Twins 5, Royals 1: Late Home Runs Back Taj Bradley’s Strong Outing

The Twins offense is a ninth inning monster. The rest of the time?  Not so much.

Really need to stop with the baserunning blunders. Caratini trying to get to 3rd was laughable - only Buck would have had a chance there and even he may have been thrown out. And Clemens caught a huge break when Perez threw the ball into CF. A decent throw and he was out on the bases too. 

Having said that, Bradley's stuff is so good. Loved it when Witt could only watch a 100mph heater down the middle for strike 3. Only 3 K's but not much hard contact off him. He's too prone to a 25-30 pitch inning but his upside far outweighs that. Better command and he can become an ace. 

Love the ABS challenge system. Think it's been long overdue.

One of the best swings I've seen from Wallner going oppo for a HR.

2-4 sounds a lot better than 1-5, especially from a tough road trip. Certainly stuff to work on but also positives from the first week of the season,

Kody Clemens is somewhat representative of our Minnesota Twins. He plays hard, has some skills, and is likely grateful to be on an MLB team. Today, alone, Clemens was quite a show. In the 2nd inning Clemens singled but smartly moved up to second base when Caratini (thinking he was invisible) tried to go to third base. Then Kody seemed to lose track of the number of outs and was going to be picked off second except for an errant throw that caromed away into the shallow outfield, allowing Clemens to scamper home with the first run of the game. Clemens dropped a foul ball pop up where he called off the catcher, Caratini, in the 3rd inning. In the 4th inning Clemens couldn't scoop a poor throw. In the 5th inning Clemens smashed his face in a caught stealing. It was a crazy reckless headfirst slide. In the 6th inning Clemens could not scoop a poor throw by Royce Lewis and nearly sacrificed his body and life by falling directly into the path of a hard running Salvador Perez who neatly and politely stepped over Kody. In the 9th inning Clemens hit a sweet home run and then could not bail out another crappy play by Lewis. All in all Clemens was a huge part of the game. I hope I remembered it fairly well.

I really appreciate how hard Clemens plays but am sometimes a little befuddled by his actions too.  I believe it is possible to recognize the positive contributions of players while also being aware of their limitations. Until such time as the Twins field  players who possess above average skills in the field, on the bases, and at the plate I'm going to admire the small things and begrudgingly accept the lesser displays of talent. Clemens was a show today.

Josh Bell is having a really nice start.  2 home runs back to back game -1 Left handed, the other right handed,  both hit a mile.   .222/.400/.667  7 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 1 HBP - (8 SO).   He is putting up some counting stats,  doing some damage and overall being a very productive DH/1st base.   Get that batting average up a bit - and he will look like a steal.  Ultimately if he can provide an OBP over .350 with increased home run potential - we will be very very happy.  

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Kody Clemens is somewhat representative of our Minnesota Twins. He plays hard, has some skills, and is likely grateful to be on an MLB team. Today, alone, Clemens was quite a show. In the 2nd inning Clemens singled but smartly moved up to second base when Caratini (thinking he was invisible) tried to go to third base. Then Kody seemed to lose track of the number of outs and was going to be picked off second except for an errant throw that caromed away into the shallow outfield, allowing Clemens to scamper home with the first run of the game. Clemens dropped a foul ball pop up where he called off the catcher, Caratini, in the 3rd inning. In the 4th inning Clemens couldn't scoop a poor throw. In the 5th inning Clemens smashed his face in a caught stealing. It was a crazy reckless headfirst slide. In the 6th inning Clemens could not scoop a poor throw by Royce Lewis and nearly sacrificed his body and life by falling directly into the path of a hard running Salvador Perez who neatly and politely stepped over Kody. In the 9th inning Clemens hit a sweet home run and then could not bail out another crappy play by Lewis. All in all Clemens was a huge part of the game. I hope I remembered it fairly well.

I really appreciate how hard Clemens plays but am sometimes a little befuddled by his actions too.  I believe it is possible to recognize the positive contributions of players while also being aware of their limitations. Until such time as the Twins field  players who possess above average skills in the field, on the bases, and at the plate I'm going to admire the small things and begrudgingly accept the lesser displays of talent. Clemens was a show today.

Those are all plays/scoops that a major league first baseman should make.  The throw from Gray was a high-school level pick.  The throws from Lewis were tougher but still should have been caught.   The Twins seem to think you can put any live body at first base and it won't matter. 

I don't mean to be negative, but, the Twins didn't play a good game today.  Three homers in the 9th is what people will focus on but prior to that, except for Bradley's pitching, they were pathetic.

The Twins scored a run when Cody Clemens looked for all the world that he lost track of the count to Royce Lewis, thought he had struck out and was reaching to remove his batting gloves and walking toward third when Salvador Perez threw the ball to 2B to pick him off.  Cody realized that he had made a mistake and broke toward 3B, the throw was high and glanced off the 2nd baseman's glove and Clemens scored.  Clemens' mistake was trumped by Perez' bad throw or this would have been a totally different game.

Tristan Gray played SS for Lee, who has been poor at fielding and not great at the plate.  Results:  Gray struck out three times and popped out, made one bad throw to 1B  allowing Perez to reach, and in the 7th, made a terrible throw on a Perez ground, which, without a stellar reaction play by Keaschall would have been a game changer.  Clemens by the way dropped a pop-up off Witt's bat with the tying run on base, and muffed the poor throw by Gray, and, as well, bloodied his face in an awkward slide into 2B.

