Riverbrian

Hunter was in the radio booth last night. He spoke about Buxton and style of play. Hunter said (paraphrasing). It's how he plays and it's what makes him special. Yes there are things you can do but you got to play the game how you play it. He also mentioned his long strides... said that the guys with long strides have a hard time slowing down.

Imposter!!! Rocco asked me to answer for him. Dear Thieres Rabelo, Thank you for the thoughtful letter, I can't express how grateful I am to be part of this organization. We are blessed to have such talented bloggers along with a devout passionate fan base. You raise some great points and rest assured we are constantly working on improvement in all areas. Infield Defense: I agree that infield defense along with defense in general is very important. Any play not made creates an extra out, each extra out creates the potential for big innings against you, along with plays made that take away outs, which make scoring runs that much harder for the other team. Rest assured that we work hard every day to improve our defense but I want to make sure you understand that I have full confidence in the abilities of all of our defenders. However, you must consider that there are always trade-offs. Could we find a better defender than Miguel Sano at 3B, I'm sure we could, but I'm not sure that we could find one that hits the ball as far as he does. Jorge Polanco has come a long way defensively and he can still get better but the combination of his bat and defense makes us a better team. We believe in our team defense, we believe in our offense and you better believe that we believe in the total combination. Bullpen: Wes Johnson and the entire Twins organization has done a nice job working with our pitching staff. The job is without end because of seemingly brand new challenges to address every day. It's kind of a moving target. Ultimately, when it comes to the bullpen (entire pitching staff for that matter), we need to listen to Riverbrian more. We have to find a way to become less reliant on a small core of performers by creating depth on the pitching mound much like we have done with our offense. This is what he terms as getting "bullpen serious". Depth is created by opportunity, we need to stop preventing opportunity of potentially better arms by filling up roster spots with average arms. In hindsight, we feel that we made a mistake using up valuable roster space with arms that were ultimately released in July. They were great teammates, great competitors but we should be further along in the identification process of talent that will help us win games in the upcoming playoffs. Rest assured this organization will continue to work with our pitching staff to meet any future challenge. Injuries: The Twins organization recognizes the importance of keeping our players on the field and in full health. To help us in this regard, we employ consultants, doctors, physical therapists and others, who work directly with our coaching staff, to provide everything humanly possible, in pursuit of an extremely difficult goal of total health at all times. The truth of the matter, it's a long season. Over 162 games, players are going to get hurt, history has taught us that this is something that we must expect and plan for. As an organization we mitigate the injuries that will naturally occur with depth up and down the roster. We use our depth for occasional rest to heal small issues before they become bigger issues. We use our depth to not become overly reliant on a single player. Anytime one of our players goes on the injured list or is unavailable to us due to injury, we will miss the talent that they bring to the table... however, as we have demonstrated this year, we have multiple players that also bring talent to the table in their absence. Thank you for your steadfast, honest and loyal reporting. Keep pushing us onward. GO TWINS!!!

I'm retired. Your kids are safe. Although, I personally, don't consider asking players to keep playing, intense.

Back when I was coaching. I remember being down 10 zip or something ridiculous like that. The other team had a runner on 3B with nobody out and my pitcher uncorked a wild pitch and the opposing coach held up the stop sign, yelling stay stay stay, freezing the runner in his tracks when he would have easily scored. I called time... Walked right past my pitcher and over to the opposing coach in the third base box and said "I appreciate what you are doing but please don't do that. I'm telling my kids to compete regardless of the score, I'm telling them that I want them to try to win the rest of the game and I'd appreciate it if you do the same so it means something if we do, Besides... I consider holding up your runner more embarrassing then the actual wild pitch... or the scoreboard". I think we ended up losing the game 84 to 1 but I'll do that every time. If 15 year-old baseball players can handle it... so can grown men making large amounts of cash. There is never a time to throw at a batter.

I’d throw Thorpe on Tuesday in Milwaukee.

We would have to Milwaukee Brewer this thing together. A couple of innings here and there until the game is over.

He isn't going to publicly admonish Diaz and rightfully so. Privately, he better at least bang the stapler real hard.

