Pablo López Alone Gives the Twins a Chance in Any Playoff Series

Ober is pitching  just as good if not better than Lopez.  With exception of the Braves game he has pitched good enough to have won all his second half starts.   He  seems to be relegated to the place Jim Kaat was on the 60's Twins pitching staffs, always the bridesmaid to the Pascual's, Grant's, Chance's etc.

This is great news for whomever the team trades him to for cost cutting purposes. 

Seriously though, we really do not have the bullpen to compete.

Lopez AND Over have been pitching like team aces this year. What's held us back is Ryan going down and relying on three rookies that are at their limits as far as durability and stamina goes

 SWR should be fine next year but it's obvious he's on fumes. Festa and Zebby have shown flashes of great stuff, but we're probably rushed a bit due to needed big league starters. These last three guys only throwing a couple innings each start has worn down our pen so much that any lead we may have is in constant jeopardy.

Actually, Lopez and Ober together give us the chance..... if we make it..... and that 'if' seems to getting bigger by the day ... 

I'd say that Lopez and Ober absolutely give us a chance in any series, or playoff series...if we're fortunate enough to make it to the dance. The biggest problem is, we can't hit on any kind of consistent basis. If you don't put runs on the board, you don't win games. 

In the playoffs Lopez and Ober are #2 and #3 starters. bean5302 explained it perfectly. The Twins owners aren't committed to playoff baseball. The FO relying on Paddack, Desclafani and a host of AAA pitchers to help this team get into the playoffs will probably be their downfall...... That and the inability to hit when needed by the on again, off again lineup. It's pretty bad when the hitters that are carring your team are super-sub Willie Castro and 1 year journeyman Carlos Santana. 

So many years with lack of playoff success and the fans haven’t figured out one pitcher alone will not do it. Two pitcher will not do it.. A team needs three capable starters 

On 9/20/2024 at 9:07 AM, Riverbrian said:

Team need starters to be...  capable in the playoffs. Who those capable starters will be is much much harder to determine. 

During the 2023 Playoffs:

Clayton Kershaw had a 2.46 ERA during the regular season. He still doesn't know what hit him in Game 1 against the D-Backs. He gave up 6 runs and got one out. 

Burnes and Peralta were pretty capable during the regular season for the Breweres. Not quite as capable in the playoffs. 

The Rangers pounced on Glasnow for 4 runs over 5 innings. Efflin had a 3,50 ERA regular season in 2023. It did him no good against the Rangers in the playoffs.  

Cristian Javier was a 4.56 ERA in 2023 for the Astros. Against the Twins in the playoffs he threw 5 innings of one hit ball while striking out 9. 

Who could ever explain what a Brandon Pfaadt was. 

 

 

After Kershaw came off the DL he wasn’t the same pitcher. Javier had a poor season. His prior seasons were more than just a capable pitcher 

1 hour ago, Riverbrian said:

When it comes to predictions. You are a better man than I. 

 

It is not predictions as much as it is looking at recent past performances and outcomes. Baseball the inference between good and great can be very fine. Start starting pitchers have clunkers. A mediocre pitcher has the only perfect game in baseball history. Batters have 0fers and OPS 1.000 for series. Never know when it is going to happen. You were mostly right with the competent pitcher, but they do have to have the fortitude to rise a little higher.