Thebigalguy

Relieved to see Kepler finding his groove. Now it's Buxton's burn.
 

Counterintuitive but interesting. I don’t see it happening. I think the FO believes the offense will catch fire. Buxton can’t get any worse. Correa seems to be finding his groove. The youngsters have a shot. Polanco is coming back. Believe it or not, I’m optimistic. Call me naive if you want. 

Counterintuitive but interesting. I don’t see it happening. I think the FO believes the offense will catch fire. Buxton can’t get any worse. Correa seems to be finding his groove. The youngsters have a shot. Polanco is coming back. Believe it or not, I’m optimistic. Call me naive if you want. 

Counterintuitive but interesting. I don’t see it happening. I think the FO believes the offense will catch fire. Buxton can’t get any worse. Correa seems to be finding his groove. The youngsters have a shot. Polanco is coming back. Believe it or not, I’m optimistic. Call me naive if you want. 

Counterintuitive but interesting. I don’t see it happening. I think the FO believes the offense will catch fire. Buxton can’t get any worse. Correa seems to be finding his groove. The youngsters have a shot. Polanco is coming back. Believe it or not, I’m optimistic. Call me naive if you want. 

You are absolutely right. Put him in CF. Not every day but often enough to get his mind straight. The man is being disrespected when his Gold Glove caliber defense is shut down. He knows that. You know that. I know that. Let Buxton be Buxton. He knows enough at this stage to practice good hygiene when going after balls almost out of his reach. The man needs to be grass fed!

Good heads up, but let’s give him more time and give Jeffers, who’s hitting .273, more work.

Good heads up, but let’s give him more time and give Jeffers, who’s hitting .273, more work.

Good heads up, but let’s give him more time and give Jeffers, who’s hitting .273, more work.

Good heads up, but let’s give him more time and give Jeffers, who’s hitting .273, more work.

Good heads up, but let’s give him more time and give Jeffers, who’s hitting .273, more work.

Max won yesterday's game with a two-run homer, the only runs scored in the game by either side. It's true that he seems rigid at the plate, without the resilience or flexibility we hoped he'd develop after his big year. Even so, Max earns his keep, given the ridiculous inflationary salaries in MLB. What you see with him is what you get, a pull hitter better off without the infield shifts who screws up his swing when he tries to hit to the opposite field. He has power. Also, injuries affected his capabilities in ways that even he himself perhaps refused to acknowledge. Let's see, now that he's healthy (if not wise) how he does in 2023, a year when many of us think the Twins have a shot at getting to the postseason and actually winning a series for a change. 

The boys of summer are having fun again. I just hope you didn't jinx Ryan with that 20 game winner flip off! He's worth celebrating, though, you're right about that, as is Polanco, who singlehandedly is bringing the bats back into play and waking up the other hitters. 

The boys of summer are having fun again. I just hope you didn't jinx Ryan with that 20 game winner flip off! He's worth celebrating, though, you're right about that, as is Polanco, who singlehandedly is bringing the bats back into play and waking up the other hitters. 

I wanted to check the performance of Archer and Bundy over the last few seasons to see what the Twins could have expected going into 2022. From Baseball Reference:
Archer last pitched more than 150 innings in a season in 2017. From 2018 to 2021, he pitched 287.1 innings in 62 starts. By my math that is about 4.6 innings per start over this time frame. 
Bundy's largest number of innings pitched in his career is 171.2 in 2018. If we use the same time frame (2018 to 2021), Bundy pitched 489.2 innings in 91 starts or 5.4 innings per start.
From 2018 to 2021, Archer and Bundy averaged about 5 innings per start. Expecting them to go six innings would have been completely unreasonable. Four to five innings per start was probably a reasonable ask for these two guys. The problem isn't one short start or one weak link. When the team has 51 games started by two guys like this, there is a lot of additional strain on the bullpen.
 