Minor Critique: If it was me... Considering that Left-Hander Brad Hand was on the mound. Considering that Jake Cave is faster Adrianza Considering that there was one out Considering that Schoop would hit after Marwin Considering that Schoop has been struggling lately Considering that Adrianza has come up with some clutch contact this year. Considering that Cave can move to RF and Marwin can move to 1B and Adrianza can play 2B afterwards I would have pinch ran Cave instead of Adrianza and pinch hit Adrianza for Schoop in the 9th. This is debatable and my opinion so I consider it a minor critique but still valid. Major Major Major Critique: On the Diaz windmill in the 9th. After you look at the view from behind home plate. There is no doubt that he can see the throw arriving to the cut, there is no doubt that he can see Adrianza rounding the base as he is clearly windmilling his arm to go for it. Everyone knows that a thrown baseball is 3 to 4 times faster than a runner can ever be. He should be fully aware that this is the professional level so a clean transfer and decent throw is good possibility. And there are big scoreboards placed around the stadium that says 1 Out. I've seen a lot of baseball games and I'm sure I've probably seen a worse 3B coach decision... but honestly... I can't recall one. I'm normally forgiving, Oops... Move on and let's do better next time. I can't excuse this one. There was one out... Tito probably walks Schoop to load the bases for a possible double play and we got Kepler against Hand. No guarantee Kepler comes through but I like the odds and Diaz removed that possibility. Stunning Mistake: I'll be thinking about it and shaking my head until Tuesday in Milwaukee. Diaz should be placed on a PIP for HR purposes for that mistake alone. BTW... I'll be in Milwaukee on Tuesday. It's another day... Go Twins!!!

No Assumption So now please instead of later. A hypothesis at best. Plain ole Wishful Thinking is also a strong possibility... but obvious recognition that we need to try something else in both the rotation and bullpen.

I do I also notice the similarity between the call for Graterol, Romero and the call to city officials to fix a pothole.

Long Live Dick Bremer

If you feel this was a huge win. It was However, Wait until the win tomorrow... and the one after that... and the one after that. They only get huge'er from here.

The easy answer is: Buxton is so important defensively that he personally improves our pitching so much that we lose when he isn't in the lineup. The more complicated answer and most likely, the correct answer, is a combination of many different factors. Including, the timing of his injury, to a time when the team is actually struggling. If you choose to believe that Buxton is so important that he is responsible for that 9-15 record during his D.L. time. You also have to choose to believe that the team is much better with Nelson Cruz and Mitch Garver on the IL because the team went 15-3 during that stretch.

Every once in awhile, I like to think about the 2014 A's. July 5th they were 54-33 and holding a 3.5 game lead over the Angels. That's when they traded Addison Russell, Straily and McKinney to the Cubs for Samardzija. Later, of course they acquired Jon Lester. And Sam FULD!!! Samardzija and Lester joined Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Jesse Chavez and Drew Pomeranz who were also doing a real nice job in the starting rotation. And Tommy MILONE!!! On August 1st, 2014 after the trade deadline. The A's were 66-42 They went 22-32 the rest of the way. The game isn't played on paper and clearly they should have hung on to Milone!

2.77 ERA in July without them. You have to consider the possibility that they will produce a worse team ERA after they return.

Things are not always what they seem: I use June 4 as a swing date because it seems like the swing date: (First Indians Series Matchup BTW) From March 28 to June 3 The Twins were 40-18 (During that 58 game stretch) The Indians were 29-30 (During that 59 game stretch From June 4 to Present The Twins are 30-28 (58 Game stretch) The Indians are 41-16 (57 Game stretch) I would say that Indians strong suit has been pitching this year and they suffered their primary DL losses from Pitching and primarily during a period when they were the hottest. The Current Indians Rotation is: Beiber Clevinger Plesac Plutko Civale They got Clevinger back from a first half DL stint but lost Kluber, Carrasco and Anderson for the 2nd half. Their pitching got better as the injuries increased. Indians ERA by Month April 3.48 May 4.44 June 4.11 July 2.77 The Indians have had very few injuries from the Position players. Lindor for the first 18 games (11-7) Kipnis for the first 15 games (8-7) They have been healthy offensive in the 2nd half. Indians OPS by Month April .667 May .725 June .797 July .847 The Indians have simply been getting better at the plate as the year has progressed. However, the Indians offense hasn't reached the Twins level. Twins team OPS By Month April .835 May .874 June .798 July .860 I would say that the primary strength of the Twins has been offense and this is where they have suffered the majority of their injuries while the pitching has shown to be an injury free stability throughout the year. 1st Half D.L. Sano 42 Games (27-15) Astudillo 14 Games (10-4) Cruz 15 games (12-3) Garver 17 Games (14-3) 88 Games lost to injury 2nd Half D.L. Buxton 24 Games (9-15) Astudillo 13 Games (7-6) Rosario 12 Games (6-6) Marwin 9 Games (4-5) Adrianza 9 Games (5-4) Cron 15 Games (9-6) Cruz 1 Game (0-1) 83 Games lost to injury And finally... how has the injury free Twins pitching staff performed by month. Twins ERA by Month April 4.78 May 3.45 June 3.95 July 4.42 There is a whole lotta other nuance to consider but it looks to me like, the Indians got stronger with their injuries and the Twins stayed steady through their injuries. This is a case of the Indians just simply getting better and the Twins declining primarily on the mound. We need the pitching to stop giving up runs and the Indians to start giving up runs. I'll let the Twins offense beat the Indians after that.

