Twins 8, Brewers 6: Twins Dig Out of Early Setback and Secure Game One Win

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Linus said:

I probably wrote that poorly. His issues last night were probably nerves and timing. He played some balls where his timing and footwork was off and resulted in plays not being made. They weren’t errors but were outs not recorded. The Brewers are a tough team to debut against because they have a bunch of guys that can really run and they hustle out of the box - I bet Culpepper was feeling that. The good news is you can see the guy is really athletic and has a really strong arm. His throws were noticeably stronger than any other Twins infielder. I think initial scouting concerns were range related but he’s one of those guys that could play deeper because of his arm strength. I bet in one month we will be very excited about him in the field. If Houston pushes him off SS he will be really good at second or third. 

Agree, he’ll get better as he gets more MLB time.

Agree, he’s got a big arm and is athletic. He did, on 3-4 balls played that I saw, negates his arm strength by taking too long to throw. The hands weren’t real smooth last night ….. should improve!

I’m sure that the organization would not bring a guy up that looks that uneven with his defense……gotta be better days ahead.

[Andy MacPhail]

There's a lot of talk on how bad the batting against LHPs is. Last nite they showed what they can do against a very good LHP, even w/o Buck.

It's so frustrating when they play so bad against poor teams yet pull off a win against a top team. The roller coaster is murder.

[LA Vikes Fan]

We're basically trying to cover 4 positions here until Buxton is back- 1B, 3B, LF, and RF - if you assume that Culpepper is the primary SS. So just for fun, here are the slash lines for the affected players against LH pitching:

Caratini -  .195/.314/.287 (.601). Ugh. 

Larnach - .154/.267/.308 (.575). Double ugh.

Kreidler - .189/.286/.284 (.570). Not getting any better. 

Lee - .198/.268/.302 (.570) - Kreidler without the glove. although his line v. LH pitching last year was .266/.298/.379 (.677). Maybe some hope there?

Roden - .429/.429/.429 (.858). All of 7 ABs, SSS. Still, better than any of the rest. 

Martin - .248/.404/.363 (.767). Done in 113 ABs 2026, last year hit .346/404/.481 (.885) in 52 ABS against LHs. Bottom line is the guy can hit LH pitching pretty well. 

Clemens - .239/.293/.467 (.760). There you go, that's the ticket...

Jenkins (AAA) - .254/.338/.349 (.687). Highish OBP, but no power. Would power come with time?

So, to me it's pretty clear that Clemens and Martin should play against LH pitching given the choices. I would say that the best batting lines correspond with the best defense for the other 2 spots, you play Roden and either Lee or Kriedler, not Caratini or Larnach. Interestingly, a call up of Jenkins might help against LH pitching. Jenkins would have to replace Roden, really no other way to get him consistent ABs. 

My basic lineup vs. LH starters - Martin (LF), Jeffers (C), Bell (DH), Lewis (1B), Keaschall (CF), Clemens (2B), Lee/Kreidler (3B), Roden/Jenkins (RF), Culpepper/Kreidler (SS). Feel free to switch 7 and 9 around depending on who plays such that Kreidler is always the #9. Caratini is the backup C playing 1 game of 3, Larnach is an available LH PH as is whoever is not in the SS/3B mix that day, Jackson is the 3rd C, RH PH, pinch runner. Against a RH starter, Lee always plays 3B, Larnach takes Martin's spot, Clemens and Keaschall flip flop in the order, everything else stays the same. Caratini plays C one game a series and you time that for a RH starter. Works for me.   

[HarmonK03]

1 hour ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

We're basically trying to cover 4 positions here until Buxton is back- 1B, 3B, LF, and RF - if you assume that Culpepper is the primary SS. So just for fun, here are the slash lines for the affected players against LH pitching:

Caratini -  .195/.314/.287 (.601). Ugh. 

Larnach - .154/.267/.308 (.575). Double ugh.

Kreidler - .189/.286/.284 (.570). Not getting any better. 

Lee - .198/.268/.302 (.570) - Kreidler without the glove. although his line v. LH pitching last year was .266/.298/.379 (.677). Maybe some hope there?

Roden - .429/.429/.429 (.858). All of 7 ABs, SSS. Still, better than any of the rest. 

Martin - .248/.404/.363 (.767). Done in 113 ABs 2026, last year hit .346/404/.481 (.885) in 52 ABS against LHs. Bottom line is the guy can hit LH pitching pretty well. 

Clemens - .239/.293/.467 (.760). There you go, that's the ticket...

Jenkins (AAA) - .254/.338/.349 (.687). Highish OBP, but no power. Would power come with time?

So, to me it's pretty clear that Clemens and Martin should play against LH pitching given the choices. I would say that the best batting lines correspond with the best defense for the other 2 spots, you play Roden and either Lee or Kriedler, not Caratini or Larnach. Interestingly, a call up of Jenkins might help against LH pitching. Jenkins would have to replace Roden, really no other way to get him consistent ABs. 

My basic lineup vs. LH starters - Martin (LF), Jeffers (C), Bell (DH), Lewis (1B), Keaschall (CF), Clemens (2B), Lee/Kreidler (3B), Roden/Jenkins (RF), Culpepper/Kreidler (SS). Feel free to switch 7 and 9 around depending on who plays such that Kreidler is always the #9. Caratini is the backup C playing 1 game of 3, Larnach is an available LH PH as is whoever is not in the SS/3B mix that day, Jackson is the 3rd C, RH PH, pinch runner. Against a RH starter, Lee always plays 3B, Larnach takes Martin's spot, Clemens and Keaschall flip flop in the order, everything else stays the same. Caratini plays C one game a series and you time that for a RH starter. Works for me.   

Kreidler should be playing once or twice a week, Lee is the third baseman until they find a better replacement.  If Jenkins is up here, he needs to play every day and sure not sit for Roden.  Roden needs to be sent down at some point, he has not grabbed hold of any of his opportunities.  He is either an injury replacement like now for Buxton or he should be in St. Paul.

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

I’m sure that the organization would not bring a guy up that looks that uneven with his defense……gotta be better days ahead.

This is the Twins organization, not the Brewers.

[1985Fan]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Agree, he’ll get better as he gets more MLB time.

Agree, he’s got a big arm and is athletic. He did, on 3-4 balls played that I saw, negates his arm strength by taking too long to throw. The hands weren’t real smooth last night ….. should improve!

I’m sure that the organization would not bring a guy up that looks that uneven with his defense……gotta be better days ahead.

Keaschall says hello. How about Lee at SS? Or Julien at 2nd base. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Under the Falvey regime, defense has been an afterthought. But they do move players around on defense under the guise that a player that moves around the field is valuable whether or not they can actually play any of those positions. Let’s move Royce to 1B. Now that he looks comfortable there, let’s move him to 2nd base…. Surprised they haven’t stuck him in the OF. 
Twins started winning series when they moved Keaschall off 2nd base, Lee to third, and Kreidler to primary SS. Hope that Culpepper doesn’t degrade the defense in that important position. Chalk it up to nerves and start over tonight.