White Sox 4, Twins 3: Twins Cease and Desisted Against White Sox

Need  to win these games especially against division-our lineup was AA also 4 hits isn’t going to get it done. Very disappointing and frustrating loss. Yes it was 4-3 but with3 errors. Looking for twins to break out tonight/tomorrow and take series. 

10 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

Not to mention his incessant pulling of the starting pitcher. 

Oh wait, they're leading the league in innings per start right now.

Double post (intentional)

8 hours ago, stringer bell said:

All true, but I'll take 1-0 over 0-1.

Of course, but people act like if they started Buxton in center field they would've won the game. It's all just second guessing. Indiana's very good point stands and I like our chances the next two games. This first game was the one anyone looking at this series preview was the one we would be most likely to lose. 

Those hoping for the best lineup the Twins can muster are going to have to be patient for about two weeks judging by Polanco's progress. You'd think Gallo would be back. I'm not sure if Kepler is a better option than Walner at this point. Maybe some others heat up.

My guess is the Twins best possible 2023 lineup will not come to pass until well into summer with guys like Lewis, AK and maybe Julien and Martin providing the boost. Looking at the bright side this could be a Twins team that peaks at the end of the year instead of the all too familiar opposite. 

13 hours ago, jkcarew said:

We'll also see if this maintenance program (on top of the diminished DH role/demands) results in him playing significantly more than 50% of the season.

Unfortunately it seems to be at the cost of playing less than 50% of the game (no defense) when he does play.

Totally agree with there is no "A" lineup or "B" lineup etc. This is the team Falvine put together. Now the calls for Rocco not putting his best team out there are already screaming. Like it or not it's what you are going to get with the current regime in play. Think Correa, Gallo and Kepler would have made a difference in this game, yeah if they would have played it might have been 4-0 or 4-1 instead of 4-3. Look at how those three have been doing this year so far. Outside of Gallo's HR's it been pretty pathetic. No one expected Taylor or Castro to be difference makers or Larnach to even make the team. Wallner isn't suppose to be here. Yet he's had 6 plate appearances and scored 1 run, Kepler has had 17 and scored 1 run. Correa has had 36 and scored 2 runs. Let's call for Wallners head and give the three $53M men a pass. Buxton needs to play. If he can't play then put him on the IL. Pinch hitting is not playing. 2 occasions the Twins have faced the opposing teams Ace and both times Rocco pulls his best player out of the lineup. That is just poor management no matter how you slice it.

The problem is that their offense is so one dimensional. No home runs, no runs. This is not a recipe for sustainable success.

@218263 I am with you.  Runners left on base is a continuous challenge---so I think the team has to try and manufacture some runs with bunts, steals, hit and runs.  Of course, everyone will second guess the Mgr if aggressive in game management moves do not work, but especially on a day where several starters are out, going to have to stretch some chances with small ball to create a run.  Steals for the Guardians and Yankees are up dramatically (nice article by Ken Rosenthal on stealing numbers in the Athletic)---winning this year will demand some aggressive practices to move runners.

18 hours ago, mrtwinsfan said:

And he [Miranda] also is playing almost a new position also this year, Miranda will never admit it, But to me it shows , They did the same with Sano for  A  Few  years , How did that work out , we all seen it.

This is satire right?

Considering Miranda played 2000+ innings of 3B in the minors, more than all other positions combined.

By my count the Twins have had 2 give-up games (2nd game vs Marlins, this one) in 10 games.  At this pace, they will have 32 give-up games this season.   I'm guessing the Central will be decided by a handful of games (in other words those 32 games will have a major impact on the division) so I would encourage the Twins to take every game seriously.  Why in the world would you sit Buxton on a day when almost all of your decent offensive players are out? 

The hidden issue here remains the Twins' struggles with keeping day-to-day injuries actually day-to-day.  Yesterday, for example, with both Gallo and Correa unavailable, the Twins had a 2 man bench (Buxton and Jeffers).  This was only day 2 for Correa and day 3 for Gallo, but the direct result of having 2 unusable players is that Buxton more-or-less had to PH in a less than ideal spot, in order to keep a center fielder in the lineup.  If Gallo had been put on the IL right away, either Garlick or Lamarre could have been brought up; Garlick would have been a great option to bat against Bummer, leaving Buxton available to PH for Taylor (either with at least one man on base, or leading off the 9th).  If Lamarre was up, you could have still PH Buxton for Taylor, and used Lamarre to play CF in the 9th forward.

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

When all the dust settles in September and we find out who the Twins' main rival turns out to be, can we go through their season game logs for them too, and find out whether they put out a less-than-ideal lineup in less than 10% of their games?

IOW, every team does this, do they not?

Maybe, although I must say I see the "every team does this" a lot on this site, always in defense of the Twins.  I just find this to be a weird philosophy, to be proud of maintaining the status quo and doing the same thing as every other team.  Wasn't the whole crux of the saber movement to do things differently, to not rely on the same conventional wisdom?  Especially when we hear non stop about the Twins market limitations.  Should they be doing what every team does?  Or should they think outside the box and try to find competitive advantages that may differentiate them from other clubs?  Whenever I hear "every other team does this" I say, "that's too bad, why do the Twins want to copy everyone else?"  My point here is that the Twins margin of error is pretty thin and they should not take games for granted.  As supporting evidence I will point to 2022 - turns out they needed far more wins in May/June than they got, in order to overcome injuries and poor play in September.  

I would love to see an extensive study on injuries, "load management", etc.  It sure feels to me like all these scheduled off days and abundance of caution has not led to a reduction of injuries but rather an increase!  But maybe I'm just doing the "back in my day" thing.  But 20-30 years ago I cannot recall it being common for teams to have multiple injuries and IL stints just 10 games into a season.  

22 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

Nice to Larnich hitting well. 

22 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

Nice to Larnich hitting well. 

Yes it's still early in the season but where are all the Larnach haters who during spring training constantly bashed him and complained that he shouldn't make the opening day roster????

21 hours ago, Melissa said:

As far as I know, Miranda came up in the minor leagues as a 3rd baseman. Urshela held down that spot last year, so Miranda was either DH or moved to 1B much of the time. I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that his move back to 3B this season will be for the best.

A lot of "fans" bashed Miranda during spring training that he wasn't a good enough 3rd baseman to hold down the position at the major league level. Yes it's early but he has played great defense so far.