insagt1

We always worried that Buxton couldn't stay healthy. This year a new wrinkle...he has been sort of injured all season long. He is not having a good season. He has hit some HR's, but he is also striking out a ton...nearly Sano-esque, which kills a lot of rallies. Since his knee is hurt, he loses more of his tools...base stealing and playing in the field everyday. And it also seems to be impacting his offense. So with Buck not being Buck, and Correa not being the Correa we paid for; and Kepler having a terrible season; and Polanco struggling; and the pitching less than stellar...can we realistically be disappointed that this is probably a 3rd place team in a weak division? Is it too late to recover? No. Did we expect to compete with the Dodgers? No, not too many teams this year have. Our only hope is the 17 games left with Chi and Cleve. If they can't win those, then they don't deserve post season anyway. This year's team is pretty flawed...better than last year, but not really worthy of winning a division. At least, for now.

No chance he'll be back this season unless twins are totally out of the race and they just want to give him some courtesy AB's to say goodbye. He just never learned to be a legit major league hitter. Sort of like Adam Brett Walker...could hit the ball a mile..when hr connected...which wasn't very often.

I think the head to head with Cleveland and Chicago decides the division. Twins have 17 games left with those two. If they can beat them, they will win the division. If not, they finish 3rd and out of the playoffs. While Twins have been woefully inconsistent, thankfully so have the Guards and Sox. No one really wants to step up and take charge. but I think that will be changing. I'm not real confident the Twins have the horses to compete, but we'll see.

Outside of the very informed posters here, I wonder how many 'baseball fans' out there have a clue about all the letters and numbers being tossed about in MetricLand. I don't know what most any of it means, and to be fair, I don't care either. too much analysis can reduce this game to not being fun. OK, rant over on that one. What I am 'seeing' when watching Carlos play is a guy who is having an off-year...based on what was expected. Failure? No. bust? No. Disappointing for what he cost? Yes, so far. This is not a good time for him to be slumping. Not a good time for Twins to have to face the Dodgers when 1st place is hanging by a thread. For them to win the AL Central, they need to have their key guys all playing better...that means Correa, Buxton, Polanco and Kepler all need to start getting the job done. None of them are having particularly great seasons. but there is still time and until they drop a couple to the Dodgers, they are still on top, by a razor thin margin. We have yet to see the Correa we thought we were getting. I hope that changes.

Feel bad for him but his time in Minnesota is definitely over. He has no place to play and his offense has disappeared. Yeah, he might get a HR once in awhile, but its not worth it. My worry is that Buxton could be becoming Sano-lite. Buck has demonstrated power this year, but with his chronic injuries, his once awesome tools are diminished. His 'k' rate is alarming. Many of his critical AB's have been pretty ugly. He doesn't play CF as much. This has not been a good season for him, despite 26 HR's. He needs to be a big factor down the stretch. I wonder if it will happen. But since this thread is about Sano...I'll just say, good-bye Miguel. Its time.

This one was right up there with that 1st base ump blowing the call to rob that kid of a perfect game. Clearly got it wrong. Interesting that the same thing apparently happened in Baltimore too, An out call was reversed for the same reason. Terrible rule. Calls on the field are supposed to stand unless there is clear, irrefutable evidence to the contrary...which there wasn't. Toronto gifted us a win on Saturday and the boys in NY gifted them a win today. buxton--a growing enigma. What a terrible AB today...as his k's continue to mount. In and out of the lineup...that can't help him getting into a groove. Coming in cold today was a sure bet he would 'Sano' the AB. I also agree Kepler should have tagged up in the 10th. You must get that runner over to 3rd and he had a legit shot at doing so. guess it still hurts to run. Tough loss.

So Twins get a huge gift and steal a win. So Lopez didn't get it done but the other new guy Fulmer did with a gutsy 10th. No mistake...this game was butt ugly all the way. But it was a much needed win...and a 2 game lead on the Guardians. Whew

Twins probably don't deserve to win this one with their incredible incompetence at the plate tonite. So many blown opportunities but here we are tied in the bottom of the 10th with yet another shot at putting this one away.

OK--so Sox lost too. Today is just a push. And all things considered, its a decent result for the Twins, given how badly this game has gone. I'd like to see somebody come out tomorrow and give us 7 or 8 innings...a refreshing change.

I am and have said so. But in looking at his career stats..his BA is only 10 points under his career BA. His extra base power is down...Slugging and OPS are down. Not 'seriously' but enough to notice he isn't having the season he had last year for sure. As of those other wfPQKTRT@6JK+ stats that I have no clue what they mean or why...I'll let the guys who use them and like them tell that tale. I happily yield!

Twins with a charmed life though. Guardians have lost and Sox may also lose (down 3-2 in the 8th)

This one is over. Pagan and Duffey should be gone. Magill wasn't very good either. Starter pitches 5 scoreless; pen gives up 9 in 3 innings...so far. May as well keep Duffey in there to take his lumps. Then handshakes and good-bye fellas. Jays are a better team overall than the Twins but maybe not THIS good.

Bullpen tonite doesn't have it. They aren't fooling anyone.

My question (anyone can answer) is WHY are so many starters gassed after 4 or 5 innings now? Because of this, we get what we got in the 6th inning by a pitcher who probably shouldn't even be on the team. Was mentioned that Buxton-Polanco-Correa need to be carrying this team down the stretch. None of them are having 'carrying the team' seasons. Buxton has been hurt all year and has turned into a K machine, except for the occasional HR's. Much is expected of those guys, whether they like it or not. Arraez hasn't been himself for a month and the BA is tumbling pretty fast. Twins may still pull this one out, but if not, Pagan, the 'd' and an impotent offense will have been the culprit.

