Do the Twins Need to Shuffle the Roster?

I think our best players are up.  They need to play better. Terrible AB’s in high leverage situations have become a theme for this team.  Work on approach and mindset.  Not so far this year but we hit a lot of HR’s but our RBI totals are down. 

I agree that Martin needs to play more often, the problem with the Twins isn't Martin. Martin has been mainly used as a pinch runner which he excels in. IMO bringing Martin up was the right call because #1 it gets Martin's feet wet and #2 Farmer is a much better 3Bman. I also agree that Miranda deserves to be called up but his chance is linked to Santana not at 3B. But IMO should have some opportunity there but not on a regular bases.

40 minutes ago, killertwinfan said:

I think our best players are up.  They need to play better. Terrible AB’s in high leverage situations have become a theme for this team.  Work on approach and mindset.  Not so far this year but we hit a lot of HR’s but our RBI totals are down. 

Agreed, IMO we have modeled our approach after the Yankees, who as an whole have floundered even though they hit a lot of HRs. Unfortunately, the Yankees have waken up changed their approach, fired their batting coach, hired Rowson (who works individually w/ players to bring out their strong points) & traded for SOTO (who walks more than he SO that has carried the team even when Judge isn't hitting); yet the Twins remain basically unchanged. PS- IMO Popkins is a fine batting coach the problem is the approach.

12 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Agreed, IMO we have modeled our approach after the Yankees, who as an whole have floundered even though they hit a lot of HRs. Unfortunately, the Yankees have waken up changed their approach, fired their batting coach, hired Rowson (who works individually w/ players to bring out their strong points) & traded for SOTO (who walks more than he SO that has carried the team even when Judge isn't hitting); yet the Twins remain basically unchanged.

The only reason the Twins will have any success has nothing to do with the guy the writes out the lineup card. You are 100% correct in management having the wrong philosophy. Instead of cramming a "one size fits all approach" it might be best to try to utilize each players strength and write the lineup according to those strengths. 

I still remember reading years ago when Ted Williams ask Mo Vaughn why he let the first pitch go that was right down the middle. And Mo gave some "make the pitcher work" response or something in the vein. Ted told him to stop doing that because that might be the only pitch he sees that he can hit. If Ted Williams tells you something about hitting, you listen. And i'm pretty sure Ted didn't mention exit velo.

16 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Agreed, IMO we have modeled our approach after the Yankees, who as an whole have floundered even though they hit a lot of HRs.

I believe the Twins have tried to lower their SO's this year, understanding that HR's will be lower. The trouble is that we have only lowered homers so far. I think Taylor isn't here because the Twins wanted less SO's. But Margot is worse so far. The four worst % SO guys so far are Buxton, Wallner, Castro and Margot. Buxton is streaky so he will improve. Wallner has to hit homers and SO's will come with that. Castro and Margot have to put the bat on the ball more. The lowest OPS guys on the team are Kepler, Farmer, Vazquez, Margot and Castro. That's all of our bench, 3B and RF. SSS so far. The players just have to improve.

The number of terrible AB's from an approach standpoint is very alarming.   Kepler looks absolutely lost at the plate.  Outside of Kiriloff and one bomb from Jeffers, this offense has been as bad as I can remember.  Unwatchable.   Compounded by the fact we are not facing Walter Johnson every night.    

I get a kick out of how the announcers on Thursday almost justify the Twins poor play by their early schedule.  They said they had a long spring training( yes finishing with the second worst record in all of spring training makes it long) then had to open in Kansas City and Milwaukee before returning home.  Good grief!  The Guardians had just flown in from playing on the west coast.  They had spring training too I believe lol.  Then they had to come to Target field for the Twins home opener in front of a big crowd and they hadn't had a day off like the Twins.  They outplayed our Twi s.  Come on, stop with the lame excuses.

Like Correa said last stinky spring, just wait til June when it warms up. 

Yadda, yadda, yadda. 

Not much they can do about it now. They tried to tweak the lineup in the off season the additions haven’t done much. While many of us want a more balanced lineup it’s clear that Falvine are all in on the homers over all else philosophy.   As suggested up thread I think there is merit in having a more individualized approach. 

