Twins 10, Rays 4: Tristan Gray Grand Slam Powers Home Opener Victory

Even though the performance of the Twins' bullpen hasn't been stellar so far, they've still been better than I expected - and are trending in a positive direction.  May the force of the Easter Bunny be with Latroy Hawkins in his quest to accomplish the impossible - a solid Twins' bullpen.

Gray did what you want your bench players to do, he helped to contribute to a win with a nice hit.  But he is still what he is, a journeyman utility infielder.  You need your bench guys to contribute when they come in but that doesn't mean that success will translate when put in an every day role.  They need to give Lee a shot longer than 7 games or else he shouldn't have started the season as the starting SS.  If they move on, it needs to be to Culpepper, not a journeyman.  Clemens is a great example of some success doesn't translate to an every day role even though they are trying hard to make him into a regular.

Wallner needs to play, if by the end of May he doesn't start to produce then it may be time to move on.  Sending him down at this point, means he has no future with the team and it is way too early to consider.  They did this in 24 with him after only 25 ab's, every player can have struggles over a 25 ab stretch, you need to have some patience.

13 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Another ugly game among many.  Shocking how awful the Rays look and have played this early part of the season -- leading the league in errors, and in bullpen ERA.  Junior Caminero with 7 errors already?   

Kevin Cash, longest tenured manager in MLB, must be feeling insecure.

Sorry, but Ober's velocity does matter.  The Rays had four hard-hit doubles in four innings.  Ober threw 80 pitches before being pulled.  We can hope that a 6' 9" right-handed Jamie Moyer will be able to hold a spot in the rotation, but, reality is, with fast ball velocity dropping below 90, below 89, it's just not going to play against good teams.  I have loved watching him pitch, but now, it's cringe-worthy.

Wallner?  Five K's, some in big situations, and the Twins still score 10?  What an ugly game, only slightly more palatable than the 12-9 disaster in KC amidst a typhoon.

Will see what happens, but Keaschall is the Twins best player, and the next best 3 or 4 are currently playing in St. Paul. Hope Buck is okay but he has been striking out all spring, in WBC and now in the regular season.  Not a good look, and not looking good for the Twins -- terrible baserunning, indifferent defense, spotty hitting with RISP -- the best part of their team, hilariously enough, has been their bullpen!

Yes. Hopefully Culpepper and Rodriguez get the call soon. Jenkins will probably be in the fall but they need the reinforcements 

11 hours ago, ashbury said:

Brooks Lee was said to be out of the lineup due to illness today.  Wonder if he just got Wally Pipped? 

(Pipp's the guy reputed to have said "I took the two most expensive aspirins in history," after leaving the door open for Gehrig due to a headache. If it isn't true, it should be.)

I would play Gray until he has 3 straight games without hits. Either Lee gets better with the bat or the Twins move on.

6 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

How does Lee get better while not playing?

Do you mean , get better like Sano or Cave?

He created his problem.

48 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I agree with all your points - produce or move on.  Why waste time.  Wallner's Ks are killers.  His occasional HR can't offset all those wasted ABs.  He can do better and he should if he wants a career. 

Its the old Fedex ad:  its absolutely, positively has to be....time to move Wallner.  If we look at his start to the year, there is no way that he can continue on this trajectory.  He is striking out at a 45% rate.  Even Sano was 37%.  I know it is a small sampling, but 5 K's in one game?  Come on...how long can the Twins put up with this? 

He is one-dimensional...occasional power.  Everything else is [well] below average: running, hitting, fielding, He has a very strong arm, so you can say he has two tools, but if he can't get to the ball or throws it to the wrong base, what good does it do?  He 

Push him to AAA and see if he can start hitting.  He needs to take a lot more batting practice and I don't think he can accomplish this on the MLB team (without robbing other's of their practice time).  Bringing up Emma might indeed Wally Pipp him.  But that's Wallner's fault, not Emma's.  

Remember, Wally Pipp was not a bad player--just the opposite!  He was considered the best NYY hitter before Babe Ruth joined the team.  He hit over 100 RBI in 3 out of 4 years before he was replaced.  It was never that he was a bad player, he was simply replaced with a far better player.  Twins need to learn from history! 

Wallner will never be an Ortiz.  Time to let go.  

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

How does Lee get better while not playing?

He can get better by practicing while Gray continues to hit. When he stops hitting, run Lee back out there.

17 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Guys that “appear to be two way players” are hopefuls and Larnach, v. RH pitching, is one of Team’s top 3 hitters. He’s essentially a DH 65% of the time and in LF 10% of the time.

Wallner & Outman are the OF’s currently taking up space that might be utilized by up & coming guys.

Wishing a guy produces so that the Team can then trade him seems a bit illogical - since he is a very affordable $4.5M/yr …….. if guys behind him earn a spot later this year or into next year - great. As of now, there’s nobody I’d rather see face a RH pitcher after 7 games.

Bell is gone after this year. Larnach, if productive in ‘26 …….. on ‘23 - ‘24 levels (as a platoon v. RH pitching) he may get signed again for $5-6M for ‘27……..as primary DH.

What would be expected in trade?

Depends on whether he increases his value.  Probably an ok relief pitcher but not much.  The Twins are going nowhere and need to increase their athleticism/fielding.  Let's see what the youngsters can do.  Outman is definitely in the way.  Wallner...who knows?