insagt1

I really like Hill as well. He is savvy and lately he seems to be in total control of his pitches. Not flashy....not blazing speed but great location and mix of his pitches. He probably won't get a start in this series, but surely if the Twins advance (they are going to) he may get a start and he certainly deserves one. The FO has done a decent job obtaining the right mix of talent. And they seem to jell well in the dugout too. Despite the poor showing yesterday they clinched a division title...but you probably noticed they all exited the field and dugout looking pretty miserable. They weren't happy with their performance and hopefully the fire will ignite tomorrow when it really counts. There is nothing scientific about momentum in sports. However one thing does seem to happen a lot....winning begets winning and losing also does the same thing. when you are 'on a roll' you just seem to win games you probably shouldn't win...and when you are in the dumpster, you find ways to lose games that you should be winning. That does happen a lot in every sport. Trying to figure out the anatomy of winning streaks and losing streaks is an interesting endeavor.Same with batting streaks and slumps. The beauty of sports and one of the things I have loved about baseball since the late '50's...you play everyday so you can quickly forget about a bad game or you just can't wait to get back out there and play again. No other sport is like baseball. for a myriad of reasons. Bring on the Cheaters! And send them home.

Yeah I get it. Look, some don't like any kind of pessimism or negativity no matter what so any kind of talk like that will engender what you are reading. OTOH, some don't mind it as long as it can be tempered with 'the good stuff'. Thats what makes a fan a fan. Different viewpoints. this isn't a sermon from the pulpit. Its just sports conversation. Sano strikes out a lot. so does Garver. Cruz isn't hitting at all. So lets not talk about it right? Afterall the Twins won 36 games. Kepler and Arraez are hot. Acknowledged. And appreciated. Maeda and Hill are very good. Romo is very bad. Rogers isn't the same pitcher he was. Don't talk about it. Polanco suddenly can't hit. But Eddie can still get those clutch hits sometimes. Buxton needs to play. Please. Donaldson to me hasn't impressed that much, but it is small sample size. Gotta love Duffey and sometimes May and Wisler. Pineda and Berrios could do well..or maybe not. Hopefully the former. There...some good some bad. Bottom line....BEAT THE CHEATERS. Break the losing streak. Move ahead and get to the WS. THAT would be.....(fill in any superlative that floats your boat) BTW...anyone know if we can get Wade back on the roster?

one might have been tempted to laugh at that supposition...except the scope of their cheating was bigger than most of us ever imagined. We need to beat them..2-0. Period

Dear fwins friends, I expected these kind of responses. Thats fine. I have watched baseball for over 6 decades. I like you have probably watched all their games. I stand by every word I posted...not to be 'negative' for negatives sake but to be realistic. Can anyone honestly say that the Twins are playing at their best right now? Until they can prove or earn gold stars they must finally be able to win a game or two in post season. this 'slump' hasn't lasted a just a couple of series against the hated Yankees...it has gone on for many years. Comments like 'wow may as well not watch the series ' are self serving and foolish. Can;t take a bit of reality? I could just as well say something equally as silly...like if you can't take a bit of negativity, why watch sports at all, because nobody wins all the time. We want to beat Houston in the worst way. I agree that most the baseball world is pulling for us to eliminate Houston, for obvious reasons. But it goes deeper than that for us. WE have to finally learn how to win a post season game. The stakes are high and several of the Twins players are not performing at their best when we need them most. Thats not 'negativity'..thats just the way it is and there is litttle time to fix it. Can they? Of course they can and we all want them to. But the highs and lows of the players have been expressed all across these boards and thats OK.If you don't like a discouraging word, you can pretty easily ignore my posts and I won't be offended. When they win you can bet the house I'll be the trumpet in the cheering section. I am pretty heavily invested in the Twins successes, as they have been the parent of my Red Wings for several years and I have watched with pride as many have graduated from the Wings to the Twins successfully. While I cheer for them, I can also be objective. When I said we were entering the playoffs at low tide, it was an observation of recent games...win and lose. The team doesn't have the swagger I want to see and too many players are struggling. But the thing about tides (I am an 8 year veteran of the navy) is that they rise and fall daily. So the tide may turn and we hope it does. I hate losing...unrealistic as it is, I want to win them all. Thats why we are called fans (for 'fanatics') What I won't do however if boo their failures. I know they are trying their best and sometimes it isn't good enough. I want to win as bad as all of you...I will express things differently sometimes but the goal is still the same.

