Week in Review: Languishing Lineup

1. A new hitting coach now

2. Rationalizing Rocco need to be put on notice (see last post game news conference.....we play early...when it's cold....and can't get in a baseball routine.....and...and...and. Great leaders are at their best during adversity...not when everything is comfy and perfect. 

3. Stashak MRI and gone

4. Start cycling through all AAA RP and figure out who if any are 'hot' this year (law of averages says we have one or two 'surprises' for this year.

5. Figure out something consistent for Dobnak before you ruin him.

6. Ride or die with Kirilloff.... Rosario is gone...see the plan through and how much more can you really die than the OPS+ of 7 from LF.... (Holy @#$%!)

7. Catcher and 1B most concerning.....If Sano/Garver/Jeffers don't snap back....we don't have may answers....

Without saying I told you so(i already have). Did any of us really believe that dumping Rosario, Gonzalez, and Adrianza was a smart move? They could have added Simmons and let someone like Cave ride off into the sunset. For all of you that cried about Gonzalez and Rosario shame on you. This team is crap defensively. Unfortunately every ball won't get hit to Buxton or Donaldson. I never thought Simmons was that great despite what the analytics spreadsheets say. He showed up late 3 weeks and then gave everyone Co-vid 19. he has never been on a playoff team in his MLB life, and i dont think he has ever hit .250. Now without Gonzalez, there is no back up first baseman, no decent third baseman if JD needs a day, and there is a massive hole in left field both at the plate and with the glove. Shame on all you who wanted to let Rosario go! The problem is not with the rotation, bullpen, or the manager (he is a figurehead anyway). The problem is with the defense, and the depth. Falvine took a gamble with our team and Crapped Out. Way to go Derek and Thad. Its the little things that matter and they need to tear themselves away from the computers and really watch a baseball game. They should keep their Clown faces off the television win or lose. Jim Pohlad said they had no budget, so now its on the superstar front office to take this in their pale butts.

that was a great article...you get an A for sugar coating

Shame on me? Rosario is hitting .620 OPS. If we're comparing apples to apples having him in LF wouldn't be doing us any good. Kiriloff hit the ball on the nose twice today. It's baseball. They got caught. He's 23. He's our man going forward. Shame on no one! It's a gambler's game, always have to try to stay ahead of the curve and the competition.

Kiriloff had another one driven to the wall in center the day before. I have faith he’ll start getting them to drop in.

Someone remind me........... Is this team playing for a playoff spot or the #1 Draft pick?

It's almost like the guy who kept this type of thing from happening for the last half decade will be in the other dugout tomorrow night.

How is this catcher group even at an OPS+ of 65? I would have guessed more along the lines of the 7 we have seen so far from LF. At catcher, I think they need to choose one of the two and let him play most of the games and drop the platoon. Or, look for a free agent catcher they can sign. For LF, bring in Broxton as he showed some life in spring training and maybe he could finally tap that elusive potential.

"Willians Astudillo has been an uninspiring replacement."  Nick Nelson

Huh? .289 average, 2 strikeouts?

Garver and Sano added together have only .271 average and 44 strikeouts so the Turtle is better than both players combined.

And then we have Cave at .155 average and 25 strikeouts.

Time to back off criticizing El Tortuga and be thankful he's in the lineup.

Respect the Turtle!

It's cold and rainy in Minnesota right now, but in a month the Earth will turn a bit and sunshine will bring 70 degrees and more. The Twins should be able to rebound as well. While one or two players may not ever return to near  their 2019 seasons, it is hard to believe that all of the Twins core will continue to fail. Alex Kirilloff has a sweet swing and should be able to have a decent season despite his abysmal start.  Trevor Larnach is also an option should Kepler or Sano not rebound from their April blues. 

I'm thinking that we can maintain some patience as April closes and May unfolds. The talent to win 90 games is there and summer will be a better barometer of this team.