So far, so good. Talent, experience, youth, depth. A new conditioning coach. A hitting coach everybody seems to feel is among the best at refining and, when necessary, retooling. I'd rather have Molitor managing than Baldelli, but that ship has sailed. Right now, we're tied for first. The new rules and the fact that every team plays every other team are worth celebrating, too; the game will speed up and we'll see all sorts of talent in Minneapolis. Whatever happens, I don't see the team collapsing again in September like they did last year. Getting to the playoffs is realistic. 

Depth! Nothing like it. If I summarized last season, I could use one word: injuries. Now, the players on the MLB roster have a relay stick they can pass down the line when needed. Ober's ready and willing. Coulombe, ditto. If Buck and Correa stay healthy and productive, the lineup can be built to be potent. If Baldelli lets his starters go deep, the pen should be rested as needed. We're 0-0, tied for first. Four days and counting.

Depth! Nothing like it. If I summarized last season, I could use one word: injuries. Now, the players on the MLB roster have a relay stick they can pass down the line when needed. Ober's ready and willing. Coulombe, ditto. If Buck and Correa stay healthy and productive, the lineup can be built to be potent. If Baldelli lets his starters go deep, the pen should be rested as needed. We're 0-0, tied for first. Four days and counting.

Thanks for the article. The SP depth means, as mentioned, that he's on a short leash. Hard to say, though, how long that leash might be until we see him pitch when it counts. Good to know Ober's ready and willing and probably the better choice. Maeda has earned the right to show Baldelli what he has but it's very possible he might be the first pitcher this year to go down.

Thanks for the article. The SP depth means, as mentioned, that he's on a short leash. Hard to say, though, how long that leash might be until we see him pitch when it counts. Good to know Ober's ready and willing and probably the better choice. Maeda has earned the right to show Baldelli what he has but it's very possible he might be the first pitcher this year to go down.

Thanks for the article. The SP depth means, as mentioned, that he's on a short leash. Hard to say, though, how long that leash might be until we see him pitch when it counts. Good to know Ober's ready and willing and probably the better choice. Maeda has earned the right to show Baldelli what he has but it's very possible he might be the first pitcher this year to go down.

So far, so good. Talent, experience, youth, depth. A new conditioning coach. A hitting coach everybody seems to feel is among the best at refining and, when necessary, retooling. I'd rather have Molitor managing than Baldelli, but that ship has sailed. Right now, we're tied for first. The new rules and the fact that every team plays every other team are worth celebrating, too; the game will speed up and we'll see all sorts of talent in Minneapolis. Whatever happens, I don't see the team collapsing again in September like they did last year. Getting to the playoffs is realistic. 

So far, so good. Talent, experience, youth, depth. A new conditioning coach. A hitting coach everybody seems to feel is among the best at refining and, when necessary, retooling. I'd rather have Molitor managing than Baldelli, but that ship has sailed. Right now, we're tied for first. The new rules and the fact that every team plays every other team are worth celebrating, too; the game will speed up and we'll see all sorts of talent in Minneapolis. Whatever happens, I don't see the team collapsing again in September like they did last year. Getting to the playoffs is realistic. 

So far, so good. Talent, experience, youth, depth. A new conditioning coach. A hitting coach everybody seems to feel is among the best at refining and, when necessary, retooling. I'd rather have Molitor managing than Baldelli, but that ship has sailed. Right now, we're tied for first. The new rules and the fact that every team plays every other team are worth celebrating, too; the game will speed up and we'll see all sorts of talent in Minneapolis. Whatever happens, I don't see the team collapsing again in September like they did last year. Getting to the playoffs is realistic. 

So far, so good. Talent, experience, youth, depth. A new conditioning coach. A hitting coach everybody seems to feel is among the best at refining and, when necessary, retooling. I'd rather have Molitor managing than Baldelli, but that ship has sailed. Right now, we're tied for first. The new rules and the fact that every team plays every other team are worth celebrating, too; the game will speed up and we'll see all sorts of talent in Minneapolis. Whatever happens, I don't see the team collapsing again in September like they did last year. Getting to the playoffs is realistic.