Twins 9, White Sox 7: Vargas Hits One To Venus

Thanks again for the writeup.  Damn work schedule anyhow.....

"That'll help"   LOL!

Strib did an article on Vargas working on his right-handed swing.  With the majority of MLB pitchers being righties,

[137 left-handed pitchers and 354 right-handed pitchers currently on MLB rosters or approximately 39% lefties.]

...it's no shocker that a switch-hitter would have problems with the lack of reps.

Nice call by Vargas.  Nice Swing!

Good to see Vargas have success from the starboard side. Switch hitters with power are an extremely rare commodity.

AL Central Standings
Cleveland 37-32
Twins 35-33 (-1.5)
Kansas City 34-36 (-3.5)
Detroit 32-37 (-5)
Chicago 31-38 (-6)

 

Here comes KC!!!

KC's record when not facing the Twins 33-29

Bullpen doesn't blow game. How refreshing.

Molitor should be fired for using Belisle in that situation.

I respect that quote since it was made despite the success of the move.   I also  respect any comment saying  "Even though it didn't work out, Molitor made the right move".    Ok, that has never happened  (I mean the part about anyone saying that, not that Molitor has never made any good moves.)

However, nice job bullpen.     1 run given up on a 98 mph heater on the corner to Abeu over 4 innings in a 9-7 win.    Yes, Sano doing well is extremely important to our offense but the pythagorean  formula says we should be 30-38.    My view is that the bullpen has been absolutely horrible in games where we have been behind when they enter the game and likely to lose anyway and have been quite good at keeping leads.   It explains a winning record despite a 42 run deficit.   Molitor might deserve a little credit for that.

Bullpen doesn't blow game. How refreshing.

And Molitor didn't have to use Duffey. I wonder how much of that is Molitor fearing he's already overusing him and how much is that he hasn't done well his last couple times out.

I respect that quote since it was made despite the success of the move. I also respect any comment saying "Even though it didn't work out, Molitor made the right move". Ok, that has never happened (I mean the part about anyone saying that, not that Molitor has never made any good moves.)

 

However, nice job bullpen. 1 run given up on a 98 mph heater on the corner to Abeu over 4 innings in a 9-7 win. Yes, Sano doing well is extremely important to our offense but the pythagorean formula says we should be 30-38. My view is that the bullpen has been absolutely horrible in games where we have been behind when they enter the game and likely to lose anyway and have been quite good at keeping leads. It explains a winning record despite a 42 run deficit. Molitor might deserve a little credit for that.

What it suggests though is that your "good" bullpen guys are good but your "bad" ones are horrid. Problematically, you can't rely on 3 relievers to pitch in all the winnable games because you will burn them out.

Wow is all I can say, Vargas' homer was mammoth!

What it suggests though is that your "good" bullpen guys are good but your "bad" ones are horrid. Problematically, you can't rely on 3 relievers to pitch in all the winnable games because you will burn them out.

I agree completely but I ask if Molitor deserves any credit for managing wins with just 3 good relievers.   Also, the quote above about how refreshing it is for the bullpen to not blow a game is a common viewpoint but is misleading to me.   Aside from the two games in a row against the Astros, the Twins pen really hasn't blown games.    Putting in horrid ones has simply decreased already low odds of coming back in games .   If we are down 6-1 in the 6th, how much does it matter that we lose 15-3?  Yes, it would be absolutely awesome for a couple more guys to step up for the reasons you listed and also to allow for us to come back in games every once in a while.  No argument there whatsoever.

There is probably something to this.  Twins pen ranks 7th in MLB in save/hold percentage, and not for lack of chances -- we also rank 7th in total saves + holds.  A league-average save/hold percentage across our opportunities would have yielded an additional 3-4 blown saves thus far.

Thanks for that research.    The one play I wish the Twins had back this entire season was 5-3 lead against the Astros with one out and no one on in the bottom of the 9th and Buxton played conservative on a line drive that fell in front of him but looked catchable.    He catches that and the Twins probably win, don't go extra innings and probably hold the large lead the next day with a rested bullpen and thus would still be in 1st place.     Not really mad at Buxton since outfield defense has been a huge asset and difference maker this season but to point out one play could have made your stats look even better and to illustrate how fragile the balancing act is without depth in the bullpen.

"Byron Buxton was 2-for-3 with a walk and another four-star catch".    Went looking for the replay on MLB but could not find it.   What happened?