Dantes929

Many teams are not considered special until they do something special. 87 Twins and 2014 Royals come to mind. I just want this team to have the chance. An encouraging season this year doesn't mean a whole lot to me for 2018. Right now we are seeing lots of guys having decent to good seasons and that hasn't happened much in the last 7 years. If this team makes the playoffs and goes on a hot streak people will still remember that the starting pitching wasn't deep and the bullpen wasn't reliable but the magnitude of the weaknesses will be diminished.

Back when everyone thought the target was 85 i pointed out that would mean that teams that had played .500 ball to that point had to play significantly better to reach that mark. It was possible but unlikely. Now the most likely magic number is 83 which would still require some teams to play at least at a 7-4 clip to tie us. I would definitely lock in 84 if given the chance and maybe 83. I wouldn't lock in 82 but that would still have a pretty fair chance of doing the job. Most important right now is winning today's game.

We've had this discussion before and all your points are valid. The odds are longer now for the Twins to do something similar or identical but the odds were pretty long against the 87 Twins also. That is all somewhat moot anyway because I was talking about the odds of the Twins beating the Yankees in a one game play in. The odds of that happening, despite what people have been posting here is much better than the odds the 87 team had against the Tigers in a 7 game series much less winning the whole thing. Yes, the Twins had home field advantage but the Tigers were 4-2 against the Twins at the Dome during the season and the top 3 for the Tigers were 3-0 there. The more games you play the more the likelihood of the better team winning. Yankees are the better team but even the Giants would have a chance of winning a 1 game series. Twins are better than the Giants.

Seriously. I love those. Are they daily and I am just missing them or are they just occasional? If he hit a home run I assume you would have said that about the pitcher.

Those that think the Twins have no shot are the same ones that thought the 87 Twins had no shot. If you say "Hey, that team was really special and I knew it all along I call BS. I won bets from people like you giving me 3-1 odds. They weren't special before they won in the playoffs. You think the Twins are hopeless against the Yankees because we went 2-4. Twins against the top two teams in the East that year were 7-17. They were 4-8 against the Tigers which is the same winning % but with more games. But hey, you say we had Viola and Blyleven. Well, those two were 3-6 against those teams and its not like the wins were against the Tigers top pitchers because Morris and Alexander were 4-0 against us and their 3rd pitcher was 4-1 against us. That team was not special without the benefit of hindsight. Heck, the current Twins team has a decent shot at posting the same season record. http://www.startribune.com/twinscentric-revisiting-1987-and-defeating-the-tigers/332172842/

In both of our 1st two losses in Ny we had opportunities to win games with big hits. Not happening is not the same as won't happen or can't happen. I think the Twins have shown a resiliency that belies the idea of just folding with the spot light on. Ok, it took a while but was enlightening. I looked back to see what success the Twins had against playoff type pitchers. The enlightening part was just how few playoff type pitchers there are. Some teams had none. These are the pitchers the Twins beat this year. Didn't include Sale this year but Twins generally have done pretty well against him. Happ, Davies, Verlander, Cashner, Gray, Clevinger twice, Luber, Porcello and Montgomery. List doesn't look that long but like I said there really aren't that many sub 4.00 pitchers out there.

Hot is not sustainable. We want the Twins to do well enough to get there and then get hot. Of course I would like them to go on a nice streak to make sure they get there. Its like Minnesota weather. If they are hot and everyone is on the bandwagon just wait a week and the picture could be entirely different. Likewise when they are cold and everyone is down on them. Santana threw a good game which could have gone either way. Tuesday's game was an extra 15 feet of a fly ball for Rosario to have a grand slam. Underdogs? Yes Hopeless? Hardly. Not only have wild cards done well on the road in the one and done, wild cards have done quite well after the wild card game as well. Never give up.

Well, we haven't made the playoffs yet but I am certainly not basing my expectations in a playoff game on how Colon or Duffey did in this one. Yankees are better and will have home field but we lost 2-1 and 5-2 in games not started by Bartolo. Yankees favored but hardly a reason for throwing in the towel. We just need to get there.

The ONLY way it is acceptable for Sano to DH full time is if he is active while the team is on the field ie stationary bike or taking swings in the cage. Sitting on the bench while on defense is not going to protect his health unless you consider the fluke TJ injury three years ago. He is more likely to be able to run to first base without injury if he has been active rather than sitting on the bench.

Its baseball is all. Plenty of games have really counted where we have hit. Rosario was maybe a sixteenth of an inch on the bat from hitting a grand slam and don't forget CC is just a good pitcher.

I would hope that the umpires would be aware how he feels about the bunt and act accordingly and as always if he puts one in our ribs, we put one on Judge. Certainly the Twins shouldn't be bullied out of using a legitimate weapon. Here is an excerpt from the Red Sox earlier this month when Sabbathia got mad at Nunez. “I say, ‘I’m sorry,’ but I have to do it,” said Nunez, who was acquired by the Red Sox in late July. “It’s my game. We know he has a bad knee. I feel bad for him, but if I have to do it twice, I have to do it. It’s my game, it’s my job. “And if I have to bunt four times in a row, I’ll do it. I don’t care if he’s mad or not, you know? That’s what it is. We have to compete, and he has to figure it out.” If Mauer had a sore knee that buckled when a pitcher threw a curve ball do you think CC would stop throwing it? Its absurd.

