What Can Be Done to Awaken Slumbering Twins Offense?

Perceptions are hard to change.

 

Morrison hasn't been awful recently. He was awful for the first couple weeks of the season.

 

Last 28 days for Morrison: .266/.356/.481. 4 HR, 11 RBI, 12 RS. Slightly higher the last 14 days.

 

By comparison, Mauer the last 28 days: .241/.359/.299. 3 XBH and 4 RBI in a month. woof.

Agreed on Morrison.  He's been much better of late.

I'll add this though.  Comparing the RBI totals for the two is odd.  Mauer has been hitting 1 or 2 in the order with nobody in front of him producing.  Morrison has been hitting behind the heart of the order that has largely been productive this past month.  Easier to drive guys in when they're there to drive in, HR's or not.  You're correct though, he hasn't been very good this past month.  this team could really use a real lead-off hitter.  Dozier and Mauer aren't real lead-off guys to start with, but they need to step up before this offense will really take off.

Realmuto is a great short and long term solution. They won't do it, imo. I have been asking for this for months, but I don't see it happening. As for what happens when Castro gets back? Well, include Garver in the trade, and you don't have to worry about it...

Gordon should have been up when Sano went down. They didn't do it. Can't see it happening now.

Wade should have been up when Buxton went down, they didn't do it. Pretty unlikely it happens now.

I'd guess none of those is happening soon.

That leaves just going with what they have and assuming it gets better, for now.

They aren't young. Mauer, Dozier, Morrison, Castro, Escobar.... And it isn't like Rosario and Buxton are in year two of being MLB players. They aren't even in the top ten in being young. The Yankees and Red Sox are younger, on offense, for example.

They just aren't good enough. That said, trading for an actual hitter would be helpful. What position would you replace? You aren't getting a first baseman or DH. Or a second baseman, or third, or outfielder....

Gordon isn't going to happen. Levine basically said so in an interview, when he was out at Frontier Field. His defense and base-running aren't there yet.

 

They can't be making all decisions based on offensive slash lines.

 

Also, Buxton once again proved that he can change games with his speed. He got in the Cardinals' heads with his speed on his bunt and then swiped third on a wild pitch that didn't really get that far from the catcher. None of that stuff shows up in the slash line.

And all the times he failed to get a hit are cancelled out? The slash line tells a pretty accurate story. Imo.

It does tell a relatively accurate story, but I think it's important to note that Buxton is more efficient with his opportunities on base than other guys--maybe more so than any player on the bases.

 

He's gonna pick up more bases and ultimately score more runs than other guys which means he doesn't need to be on base as much to ultimately produce the same amount of runs as other guys.

 

So the slash line does tell an accurate story, but there's a little more value there to that slash line than meets the eye because of how efficient and productive he is when on base.

I agree, but if you can't get on base, it has less value to be good once you do. There is still a ton of hope, he's not exactly old. But here's just not a good enough hitter so far, alas. Great defender and base runner.... Not even a meh hitter yet.

Hate to beat a dead horse with a broken record, but have to say again I felt this team would hover around .500 to begin the season and then take off. Why? Despite some good veterans, there's still a lot of young players that make up this team, and it's future, and all players get hot and cold spells, but a collection of 24-26yo players are still going through learning curves. And there is the intangible complexity of just adding a number of new players to the roster.

Other than Lynn, we are starting to see this team mesh as of late. But to the key points:

1] Gordon and Wade. Love Gordon's season and potential. I know he's still working on things, but he'd be able to play almost daily...if given the opportunity...and it's sort of a "Why not" considering the Polanco suspension and Adrianza's play thus far. (I wouldn't just dump Adrianza). No to Wade. I like him, but I just don't see him coming up to mostly sit on the bench.

Grossman has been hitting better. Grossman has some decent value. But not brining in someone to challenge/replace him was the one major guffaw by the FO this past off season. It's not too late. At this point, I'd rather have ST sensation and early season performer LaMarre. But go out and find a solid, quality bat/OF to be that 4th guy.

2] Buxton to the minors. Didnt happen, probably not going to happen. Still think the Granite injury complicated this situation. I would have loved even a few games just to get some timing back. But his defense, and even the bunt and his base running the other day shows his value even as he works his way back.

3] Get a catcher. There is a whole different thread on this so I will be brief. You have a young, inexperienced catcher now thrust in the limelight. But he has potential, has picked his bat up with more regular play, has caught several outstanding games, and deserves a chance...for a few weeks at least...before pulling a trigger for something other than depth.

4] Shake up the lineup. Molitor has done that. I like Mauer leading off with Dozier hitting second. Molitor has been experimenting. I like that as well. The biggest problem has been clutch hitting. THAT is not on Molitor. (A poor 7-9 with bench players hasn't helped).

Mostly, this remains about patience. I know this is about offense, but consider all the new pitchers. Consider Santana out, Sano out, Buxton out, Polanco out entirely, bad weather, missed games, lack of consistency, travel schedules, etc, and we're sitting around .500 and playing much better as of late despite that horrendously bad stretch.

Morisson is starting to heat up. Find a legitimate replacement for Grossman offensively and defensively. Give Garver a real chance for the next few weeks. Make room for Gordon and start his clock and play him daily because, why the hell not?

I think there are only two important things to emphasize:

Get Sano back.

Fix Buxton.  I don't know what the issue is but he's had nothing more than a month or two where he's been outrageous and the rest of the time he's so bad at the plate he starts to make me remember Drew Butera.  And I don't like to remember Drew Butera.  We already have Bobby Wilson for that anyway.

The Yankees and Red Sox players that age don't seem to need time to warm up. Why should the Twins get this excuse? They aren't a young team.

Did you know last year at this time they were the second youngest team in all of baseball, based on weighted playing time? I saw it on this very board. I don't agree with you that they have suddenly become old and decrepit.

I didn't say they were old. There is space between old and young. These aren't numbers I made up, all you have to do is read fangraphs or follow one of their former writers on Twitter. Or, run the numbers like I did. They aren't young. They are about median.

The Red Sox have five regulars 26 or younger. Including a 21 year old, for example, but no one thinks of them as young.

I ran the numbers. I read others that did the same. It's a fact, not an opinion.

The other teams are not stagnant. Many of them called up young players since the start of last year. The Twins have not added any young position players in the last two years. That's not a criticism, it just is.

Why wouldn't anyone think of the Red Sox as young? I sure do. Like you said, they have five regulars 26 or younger.

 

When Polanco and Sano return, the Twins will have the same number of guys 26 or younger in the lineup.

That's my point.... The Twins seem young, until you start looking at other teams. They are just like most other teams. Unless people are arguing most teams are young, but then I don't know what young means, as I consider it a comparative term

They were already young enough, why would they want to get younger? The object is to win games right? Do you have any idea, how many teams are in some form of rebuild? If you want to do the rebuid thing some more, feel free. I'm getting ready for the play-offs the next bunch of years.

I didn't say they should do anything. I merely pointed out they aren't young compared to other teams. Nothing more or less. Well, I did say their she and experience shouldn't be an excuse anymore also.

They have a good mix of ages, probably.

My post was, quite literally, pointing out there aren't young. Nothing more or less.

I would continue to let Buxton play.  His bat will come around and his defense is too important to waste in AAA.  I would love to see us bring up Flash Gordon.  That might provide a real spark.

 

Regarding Sano, I hope I'm wrong but I don't think Sano has the durability to be a huge factor on this team this year.  We can pray for a Sano storm but I think the production will be choppy and inconsistent.  A ton of strikeouts then some massive homers, slump, homer, strikeout...

He's about a million times the hitter Buxton is. Sano is the new Mauer.