Twins 2, Royals 0: Twins and Pablo Lopez Celebrate the First Win of the Season!

I think that opening day is one of the most important games of the year, since you showcase (usually) most of your star-power early on and determine where you go from there. I think 2022’s opening day game was accurate: a close game, Buxton homers, Duran shines, but in the end the twins collapse under a guy like Gary Sanchez. The Twins looked different today, with a 2-5 of Correa/Buxton/Larnach/Miranda looking like a fearsome group and a quality all-round pitching staff with quality defense. A good leadoff hitter would help (don’t you dare bring up Arraez) and a bullpen arm, but this team looks good in the 1 game I’ve seen.
 

Call it superstition, but ever since Falvey/Levine took over the front office, the season hinges on opening day. If we win, it’s a winning season. If we don’t, it’s a losing season. Call me crazy but it’s happened each year since 2016.

I was sorry to see Arraez go, but once I heard what a good pitcher Lopez was, I understood the trade. Very few position players are worth a good starting pitcher, plus the logjam in the middle infield made sweet Luis expendable. Want a second baseman that can hit? Stick Ed Julien in there, or give Brooks Lee an early cuppa. Maybe neither one has the barrel rate of Arraez, but both have more pop. 

On the other hand, maybe more hits will come in game 2. As mentioned, Greinke is still a clever pitcher. He can make good hitters look foolish.

8 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I'm delighted we won, but I also want to be a curmudgeon. We scored two runs against KC. We've got to do better than that. I was really questioning why Kepler is leading off. Did I miss something this just seems like a bad decision. I was glad to see somebody pinch hit for Gallo and get the automatic out off the field.  To balance things out I was also happy to see Arraez get two hits with his new team. He just looks great. I love to see Vasquez get two hits. Other than that it was a perfect opening and gives me great hope for our pitching staff. 

Yeah, it was very frustrating to see the Twins leave the bases loaded early in the game. Zack Grienke is a great pitcher, but he's probably in his last year and is as hittable as anyone in the game right now. Outside of Buxton and Correa the lineup looks pretty feeble.

Had the Twins lost this game 3-2, the LOB Boogeyman is all we'd be talking about. Thank goodness for Lopez, fingers crossed he stays healthy! 

Reading the game summary from MLB.com it appears the Twins only took the extra base on a base hit once, Larnach scored from second on a single. It appeared to me that the base hits were hard hit, but right at the fielders, which did not allow for the runners to advance. With a little luck some of those will find the gaps or the corners and get the wheels in motion on the base paths.

Pablo pitched great as did bullpen’s-first road win by starting pitcher since Radke in 2003 and first opening day shutout since 1970!!! Great way to start season as it’s going to be good one!!! Great win!!

12 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

So, are these the features of the 2023 model?

• Stronger pitching
• Tighter defense
• Tepid hitting

If so, it's hard to argue with today's results. Still, we have to see how this club performs against contending teams.

 

Oh, and another thing - if there must be an "M" on the cap, please restore the 1987 version.  And find an artist that can draw a star.

Yeah, I'm still getting used to these new caps. I think I'll eventually end up liking them, but for now every time I glimpse one of those hats I think: Marlins. 

1 hour ago, Karbo said:

Good game. Rocco managed well. I think as the season progresses  he would leave Lopez in to finish the 6th, but with an off day Fri, he wanted to get some work in for more.

I think that's right. With no off-day and later in the season he likely leaves Lopez in, but with a planned off-day and a full bullpen why not get some guys some work and make sure you secure the win?

Hopefully the follies with the bases loaded is more of a fluke than a trend. I tend to think that if we load up the bases a lot the runs will come.

A few positives, PLopez pitched great. Larnach got a couple hits and an RBI. Buck didn't get hurt running the bases even though he hopped around 2nd and slide hard into 3rd. I think everyone watching expected him to come up lame. Rocco made 2 good substitutions pinch-hitting for Gordon and Gallo which produced another run. The negatives, Kepler as leadoff hitter. 21 LOB - 3 times with the bases loaded. No attempt to manufacture runs by stealing, sacrifices or hit and run. 2 runs against a weak KC team is hardly much to brag about. Would list using 5 pitchers as a negative also but with an off day tomorrow I can live with it. It will however, be a recipe for an over-worked bullpen if it is "The Plan" for the entire season. Lopez at 85 pitches, (and all of the other starters as well), is enough this early in the season until he/they get stretched out completely. I suspect Mahle and especially Maeda will have a shorter leash. 1 Game, 1 Win. Let's see how they do against teams with better lineups and better pitchers..

