Twins 8, Blue Jays 2: G4 Ignites a Twins Onslaught

Say what you will,  but we have gotten wins,  and we are keeping the bullpen out of the danger zone of being overworked on a very long stretch of consecutive games.  Orze and Acton have 3+ days of rest.  My guess is those 2 will take a significant load tomorrow.  

Morris looked pretty good.  Most of the hits against him were three hoppers or bloops that found space.  I wonder if they will send him back down since he threw 67 pitches and they could use another bullpen arm or if they will keep him up long term?

19 minutes ago, Werbellik said:

Why is Outman still here?

He can play CF and nobody else on this roster really can (Martin can pretend in a pinch)

That said---yeah....I think he's the most vulnerable hitter on the 40-man. There's an argument that Roden deserves a chance soon, if not now. 

I can't see anyone claiming Outman if we sent him down at this point. And I'm not sure I'd care if they did. 

I don't think baseball has settled on the actual value of a manager.

But I like Derek Shelton. 

Roden is 26, there's no reason he should be in AAA because of Outman. 

Outman's PAs aren't even competitive. It's like he's a lefty specialist reliever who hasn't hit since high school. His defense isn't even that great. Move on.

Rough start for Taj and he still held them to just 1 run. Very nice to see. 

Lees bat is working for now, but that defense is not great. Needs to make more plays. 

Gray second on the team for RBIs. I was surprised when he made the team out of spring training over Kriedler, seems im finding out why. 

Another tough pitcher tomorrow. Let's get after Crochett and keep Ws coming! Go Twins!

43 minutes ago, Werbellik said:

True. But if Brookes Lee was even a semi-competent shortstop Morris would have thrown roughly forty pitches. Lee is NOT a shortstop.

I didn’t see the game. Fill me in on the play you are referring to. 

Looks like Taj had some control issues like “old” Taj. So helpful to be able to strike guys out to get out of it. 

I was really pulling for Outman to get a hit today, but it didn't happen. Tough way to start a season. But to his credit, he made a fantastic catch on a ball down the line in the final Detroit game. 

36 minutes ago, Werbellik said:

Yes. And Erod and Jenkins and Gonzalez and so on. 

Roden isn't exactly tearing it up at AAA.  Even with that, I still would prefer Roden over Outman.  I lobbied for this during spring training.  As for the ERod, Jenkins, and Gonzalez, I just don't see them being brought up right away unless there is a serious injury that would allow any of them to get everyday playing time.  It would be a waste to bring them up and leave them on the bench.  I do think Roden could handle that type of assignment.  Another CF option would be Kreidler.  He has played in CF this season in St. Paul.

Just now, Werbellik said:

There were 2 plays. The first one was a right handed batter hitting a 4 bouncer about 30 ft to the left of second base and Lee didnt get within 20 ft of it. The second was a blooper behind second base that he took a step in before retreating that he totally misread and should have caught. Very shallow.

Thanks. These are the types of plays that don’t make the box’s ore but can really affect a game. 

43 minutes ago, GopherMike said:

I don't think baseball has settled on the actual value of a manager.

But I like Derek Shelton. 

Yeah so far I think Shelty has done a good job. Nothing really stands out but I like that he is giving the starting pitchers some length, but that just might be to protect a suspect bullpen.

The last 2 years we started 6-10 and 5-11 after 16 games so this year feels a whole lot better. And I like that we have been scoring early in games and pounding some left-handed starters.

Taking a series in Toronto feels especially good as usually we have a hard time with them. Go Twins.

4 minutes ago, CharlieDee said:

I was really pulling for Outman to get a hit today, but it didn't happen. Tough way to start a season. But to his credit, he made a fantastic catch on a ball down the line in the final Detroit game. 

True, that was a very fine catch in the LF corner.

I'm not sure that positive outcomes with a ~2.0 WIP is sustainable for Taj and Morris but I'll certainly take the outcome for this game!

1 hour ago, Werbellik said:

Why is Outman still here?

Why was he ever here?.... one of life's big existential questions...

A very nice win. Last year, this was the kind of game where Bradley gives up 6 or 7 and can't get out of the 4th, but despite really struggling with his command on the off-speed pitches, he was able to battle his way through it and not give up the killer hit (usually a homer).

Morris did fine. a little too hittable, but he did the job, which was to chew up innings. I hope they don't punt him back down to AAA, because I think he could do this role and the team could use that on the roster. Because of Ryan's long start and Morris' solid work, pretty much everyone is rested and they should be able to get through the next few games without Morris, so why not keep him around?

Good job by the offense stringing together hits despite a getaway day lineup that was missing Buxton. They weren't piling up the walks like they have been, but the two HBP helped: get on base however you can, boys.

Nice series win.

I was one of the few optimistic fan around, & their performance has impressed me. Bradley has been phenomenal, Ryan has been Ryan. Abel is promising. Nice steady performances from Gray, Bell, Jeffers, Caratini, and Martin. Larkin has been good, Lee is showing good life now. Buxton, Lewis & Wallner have had some good games but are still due for a tear. If SWR was managed right, we'd have a 7-game winning streak, which could be extended to 10 now, coming to face a slumping BOS.

Concerns: A young rotation & a shaky BP which needs some high-leverage RPs.  They've been doing OK if you keep the pressure down. Again, they should bring up Prielip & see what he can do, along with having some long relief. Morris is a good start. Also, we need to improve our INF defense.