This is where all those brand new metric-type stats can be misleading. His BA is not very good (for a superstar). He has average power (ok) and his run production is average at best. And he k's a lot. So he can WAR all season long, but I think he needs to do more to justify the contract. I do agree that he still has time to be the go-to guy but so far, the 'eye test' says he isn't quite there yet. Just what I'm seeing. You guys may see it totally differently.

Horrible inning all around. Pagan just cannot be trusted at all. The 'd' fell apart. And why can't any starter go more than 5 innings? Is this a new MLB rule? guy was pitching a shutout. Up until a year ago, that meant he stayed in until either his arm fell off or he coughed up a run or two. Bigger issue at the moment is that Twins aren't hitting a lick. (of course neither were the Jays until the batting practice machine was inserted.)

Correa has not been a stud on the field, like we hoped, but perhaps his value has gone way beyond what goes on between the lines. I think whether he stays depends on how the Twins do the rest of the way. There are so many injuries. And so many players having not so good seasons. But Twins have a lot of games left with Cleveland and Chicago...and thats where the Central will be decided. Its in the Twins hands.

The wrist is totally vital to a ballplayer. Swinging a bat against 100mph pitches requires strong wrists. (I think of Hank Aaron--hitting all those HR's with those strong wrists always comes to mind) Kirilloff, like Buxton, just seems to be fragile where it counts. Alex may never be right again. And Buxton will never have an injury free season apparently. He is always hurt and it is slowly robbing him of all his tools. His body just keeps betraying him. It can't compensate for the way he needs to play. Looking more like Alex probably needs to shut it down and do what is needed to try and salvage his career for 2023.

Twins did get some pitching. Unfortunately as has been mentioned, the bats just aren't there right now. The 'big guns' are shooting mostly blanks. Buxtons fragility is taking a toll. Basically what everyone feared is again taking place. He is hurt all the time. All the time. And when he's not hitting a HR, his bat is pretty useless sad to say. He has to sit out games just to insure he can play a game or two. His blinding speed has been muted. Don't know if that will ever change. Polanco and Correa, IMHO, have been major disappointments in 2022. Polo isn't getting those clutch hits anymore and Correa is not playing like the superstar we thought we were getting. Arraez is still a good bet to win the AL batting title, but a cautionary tale...he has been hitting under .300 for over a month now. Kepler, now hurt has chipped in once in awhile. Larnach--hurt. Kirilloff maybe hurt for good. Offense from the catchers has been abysmal. Sanchez started OK but has totally disappeared. Jeffers, now hurt, has been a huge disappointment. Sano has probably played his last game with the Twins, contributing zero in 2022, to no ones surprise I'm guessing. For this team to win the division, the offense must get better and get healthy. The guys paid to do the heavy lifting have to improve. We have focused on the lack of pitching. Twins have tried to take care of that, but in honesty, the offense has been a killer for much of the season. Injuries have been brutal, yes, and they don't seem to be going away, but the team has to be able to overcome them. The keys, for me, are Buxton, Correa and Polanco. This trio must get a lot better down the stretch. Buck strikes out too much, when he is in there. He'll probably be hurt for the rest of the season so good luck with that. Correa and Polanco need to take a giant leap forward and put this team on their backs. And we go from there. Last nights loss to Detroit was disheartening. Jax didn't have it and the lineup was pretty feeble as the Twins scrambled to find healthy bodies. Its not going to get any easier...especially with so many games left with the probable division champ White Sox. (hope I'm wrong on that one!)

They were one ahead on July 1 and they are one ahead on Aug 1. but they are certainly on fumes. Not playing good baseball. But they shouldn't throw in the towel. The team is fixable. And you have to think that most of the slumping hitters can't all slump together for two more months can they? But the numbers are pretty ugly right now.

No matter where they plug Pagan in, he fails. I think he needs to be gone. Sometimes there are pitchers who just can't rise to any occasion. Pagan has really failed the Twins. Sano--he might be done for the season, but he shouldn't play another inning for the Twins. He is a spare part at best. Correa--underwhelming. Very disappointing. Polanco--having a poor season based on what he has accomplished up to now. Sanchez--a total bust. The picture is not very bright for the Twins. Wonder if they can do anything about it in the next 24 hours?

Nope. Sano just half-heartedly waved at 3 pitches. Thats 3 for 3 in k's. Twins can't afford to keep him in the lineup and wait for him to get those 100 AB's he needs to 'warm up' and start hitting.

This is the sort of game where he might hit a meaningless 450 footer... he did have a chance early on to actually tie the game with a dinger. But we know how that worked out.

Well there is a semi-attractive blonde sitting right above the 'P' in the Petco sign.

just flip Sano for the The Turtle. We'll be trading all those strikeouts for all those first pitch weak pop-ups! Choose the poison. While our pitching is just plain lousy, we should take a hard look at our lineup. It isn't exactly purring along. Outside of Arraez and maybe Miranda, it has been pretty disappointing. Even Buck's 25 HR's can't hide a BA of under .220, a low OBP and high on the MLB leaderboard in k's. Polo and Correa are not getting it done to the extent they are needed. Don't need to go over everyone...they are all having less than stellar years so far. Will they hang on to 1st on August 1st? Might not.