Week in Review: Yanking the Rug Out

My apologies for probably repeating a couple things I've said today in a couple different OP's, but here goes:

1] For a few seconds, I'm almost willing to accept a Yankees curse over the Twins. (Why us?) But I can't accept the HANGOVER affect they leave on the Twins. Following the 1st series, the Twins just bombed against Cleveland. After this last series, they looked completely inept the first 2 games against Pittsburgh. Enough!

2] Except for a handful of games this year, the pitching is not the problem. Even with Lopez performing a Broadway version of Jeckyl and Hyde...which he kinda did early last year also...he's also flashed, as have Ryan, Ober, and Paddack. SWR is still feeling his way, but has absolutely been a lifesaver. And I agreed with the broadcast comments the other day that it just LOOKS like he's feeling more and more confident. 

3] The OFFENSE has been the biggest issue this season, and they were the part of this team I felt the most confident in coming in. Larnach is looking like he's figured it out, Kirilloff, unfortunately, has not. Miranda looks back! Correa is back. Lewis is...well...back. despite a recent slump, Kepler and Jeffers have been really good for the most part. 

Buxton looks like his old self in the field and on the bases. He whips the bat in a way that seems to indicate the bat speed is still there. But he's been downright immune to contact of any significant degree. Julien and Wallner have disappointed so far, though I still like the ability and potential of both. Can they, and possibly Lee, help Jumpstart the offense. Hopefully. But Buck needs to figure something out in a hurry before he's a defensive specialist hitting at the bottom of the order.

I don't like, but accept Vazquez as a defensive specialist these days. But despite a few hits lately, I'm still not seeing much value in Margot overall for the season. And while I'm a Farmer fan and was happy to see him back, he's just been invisible. Santana has been better than I expected. He's actually contributed. But almost daily use, including against RHP isn't really helping anyone. 

All that being said, there's still too much damn talent on hand for the offense to perform these disappearing acts.

4] Offensively, the Twins are way down on K's, but also down on HR production. Though last I heard, they were near the top in doubles. For the UPTEENTH TIME...for anyone wiling to actually listen...the Twins philosophy is NOT "swing for the fences and if you K it's alright". The ACTUAL philosophy is "work the count, tire the pitcher, find something you like, and HIT THE BALL HARD". HITTING THE BALL HARD can mean anything from a sacrifice fly, to a solid base hit, to a double/triple, to and INCLUDING HR's. Actually working the count means you will also end up with some BB as well. Walks are good. The majority of the time, a K is no worse than a pop-up, grounder, or fly ball out. Once in a while they're preferable to a grounder to eliminate a double play ball. But NOBODY wants to set a K record.

So K's are way down, but so is scoring. Part of that is a weak bench of 3 guys in particular. Part of that is missing Royce for 2 months. Part of that is Julien and Wallner needing a reset, with the caveat of Larnach and Miranda being better to actually assist the offense. But part of the issue is there are times where you just need good contact. And that hasn't always been there, despite the offensive principles put in place that actually make a lot of sense.

Nick, you referenced the replacement of Popkins. But my question is, the seeming lack of solid contact that's needed at times...that SHOULD be there based on the Twins basic hitting philosophy...is that on the roster as constructed? An inability for too many of the current roster to get it done? Or is the issue on the teachings of Popkins? Are the Twins hitters being TOO SELECTIVE/PATIENT at times? Or are they not being instructed to make in bat adjustments correctly? Reference the old "choke up" method of hitting?

I'm not saying the Twins do or don't need to make a change in instructors. The basic offensive principal that the Twins employ has been proven to work and makes sense. But the tremendous cold streaks indicate that SOMETHING is missing either in the framework of said philosophy, or the lack of approach and adjustments within.  I just don't know how much of that is on the players, or the instruction.

There's a lot to like about this team, and what's coming up, and there's a lot of season left. But there's just WAY TOO MANY games virtually GIVEN AWAY to the opposition.

Thanks for another good summary of a bad week.

I keep thinking about the rotation and currently I would see the 1 - 5 positions as

1. Ryan
2. SWR
3. Lopez
4. Ober
5. Paddock

This is not what I expected, but the question comes from the Yankee series - is this a rotation that can win in the post season?  I don't think so.

Buxton is an enigma.  His current OPS+ is 82.   For the last three years his BA and OBP are consistent but not good.  His SLG has diminished three years it a row.  He is not a star and maybe he never was - 2021 was not an indicator of greatness - it was an outlier.  The expectations are from us fans and we have to adjust and he needs to slip down the lineup.

I like Castro and the way he plays the game - I also think we are overusing Jeffers - give him a higher pct of games at C and let Miranda DH.  Is Santana heating up for the rest of the season or is this just a short burst?  Jeffers has reverted to the player we all wanted to trade for the last two years - he fooled us with a second half burst last year.  Will he do it again?

Kiriloff, Julien and Wallner are my biggest disappointments.

Then there is the question of Duran - can he get back his dominance?

Fascinating player poll on the Athletic today - who is most overrated - Jazz Chisholm, but coming in third is Carlos Correa - Carlos Correa (6.7 percent), Tim Anderson and Jack Flaherty (5 percent) were next, while Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, Elly De La Cruz, Manny Machado and Blake Snell (3.3 percent) rounded out our leaderboard.

On our team I say Byron Buxton, then Pablo Lopez, Duran, and Ober. - Not sure where to put Correa - he is doing what is needed, but is not the star of a Turner, Betts, or some other SS.

In another poll they asked which teams they would sign with if no taxes, contracts and rosters were considered - guess which team came in last among those on the list at 2.3%?

"Their ace Pablo López ......"

Seriously? It is really comical to call him an ace. His career ERA is even above 4 again. He never was an ace. It is unfortunately apparent that his one very good 2/3 of a season last year might be an outlier. I just hope he can be a consistent #3. That would be valuable. 

16 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

That's a pretty significant misrepresentation of where the Twins ranked in the question about where players would sign. They came in tied for 14th at that 2.3%. Actually a pretty impressive placement considering we're in fly over country. And they didn't receive a single vote for teams with a bad reputation among players.

2.3% is good - we certainly see percentages differently. 

On 6/10/2024 at 10:17 AM, chpettit19 said:

You claimed the Twins came in last in that poll. That is factually incorrect. They came in 14th out of 30. There were 16 teams that got fewer votes. 9 teams didn't get a single vote. You are significantly misrepresenting where they came in on that poll by claiming they came in last. They didn't. They were in the top half of the league.

Well I am sorry you are so offended.  Of all the teams listed they were last.  But it amounts to the same thing - are you happy to be 14th?