Lately Cruz's contributions have been with the players, on the bench, not in the field. His body of work cannot be denied, but darn this is a terrible time to completely lose his stroke at the plate. And it isn't just a game or 3...it has been a few weeks. Romo...a ''former' proven winner. He sure isn't one now. I wouldn't trust him with a 10 run lead. He has 'earned' his spot way down the line...maybe not even in the line. Hill--It wouldn't be that far-fetched to give him a start in the playoffs. He is one veteran who is currently earning his keep. Clippard--on and off. Its hard, right now, to hand out bouquets after several less than stellar performances by the team. they have the talent to get to the WS, when everyone is on board. Right now, maybe half are there..while so many others just look like they have played 162 games. This season has been a grind for sure. So I tip my cap to all who have given it their best. The team that wants it the most will prevail. And that team may not be one of the high seeds.

Twins enter the playoffs at low tide. They are banged up and far too many hitters are in dreadful slumps. I wonder if Cruz is hurt. When he can't even get fly balls to the outfield anymore and he takes tentative swings, something is wrong. Sano is just plain out of confidence. It would be addition by subtraction if he sat out the first round. What would we lose? Simply 9 or 10 unproductive outs. Garver can't hit a lick this season. Polanco suddenly looks terrible at the plate. Buxton was our sparkplug but before he was beaned he had fanned 7 of his last 12 AB's. Donaldson so far has not earned his big contract. He has good leather but his hitting has been inconsistent and his temper tamtrum maybe cost his team a win last week. The fact that he justifies what he did is more troublesome. The bullpen has not been sharp. Romo and Rogers in particular really don't need to be pitching. Wisler had a bad week. The starters have saved the day for the most part. They have looked strong...save Berrios, who had a poor outing on Friday. Its nice to be playing a different opponent in this short series, but I wouldn't be giving the Twins, right now, much of an advantage. They were going thru the motions today once they saw the 6-0 score in the Sox game. From that point, they were listless and not fun to watch. Can half of this slumbering offense flip the switch? As Twins fans, starved for a playoff win, we hope so. Will the k's stop? Will these guys recognize that often the best pitch they will get to hit is the first one, especially when pitchers know the hitters are swinging outside the zone. Should the Twins be able to beat the cheaters from Houston? Of course. Will they? Not if they continue to ignore the fundamentals. Not if the bullpen can't pitch shutdown innings when it matters. If they play like Saturday....different story. Is Rocco gutsy enough to bench some of his slump ridden players, even for one game? Put sentimentality aside. Give them the eye test. And then be brave.

Baseball is a business...and as such they will do whatever it takes to make more $$..and that means more teams in postseason...making the 2nd half of any season more exciting for more teams and their fans. So, we'll have to see what changes they keep and which ones they don't. Last nights game was a good as Friday's game was bad. Two completely different 'looks' for sure. What I liked last night was we had a lineup that didn't put two runners on with no outs and then watch 3 players swing from the heels, and striking out...stranding the runners. The number of k's the Twins have amassed lately is both aggravating and death-dealing when it comes to post season success. Arraez was certainly a breath of fresh air. Kepler seems to have shed his miseries both at bat and in the field. Eddie is contributing. Even Adrianza is doing some good things. What the Twins must do to stop the post season miseries that have lasted many years too long is to swallow hard and field a lineup that will produce based on how the players are performing now. If that means sitting Sano or Garver or maybe even Cruz...so be it. One could add Donaldson as well...except his 'd' is superior to anyone else they could put out there. But batting him 2nd....uh, no. this should be done at least in the short series that is upcoming. There just aren't enough innings to compensate for a Sano or Garver not being able to put the ball in play. Last nights lineup worked. I'd like to see it duplicated today as the Twins go for the Central Crown. I feel the same about Rogers and Romo too. They can no longer live on their past laurels. Neither has proved to be what we need come the 8th inning of a close game. Rogers won't have the luxury of allowing a run right away...maybe two before figuring things out. The mantra...we're going with the ones who got us here...only works in theory...not in a best of 3 series. You go with the ones who are getting you there now, and Twins have a few guys who just can't put the ball in play right now. Can't have that. I suspect Buxton won't play until Tuesday at the earliest...let's hope he passes thru concussion protocol and play at all. (caution...even he had a pretty unproductive week before the beaning) Finally, since I want to win...not try and exorcise demons, it would be nice to play a different opponent in the playoffs for a change. Prediction...Twins will win the Central...not by backing in with a Sox loss, but with a Twins win!!!

