Twins 6, Red Sox 0: Mick Abel Shines, Byron Buxton Mashes for Another Twins Victory

5 hours ago, UK Twin said:

What is going on? I thought the Twins were going to be in a basement battle with the White Sox this year? 

Fantastic from Abel, love what him and Bradley have brought to the rotation. And great to see Buck's bat heating up. 

Just going to enjoy the moment and take it one game at a time. Clearly, we're not going to keep winning at the rate we've done over the last 10 days but we're playing really good baseball so every reason to be optimistic.

I wanted to be positive about last years sell off but trading away Duran and Varland just made me mad.  I am coming around as winning cures everything.  We obviously wont keep winning 8 of 9 but they could win .583 consistently if the pitching and hitting is even just above league average. 

10 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I 'm sorry to say this, but Matt Wallner leads the major leagues with 31 strikeouts in only 65 at bats. That means there has been a 48% chance Matt will strike out during his at bats. He only has 5 walks and is hitting at a .200 average. The next highest in strikeouts is Nick Kurtz, with 27 strikeouts and also batting .200, but with 16 walks. Wallner's 3 solo home runs and 6 RBI's do not make up for leading the majors in strikeouts. Something needs to change here.

LOL -  okay . . . .   yes something needs to change with Wallner - did you mean to respond to my post  haha.  

46 minutes ago, TJSweens said:

Over the last six games Lee hitting .350 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. That's significant improvement. I say that as one who has been critical of Lee. I'm glad to see it because Lee needs to hit to justify his defense in the lineup.

There's no question he's swinging the bat better. What remains concerning is not swinging; he hasn't drawn a walk during this hot streak and only has 2 for the season. But he is improving offensively. We'll see if it's enough.

I don’t get what Wallner striking out has to do with this thread or game. He struck out once in each of the last two games. Neither impacted the game result. Abel striking out 10 and the bullpen adding a couple more impacted this game.

Back to this game…

I was impressed with Abel’s fielding from the mound. He made some players at first and a tough play on a bunt. Clemens was also very solid at 1B. Add to that he was on base twice and stole a base.

From my couch it sure looks like Caratini manages pitchers and the game well. I also love seeing the energy he has behind the plate.

The Twins have 9 position players that have an above league average wRC and OPS. 

3 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Just to remind you, we gave up a very impactful, in high demand, the most electric closer in MLB (Duran) at the deadline, where teams like PHI are desperate to do something in the postseason. If Falvey landed Painter, then yeah, Falvey'd have done well. But he didn't. Abel was the best they offered. Abel is promising but was inconsistent. Praise to the pitching coaches for Abel becoming more consistent.  Not Falvey

I do think people need to give massive credit to the players. Mick Abel was absolutely dominant last night. He was in command of five pitches and simply didn't give hitters much of a chance to hit the ball. Abel didn't really throw any pitches that either Bradley or Morris  can throw, but the location and consistency was top notch. This is extremely difficult for any pitcher and takes practice, development, and mental awareness. The coaches are next in line, for any credit given, due to their relationships and specific guiding. 

The Twins have a TOR pitcher in Joe Ryan with three guys capable of running through a lineup when they are on their games in Bradley, Abel, and Morris. Obviously, Morris is still learning and refining his pitches and could really benefit from a good changeup. 

The pitchers who figure it out and maintain their excellence throughout the year and over time are not common. The fight to be one of those guys is what we see Bradley and Abel working toward right now. The team that rosters these pitchers benefits. It is exciting to think and wonder if these dudes will emerge from the huge piles of pitchers wanting to complete that journey from prospect to stalwart. The entire fortunes of a team can change when a team finds four guys who can shut down opposing offenses.  It will be interesting to follow the quest.

A couple of notes from the game last night. The Twins continue to avoid mental mistakes and play hard, which I believe was an important goal for this roster.  It was a little funny that Shelton was a bit nervous about not letting Abel go out for the 8th inning. 

No predictions - just enjoy it while it lasts - baseball can be humbling as well as exciting.

12 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

for the last 7 games, Lee is hitting .292 with 4 HR and 8 RBI.  That ain't barely.

yeah but will he sustain it?  Last year he didn't.

2 hours ago, TJSweens said:

Over the last six games Lee hitting .350 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. That's significant improvement. I say that as one who has been critical of Lee. I'm glad to see it because Lee needs to hit to justify his defense in the lineup.

