SEA 4, MIN 3: Zuni-Not Again

Twins offense explodes for 3 runs! Criminal effort in the 6th by Odorizzi giving the lead right back. Hard to fault the bullpen, this one's on the offense, again. Buxton gets hurt because he's trying too hard to make impossible plays in order to justify his place in the lineup.

This team is a mess.

This offense just isn’t very good. We are sending out AAA level players each night in the order from spots 6-9 who are non-factors offensively and are relying on the likes of Rosario, Kepler and Escobar to carry us. They’re nice pieces but not nearly consistent enough to be the focal points of a lineup for a team that was hoping to contend for a playoff spot. It’s a miracle that we can put together 5 runs in any game considering we essentially are giving away 12-15 outs a night.

Time to get Sano out of the top of the order.  He's not the threat he once was.  The only hitters we have are Kepler, Escobar, Rosario.  Garver now and then and Dozier now and then.  You've got to keep those guys all together.  Everyone else seems to have no clue or consistency other then bad!  Plus, we seem to be doing little as far as small ball to help steal some runs on the few hits we get.  Waiting for the long ball is getting old. By the way, Pitching has been solid.

 

Did you watch Sano’s at bats last night?

Two walks. The second walk was at least 9 pitches and became the game tying run in the 8th.

A drive to the left center gap and a diving catch by Gamel.

A fly ball to the wall that advanced a runner from second to third.

Four very good at bats out of four.

Yes, offense is the current problem for this team.  But Rosario and Kepler are proving they can and will be the cornerstone of this team for a long time.  Getting Mauer back will help as will Polanco, assuming he isn't totally outta whack after not playing for the first half of the season.  At least he will be fresh for the drive to the playoffs in August and September.

Sano isn't the hitter everyone expected he would be.  Won't get into a discussion of why.  Can he be someday?  Maybe.  Right now there are enough questions about him that they can't get what one would hope for in a trade.  

What did the Twins ever do to Mike Zunino?

They took Buxton instead of him in the draft. Payback.!!

Sano is one of the few legit threats we have at the plate, so he needs to stay put IMO...

 

Escobar hasn't been hitting either. Last 14 days he's batting .225 0 HR 2 RBI .512 OPS. His stats are worse over the last 7 days.

 

I agree waiting for someone to heat up and jack HRs is getting old. I'd love to see more hit and runs and small ball stuff to make something happen.

That’s called regression to the norm. Anyone who thinks he is going to be a 120 OPS + hitter is deluding themselves.