I think IMHO that they should be keeping Wade. Anyone have an update on Bux and Donaldson?

Twins are playing 'whiff'-le ball bigtime. Last nights game was very poor for sure. This is not the time to drag out what kind of pace we are on, or how good we HAD been. A 2 of 3 series is deadly and you have to be at your best. Here is the crappy news on 4 of our good hitters...Bux, Sano, Cruz and Garver. In their last combined 47 AB's they have 25 whiffs. In their last 100 AB's they have 48 whiffs. Bux has fanned 7 of his last 12; Garver 9 of his last 13; Cruz 5 of his last 10 and Sano 4 of his last 12, but 14 of his last 27. This is completely unacceptable as playoffs near. Twins are getting men on and leaving them there by swinging wildly and missing. I wouldn't mind benching Sano quite frankly and letting Wade or Gonzo or anyone else play 1st. If he is hitting .100 he isn't going to help us in a short series. Cruz sadly is looking 40 now. He has not contributed much in September and over the past 10 days he just looks totally out of it at the plate. Garver isn't making contact at all...except for the rare mistake. And even Buxton has not looked sharp lately...flailing away at those low outside pitches he was laying off for most the season. Our offense will have to be much better to win a short series. Right now, they look very beatable. Very little time to fix. They still control their destiny but it won;t be good if they continue to play like last night. For fans to be a bit grumpy right now is warranted. Teams that are hot and have their players ready to go are teams that win in post season. We haven't won even a game in post season in so long most of us have forgotten how it feels. Time to bucklle down.

This is interesting...of the 18 starting players in the lineup, 12 are hitting .228 or less. that is a ton of very bad BA's. In and among them you do have production however. How bad is Sano going? Last 15 games he has only 2 walks and is k'ing nearly once every two AB's. His BA over the last 7 is barely .100. In short, this is a legit slump and he has 3 games to battle out of it, or he may not be of much use in a short series. That may be harsh, but we all watch the games. He has looked lost at the plate. He has the talent...right now its a matter of confidence...clearly lack of it. We need him. Hope someone is working with him.

Playoff seeding will go right down to the last day. Too many variables at the moment.Its unlikely Cleveland can catch Twins. Even if they win today and trail Twins by 2, Twins would hold the tiebreaker. If Sox win today, Twins and Sox are tied, but Sox hold tiebreaker.Reds are on fire and will be a formidable foe for the Twins final 3 games. If Sox lose today, then I think Twins will be in the drivers seat. If Twins win the Central, what seed will they be? An outside shot at catching Tampa and also a decent shot to overtake Oakland (by percentages?) fun stuff. Last night...bullpen was very shaky. I still hope Rocco doesn't plan on running either Romo or Rogers out there with the game on the line. Forget their 'history'..what have they done lately? In Rogers case, he has been terrible. Romo has been totally inconsistent. Giving up that HR last night was not a good look for him. He got the 3rd out, but hardly deserved any kind of 'save'. Cave is picking a good time to start looking sharp. Thats a plus. Sano, OTOH is still in an abysmal slump. Not only isn't he getting hits, his AB;s are weak. That has to change, but time is running out for that. Is Cruz being kept out of the lineup for health precautions? Would seem he needs some AB's to break out of his slump too. Experiment of Bux leading off followed by Donaldson...not a good look. If Bux gets on and refuses to steal, what good is having a DP machine hitter like Donaldson following him? (Bux had one of his rare off nights at the plate last night) I still don't want to face NY in round one. Twins need a new opponent for post season. they can say all they want about 'this is a new season'. Yanks are in their heads and Yanks know it.

