Dantes929

Wait. Are you saying there is another team that has talented players that is on the other side trying to win also? If Rogers had thrown an 89mph nothing fastball down the middle of the plate that was either missed or scorched out to Buxton for an out fans on here would be saying its nice Taylor did his job. And I get it. Results based analysis is reasonable but then they also get on Thielbar who did not give up a run.

Who has said that and why I wonder. 8.5 SO/9. 2.73 ERA in his career in 129 innings.. Tonight he gave up a walk and a double but didn't let them score. I'm not saying he's great but major leaguers do give up runs. This year he has 1 bad outing in a blow out loss. That's it, against 8 good outings.

I am probably alone in seeing more positives here. Twins can't win all their games by 5 or more. They haven't just been losing games late because of bad relief pitching. They have also lost because of bad fielding and not adding runs on late. I had a great high school coach that used to say you don't learn much in blow out wins and blowout losses. Its the close games, win or lose, that test you and help you figure out how to play in those games. . The Twins need to have close games to figure out how to win close games. Give credit to Duffy for limiting one run in the 8th. Give credit to Rogers for closing out the game despite the error and despite bending with the two run homer. Give credit to Polanco for driving in the much needed insurance run. I've seen the Twins fans be down on the pen before many times and then certain guys step up and right the ship. Winning a close game is more important to this team right now than winning a game by 5. Just my opinion.

Probably a little early for musts but as always, a good week now makes the battle easier later. Also, it could work the way you outlined but, it being baseball, it could just as easily be Maeda winning twice, Shoemaker once, Thorpe once and squeezing a win out of Berrios, Pineda and Happ.

He's not just good. I watched that 2nd play and just thought it was a good catch but no way was it going out. Then I watched the replay several times and thought it was a great catch but still don't think it was going out. I think he saved a double but it was closer that I first thought. The first one I wonder if anyone else in the game or in history makes that catch from where he was. Definitely a 5 star catch..

There is nothing about Kiriloff or the Twins that a good 10 game stretch can't fix. Of course, they actually have to go out and have that good 10 game stretch. A win tonight would be a good start.

Nuts to that. The 1991 Twins started the season 2-9. 2006 Twins were 12 games back in August and had been written off by Mike and Mike in early June. We are 4 games behind in April to Kansas City. I can only assume anyone writing off the Twins at this point is new to the game. Also, I remember the 2009 loss to Oakland after leading 12-2 and losing 14-13. That was worse at the time.

Of course no one player or even two can just carry a team in baseball but a spark can be provided by anyone getting hot. I remember i think in 2010 when Mauer and Mornea were both putting up MVP numbers but we were hovering around .500 half of the year. Then we actually lost Morneau but Punto, Cuddyer, Young, Valencia all stepped up and they took off. If Kiriloff can get hot iit would likely be taking a spot that has not been performing and turning it into a strength. Two relievers finding their groove could make a huge difference as well. I remember just two years ago for much of the season the bullpen was considered horrible but then with very little change they were considered very good just 6 weeks later. The team we've seen the last two weeks doesn't have to be the team we see the rest of the way even if no changes are made to personnel. Baseball isn't consistent that way. Just ask Boston or Oakland what they thought of their team the first week or two of the year. We need a spark. No guarantee that we will get one but the talent is there to come from a lot of spots.

Savior? No Building block? Perhaps. Spark plug that could get this team going? Who knows. Shannon Stewart was a nice get back in the day but no one really thought he would be a big key in turning that season around. Morneau in 2006. Valencia in 2010. Arraez last year. Who knows what the spark will be, if any. This season is still young. Just a reliever or two stepping up and turning things around and a couple of bats heating up are needed.

Of course it was a horrible loss. When Donaldson was pulled for a runner I had no problem with it. Odds were he wasn't going to bat again and his injuries have been mostly calf strains. It was a totally justifiable move. Yes, you can't walk guys but two routine grounders, either of which could have ended the game is on the fielders not the pitcher. Mariano wouldn't have been considered an elite closer if ground balls were routinely booted. So I guess the only criticism of how Baldelli managed would be putting Arraez at 3rd base. Likely, it wouldn't affect the outcome of the game statistically but when I heard the 2nd baseman and 3rd baseman booted grounders I assumed it was Arraez at 2nd and Blankenthorn at 3rd,. Blankenthorn has played more games at 3rd in his career than Arraez and a higher % of his games at 3rd vs 2nd. I would have hesitated having one guy change his position mid game but maybe Baldelli wanted to put the rookie in his slightly more comfortable position. It was defendable and really, both plays should have been made anyway. Its sad, because I can hardly remember two plays in a row being misplayed in a row like that. Hopefully this is the low point of the season. Hardly giving up on this group now. The players are there to succeed. Its totally up to them to do so.

