Road trip

I don't know how or why, but the Rays seem to do this regularly. Find players that struggled elsewhere and turn them into gems. Luke Raley is another. In a small sample size, Zack Little is looking like another.

Correa yesterday, Kepler today. I'm starting to believe there are no "official" errors anymore.. Tough plays, but made 95% of the time by major league players.

Strikeouts are bad. I think we all agree. Many posters seem to be equating Wallner with Gallo. Just for context, here are the strikeout %'s for several 2023 Twins: Gallo - 42.8% Garlick - 36.7% Larnach - 35.6% Taylor - 33.3% Wallner - 32.5% Buxton - 31.4% Julien - 31.1% Jeffers - 29.4% ... Best on roster: Kepler - 21.8% There are no players who strike out at anything resembling the rate that Gallo does. While Wallner's recent trend is certainly going the wrong way, it isn't close to Gallo levels. Wallner's numbers, in fact, are roughly equal distance between the worst rate (Gallo) and the best rate on the roster (Kepler - I didn't include Gordon as he has barely played this year).

Gosh, for those who don't like Wallner's OF defense, this is not a great solution. Kirilloff is much slower, and has a very poor arm. Baseball Savant actually rates his arm below Ben Revere, which I didn't know was even possible. Kirilloff's LF zone rating trails Wallner substantially. I like Kirilloff a lot... at first base. If it isn't Wallner, my guess is it will likely be Castro against rhp. Luplow likely will get lefties either way.

"Tight spot"? File Polanco under "Good problem to have...".

Almost no chance Wallner gets left off the playoff roster. Yes, he has had a rough stretch, but that is to be expected of all young players. The roster alternatives are.. Joey Gallo (43% strikeout rate)? Trevor Larnach (minimal history of MLB success)? I think we can stop wishing for Buxton... it isn't going to happen. Despite recent struggles, Wallner still leads all Twins outfielders in OPS. Yes, even better than Kepler. That also includes a lot of recent at bats against lefties (and yes, I am quite willing to sit Wallner against lefties for the playoffs... he really struggles). Wallner's splits show he can mash right handers though. He has adjustments to make. So do all young players. Way, way too early to give up on him.

Pretty powerful lineup for the Rays, even without Franco (possibly forever) and Paredes (day off?). Glasnow of course is a tough pitcher regardless of what the Rays lineup looks like.

I think it's a longshot. IF, big IF, Paddock is ready to pitch in the majors in about 10 days we can talk. Then he could actually face live MLB hitters for a few innings this year prior to the playoffs. That seems a very optimistic and aggressive timeline.. I'm just hoping he can be a competent and healthy #5 starter next April. If we get that much I'll call it a win.

Eh,,, it's Minnesota Nice. Plus they can stash him in case of a catastrophic Uber crash that involves all of our other potential first basemen. Glad to see it done, but I actually wish him well.... somewhere in the NL next year.

Varland is a good example. He's also a pitcher that the Twins have allowed to experience rather large inning jumps. 2019: 63 innings (mostly college) 2020: covid... who knows how much he threw, but no official game action. 2021: 103 innings 2022: 152 innings 2023: 140 and counting... Varland is younger, throws harder, and yet is significantly smaller in stature than Ober. Yet nobody seems concerned about his jump in workload? You could look at other starters when they were younger... Pablo Lopez, for example. Or just about anybody from the Cleveland organization: Bieber, McKenzie, Civale, etc... you are going to see some big inning jumps in their younger days. Ober is a different story. Every player is unique. Maybe increasing the innings load is a real problem for his physique, somehow. I just hope Ober can get the opportunity to shine under a full load in the next couple of years.

I guess I am also under the "moderately mishandled camp". Innings thrown at AAA this year are wasted innings. He's clearly an MLB caliber pitcher, and that was already apparent in 2022. If there is no room in the rotation utilize him in the pen, as was done very successfully in the early years of Johan Santana. At some point, someday, the Twins will need Ober to be a 160-190 IP starter, which is kind of the current standard for the top 3 guys in the rotation (and yes, Ober has enough "stuff" to be a solid #3 starter). I just don't know how he ever gets there at this rate. Ober fought a few injuries, but I believe only one to his arm (is this wrong? I think just an elbow injury way back in 2019). The lack of a minor league season in 2020 hurt his development, though I doubt the Twins would have let him throw more than about the 108 innings he got in 2021. 2022, still on an innings limit. 2023, more of the same. I get it. Health is a priority. I don't understand fully though why Ober isn't able to build up enough endurance/strength to get to the 175 inning mark. He's 27 years old, at his athletic peak. He has a huge frame, ideal for starting pitchers. Maybe next year will be the year. I fear though that we will be having this same discussion again about "need to limit Ober's innings" in August of 2024. Maybe it is just all he can do. Perhaps I should be satisfied with the good pitching he brings, even if it will be limited to about 25 starts a year.