No i get it and point taken.  In the last six games he's been great, but in the aggregate whole he got off to a putrid start.  It's those peaks and valleys that make a season for a player.  If he can reduce the slumps then i'm sold, but last season was not reassuring.

1 minute ago, terrydactyls said:

I don't know if he will sustain this pace.  I really doubt he will.  But, I was commenting on the statement that Lee had "barely" improved lately.

That's part of improving.  You limit your slumps.  I'm looking at all the games so far not just the last six.  It's a long season.

If Taj and Abel are for real... the TWINS competitive timeline will be moved up significantly.

Nothing changes the fortunes of a team more than the emergence of a dominant starter and we could....gulp.. have two this year?!

I remember how fun in was when Erickson and Liriano had their initial run... and what a tremendous impact it had on Twins performance overall. 

Couple good points here. Those two succeeding basically skips a rebuild which I didn’t think was realistically possible. We still need one of the AAA outfielders to come through as well as K Culpepper but they aren’t far off if those two are the real deal. Your choice of Liriano and Erickson is interesting because they were so good but both got hurt and really weren’t the same after so there is that. 

1 hour ago, laloesch said:

No i get it and point taken.  In the last six games he's been great, but in the aggregate whole he got off to a putrid start.  It's those peaks and valleys that make a season for a player.  If he can reduce the slumps then i'm sold, but last season was not reassuring.

To be fair to Lee...so far he's shown continuous improvement on offense each season he's been in MLB. Now, he started low enough that it wasn't exactly a high bar to clear...but you do like to see it. (OPS+ of 64 as a rookie, 80 last season, and 104 so far this year.)

If he can start adding some walks to those hits he's been generating (he does have good contact skills and has shown the ability to turn on a ball), maybe we'll have something. He's a very smart player, but I do wonder if he gets too far inside his own head at the plate at times.

1 minute ago, mickster said:

do I dare say that Larnach is a better option then Wallner right now?

Hmmm, Lurch vs  Cousin It.

5 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

So Abel is in the rotation and doing well, but Falvey deserves no credit for the acquisition? I suppose he doesn't deserve any credit for grabbing Joe Ryan either, because Ryan wasn't a high enough prospect in the Rays system?

This is just weird, blind hatred of Falvey.

You think I have blind hatred for Falvey because I don't blindly believe the hype that floods social media? or make Falvey MLB administrator of the year because another team  offered Able. What talent is it on Falvey's part?  What credit should Falvey get when players fall in his lap? Rest assured, I don't have hatred for any man or woman. I was a big fan of Falvine but years of observing Falvey & with him taking more & more control, the worse Twins became. My speaking out against Falvey isn't based on any hatred for Falvey but out of my love for the Twins.

5 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

On a value chart Painter would have cost Jax and Duran.  There was no way we were getting Painter for Duran.  Painter has more upside even now,  but I really like Abel and I stated it last summer on stats and performance I might actually take Abel over Painter heads up.  Alas thats not the discussion LOL.  

The case with Abel is he has always done better at his next level his second year.  He is still going to have issues with walks and control from time to time.  I think he got strikeouts on 4-5 different pitches.  4 seamer, change, slider, sweeper (aren't these the same Lol)  and curve.   He was throwing any of his pitches for strikes and if you got to 2 strikes last night you were in a difficult spot.  For someone who is 6'5"  throwing up to 97  (96.8 rounded up LOL) -  Plus 4 other legit pitches,  I think we are going to be very very happy.   

For Abel its all going to come down to control.  If the secondaries are not working then the fastball can get teed up. 

For the rest of the game,  some of our players that have struggled to start the season have gotten hot,  Buxton, Lee and Keaschall.   We have several solid hitters this year.   So far we are only sending 1 person to the box on a regular basis with no chance in Outman.   The overall depth of the team looks good.   With 3 strong SP in Ryan, Abel and Bradley, and 2 solid ones in Ober and SWR - it should set this team up to be competitive all year long.   I will still continue to pine for Varland LOL.    

This.  A guy that can throw up to 97 / 98 but has good change, slider, sweeper, curve and USES them often to get guys out AND can throw them for strikes too.  That's money, money, money.  That has long term starter and potential ace written all over it.  I'm honestly thrilled we have Abel and Taj.  Both those guys are gonna be good.