Red Sox 6, Twins 1: Ryan Jeffers Homers in Sisyphean Loss

2 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

Agree on McCusker.

As for bullpen use I think there are several teams with similar or more extreme use of the pen this year. The Twins are 7th in bullpen games and 15th in bullpen innings. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball and go to their bullpen more than any other team. Other winning teams also make frequent use of their bullpen. Teams can win going to their bullpen frequently. They can’t win when they score two or fewer runs in nearly half their games. They need more offense and McCusker might be the best hope right now.

Exactly! Having a lineup that can consistently put up more than let’s say 1 run allows the bullpen to be used in a way where they don’t have to be perfect in order to keep the team in the game. For most teams even being down by one or two runs is technically to them still in the game. This bullpen is tasked on a game by game basis with having to preserve a tied ballgame or at best a one run lead where the score is 1-0 with no chance of this team making a comeback. Alcala is a head case but he’s just the weakest link in a solid bullpen tasked with having to be perfect every night.

26 minutes ago, FargoFanMan said:

Exactly! Having a lineup that can consistently put up more than let’s say 1 run allows the bullpen to be used in a way where they don’t have to be perfect in order to keep the team in the game. For most teams even being down by one or two runs is technically to them still in the game. This bullpen is tasked on a game by game basis with having to preserve a tied ballgame or at best a one run lead where the score is 1-0 with no chance of this team making a comeback. Alcala is a head case but he’s just the weakest link in a solid bullpen tasked with having to be perfect every night.

I’m not saying you’re wrong but I wouldn’t exactly call this bullpen solid.  They’ve definitely got some very weak links.  Can they be fixed?  Possibly.  But truth is they do have to be perfect with this anemic offense and Rocco is not making it easy on them pulling starters early.  The more I see of SWR this year the more I think he needs to transition to the pen for a while.  

1 minute ago, laloesch said:

I’m not saying you’re wrong but I wouldn’t exactly call this bullpen solid.  They’ve definitely got some very weak links.  Can they be fixed?  Possibly.  But truth is they do have to be perfect with this anemic offense and Rocco is not making it easy on them pulling starters early.  The more I see of SWR this year the more I think he needs to transition to the pen for a while.  

I would agree they are probably not top 5 like they have been projected now 2 years in a row but I think this bad lineup is bleeding into the bullpen if that makes sense? I watch quite a bit of baseball besides the Twins and on a night by night basis I watch a lot of good teams and good bullpens give up runs late. But, those teams in a lot of cases put up a fight once they go to bat and the score is hardly ever 1-0 or 1-1. The fact that the game is essentially over once the other team scores the go ahead run and the fact that the bullpen is only ever protecting a one run lead puts a lot of pressure on that bullpen to be perfect night in night out. This isn’t a twins problem. It’s a twins offense problem. Also when you can’t rely on your infield defense it puts even more pressure on the relief pitchers. Not being able to score just hampers the whole team machine that is “winning”

Seems like the curse right now is strong starting pitching, occasional good bullpen, then followed by gut wrenching offensive gymnastics. I.E. Lots of hits with a couple of runs... Exciting start only to throw up our themselves late in the game. I love watching some of the guys battle... But really this needs to be consistentcy throughout a game... Maybe somebody should care enough to get mad and throw a bunch of bats into the field or kick dirt on the ump like the good ole'days... Jack Morris, Dan Gladden, other old Twins wouldn't let teams dance on them........…….................

It might be Zebby time. 

Alcala can go reset.

26 minutes ago, laloesch said:

I’m not saying you’re wrong but I wouldn’t exactly call this bullpen solid.  They’ve definitely got some very weak links.  Can they be fixed?  Possibly.  But truth is they do have to be perfect with this anemic offense and Rocco is not making it easy on them pulling starters early.  The more I see of SWR this year the more I think he needs to transition to the pen for a while.  

SWR is a capable, reliable, dependable 5th starter. This isn’t on the pitching at all. It’s on the offense. Plain and simple. The lineup is bleeding into the pitching. If the lineup consistently put up 4 or 5 runs the pitching would be a non issue. Also, Festa and Mathew’s are not the saviors everyone claims them to be. They’re good with lots of upside but they’re not the second coming of Johan. They’re not good enough to overcome an offense only scoring 1 run game after game. Neither was Johan.

15 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Offense has scored 7 runs in the past 4 games. 

That's Noffense.

Or offensive indifference.

17 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

“In slang, "clowned" generally means to be ridiculed, mocked or made fun of

I thought the term had something to do with John Wayne Gacy.

This doesn’t seem that bad.