Heads, you swing at the first pitch; tails, you hold up. Either way, you shift your weight and bring your hands forward as if you're going to swing.

During the at bat: Heads, you swing flat; tails, uppercut. Either way, your stance stays the same, until after the pitcher's in his motion.

Flipping a coin is a great way to stop the opposition from guessing what your hitters are going to do. They can't know, because you don't know either. Batters still won't swing at pitches far from the zone, and there's still the pitcher's cat and mouse how how he throws. However, randomizing some elements of hitter behavior takes away some of the opposition's planning. 

If the league thinks the Twins are swinging flat for average, they'll throw a lot of sinkers. If they think the Twins are swinging for the fences, watch for a lot of high fastballs. If there is no pattern...

As a manager, you could announce that the team is experimenting with randomized swing patterns. Even make a show of flipping coins in the dugout. Even if you're not doing it, maybe it'll mess with a few heads out there. 

Pump the brakes a bit. The only change I would like to see is players actually understanding that not every player is a power hitter. This launch angle garbage is ruining the game. Players are striking out like crazy because of it. If only they could focus more on getting hits the team would improve.   

13 hours ago, Fezig said:

I still remember reading years ago when Ted Williams ask Mo Vaughn why he let the first pitch go that was right down the middle. And Mo gave some "make the pitcher work" response or something in the vein. Ted told him to stop doing that because that might be the only pitch he sees that he can hit. If Ted Williams tells you something about hitting, you listen. And i'm pretty sure Ted didn't mention exit velo.

Quote

Hit it hard, not hit it to the left or not hit it over here. Hit the ball hard. That's all I really ever thought about, just hit the ball hard. - Ted Williams

Ted Williams Looks Back | Baseball Hall of Fame

5 hours ago, darin617 said:

Pump the brakes a bit. The only change I would like to see is players actually understanding that not every player is a power hitter. This launch angle garbage is ruining the game. Players are striking out like crazy because of it. If only they could focus more on getting hits the team would improve.   

Quote

In his book, The Science of Hitting, Williams suggested an upward swing path that aligns the bat path and pitch path for a better chance of contact – about 5 degrees for a fastball and 10-to-15 degrees for a curveball.

Are Ted Williams’ Hitting Philosophies Still Relevant Based on the Data? | Community Blog (fangraphs.com)

Well, at least bthe Twins didn't advance 0-17 with 9K's Severino to be the temporary third baseman....yet.

The time to "shuffle" the lineup was during the offseason when they decided to reduce payroll 20% and made mediocre signings and traded away a decent hitter for an old, lame-armed pitcher who was being paid by 2 different organizations to just go away and a bullpen arm and a prospect.

Why the Twins were projected to win the division is a mystery.  Regression was inevitable.

On 4/6/2024 at 10:16 AM, Five minute major said:

The number of terrible AB's from an approach standpoint is very alarming.   Kepler looks absolutely lost at the plate.  Outside of Kiriloff and one bomb from Jeffers, this offense has been as bad as I can remember.  Unwatchable.   Compounded by the fact we are not facing Walter Johnson every night.    

In the last 2 games vs Cleveland they have had a total of:

Hits: 9

Runs: 3

K's: 29

LOB: 49

You can's score if you don't put the ball in play.

Twins have started 2 players each day with a batting average of over .235.

On 4/6/2024 at 7:43 AM, Doctor Gast said:

Agreed, IMO we have modeled our approach after the Yankees, who as a whole have floundered even though they hit a lot of HRs. Unfortunately, the Yankees have waken up changed their approach, fired their batting coach, hired Rowson (who works individually w/ players to bring out their strong points) & traded for SOTO (who walks more than he SO that has carried the team even when Judge isn't hitting); yet the Twins remain basically unchanged. PS- IMO Popkins is a fine batting coach the problem is the approach.

Poppen is awful!!!!! Twins hitters were a DISASTER through July last year and the only reason why they surged were Lewis, Julian and Wallner up from AAA carrying their AAA skills with them. Looks like Poppen has them all screwed up already this year.