Just watched the replay. Really hard to tell if it was over his head but quite possible that if he were traditionally guarding the line it would have been high and to his left rather than high and to his right. If it had been right at him would you acknowledge that it was analytics that saved the runs? Either way the ball was misplayed in left field which might have cost the third run. Analytics might have said guard the line in the same situation in the 9th inning but not the 8th. Analytics often defy 100 years of baseball strategy. 100 years of that strategy might well not have existed if they had the technology back then to know better. The problem with analytics is probably mainly with the viewer and the fact that the percentages are too thin. The viewer problem is that it is human nature to notice when a hit like that beats you and you remember it because of the emotional response. When a shift works you might notice it, you might not, but it doesn't trigger the same emotion so you maybe forget about it even if you do notice it. The percentage problem is easier to illustrate than explain. Sorry if this sounds like mansplaining but it is all based on odds and I am pulling them out of the air. If one manager goes old school for a season he is likely to win 3 games the analytics driven manager would lose but the analytics manager wins 5 games the old school guy would lose. It comes out to about a 1% over all difference. If applied over the course of a season the analytics approach wins two more games which might be the difference in playoffs or sitting at home. The percentages are probably greater than that but you get my drift. Now you might say the best approach is a combination of the two and in some aspects of the game I would agree with you but mostly I would refer you back to the viewer problem.

I know I am going to sound like a condescending A but here goes. The idea that there exists a person who could be manager of the Twins that would not get ripped on here for his decision making is as absurd to me and less likely to appear than a unicorn. Twins have had 4 managers of the year that I can think of in Kelly, Gardy, Molitor and Baldelli. Every one of them was ripped on by Minnesota fans. I know how bad many of you think Baldelli is but just think about how bad all the other managers in the major leagues would have to be to be considered worse. I'm not really defending him but I would love to see the comments of a different universe where Pineda stayed in for the 8th and got shelled or if Robles came in and was great and shut them down. I know with some it is not 2nd guessing and I often say out loud what I think the moves should be just to keep from falling into the hindsight game. Of course its hard to judge some outcomes because if I think a guy should stay in and he is pulled there is no telling what my guy would have done and all sorts of scenarios like that. Needless to say, though that if I were the manager it wouldn't take long for fans to be calling for my head.

I didn't see the at bat but I did see the hit on replay and the announcer said it was a 10 pitch at bat. I wouldn't go so far as to say awful that he gave up one hit in a 10 pitch at bat. Sometimes you give some credit to the hitter and a bit unlucky for the Twins that it was in a spot that netted 3 runs. Also, he then struck out the next guy which I give him credit for. My high school coach preached battling because you never know how many you are going to need or give up to come out on top. Even if it was after the big hit he did get out of the inning without letting the guy on 2nd score which turned out to be exactly enough. Lets give some credit to Colome and big props to Arraez.

I am fine with him in almost any situation because he appears to be a battler. Being the guy to come in with the new rules of inheriting a guy on 2nd with no outs doesn't seem suited to him. Normally a guy that would welcome a ground ball and take the chances, a ground ball in that situation just puts a guy on 3rd with less than two outs with the odds another ground ball is coming up with a fair chance of scoring. I think he is a pretty good pitcher and EVERYONE give up runs but time will tell. Of course it might have to do with the fact we've lost every game under the rules but I am not a fan of that guy on 2nd in extra innings. I kind of like the reliever limits. I want a faster paced game but not necessarily a shorter game.

Small Sample Size folks. I would have given him one of the starting spots over Happ or Shoemaker but there is real value in having a long relief guy like Dobnak and two appearances doesn't define anything. Long relief also should suit a guy expected to make spot starts. Maybe not ideal for him but I would wait 40 games into the season to come to any conclusion. Not 10.

They are not tasked with throwing twice as many innings as last year. They are tasked with throwing the same number of innings as two years ago and every year before that. They also have twice as long a time to do it. Build up to 6 or 7 innings for the starters. 7 or 8 relievers should then be able to handle 2-3 innings most days.

