Royals 4, Twins 2: Bailey Ober's Brilliant Start Wasted by Bullpen Blow-Up

1 minute ago, Aggies7 said:

I would really hope decisions weren’t made due to what happened a year ago in one game 

Agreed, but players remember. Competitors want redemption.

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

Come on. MLB is different now. There's no team that's letting a guy go 10 innings in game 7 now. 0. None. Not one. Oh, and Matt Harvey was allowed to pitch the 9th inning of a shutout in game 5 in 2015. The manager was clearly going to take him out, but Harvey talked his way into going out for the 9th. Manager "followed his gut" and Harvey imploded and the Mets lost the game and the series. 1991 was great. Best game 7 in the history of sports. But can we please stop pointing to that game like it's something that should be expected or something any team in baseball would do in 2024? It's not. And they don't always work out so well.

I was pointing to the dramatic change in mentality of managers and pitchers in today’s game. It’s what leads us to watching the insanity of last nights game and Rocco feeling like his decision to pull Ober was justified by the current orthodoxy. 
And yes, we should expect managers to have a brain, instead of auto-pilot reactions, and leave a pitcher go until the situation actually calls for a pitching change. We may not see a 10-inning complete game shut-out, but we shouldn’t have to watch the current stupidity and be happy about it because that’s what the norm is. 

14 hours ago, AKTwinsFan said:

Baldelli makes a LOT of questionable pitching changes, usually leading to a LOSS. Popkins must be teaching them to chase in the other batting box and let center cut fastballs go. Bad coaching all around!

Agree.  Rocco relies on his coaching staff very much for the small and important elements.  Lately the Twins have looked weak on defense and the base running is poor.  These are issues the staff can and should address.  And yes, the at bats we give away every game is tough to watch.

14 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

 

TD Therapy Post

Payoffs are in jeopardy. The team is on fumes. We badly need a spark. Right now I’d take Buxton and/or Correa at 85% just to get some abs in clutch spots. The hitting has been awful.

Payoffs are in jeopardy. The team is on fumes. We badly need a spark. Right now I’d take Buxton and/or Correa at 85% just to get some abs in clutch spots. The hitting has been awful.

Payoffs are in jeopardy. The team is on fumes. We badly need a spark. Right now I’d take Buxton and/or Correa at 85% just to get some abs in clutch spots. The hitting has been awful.

Payoffs are in jeopardy. The team is on fumes. We badly need a spark. Right now I’d take Buxton and/or Correa at 85% just to get some abs in clutch spots. The hitting has been awful.

2 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Putting Farmer at first base replacing Santana was also a laughable idea.

Santana came out due to illness/injury. Did you want Helman there instead? Julien?

Pulling Ober was a mistake but there were two fielding miscues that were huge in that inning. On KCs first run the runner broke back and wasn’t going to score until the cutoff was set up to third. Once the third base coach saw that he waved the runner home. Secondly Royce simply has to go get that grounder - we actually would want the runner to get in the way as it would be interference and the runner would be out. Royce has obviously not been coached properly on that situation. Royce could have thrown the runner out or got the interference call. Lee made it worse by making the ill advised throw. Another game lost to poor fundamentals- one of (too) many this year. 

7 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

This organization doesn't pay much more than lip service to fundamentals. And that's not just a glib one-off. It's a statement of fact.

Playing the game properly isn't considered an important element towards winning. It's not taught, it's not practiced, and it's not a factor in playing time. 

 

Spot on. Here is what I don’t get - why do you spend a gazillion dollars on technology etc for minor league development but dont coach basic fielding and baserunning fundamentals that really only cost time. And you are correct it doesn’t seem to cause any heartburn in the dugout and it doesn’t get better. 

A bird on the mound is worth two in the pen 

8 hours ago, DJL44 said:

They may have been able to get the 8th inning out of Ober but he wasn't going to pitch the 9th with >95 pitches on the night.

He's thrown 106 pitches in a game this year.  Very possible to go 2 more innings in 23 pitches the way he was dealing.....

1 hour ago, Linus said:

Pulling Ober was a mistake but there were two fielding miscues that were huge in that inning. On KCs first run the runner broke back and wasn’t going to score until the cutoff was set up to third. Once the third base coach saw that he waved the runner home. Secondly Royce simply has to go get that grounder - we actually would want the runner to get in the way as it would be interference and the runner would be out. Royce has obviously not been coached properly on that situation. Royce could have thrown the runner out or got the interference call. Lee made it worse by making the ill advised throw. Another game lost to poor fundamentals- one of (too) many this year. 

IMO....this was still runners interference......right?  There doesn't need to be contact for the call to be made.  Royce was going after the ball and was hindered by the runner.  Should he have run into the runner?  Yes, but I still think interference should have been called.  No?

1 hour ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

IMO....this was still runners interference......right?  There doesn't need to be contact for the call to be made.  Royce was going after the ball and was hindered by the runner.  Should he have run into the runner?  Yes, but I still think interference should have been called.  No?

It’s a judgment call so I guess not. My point is that Royce didn’t know what to do and backed off which is what the ump based his call on. I specifically remember in Legion ball with amateur coaches running drills for all the infielders sending runners at us as we were fielding the ball so we would go to the ball without flinching. They literally told us to get bumped if we could. There are so many examples of basic plays they do not execute. How can you get to the bigs and not know this stuff?