It is going to be difficult to make changes now because the minor leagues have not started yet and thus those players are all a few weeks behind  in their development.  However, at some point (drop 10-12 games below .500) critical evaluations could effect some roster moves beyond the current shuttling moves. Six or eight games below even is not a time to panic. 

Austudillo uninspiring??? Who are you watching? He's among our top hitters which isn't saying much. The scary thing is not only how poorly this team is playing but the fact that only 10% of teams in history that have started this bad after 20 games have bounced back to make the playoffs. You might say that they are in a weak division with only the White sox to beat, however it doesn't look like a wild card team will come from the central at this point. I only wish they still had Rosario though May would also have helped. Let's see what comes this week but we have to win 4 at least and what are the odds of that happening?

Wow, the knives are out. I know it’s frustrating that the lineup is underperforming, but having Rosario, Gonzalez and Adrianza here wasn’t going to solve this problem. You going to sit Polanco and Arraez for Gonzo and Adrianza? That wasn’t happening. I do believe that it’s time to ride Kiriloff in LF and see what he can do. The biggest player I think we are missing is Trevor May. He was a big cog in that bullpen who was not replaced. I didn’t like the Colome signing and so far he has done nothing for me to allay my fears about that. I have to believe that the lineup will turn around, however, the bullpen seems worrying to me. We finally are getting glimpses of the stars that Berrios and Buxton can become, hopefully we can get this back on track

I like your takes and will add this...

This 6 game stretch needs to see a 4-2 record...that would be a HUGE mental pick me up for this team.  They can't afford a 2-4 stretch.

Respect the Turtle by rendering his nickname correctly in Spanish: La Tortuga.
 

Whoops. My bad! I usually get it right.

"Willians Astudillo has been an uninspiring replacement."  Nick Nelson

 

Huh? .289 average, 2 strikeouts?

 

Garver and Sano added together have only .271 average and 44 strikeouts so the Turtle is better than both players combined.

 

And then we have Cave at .155 average and 25 strikeouts.

 

Time to back off criticizing El Tortuga and be thankful he's in the lineup.

 

Respect the Turtle!

The fact that Astudillo never strikes out does not make him a good hitter. He is hitting an empty .289, since he never takes walks and rarely hits for extra bases (he has a whopping three extra-base hits in 46 PAs on the season). His infield fly ball rate this season is 23% for crying out loud! I also think he is a fun player to watch and maybe he is good in the clubhouse, but let's not pretend like he fits into this team's long-term plans as anything more than a utility player off the bench.

I started tuning this team out over a week ago after the pathetic showing in Anaheim. Looks like that was for the best. I think it's going to be checking this site once a week for the next couple months and a glance at the final scores when the notification pops up on my phone.... Better things to do with a world that's reopening.

The fact that Astudillo never strikes out does not make him a good hitter. He is hitting an empty .289, since he never takes walks and rarely hits for extra bases (he has a whopping three extra-base hits in 46 PAs on the season). His infield fly ball rate this season is 23% for crying out loud! I also think he is a fun player to watch and maybe he is good in the clubhouse, but let's not pretend like he fits into this team's long-term plans as anything more than a utility player off the bench.

It's hard to talk long-term when the Twins are busy choking in the short term. If you want to advance the runners, if we're lucky enough to have any runners, you can't do it by striking out.

Twins just recalled Simmons and sent Gordon back down to the taxi squad. Didn't even get an AB or an inning in the field. Pretty pathetic.

Twins just recalled Simmons and sent Gordon back down to the taxi squad. Didn't even get an AB or an inning in the field. Pretty pathetic.

So our favorite Nick Gordon moment can only be that time the camera panned to him in the dugout.

It just doesn't feel like Rocco is managing each game to win each game. Duffy and Rogers had the only hot hand we've seen in Happ's 2-0 win and we get Stashak, Theilbar and Alcala yesterday. Examples of this so far this season are endless. We are running a marathon while everyone else is sprinting. I guess we'll be the most rested & healthiest team in baseball by September. Will it matter?