MIN 4, DET 3: Bats Quiet, Bullpen Hangs On

Pineda was great, especially not losing his cool after all the dink and dunk and umpire donk in the 3rd.

Hope we get Garv-sauce and La Tortuga back tomorrow. This offense is much more potent with them in there.

The ugly moment sticks with me: Twins load the bases on 3 walks - nobody out - and you had to think the game was going to be blown wide open at that point....to get nothing was a real gut punch.

Those harsh moments are always softened by wins. Great day from Pineda, the 'pen, and once again Rosario coming up with the game-winning hit (how many of those does he have already?)

Cruz needs a few games to get his swing back, just keep rolling him up there. The way Gonzalez is playing, he's going to start taking a back seat to Astudillo at 3rd sooner rather than later. Interesting video on the non-swinging strikes, Tom...dude needs to get a bit more aggressive it seems.

Is it too early for me to say the Marwin signing was a mistake, or is the timing just right?? Because with how Astudillo’s been playing and Sano’s upcoming return, I really don’t see the purpose of having Marwin on the team, other than being waste of $21M that could’ve been spent on one year of Keuchel, or any one of Kelly, Herrera, Robertson, Familia, Britton, or Allen this offseason.

Hopefully he proves me wrong, although I really doubt he’ll get enough at-bats to do so, unless someone goes down. Even if that were to happen (again), will he perform at the level we paid him to, or like he is right now, an overpaid Adrianza??

Is it too early for me to say the Marwin signing was a mistake, or is the timing just right?? Because with how Astudillo’s been playing and Sano’s upcoming return, I really don’t see the purpose of having Marwin on the team, other than being waste of $21M that could’ve been spent on one year of Keuchel, or any of Kelly, Herrera, Robertson, Familia, Britton, or Allen this offseason.

Hopefully he proves me wrong, although I really doubt he’ll get enough at-bats to do so, unless someone goes down. Even if that were to happen (again), will he perform at the level we paid him to, or like he is right now, an overpaid Adrianza??

Way too early.

Nice job by Castro. All three catchers are an asset to this team.

Cruz is always an asset. He gets walks precisely because opposing pitchers don't want to pitch to him. That creates opportunities for other hitters as was the case today.

Castro was really good behind the plate today.... and he walked twice. He's 2-12 on the season with 3 walks.

 

In Astudillo's last four games, he is 2-14 with one walk.

 

And then there is #GarvSauce!! #TeamSauce

I guess I will stand by my all three catchers are an asset. I certainly am not going to be swayed by data in minuscule samples. Castro has the best glove and game caller. I am not sure which of Astudillo or Garver has the better bat but they both have a major league bat and catch well enough to help this team.

I'm really encouraged by the way that Pineda has pitched so far. What a nice addition to the starting rotation! But ... the concern is how durable he will be this year after his long post-injury layoff. This has probably been mentioned by someone already, and if so I apologize, but do the Twins have Pineda on any sort of pitch or innings limit this season?

Man Parker is twitchy. He looks terrified out there