8 hours ago, jkcarew said:

Pablo cruised.

A few quick observations:

1. The Twins overall strategy for the year was on display yesterday. Lead with pitching and fielding and score a run or two more than the other guys. I won’t be surprised if we win quite a few games like yesterday’s victory.

2. Lopez looked as advertised. Let’s hope he continues that effort with similar results.

3. The Twins played a clean game in the field.  That is truly something to celebrate.  Re baserunning, Larnach might have been thrown out at the plate and he also almost got doubled up on a foul pop out.

4. The hats are horrible, just horrible.

5. The pitch clock is the best new introduction to the game since the DH.

6. This team is going to need Julien’s bat at the top of the order pretty dang soon - when is the service time date?

7. Can’t wait until Saturday!

Rocco handled the pitching staff perfectly, imo.  If the 5th wouldn't have been so turbulent, Lopez would have finished the 6th. Thielbar was hot, so Rocco gave Lopez the vote of confidence sending him back out for the 6th and then went with the lefty-lefty matchup when it presented.  Bravo!

The defense was flawless. Not much for web gems, but every play was executed. That's great to see on Opening Day. 

13 hours ago, cHawk said:

I was unfortunately unable to catch this game live but I kept track of the score on the MLB app.

For starters, Pablo Lopez looked great. I’m not going make any declarations after one game (trust me, I know better than that) but I think he’ll be a solid component of our rotation this year. My only critique is not directed at Lopez but rather Baldelli. Lopez was dealing and had thrown only 85 pitches. Why yank him in that situation? I love the potential this pitching staff has but it will struggle if the starting pitchers cannot consistently pitch six innings.

On the other hand, the offense scored 2 runs on 9 hits. That is a trend that has been constant throughout the Baldelli-era, and it annoys me to hell and back. If this team is to score more than 3 runs per game in the postseason, they must improve in this regard.

Will this team get better or worse as the season plays out? We all hope the former.

To your point about taking Lopez out early, I'm wondering if the off day today had something to do with it. Seemed like we dipped into the bullpen earlier knowing that the arms we used would have a built in day of rest. As for the rest of it, I'm with ya. Would like to see us try to manufacture more runs this year, play more small ball.

Somebody please send a video of Buxton's slide to Paparesta and maybe a ballet instructor? Maybe that's just what this good ole country Georgian needs, ballet. 

Agree w/Mike......not sure where "bitter trade" comes from......

Yes we won, but I was still annoyed with the move to pull Lopez in the 6th.  He was at 85 pitches and could have finished the 6th.  There was all this talk about maybe letting starters go deeper, and in the game the broadcast team even said it would be dictated by the performances, then we get same old move.  Then the broadcasters say, well the Twins want to get everyone in the games early and with the off day we want to make sure guys do not miss too many days blah blah blah.  Why not just say, that is what Rocco going to do.  I am more complaining about the fact we are told Twins will change up and give starters more depth, only to do exactly back to what we normally do.  

Sure hope we start getting some hits with bases loaded though. 

It's rather odd to me that people are talking about Lopez getting pulled after 5.1 IP and 85 pitches, I feel like I was watching a different game. Lopez started out perfect through the first two innings, then had a walk in the third, a walk and a single to lead off the fourth and then a hard hit double, hit by pitch and a walk in the fifth. Does anyone see the pattern here? As for the pitch count I was going to say that part of the reason he was pulled was because he had pitched in two high leverage innings which there is some belief can create additional stress on a pitcher, however I wasn't able to find anything conclusive on that. I also don't know how the twins do it but I think it makes sense that he got pulled after that workload especially, as mentioned by others, that Thielbar had already warmed up and the royals best projected hitter was coming up. To me it almost seems like some people would rather see a starter go 6+ innings than see a win. 