Man. I know complaining about balls and strikes is futile but Gee really got hosed. Yes, Mauer should have fielded it but if the umpire does his job Mauer never even gets the grounder. Ok, my game plan called for lots of bunts against Estrada and Garcia and at least 8 bunt attempts against CC. Two for two in the first three batters and did we even attempt it again the rest of the game? Genius to bunt. Pure idiocy to stop bunting. We know Sabbathia doesn't like it and why would he. He is old slow and fat and it works. I would have been fine with bunting every time the 3rd baseman wasn't on the grass except with bases loaded. As far as the dominance of the Yankees this year. A. They are a better team and B We are 2-3 with another game to play. Ok, not thinking Colon has a great chance but who knows? Heck I would be happy if we lose tomorrow and end the season at 3-4 against them.

Thank you. The best I could find was that he was at -.81 calls a game meaning turning balls into strikes and keeping strikes from turning into balls against the average. Not a good result but if he is indeed worth 8.1 runs that is pretty valuable. It might mean 0 games affected and it might mean 8 games. On average it is probably worth a game to the good. One game at this point looks pretty large.

Mattingly has one batting title. Mauer has 3. That is quite a difference. Mauer before Oliva. Oliva before Mattingly.

Only stats I can find is that Castro used to be in the top 10 but not in 2017. Can you provide the link please?

I am on board with all of your analysis but the difference in scoring one run and not scoring a run is 2% and while I respect all your analysis on this particular situation I am pretty sure that if he walks Granite then Chapman comes in and your chances of scoring a run drop dramatically if he is on and I don't think we can argue about him being on. So all this talk about bunting in the late innings is burying the lead which is that Garcia struck out 9 in 5.2 innings. Just like Estrada the other day when a guy is in a groove and has your timing all messed up THAT is the time to bunt and for the purposes of base hits rather than sacrifice. Maybe I have no stats to back it up but it sure seems to disrupt the pitcher's rhythm, heart beat and pitch selection when guys get on and they get on by making the pitcher get off the mound and run a little bit.

Last pitch by Chapman 104 mph. What the...? CC tomorrow is going to look like soft toss compared to this guy.

Please at least knock on wood when saying things like "as we go to the playoffs". We are just a short slump and a short hot streak by Angels or others from being on the outside looking in. Don't be Tracy McGrady.

I was thinking that myself. The Twins were so off balance and the pitcher was in such a groove I would have had the Twins try bunting for hits 4 or 5 times to get some runners on and to get that guy off his stride. Homers are great as evidenced by today's game but keep in mind that we scored 13 runs with three homers. Most of the damage was non home run generated. I still love to see bunts for hits and would like to see that strategy against CC and I really do not believe he would like it at all.

Fair enough. I trust you. I saw much of the game and I will say again I don't know how anyone can know when he is done because he always looks extremely hittable and yet he is a huge reason why we are where we are. I said I would have pulled him after the 4 pitch walk but acknowledge without hindsight that could have been the exact wrong thing to do. We don't know what would have happened if Pressley had started the inning.

Well, we are dissecting every other little thing on here including perceived motivations and slights. At least I dissected a direct quote. Actually, dissecting that quote wouldn't have been bad. Something to the effect of "I feel bad for the kids I am coaching because we have built a relationship." And then to defend his work he can say "Ask what the current major leaguers think of my managing" The sentence as it was had no logical connection. I don't dislike Doug M and yes, he might have said something different today.

“I feel bad for the kids who played for me, including the ones I managed that are helping the Twins make a run for the playoffs right now. Ask any of them about me as a manager.” Why would he feel bad for the kids that played for him that are now playing elsewhere? Does he really think they will have a hard time dealing with it? Sounded rather passive aggressive to me.

Well, you might not be talking abstracts here but I was responding to a post about Molitor as a manager. Even in context of this specific game and pitcher would you have been saying the same thing if the 2nd guy Colon faced in the 7th hit into a double play and he got the next guy on a pop up and we win 3-2? If Molitor replaced him to start the 7th would you have been saying he should have been replaced an inning earlier? Maybe you would have. Honestly, if he had been taken out after the 5th and whoever relieved him gave up a bunch of runs there would be plenty on here ripping Molitor for taking Colon out while he had only given up one run in 5 innings. Maybe it wouldn't have been you but it would have been somebody.

It wasn't just the walk. It was a 4 pitch walk. I have no big problem with Molitor. He does stuff I don't love but it works sometimes. . He mostly uses his good guys when a win is within reach and his worse guys when games are trending bad. I do think this is the reason the record is better than the runs for and against says it should be. As far as having a feel for a bullpen or when and how to replace starters it is very simple. 1. If a pitcher is going well and gives up a walk and or a hit and the manager replaces the pitcher and the reliever fails, then the manager made a bad choice. 2. Pitcher is going well and gives up a walk and or a hit and the manager leaves him in and he gives up a runs, then the manager made a bad choice. 3. Same as one but the reliever succeeds, manager gets no credit. 4. Same as 2 but the starter succeeds, manager gets no credit. Go to any web page of any team that has lost close and you will almost certainly find fans panning the manager. Gardenhire was voted top 2 manager of the year 6 times and was criticized nightly for his use of the bull pen. This is the guy considered one of the top 2 out of 15 6 times! If you want a manager that has a great feel for when to replace guys and when to leave guys in so that fans later say stuff like, "yep, even though we lost because he left the starter in and the starter gave up runs, it was the right move" you will find him in the unicorn section. What really amuses me is that if a guy has thrown 85 pitches and gives up a hit and or a walk and the manager goes out to talk to him and the pitcher says he is feeling good and the catcher says he is throwing well the manager leave him in. If the next pitch is a hit then the manager lifts the pitcher. Like he fine before the one pitch but not after. Maybe it was a good pitch and the batter got lucky or made a great swing..

Its never obvious to me. It always looks like he is about to get shelled from the first inning on. Only became obvious to me when he walked a guy because he just can't afford those. I see Pressley and think "why isn't he an all star with his stuff" I see Colon and think "why isn't he pitching in a beer softball league somewhere with his stuff".