Honestly... I have no idea what the result would be... but I want him in the bullpen now. Let's see if he can hang some zeroes in shorter stints. We have the starting rotation concerns that I expressed, that is at the top of my list of concerns but the bullpen isn't complete either and we need a solution for that as well. Moving Perez into the pen may seem desperate but these are the tools we have to work with. Let's see what Perez can do in the pen and let's see what someone else can do in the rotation at the same time. If Perez fails in the pen... give him a little rope but the clock is ticking. Then you yank. I'd imagine that Wes is working on things with him and they want to see if they can restore him back to what he was in April and May but the clock is ticking. Make the move to the pen... right now.

Sure but the Twins didn't fall off the face of the earth to allow the Indians to catch us... The Indians had to leave earth to do it. I didn't expect the Twins to hold their April-May pace and they didn't. I don't expect the Indians to hold their June-July pace. It will be a dog fight from here on out. You are right, when two teams are tied at the top of the standings it is always a combination of both clubs that tells the story. However, if a team has the best record in baseball for a 2 month stretch. You'd expect them to be leading the division. The Indians are tied. Hats off to both clubs and the Twins are a major reason the Indians are only tied. . Bottom Line... The Twins didn't completely fall apart... The Indians had to play incredible baseball to get here.

Hats off to Cleveland It took the best record in baseball since June to catch us. This isn't a statement against the Twins... It's a credit statement to Cleveland. The Indians and Twins are going to be fighting and clawing at each other the rest of the way. Both teams have earned the right to fight and claw at each other.

This is a great article and it's an important article... Yet somewhat of a premature article because of a very important wild card that hasn't come out of the deck yet. INJURIES The rotation has been extremely healthy through August,10th in comparison to what typical teams have to endure during a typical year in at least recent history, if not history. Most teams have gotten longer looks at their 6th, 7th and 8th options in a rotation because of injuries. Because of our health, we haven't. We honestly don't know if we have 6th, 7th or 8th options at this point. We absolutely need to find out. Smeltzer? Dobnak? Stewart? Thorpe? Graterol? More data is needed... meaning more innings at the major league level. Once the front office decided that the price for Stroman was too high. I don't blame them for making that decision... heavy is the head that wears the crown, they have considerations to consider... However, the very second that they didn't trade for a quality starter, they locked themselves into not only finding but needing a quality starter out of Smeltzer, Dobnak, Stewart, Thrope or Graterol. This is where having a healthy rotation has hurt us. If everyone remains healthy. As of today... Berrios, Odorizzi, Pineda and Gibson is the playoff rotation in my mind. I just doubt that everyone will be healthy come playoff time based on history. Then What? Meanwhile, our bullpen still has question marks. Move Perez into the pen immediately to see if that helps the pen and then work on finding someone who can improve the Berrios, Odorizzi, Pineda and Gibson foursome. Not trading for a controllable starter was a huge risk for this year and next year with potentially 4 rotation spots to fill in the off-season. The front office has placed a lot on the shoulders of our farm arms. This is a great article... it's an important article but a premature article.

[quote name="Tom Froemming" post="897000" timestamp="1565367621 One last thing I want to add in regard to either a potential Graterol or Kirilloff move is at some point you have to do something. I can get behind the idea of building from within and trusting internal options. That's actually a lot of fun if you follow the minor league system. But if you're not going to be active in free agency, and you're not going to be active on the trade market, you have to do something somewhere. At a certain point it does make some sense to push a prospect or two sooner than maybe you had originally intended to. Could end up being a disaster, but every once in a while you fall into a Luis Arraez situation. This is exactly right. Once the front office says they don’t like the prospect price in trade considerations. At that point... They have committed to internal options. I’m fine with that. It is the job of the front office to weigh the costs and all considerations. But once the decision is made you must move forward. Standing still is not an option. So start calling guys up. We have holes in the bullpen and rotation.

The Indians are in it now and so are the Twins. This series is obviously important because it's head to head but no matter what happens during this 4-gamer... The Indians will be in it and so will the Twins. There is plenty of baseball to be played. Now... Back on June 4th... The Twins were 40-18 and Cleveland was 29-30. The Twins held a 11.5 game lead. I said at the time that this was an important series. If the Twins could have swept the Indians and knocked them down to 14.5 back... I felt they could have talked them into selling at the deadline. As it turned out... the Indians took two out of three and have gone 39-16 and the Twins have gone 30-26. I think that was the moment. Now... We are going to have lots of moments. This thing will have to be won on the field.

I don’t care if he is 14 years old. Can he hang zeroes? Let’s find out.

Yeah 21 would be better so he can have a drink after being relied upon.