As for the hitting, well the twins were already in mid season form with 12 LOB and 2 runs scored on 10 hits and 4 walks. We got treated to three twins specials (load em up, leave em on) and it only opening day. Kepler was entirely useless out of the lead off spot, Buxton was the best hitter of the game and we got some key hits by Rocco platooning well.
Bullpen was lights out though so I've got to hand it to them there. Overall, don't think this is a winning formula against any serious team who will surely take advantage of Lopez struggles in the 4th and 5th and not roll out 5 ERA bullpen arms in key spots. But a win is a win so we take those.

Sources for the multi-factor impact on pitcher injury beyond pitch counts: https://www.forbes.com/sites/waynemcdonnell/2014/03/20/advancements-in-analytics-and-medicine-must-provide-fruitful-results-for-a-pitchers-mechanics/

Nice win Twins. Let's take it for what it's worth.  Twins had great pitching, Luke warm hitting, and bullpen was great.  I was so happy Rocco didn't put Pagan in yesterday.  His time will come.  Go Twins

Great pitching game by both the rotation & BP. Lopez didn't disappoint us, dominating the 1st 4 innings. He seemed to tire beginning the 5th & got into trouble which fortunately he got out of. Congratulations to Duran for recording our 1st save & Pa. Lopez our 1st win, let's keep it going.

Does RHP Greinke have reverse splits because our LH hitters couldn't touch him  while our RH hitters got the 6 hits?  

14 hours ago, cHawk said:

I was unfortunately unable to catch this game live but I kept track of the score on the MLB app.

For starters, Pablo Lopez looked great. I’m not going make any declarations after one game (trust me, I know better than that) but I think he’ll be a solid component of our rotation this year. My only critique is not directed at Lopez but rather Baldelli. Lopez was dealing and had thrown only 85 pitches. Why yank him in that situation? I love the potential this pitching staff has but it will struggle if the starting pitchers cannot consistently pitch six innings.

On the other hand, the offense scored 2 runs on 9 hits. That is a trend that has been constant throughout the Baldelli-era, and it annoys me to hell and back. If this team is to score more than 3 runs per game in the postseason, they must improve in this regard.

Will this team get better or worse as the season plays out? We all hope the former.

What lead to pulling him was a couple of factors 1). He hasn't thrown that many pitches in a while (WBC messed with spring training starts) 2). He wasn't locating his fastball very well, He had a couple of walks and a HBP. 6 of the final 12 batters he faced got on base. 3). They didn't want him to face two lefties in a row to finish his outing and they put Thielbar in to face them.

This isn't to say he wasn't dealing, his new sweeping slider looked great and the changeup was awesome as usual. He just didn't have his fastball and was approaching what is probably a soft limit on the number of pitches. I expect when it warms up (was 60 in KC yesterday) he'll regain that command and be a great pitcher for the twins this year.

First - I like the hats, bought myself a visor at Monday's game.

Second - Great Win

Third - I completely understand Lopez's usage, Like they brought him back for the 6th, kind of like spring training get used to going back out for another inning but not stressing the arm. With that said not only do I understand I agree with it, but at the same time I didn't like. Since this is game one and there is a day off, I hoping the reason for using 4 relief pitchers was to get them some action and not a philosophy that will happen all year. My hope is if a starter goes 5 1/3 (and it will happen more than we want or hope for) the first relief pitcher goes 1 2/3, unless of course some guys are needing work. So I will give Rocco the benefit of doubt.

Finally the bottom of this Lineup scares me, there could be a lot of lower scoring games.

1 hour ago, miracleb said:

Agree w/Mike......not sure where "bitter trade" comes from......

The “bitter trade” stems from the fact with a little more info or insight re Maeda and Mahle’s readiness for the season, the need for an additional starter might have been solved earlier via free agency rather than later via a trade (of, arguably, our best hitter, biggest spark plug, and many fans’ favorite player). Lopez looked great yesterday at the top of the rotation, no doubt.  Let’s hope that continues.

For my fellow TDers who will wonder where the $’s might have come from, I offer you two words: Joey Gallo.

3 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

First - I like the hats, bought myself a visor at Monday's game.

Good on you, gotta have the head of hair to pull off a visor. For me it would have to be a Twins yamaka. 

Got anymore of that Twins baseball?