It's Okay to be Impressed by the Twins

12 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I agree that we tend to be a little too negative here about the team. I think that's because we had higher expectations than were justified. The 'experts" predicted 80-85 wins. I think we're going to be on the higher end of that - after 1/3 of the season we projected to 84 wins (28-26 x 3 = 84-78) - and that's with injury issues. I think we may have overhyped ourselves into thinking this was a 90+ win team and anything less than that seems like a disappointment.

I like using the season over/under simply because the most effort went into creating it. Lots of money on the line. Most places were at 83 or 84 wins which is pretty logical but if they projected the pitching to be at this level the number would’ve been 93. If they projected the hitting to be like this the number would’ve been 75.  One of these will normalize significantly. If it’s the sticks 90 wins is still in the cards. 

I will mention the following as the article author brought it up and not as a specific comment on this piece. 

Most of the articles should be forum posts. Most of the article authors should spend twice the time on half as many pieces.  We are driving our own daily consternation with endless versions of the same story with a different title. All while watching a sport that meanders through the woods at the pace of a lazy butterfly. Then when a conversation that needs to happen over a few weeks to observe and react, oops, that post is 12 pages down and the website gives you a stern warning for bringing up old news.  It’s driving the consternation and I agree, it’s quite a bit too much. Both in the levels of concern and hyperbole of the titles and the sheer amount of the articles produced. 

10 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I'm really surprises by the vitriol presented here.

1] The Twins have one of the best rotations in all of MLB. Something we haven't seen in YEARS.

2] The bullpen build wasn't great. Pagan should have been gone, and they should have added ONE arm they believed in to guard against Alcala not being ready.  And despite some struggles from Jax and Lopez, we know thier stuff. It's up to the coaching staff to help them find their stuff on a consistent performance self. If they can do that, and add a healthy Thielbar back, a much improved Moran, and the surprising Stewart, could make a really good bullpen.

I know it's not EASY to see this, but it ain't hard to see it either. A few runs here and there don't make a bad pen. And rolling through a few guys here and there isn't a bad idea either. This pen can be really good If a couple arms can "settle down" and they can find the right mix. Remember, a couple bad games skewes what a RP does. But the pen DOES need to ramp up a bit.

3] Let's be honest and admit the offense has been the issue. Forget historic ineptitude with bases loaded, the inconsistent offense has been the issue. Double digit, or close to it, in runs produced with a 3 game series of 5 or 6 runs doesn't cut it. 

You can't win consistently with an offense that yings and yangs between 1 run and 7. And that's been the problem, not the pen. 

Just a little better pen results and an offense that can create any sort of consistent competitive environment would have this team 10 games above .500. And then, pundits would be proclaiming the Twins as one of the top 6 teams in the AL, not the leader of an also ran division.

There are no wins granted for coming close. But how many games have the Twins had the lead, or been neck and neck, and lost a game so far? You want to blame the pen for the Twins losing a game 3-2 because they couldn't score a single run past the 2nd inning? Yeah, go ahead and blame the pen on that one.

My biggest worry coming in to the season was the offense. And it wasn't the loss of Arraez, or the signing of Gallo, who's been pretty damn good. It was Kepler, and the hopeful health and improvement and debut  of Larnach, Killeroff, Waller and Julien, and Lewis. I trusted Correa, and Polanco, Buxton, Miranda, and Gallo, (to a degree).

Larnach, despite ups and downs, is amongst the HR and RBI leaders before his pneumonia IL stint. AK and Lewis are off to great starts. Julien is flashing early like a keeper. What more does Wallner have to do for an offense deficient team than scream potential production over someone who can't produce? 

You DON'T want to be impressed by the Twins? Fine. You obviously aren't watching the games, and only focusing on how "close but not quite" box scores. This team is inches away from being 10 games above .500 and right in the mix if the offense can just find ANY kind of CONSISTENT production.

 

 

Agreed. The offense is really the issue. I guess that's what makes the continued use of Kepler and Taylor in particular so frustrating. Both have a pretty consistent track record of offensive futility. It is very unlikely they will be better than their career averages and in the case of Kepler, it's becoming more and more evident that he is on the downward slope. Corner outfielder's need to hit and it's more important that they hit then that they field as long as there are at least adequate.Yes, defense important particularly in CF so I understand Taylor a little more. Personally, I would give Castro some run in CF if we're not going to play Buxton there and see if he can handle the position the field. 

The offense needs to improve. The most obvious ways to do that are to (1) replace Kepler with either Wallner or LArnach (when he's healthy) on an everyday basis - they may not be better but it difficult for them to be worse and the potential for better is there, (2) give Castro the majority of work in CF (4+ days a week) so we can get him, Lewis and Gallo all in the lineup together, and (3) get Buxton in centerfield 2-3 days a week with Castro there most of the other time. This would replace Kepler and Taylor in the lineup with Castro and either Wallner or Larnach once the latter is available, and potentially open up the DH spot two – three days a week to get guys a partial day off and/or to get Wallner, Larnach, Farmer, and Solano in the lineup more regularly – even potentially Jeffers when he is not catching. I think that would definitely help the lineup.