Nobody needed a box on the TV to see that was a ball. I can easily forgive missing a ball/strike call on the outside corner. Those are difficult to call for the best umpires... probably impossible with the human eye. To miss a pitch that is not only low, but also several inches inside? That's incompetent. You can't miss the inside corner as an umpire. Vlad Guerrero would have let that pitch go without swinging.

As an MLB tv subscriber I was sent a survey a week ago. There were a variety of multiple choice questions, what do you like, what do you not like, etc. I got one chance to write in my own answer to "How could we improve the game in 2024"? My answer: "Robo umps."

Piranhas? In 2023?

Geeze, usually the treatment that Kepler just got from the ump is saved for Julien..

Tough AB there for Lewis. Strike 2 wasn't a strike, but it forced him to swing at the next pitch, also borderline. He managed a liner, but right at the pitcher.

I'm not that confident... I remember well the 2009 Twins (a pleasant memory, for once). Trailed the Tigers big in September. 5.5 games on September 14! Still trailed by 2 games with 3 left to play! Yet, they came back to tie the Tigers, and won the one game playoff. The Twins got very hot (finished 17-4), while the Tigers played relatively poorly. Of course, the reward for the Twins was a playoff series with the D*#$ Yankees. I want a sweep, and even then I won't stop looking over my shoulder until the Guardians are without hope.

Lopez has been good, certainly. Among the best years in team history? No, sorry, not close, unless he has a really dominant September. He has the strikeouts, but his ERA is merely above average. 7 losses, all deserved for the most part. He might be the best Twins starter this year, but I'd probably go with Gray (much better ERA). Santana (several times), Viola (at least twice), Blyleven (again, multiple times) even the 1 year flashes of Liriano and Scott Erikson were all more dominant years. I won't even dig back to some of the great Twins pitchers of the 60's/70's era, I hope Lopez eventually puts out a year like those. He's got an interesting back story and seems like a really nice guy. I'm rooting for him, to be sure, but piling up strikeouts alone isn't a great year, especially in an era when strikeouts are at an all time high. Hopefully this article is dead on for 2024 😁

Can't speak for the board, but I was among those that didn't/don't like the Arraez deal. I loved watching Arraez. Still do. I can't remember a Twins hitter this century who I enjoyed watching more (yep, that includes Mauer, Morneau, and all the others). You'd have to go back to Pucket, and before that Carew. It may be irrational, and it isn't based entirely on numbers, but Arraez is a generational player. A unicorn. We won't see another Arraez in a Twins uniform for a long time, if ever. Now Julien thus far is a good hitter. I enjoy watching his AB's, possibly more than any other current Twin. But he isn't Arraez. And unlike Arraez we don't really know what we have yet in Julien... too early.

I'd be willing to trade Julien due to his defensive limitations and our depth at 2nd (esp with the option to keep Polanco another year), but think I'd want a pitcher a little more established than a prospect (which, to me at least, means someone still in the minors). A Hunter Brown type of young, controllable starter would intrigue me. Regardless, I'm not terribly worried about Julien's August mini-slump. He's still swinging at strikes and taking balls (even though he is getting the rookie treatment and umps frequently screw him). He's had some hard hit balls go right at fielders. So long as he is healthy, I think he will be a solid hitter.

Willie Norwood, Rob Wilfong, Hosken Powell, and especially Bombo Rivera, c.a. 1978 😁 The Twins management was in full rebuild and advertised this crew as the next great hope! None of them really developed, but the names.... just great names! (I didn't include Butch Wynegar, as he actually was a pretty good player, and already was a grizzled 3rd year veteran of 22 years old when the rest of this crew got started) Little wonder Rod Carew was ready to leave town...

Indeed. The same could be said for Floro back in the day. He had a nice stretch with the Dodgers on their World Series runs a few years ago, getting meaningful innings on teams that had a wealth of quality pitching options. Time moves on. Could be the problem is a mental block (likely for Lopez, given his family tragedy), or that the arm is simply cooked (possibly Floro's story). It's unlikely that either will ever be a high-leverage reliever again, and even "back of the bullpen" may be too much to expect. I suspect both players will get a chance to be on someone's roster next spring though.

Well, I like it less now...

I like it... let's find out if he's part of the plan going forward.

Vital? That's too strong a word. The early 70's Oakland A's provide a counter example. The late 70's Yankees, same thing. Horrible clubhouse drama with both squads, along with World Series victories. Teams and individuals can hate each other and still win a lot of games, especially in baseball: a team sport that is based on the individual match ups that occur with every pitch. A cohesive team/clubhouse probably helps a little. Some players may focus better when there is minimal drama, and perhaps Kepler is one of those guys. However if teams can't hit, pitch, catch, and run they will lose no matter how much they like each other. Josh Donaldson was perceived to be a very valuable player when he was playing well. He was so greatly valued that he won an MVP vote in 2015. He became a "problem player" when he stopped hitting a couple of years ago due to age and injuries. There are many great players that you might not want as a neighbor or friend, but they could really play ball, and they helped their teams win titles.