Caratini made a stupid baserunning blunder in the second and was out by a mile at third.  On and on.  They don't look well-coached.  They don't seem to know the most basic things about how to win at this level.  WTF?  

They haven't had a lot of luck to start the year, but they aren't creating and cashing in opportunities either.  Hope something changes or this team will rise to the level of their talent, which in this case means:  no-wheres-ville.

4 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

I don’t understand why a “veteran of 1B” - Bell, does play there 80% of the time. His best has to be at least as good as Clemens & Caratini - right?

I'm sure others or you will think otherwise but the answer is no. First base is an adventure for all three guys.

1 hour ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

Those are all plays/scoops that a major league first baseman should make.  The throw from Gray was a high-school level pick.  The throws from Lewis were tougher but still should have been caught.   The Twins seem to think you can put any live body at first base and it won't matter. 

You may be correct but Bell or Caratini aren't any better. All are bad options. We have to hope they work hard and play hard.

Maybe the infielders could make better throws too .... but they also are all limited. 

My view is the boys are doing their best but have some limitations that show .... quite often.

5 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

I don't mean to be negative, but, the Twins didn't play a good game today.  Three homers in the 9th is what people will focus on but prior to that, except for Bradley's pitching, they were pathetic.

The Twins scored a run when Cody Clemens looked for all the world that he lost track of the count to Royce Lewis, thought he had struck out and was reaching to remove his batting gloves and walking toward third when Salvador Perez threw the ball to 2B to pick him off.  Cody realized that he had made a mistake and broke toward 3B, the throw was high and glanced off the 2nd baseman's glove and Clemens scored.  Clemens' mistake was trumped by Perez' bad throw or this would have been a totally different game.

Tristan Gray played SS for Lee, who has been poor at fielding and not great at the plate.  Results:  Gray struck out three times and popped out, made one bad throw to 1B  allowing Perez to reach, and in the 7th, made a terrible throw on a Perez ground, which, without a stellar reaction play by Keaschall would have been a game changer.  Clemens by the way dropped a pop-up off Witt's bat with the tying run on base, and muffed the poor throw by Gray, and, as well, bloodied his face in an awkward slide into 2B.

Caratini made a stupid baserunning blunder in the second and was out by a mile at third.  On and on.  They don't look well-coached.  They don't seem to know the most basic things about how to win at this level.  WTF?  

They haven't had a lot of luck to start the year, but they aren't creating and cashing in opportunities either.  Hope something changes or this team will rise to the level of their talent, which in this case means:  no-wheres-ville.

Old Hat, I'm not as pessimistic as some but I do agree that shortstop will be a black hole until management sees fit to bring up Kaelen Culpepper or makes a blockbuster trade which, of course, is not likely. I fear that Lee has hit the peak of his career already and is fading fast. He could end up as just a memory soon, like Miranda. And I certainly don't want to see him back at short. Caratini made a laughable base running blunder, but do we know if the new coach urged him on? If so he needs a talking to. Gray is, I feel, simply not ready for primetime. Clemens, on the other hand, has too much value as a gritty player with some power and a good attitude to forsake at this point.     

7 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

Josh Bell is having a really nice start.  2 home runs back to back game -1 Left handed, the other right handed,  both hit a mile.   .222/.400/.667  7 runs, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 1 HBP - (8 SO).   He is putting up some counting stats,  doing some damage and overall being a very productive DH/1st base.   Get that batting average up a bit - and he will look like a steal.  Ultimately if he can provide an OBP over .350 with increased home run potential - we will be very very happy.  

When Bell hits 'em, like Killebrew in the day, they go high and long and are gone without a doubt. We had to urge the homers by Wallner and Clemens out of the park in the ninth last night but on Bell's shot we just sat and appreciated it.  

Huge huge huge bounce back win!!! 2-4 is way better then 1-5 although we should be 5-1! Bradley is real deal and pitched great game and 3 home runs in 9th inning!!! Let’s build off this win and take series against the rays!!! Sooo glad Twins baseball is back!!!

10 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

You may be correct but Bell or Caratini aren't any better. All are bad options. We have to hope they work hard and play hard.

Maybe the infielders could make better throws too .... but they also are all limited. 

My view is the boys are doing their best but have some limitations that show .... quite often.

It's hard when your limits are limitless. 🙃

10 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Took 6 games for me to hear/reas from someone what a piss poor Manager Baldelli was - longer than I thought it would take. Can we move on?

All Tarheeltwinsfan was saying is that he thought Rocco wouldn't have let Bradley pitch the 6th inning and he's probably right. He didn't say Rocco was a bad manager. And 6 games in with a new manager I think comparisons are and should be expected.

10 hours ago, GNess said:

He is an adventure, I like it. At least he's not just playing it save afraid to make a mistake.

I'd change "save" (sic) to "passive", but agree 100% with the sentiment. 

Lot easier to root for a guy going all out, even if it doesn't always work out.  His talent level means he is likely to be a relatively short term Twin, but I'll appreciate all he has done with what he has, as long as he's here.

A "dirtbag" in every (baseball) sense!  Give him anyone's glove, and a random bat and turn him lose!!!

13 hours ago, ashbury said:

The Michael A Taylor trade continues to pay dividends to the Twins!

Wow, good one. I had to look it up. Thank you Steven Cruz.