lefties in NY this weekend though.

Kody Clemens has a 624 OPS vs lefties. Austin Martin has a 780 OPS vs LHP. Keaschall can start at 2B and move to the OF when they pinch hit Clemens for Austin Martin. 

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Cole isn't his normal self yet  , pitched 37 innings so far , given up 7 homeruns in 7 starts ...

Maybe we can hit him hard and paredes can handle the fans in the stands heckling  ...

Bell could heat up in the second half , that has been his norm in most seasons ...

Bell is 8 RBI behind the leader in all of baseball @ 56. IMO, he had a good April & a terrible May……..he’s been hot for weeks, don’t think he can get hotter in 2nd half……. I guess we can hope for more consistency. He’s not a .300 hitter/30 HR guy, so that’s too high a bar. If he hits .250 and keeps driving in runs with RISP, I’ll be thrilled.

[rickyp]

3 hours ago, friedbrycenbeans said:

Bell with RISP this year

.348/.380/.663 with a 183 wRC+

Wow! Those hitting numbers are almost as high as our bullpen's with RISP

😁

[chinmusic]

6 hours ago, bean5302 said:

a good hitter would have 70 RBI instead of 56 right now if they were in Bell's spot in the lineup.

Nick Kurtz leads the majors with 64.....nobody has 70; we'll have to agree to disagree

 

[Saxophone Joe]

4 hours ago, Andy MacPhail said:

 Why use Gomes & Morris in basically a mop up condition?

I get it. But you could see by Shelton’s pacing around the dugout late in the game, which you rarely see (or at least the cameras don’t often show) that he, like us, doesn’t consider a 5-6 run lead mop-up duty with this BP. That was my takeaway at least. Hell, the Astros were one ball away from having the tying run (and one of the best sluggers in the league!) to the plate.

[Blyleven2011]

6 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Bell is 8 RBI behind the leader in all of baseball @ 56. IMO, he had a good April & a terrible May……..he’s been hot for weeks, don’t think he can get hotter in 2nd half……. I guess we can hope for more consistency. He’s not a .300 hitter/30 HR guy, so that’s too high a bar. If he hits .250 and keeps driving in runs with RISP, I’ll be thrilled.

Bell is a streaky hitter , he has had good first halves or good second halves , let's just hope he maintains in the second half and helps us win games ...

Unless of course he is traded , he likes it here so he says , that in it's self can produce good results for a player ...

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

On 7/2/2026 at 11:21 AM, Mike Sixel said:

This trade is looking good...

I liked that trade at the time and still like it. Taj Bradley has some stuff! But in fairness to Tampa Bay and Griffin Jax, he has looked pretty good in their starting rotation this season. Hopefully, this will end up being one of the win-win trades for both teams. 

[mikelink45]

22 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Pitching while fatigued inevitably leads to injury. He can’t do his job injured.

I guess all those complete game pitchers in the the last century must have been injured and we never knew it.

[mikelink45]

20 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

do you really think it's a good idea to have him throw 115-120 pitches to get through 6? And 130-140 to get through 7?

Taj pitched effectively but not efficiently, and I don't think he had a single inning under 15 pitches. It made perfect sense to pull him after 5 with a 6 run lead and him at 97 pitches. (Especially considering about a month ago he was on the IL) If he'd been around 70-80 pitches through 5, he'd be out for the 6th, and if he was still under a hundred after 6 he might have gotten a 7th if he was in a groove. But he didn't and wasn't, having walked a guy in the 5th and averaging nearly 20 pitches an inning.

The math isn't that hard, and the last thing this team and it's injury history needs is someone doing a Tommy Lasorda and running our starters out there for huge pitch counts.

Actually - I do.  I want the starters conditioned to throw 125 a game.  

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Actually - I do.  I want the starters conditioned to throw 125 a game.  

They will be less effective per inning. That’s the trade off.

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

I guess all those complete game pitchers in the the last century must have been injured and we never knew it.

The guys who put up huge innings numbers in the 70's are also something of a fluke, but the reality is pitchers today are throwing harder by a lot and causing more stress on their arms. You're also ignoring the guys who blew out their arms early and never made it because they were expected to throw 250 innings every year and had pitch counts going past 140.

Hells bells, just look at what Lasorda did to Fernando with those kind of inning and pitch counts. Done as an elite pitcher at 27! But hey, he threw a bunch of complete games.

Did you work on the coaching staff at Rice? (still haven't forgiven them for wrecking Canterino's arm)