insagt1

Braves woke up today and sang..its a wonderful day in the neighborhood...great day for a sweep.

2 more useless k's..both guys fan on 3-2 pitch a mile out of the strike zone. When is this insanity going to stop. Twins have a shot at 20 k's today. Braves are good but Twins making them look more good than necessary. I would start pinch 'hitting' for just about everyone now!!🥴

So incredibly frustrating watching this team try to bat. So predictable that Gallo would fan. Solano too. They cannot hit with men on, They can't even produce outs that move runners. Can't tell me that we couldn't use Arraez, even if he were hitting 100 points less, in these situations? these guys look lifeless at the plate. And in truth, they are. 9 k's already halfway thru. Sigh...

one thing for sure..Buxton is a gamer and should never be accused of 'being soft'. He only knows one speed...all out. That makes all of this more frustrating. His history would imply that putting on the IL for 10 days, or 20 days, or even 2 months isnt going to heal him up. He had the entire offseason to heal and it didn't happen. His body is betraying him by degree. Remember Bobby Orr? His career ended in 9 years because his knees were shot and unfixable to play his sport. No one ever accused Orr of being soft. His body just didn't let him play anymore. Buck may be in that same category. His knees may be shot. And the rest of his body can't compensate anymore, so its one injury after another.

expected a lot more from Correa and Buxton for sure. Kepler and Gallo--didn't expect much from the get-go. Will the former 2 improve 2nd half? Will the latter 2 be gone by the ASG? Is Kirilloff going to make it this season? His BA is fair, and his power is gone. Where does he fit in? Maybe he needs more games to get back into the groove after his surgeries? Does Larnach have a place on this team ultimately? Will Miranda get another shot this season? Stevenson? Will Twins finally cut Pagan? How much longer will that experiment continue? His 'good stuff' is apparently only 'good' when nothing is on the line. Losing to the Braves is no crime but it does point out just how far below the Twins are this season when compared to the really good teams.

The Braves are just .001 away from being the best team in MLB. I think they already are. These last 2 games were no contests. Twins hitters can't figure it out. When they aren't striking out with runners in scoring position, they are hitting weak grounders and pop ups. What to fix first? Plate approach. The k's MUST be reduced. Then they look at how to make better contact to start driving the ball again. They had so many chances yesterday but looked like a little league team at the plate. (the opposition can help that look) Clearly when you are playing a team like Atlanta, talented over the top, you change your approach. Runner at 3rd, one out (and you are hitting like crap) lay one down and get that guy home. Runner on 1st and a DP or K-man up next...steal a base. Other teams are doing it. Figure out how to manufacture runs instead of flailing away trying to hit it 500 feet. Cut the deadwood. Make some changes. St.Paul has some talent that needs to be looked at. Leadership. Since Cruz left, there has been none. Since Eddie and Turtle left (for all their weaknesses) there is no excitement. This team isn't having any fun. Even in a miserable division, they have been on top but they certainly don't look like they are enjoying it. Correa, Buxton, Gallo and Kepler have been major disappointments so far. Polanco has been hurt most the season. Kirilloff seems to have lost all his power. Twins have reached the halfway mark under .500 but still .5 in first. That isn't going to last the week. The talent may be there, but the execution isn't. Could be a long hot miserable summer.

men against boys. Twins have been totally overmatched against the Braves. We threw our best against them and it didn't work. And our hitters just didn't show up. And of course there's Pagan! Sheesh

Nice to still see Pagan turn a close game into a not-close game.

someone today said, in a battle of 1st place teams...Braves vs Twins. Hee hee.Braves are the top team in the NL and 2nd overall. Twins are in 17th place overall and only 9th out of 15 in the AL. Some battle!!

12 more k's, the last 2 totally predictable. Good pitchers know how to pitch to a hitter's weaknesses. Gallo and Buck have major weaknesses. Anyone know how many games this year the Twins have k'd 10 or more times? I'm thinking, rough guess...a lot.

In 8 of his last 12 starts he has allowed 3 or more runs and often one inning is his downfall. While Twins don't get him many runs for sure, if you are allowing 4 1/2 earned runs on average per game, you need a lot of offense to win. My point remains, he hasn't been the 'ace' (yet) we all hoped for. Will that change? We ALL hope it does.

I really do struggle though with 'several excellent seasons'. One, possibly two? Very low BA; high strikeout ratio, some power, but not extraordinary, OK defense. He just isn't the guy you build your offense around. And yeah, the guy just cannot touch a change-up. Its painful watching him flail away. Other than that, I guess he's fine.

The strikeout is the most useless out in baseball. Nothing happens and you don't give the opposition a chance to make a mistake. You don't hit into that many DP's to justify any 'value' of a strikeout. Twins have blown so many scoring opps with strikeouts by the boatload. Gallo is actually worse than Sano ever was. He needs to be gone by the ASG. Time to give Miranda another shot. Also how about Stevenson? What could it hurt? See what he might be able to do. Kepler can't hit but occasionally he gets a hot streak. The Gallo signing was not a good one, but I guess they were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle...change of scenery has really helped Aaron Hicks for example. But you can't keep playing 2 guys who have not hit over .140 for over a month. (Joey and Buck)