to be fair, Rogers is having a bad season and he has never been effective against the Yankees. This isn't being fickle, its watching the games and seeing Rogers struggle a ton this season. Is that a sin? No, just Twins might have better options right now.

observation: Rogers had a brilliant 2019. He is having a terrible 2020...his line is not at all good and he is surely not dependable anymore late in close games. This just isn't his year and his role needs to be changed...which is fine. Garver...his HR aside, his AB's have been awful. He is following Sano, whose AB;s lately have been simply terrible. He'll hit a mistake now and again, but he isn't getting good reads at the plate anymore and thats troublesome. Kepler--he has always been kind of streaky and now he is streaking 'well'...thankfully. He was huge last night. So was Rosario. Buxton--clearly the Twins brass has told him they don't want him stealing. Why else would one of the fastest players in MLB get on base in a late game situation, with a clear DP candidate up TWICE...and both times not even a sniff of a steal when the situation called for one quite obviously. And sure enough...DP's both times, when a steal would have totally changed the narrative. Thankfully ever other of his tools are working just fine. But its strange that he never once tried to steal. I think Twins can overtake Chicago. Last nights win was very satisfying Keep it going.

Two things bother me: 1) Falvey's comments on how 'it doesn't matter' if they don't get home field. Nice to talk bravado, but lets be brutally realistic. Does anyone think it really doesn't matter if the Twins get to play that first round at home (where they are very good) or at Yankee stadium (where Yanks are very good and Twins are hopeless) We probably can't beat them anyway...but playing at home would be a huge advantage if they are to have any chance. Falvey is in LaLa land if he thinks Twins will be competitive at Yankee Stadium...especially if it can be avoided. Play every game to win. Period. 2) Donaldson...cannot disagree more with his comments. What he did (whether it was the umps pettiness or not) was totally selfish and was totally 'I' 'Me' centered, with no regard for his team...struggling in a must needed game against their nearest opponent. They needed him in the lineup for his bat potential and his 'd'. How can a teammate possibly think getting tossed for something foolish can ever endear himself to his other teammates..seriously. He screwed up and was trying to rationalize and justify a very selfish thing. I find nothing noble or even justifiable about it. A real bad look. Maybe..if it was game 90 in a 162 game season you could overlook it. But not right now. OK, end of rant.

Absolutely never....never. Twins can't beat anyone at the moment but they can't beat the Yankees at all. This is akin to Bruins-Canadiens for so many years....no matter what...Bruins could never beat Montreal in post season...period. Twins aren't good enough to slay the dragon this year. For their own sanity (and ours) play somebody else. If we lose, well so be it. But please, not to the Yankees.

no excuse to not run Buxton in the 9th...statistics be damned. He is your fastest runner; the team desperately needed one run and Donaldson was a huge threat to do what he did...GIDP. I can't imagine too many managers that wouldn't have said...Bux...go on the first pitch. It was simply stupid...but they will spin it otherwise I'm sure. The slumps of Sano, Rosario, Cruz, Kepler couldn't come at a worse time in a short season. Twins hitters looked disinterested last night...again. Thats at least 5 straight games where they haven't strung 2 hits together. Time is running out to right the ship....or the playoffs will be 2 and out...no matter who they play.

Both Romo and Rogers are sort of fading and maybe they should not be used in late inning close games anymore? Yes? No? I'm thinking Yankees now. I don't know how the current Twins can beat NY unless many of their slumping hitters turn it around; the starters manage to give us at least 6 or 7 innings; and the pen is up to the challenge. What I saw of this last series was not a big vote of confidence in their post season chances. Collectively, they didn;t look very good, And there is little time to re-set at this point. I hope Rocco is saying something different to the players behind closed doors because something isn't right.

only possible reason for the pinch hitter was perhaps Jeffers was probably a strike out candidate....as Twins have been whiffing all week long with reckless abandon. The hope was The Turtle would at least put the ball in play...which he did, but not very well. But overall,it was just a lousy game.