Not sure what pocket protector means but probably pointed at me. If 50 year history with 20 of those reading on line posts means anything, we can expect that when the pen gives up leads it is the worst pen ever and when they come in and simply hold onto wins they are overlooked. Same happens with the manager. Most of our losses have come as a result of not scoring league average in runs. Some of our wins have come despite scoring less than league average in runs. Most good teams tread water for much of the season combined with a few good hot streaks. 1991 started out 2-9. I wonder what commentors would have had to say about that back in the day.

See? Its too early for me to even get his name right. I'll get better. I'll cut him the same slack.

LOL. Well, He did win a lot of division titles so hard to argue that he was wrong. Also, Cleveland is in 1st place and KC is in 2nd. Are we really concerned that it is going to stay that way? A little history. If we had started 5-4 in 2008 we would have won the Central without having to play the Sox in a one off. In 1987 we started out 4-5 and in 91 we started out 2-7. I don't think there is a season in my 45 years of being a fan where I wouldn't have banked a 5-4 start to the season if given a choice.

Well. In the wins they gave up under 3 a game or are we ignoring the wins? In the Opener the relievers held them scoreless for 4 innings. In the next game they held them scoreless for 4 innings and only gave up a run with an automatic runner on 2nd. In their next loss they gave up 1 run in 3 innings and then gave up an run with an automatic runner on 2nd. So, in your question, not once could the pitching staff hold for just one inning the answer is yes they held for many innings.

Calume has a 3.00 lifetime ERA and much better than that the last three years. I might be missing something here. Did he have surgery or something? You don't usually become a bum overnight for no reason. Not ready to pull the plug yet. Its a long season.

While I sometimes wish the Twins would promote guys at different rates than others Gaddoo isn't proof of anything. He was a .249 hitter in the minors. He is 5-11. Pretty much any hitter A ball and above are capable of a 5-11 stint. I might be wrong but I know there are lots of minor league players capable of hitting well for a SSS in the majors. More power to him and maybe he never looks back. You are right that he would not be on the Twins nor should he be. He did nothing with the Twins to deserve such a shot.

Colume didn't really even pitch that poorly on Opening Day. A bad decision along with a bad throw to 2nd and then a very catchable ball that Kepler dropped made what probably should have been a relatively stress free save into extra innings. I'm sure Detroit is kicking themselves a little today for getting thrown out at home with no outs but that was a really nice relay. The mistake was probably the way he approached 2nd base while Cave was diving. Jerking to a halt rather than timing it so he can accelerate or go back probably made the difference. Its what makes the game interesting. Good decisions can turn out badly and bad decisions can become golden and there is always a team on the other side doing the same thing.

I think I explained it in many ways in prior posts. There is a big distinction between being a pull hitter and being a hitter that tries to pull the ball. Morneau talks about it a lot also. He said he knew he was on when he he hit pitches middle in to right field but the pitches on the outer corner to left of center. He knew he was too pull happy when those outside pitches constantly got him out. I never suggested Ortiz should have changed his approach in Boston. Like you said he was a HOF hitter there. We know his development years were with the Twins and that he was HOF with Boston. We don't know if his training with Minnesota helped him develop as a hitter or if it held him back. We don't know what he would have been if his first half dozen years were with Boston and we don't know what he would have done with MN if he stayed with them. I thought he was a good hitter with MN but every time it seemed he was getting on a good streak he got hurt. I think that as much as anything had to do with why they let him go. If he had stayed healthy and they don't try to save money maybe he ends up being HOF with Mn. https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/04/04/former-twins-still-regrets-releasing-david-ortiz/x9aJz1CgCePxODxQqnZH4I/story.html

He was a good hitter for the Twins and at the time I thought they gave up on him too soon though of course I didn't expect him to be the hitter he became.. I did some analysis several years ago that showed his spray chart was very similar with Boston to what it was with the Twins. Of course a guy like him shouldn't be TRYING to go the other way but he went with the pitch really well and whose to say his training with the Twins didn't help his career though I know he was critical at the time also. I think it just as likely that if he started with Boston and they just said we want you hitting homeruns to right field that he would not have ended up the hitter he was. . He murdered the ball to all fields but as I have pointed out he was a natural pull hitter. He always had great balance and you rarely saw him stepping in the bucket or wildly overswinging. That is different that what Kepler has been doing. Here is Ortiz spray chart. Like I said, he went with the pitch quite well but with a natural pull swing. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/david-ortiz/745/spray-charts?position=DH&type=battedball&pid2=745&ss1=2012&se1=2016&ss2=2016&se2=2016&cht1=hangtime&cht2=battedball&vs1=ALL&vs2=ALL