insagt1

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.

Congrats Twins. OK. As they exited the dugout they looked like a team that had just been eliminated from postseason....and rightfully so. today's game was simply awful, just like Friday. The hitting was atrocious...all those k's which I swear will be their downfall. And what was pinch hitting for the only guy who is hitting? Seriously, as a fan I want to win every game. This was Rocco saying, the hell with it...lets get off the field. Maybe he knew the team was stinking out the joint. The bullpen was malignant. Does anyone think Romo still has anything left? but outside of May, nobody pitched well. Cruz and Sano....don't know what to say about those two right now....except they aren't helping the team. Sano's single prevented his BA to sink under .200. I fear the Twins might not have the AB's anymore to beat even Houston...a sub .500 club. But we'll see. We backed into the division title, which really doesn't feel good. But the bigger issue was a very poorly played game...two of them this weekend. We will now wonder if Donaldson and Buxton will be in the lineup on Tuesday.

So it was the GIDP. Cruz just isn't getting good swings anymore. I know its anathema to say sit him...but he just isn't effective anymore.

ok Nelson...here's your chance. I see 3 options: a strike out a GIDP, or a big hit.He has done a lot of the first 2...not much of the 3rd. So he's due.

If Cruz or Sano manage to come up with a game winning hit today...I will be happy, but still pretty concerned. Nice inning by May. (I wonder if Romo or Rogers will come in late and ........oh never mind

Pen has blown two leads. Here's a newsflash: Cruz hasn't squared one up in about 3 weeks. His swings are not powerful..only tentative. Sano...just needs to chart pitches on Tuesday. He takes the only pitch per AB that he could hit and then he swings wildly at pitches out of the zone. I would think seriously about putting both those guys on the bench. It may be radical...but the k's are killing Twins rallies. Maybe I'd cut Cruz a bit of slack...but Sano needs to sit. He isn't adding a thing to the team. Best of 3 playoff series are serious business and you just can't keep giving away outs. Twins will capture the division...but I'd like for it to be with a win....not a back-in.

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?

ah--I see they listened to me and sat Sano down tonite. He should sit tomorrow too. And maybe even game 1. I have lost all confidence in him. Yes, he'll hit a mistake a long way...once every few games perhaps...but the k's and lack of any kind of hits makes him worse than a pitcher at bat. Harsh...perhaps, but you can't be batting around .100 for this long and expect to get AB's with playoffs looming. (not if you want to win anyway

excellent work!!! I love this playoff format. They should keep it. It keeps more fans engaged after 4th of July and face it....fans love post season. They should keep this and they should keep the DH for both leagues. They should keep the 3 batter rule for relievers. As for the extra inning rule....I have never been a fan...but it does get the job done, and it adds a bit of drama immediately. I consider it a gimmick like the shoot out in hockey and should never be used in post season...but if they do decide to keep it, I won;t argue the point.

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.

and this game has gotten away from us. Reds getting key hits; Twins are striking out. Berrios was good initially, but its time to get him out of there.

Twins with some butt ugly AB's with runners on base tonite. Again, too many k's. Is this going to be one of those nights?

2-1 Reds. Twins fanning too much tonite and leaving men on base. Bux with 2 real bad AB's. Sano and Garver ...about normal. Cruz still has to get some good swings. Berrios has this happen to him a lot. One pitch can bury him when his mates aren't giving him run support. Sano is now reminding me of Chris Davis. Davis can't hit the beach with sand. He needs to start making contact again....anywhere.

Garver is actually as troublesome as Sano. Mitch has fanned 12 times in his last 18 AB's and it also averaging about 1 k per 2 AB's. His AB's have been pretty ugly. Donaldson...might have noticed I believe when he hit his pop up...I don't think he even ran it out. Looked like he headed for the dugout...which I thought was odd since it was a fair ball. did anyone else see it that way. Something may have happened on his swing?

You could have bet your paycheck that Sano was going to whiff....he is just going up there hacking with no confidence at all. He is not helping. Donaldson is out. Uh-oh. Actually I don't like him batting 2nd. He doesn't seem to be able to move a runner and in fact he is a major DP liability. But right now, you have to be concerned about Sano. He looks awful.

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.

Should be interesting playing a team we hardly ever play for our final 3 games. Cincy is red hot and fighting for a playoff spot. Falvey aside (he says none of this seeding matters) I think Twins want to win the division...and they want to go into post season playing well...not just going thru the motions or resting players unnecessarily. In pro sports, you should always play to win, all the time., 'losing' to win is just not right IMO.

Wow--with the Indians sweeping the Sox, Twins now hold a 1 game lead with 3 to play. Suddenly their fate is in their own hands now. What a very strange turn of events. So they lead Cleveland by 2 and hold the tiebreaker, thus its pretty unlikely the Indians can catch us. There could be a 3 way tie if Twins lose all 3, Indians win 2 and Sox win 1. In that event I believe they said last night Twins would get the tiebreaker for 1st place based on their better record against the two opponents.(haven't checked that out...but thats what they said) Not to worry, that won't happen. But Indians definitely could move up to 2nd. If we fail to hang on to 1st, looks like there is no way Yanks get home field now if we have to play them. (I think)

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.

so can we say then that the Twins are playing 31 home games...since they are being recorded as 21-5 at home? Despite Falvey...home field is important for Minnesota. they are more 'comfortable' playing on their turf and in a short series having that advantage, no matter how small it may seem, is really huge. Doesn't matter about no fans, its their home park and clearly it has made a big difference this short season. I remain concerned about Sano and Cruz. Sano has only 2 hits in his last 26 or so AB's...both HR's. And a ton of k's. Cruz's last 7 games have been equally as bad. He is not producing runs despite tons of chances. Since Sept 1 he has 3 RBI. Can that be? With both those key hitters in the tank, Twins are going to have to dig deep down for some other slumping hitters to step up.