Donaldson...nice HR. Horrible brain cramp to get tossed. Unforgivable to lose a key hitter and good d-man in an important game. Wow...what a moronic move.

Where would we be without Buxton...twice he gives us a lead. Twice the Sox homer to tie. I doubt Twins will score any runs without a HR today. And the woes of Cruz and Sano and maybe Rosario too continue. they have had awful AB's this series for the most part. Sano has just the one HR in his last 20 or so AB's, with a ton of whiffs. Cruz is in the worst slump of the season. Twins have to win this game.

Maeda is on his game today. Concerned about Sano and Cruz...both mired in miserable slumps. Cruz has fanned 9 times in 23 AB's over last 7 games. Sano has whiffed 11 times in 23 AB's over last 7 games. Both hitting way under .200 and leaving boatloads of runners on base. Lets hope those two very important players snap out of this. Neither looks good today either....so far.

Buxton needs to stay healthy if the Twins are to finally win a playoff series. Its becoming clear that he is the team MVP. While Cruz's exploits can't be ignored, Buxton can do it all and is a wonder to watch. But he can't be injured so much. Let's hope for the best. Looking at the BA's of last nights game....wow, were they ever ugly. Hard to believe with so many hitting so little that they are 11 games over .500. Twins have scored only 1 run in this series with a base hit. Lots of k;s and DP's have killed rallies. Still they are mostly successful, so I guess we should enjoy the ride. The caution though is a 3 game series is very dangerous and you can't take even an inning off. I agree with those who say Kepler shouldn't be leading off. But who should be? donaldson has a poor BA, but he also gets on base a lot. And he has a lot of catching up to do since he hasn't played much,. He'll be fine. Twins have to win today. Not just to get closer to 1st but to be able to beat this opponent. I think they can do it.

This was the first year of my life with no Red Wing baseball to attend. It was terrible. Whats worse is we have no way of knowing if it will even return in April. Minor league sports must have fans....and that is a huge problem at the moment.

Buxton is so key to Twins success. Its very clear they are babying him...the guy is SO fragile, he is just one play away from the injured list. But he is SO good. We need him to play. Marwin is gassed and Adrianza isn't much of a hitter. Wade OTOH isn't bad. I don't mind seeing him in there. And with a lineup that features several k-men, I would like to see Astudillo play more. He is a contact hitter extraordinaire. I know most here don't like him because of his 'd'..but right now our catchers aren't producing much offense. Plus he is just plain fun to watch. But I do see both sides of the argument. The division will probably come into sharp focus after the Twins play 3 against the Tribe followed by 4 against the WhiteSox. Those 7 games are going to be intense. all 3 teams will be in the playoffs, so only the seeding and 'home field' is at stake as to whether they finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Of course there is always bragging rights. Also fun to watch: the Yankees losing 15 of 20 (including 3 straight to the charging Orioles...who just might unseat the Payroll for the 8th playoff spot. What a story that would be. O's are 1/2 game back and have 4 to play with the Yanks coming up.

Ah, if ONLY Buxton could stay healthy. If that guy could stay in the lineup, lots of good things will happen. I'm betting though that one of his tools is probably going to go away...base-stealing. For him, its an injury just waiting to happen. Kepler...probably a combination of a 'benching' for lackadaisical play (he is a super outfielder most the time) and getting day off...his offense has not been good. Sano--better at 1B than 3rd. He's doing all right. He still k's way too much, but he is always a threat. He is who he is (cliche) I don't think Rogers should close anymore this short season. find a new role for him. Even with Kepler's error, a good closer gets out of that inning. rogers clearly doesn't have it this season. Props to Jake..he's like the red-headed stepchild of the team. Loved his enthusiasm, as well as the whole team last night. Hopefully they can build on it.