Just an observation or two. First, happy with the win today (Always happy with wins!) Season half over and our guy we got for Arraez has not won a game since May 27 and in that game he pitched 5.2 innings and gave up 4 runs. For whatever reason, he doesn't produce wins for the team. His ERA since his last win is pretty bad and overall it has hovered around 4.50. He gets a lot of k's but he gives up too many runs. Let's hope for a much better result 2nd half. Twins hitters have elevated the strikeout to an art form worthy of the Louvre. The main concern going forward has to be the very lousy performances so far of several key players. Gallo is hitting .139 in June and has fanned 15 of his last 22 AB's. In his career he has hit above .209 only once so what were the Twins thinking? Buxton is hitting .135 in June. Kirilloff is hitting .194 in June and he seems to have lost most of his power. Correa is only hitting .228 in June with 22 k's in 79 AB's. Kepler has perked up slightly this past week but overall is having another awful season. It has become business as usual for Twins to strike out at least 10 times or more every game. For them to even consider winning the division, this has to improve. (says Mr. Obvious) Series with NL top team Atlanta followed by 2nd best team in the AL (O's) will be a real test.

Lopez with yet another non-winning start. Sure he gets the 'k's (doesn't everyone though) but one bad inning seems to be the norm for him and its enough to sink him, given the fact that the Twins can't hit for crap. His ERA is still around 4.50 which is just flat out no good. (for a top starter) Expected more from him. Unrealistic? Its a debatable point 3 months in.

3 k's. 13 total. I hate this team. What an ugly game.

and there's the 2nd 'k'. Is this team so predictable or what?

there's the 1st 'k'...an easy one (Gallo)

ok--how many k's in the 9th will it take to finish off the Twins? I figure minimally 2. (I'd REALLY love to be all wrong on this. It would be so refreshing to see a Twins comeback against this team that really seems to have their number this season)

I have always felt that a relief pitcher doesn't need so many warm-up pitches after throwing so many in the bullpen. Do they really need 8 pitches to 'get used to the mound'? Twins had their shot in the 8th and as usual failed to produce. Even if they manage to hold off the Tigers from further scoring, they will probably go 1,2,3 in the 9th. I would shut Buxton down now for as many months as it takes to get him healed (if thats ever going to be possible) Call up Miranda and give him another shot.

soon as Twins load the bases you know nothing good will come of it. Naturally a 'k' ends the inning which is the Twins favorite AB. So frustrating to get 3 men on base after 2 outs and nothing to show for it. As for Buxton, anyone think he wasn't going to get injured sooner than later? The poor guy just can't stay healthy. So Pagan starts off the 8th with a walk. That too is never good, especially with Pagan on the mound. Twins will pay dearly for not scoring in the top of the 8th.

a Complete Game Shutout!!! Wow..someday that will be as rare as a.....complete game shutout!

agree with above and have voiced same opinion. Right now the trade looks awful but it could change. Also topics like this are good for this website because they do elicit a wide spectrum of comments. Why have forums like this if commentary can't flow..emotional or not. My constant thought for years on any trade has been,...be very careful when you trade an everyday position player for a pitcher. Unless that pitcher is a bonafide game changer, its usually not that hot of an idea. If the everyday player is definitely expendable, then perhaps you roll those dice. So halfway thru 2023 it can be said Miami is getting a lot more out of this trade than Minnesota. Let's see if Arraez can sustain and if Lopez can improve. Will the Marlins make post season and will the Twins also somehow sneak in.

Mike--curious to know how management at St.Paul feels about the ABS system being tested in AAA this season. Here is Rochester our manager (and most hitters) like it a lot. It is used in the 1st 3 weekday games. If you are at the game you really have no idea its being used, because there is still an ump behind the plate. Each team is allowed 'challenges' (I think 5 per game) if they feel the ump got it wrong. Clearly there is strategy as to when to use the challenge. Personally I like it a lot because it seems to be working. It kinda forces the batters to swing at more pitches because they know if it really is a strike, it will be called. And if it means more balls in play, thats a big plus. As for the pitch clock--that is working fine too. There have been very few called balls or strikes because the pitcher wasn't ready or the batter wasn't in the box. The big debate I see is when an automatic strike is called to end a close game. Or a bases loaded ball is called to force in a winning or tying run. It has happened a couple times as you know. But I like the current pace. I also really like the end of the shift. Legitimate balls hit in the hole between 1st and 2nd are hits again, as they should be. One old 'rule' that I was delighted to see disappear was one that should have never happened at all...the 'neighborhood play at 2nd'. I get that it was supposed to reduce injuries but it got way out of hand. Runners were called out with the fielder practically in the outfield when taking the throw. It has been fun in recent years watching AAA ball because we are the league that gets to test out all the new stuff.

I think the 'triple crown' stats have been used for a long time, specially BA. Remember when a HR was was called when a ball bounced over the fence (today's ground rule double)? I believe the gurus of the day determined that none of Ruth's HR's bounced over the fence! Also there was a time when a pitch clock was not needed because the batter stayed in the box for the entire AB, and pitchers who noodled around on the mound were not viewed positively by teammates because they didn't stay sharp when playing the field. Games were played in shorter times partly too because more pitchers threw complete games, meaning fewer pitcher changes. I'd like to think that watching the games today hasn't changed that much. Most of the metrics 'talk' usually comes from watching the games online where these things can be discussed in true time. Do I think 'all' progress is bad? Of course not. When I was a kid we had one televised game per week. You could only listen to your favorite team with a good AM radio. You got your 'stats' in the Sunday paper. You could also subscribe to the Sporting News. Today everything is at our fingertips and you get to watch every game every night if you wish. Thats pretty awesome. Whatever the case, its not working for the Twins this year!! Wish that would change.