insagt1

Rosario kills the rally. Happens too much. I think Kepler is still very much hurt. His swings are tentative and weak. Nothing like the guy who was a terror until his injury. Twins needed to get some runs out of that rally...not a DP. Dobnak needs a quick 1st inning. Everyone in the park knows how important that would be for Minnesota.

No one on FS1 is picking the Twins today.and I don't really blame them. Until Twins demonstrate that they can actually beat this team, why would anyone pick them to win? If they do win today they can go home sky high...which would be real fun. If they lose, well,.....

They are absolutely correct in starting Dobnak today. Twins cannot beat the Yankees in any conventional way so doing something unconventional might shake things up. Nothing to lose...except our 15th straight post season game, adding to the record we wish we never had. Walking Yankee hitters and then having to throw 'perfect' 3-2 pitches just doesn't work against the Yanks. They collectively can be a lot more dangerous, against us, than we are against them. Once they get the rally started, Twins have been incapable of stopping it....for years. To beat NY, Dobnak must go at least 5 or 6 innings. Berrios didn't give us enough innings last night. Naturally our pen has to be a ton better, but its mostly location of pitches that continues to kill us. Nibbling is OK if you know how to control it. We don't, at least not against NY. Our hitters must be a lot more selective on deep counts. It was painful watching the k's on 3-2 pitches yesterday.. While I always maintain hope of beating them, I have little confidence they will do it...until they somehow put together a strong full game against this hated team. Over the last decade and more, there has been no evidence any collection of guys wearing Twins unis can do it. Win tonite or its say goodbye on Monday until 2020. Sometimes the bigger discouragement comes in not THAT you lose, but HOW you lose. Last nights game was terrible and Ithink the players know it. Publicly they will all say the positive things and thats fine....but privately they have to wonder what it takes to finally get this huge elephant off their backs. The two underdog NL teams came back and won game 2, so clearly it can be done. I don't want our team to be the only one that gets swept out of these series.

The game was a mess pure and simple. Pock marked with crazy decisions and some very unfortunate lack of plate discipline especially with 3-2 counts. And the bullpen...ugh. Really ugh. The 'd'...not so good. Starting Arraez....nice thought...bad decision. Leaving the Turtle off the roster. Bad decision (many don't agree...but at least he is healthy) Cron...terrible game. Garver...terrible game. And so on down the list. Would be nice to say....put this one aside and get them tomorrow. Except Twins now own the M:LB record for consecutive losses in post season. they can spin this all they want. Its in their heads. Rarely during the season did they play this poorly. When these two teams meet, Yankees are always the better team....no what year, what roster, what field....doesn't matter. They have exactly one game to fix this. Lose tomorrow and it will be a 3 game sweep.

Trying to search for positives from this miserable game.....uh, well, we get to play another one tomorrow. That might be a positive. But we'll never beat the Yankees playing like we did tonite. It was just horrible.

Rocco is pushing all the wrong buttons tonite. May as well get it out of system and hope for better things tomorrow. It was noble and nearly heroic for Arraez to be ready to go tonite, but if we;re honest, he has not had a good game. And Schoop pinch hitting for him and striking out was also pretty predictable. Ugly game. Pure ugly. don't know how these guys will respond tomorrow. A whole lot of things will have to change quickly but our pitching is clearly problematic.

unhappily we are seeing the folly of adding Gibson to the post season roster. He';s got nothing left and the Yankees are making him look worse. What a total disaster. Again. These games are simply painful to watch. I said earlier this week the pitchers have to throw strikes. Apparently they are afraid to. This is what happens...when you are forced to throw on and its right down mainstreet.

Sadly this game has predictably followed history and has gone according to script. It has now gotten away from us after they managed to hang for a few scrappy innings...but never did I ever feel even a little confidence in our pitchers tonite. (and the 'd' has let us down too) As has been the case with just about every Yankee-Twins post season game, whatever can go wrong for the Twins will and has gone wrong. Sure was hoping to see a 'different' Twins but not the case. If they don't play a TON better tomorrow, it will be the predictable 3 game sweep. I am so disappointed in the way this game has unraveled. Its classic Yankees, which is why I have always hated them. Twins are doing little to change what is becoming another nightmare. After the 2 6th inning HR's Yankees simply smell blood in the water. Gibson definitely in to just mop it up, if he can.

I'm glad they have 13 position players. Disappointed that Turtle wasn't one of them because he has been playing and Adrianza hasn't in a few weeks. but Twins know their personnel and whether they can go or not, so I trust them. But I wouldn't have included Graterol at all. He's way too inexperienced and very hittable. but if it was between him and Perez its a roll of the dice. OK--lets go win game one.

Miller is a luxury the Twins can't afford, given their pitching and injury situation. They need supplementary players who can do more. KC used the pinch runner player to their huge advantage few years ago...he killed the Orioles as I recall. But I think the Twins cannot afford to take up a spot for such a one dimensional player. They also have to evaluate if Arraez and or Adrianza are good enough to play regularly. Do you put someone in who may be only 50-60% over someone completely healthy? Tough decisions for Rocco for sure.

can the Twins win? Of course they can!! But the Yankees will be favored by just about everyone. Until theTwins actually beat them in a series they won't be taken completely seriously. Twins record in post season against NY is abysmal. How does that matter? What everyone wants to downplay as irrelevant is history. Sorry, but history is that intangible, invisible force that hangs over a franchise like Los Angeles smog. It is irrational to be sure...different years, different players, different leadership....but it doesn't seem to matter. Its there like an unwanted guest who just continues to overstay his welcome. Its totally illogical for sure. But its also undeniable. And it isn't just an outlier. All those years the Bruins could not beat the Canadiens in the playoffs...years...heck decades. How about the A's futility in postseason since 2000. Or Atlanta now losing their 9th straight game one of a post season series. All those consecutive divisional pennants (14..if you don't count the 1994 season that the Expos 'won' and had stolen from them) and yet only ONE world series championship. More recently the Caps inability to beat Pittsburgh, no matter how much better they may have been before finally slaying that dragon..and you know it was on the mind of every single player.. Bufalo Bills--losing 4 straight super bowls and then going 17 years without making the playoffs. And intertwined in their futility was the infamous 'Music City Miracle'...there is no logical explanation for that game. How is it that organizations like the Red Sox and Cubs failed every year for decades....even when their teams were exceptional? History hangs over teams and while its inexplicable (and players and managers like to tell you it doesn't matter) its still undeniable. To think otherwise is like sticking your head in the sand, refusing to come up for air. New year, new players.....until someone breaks the spell, it will always be there. So now its 2019. And 'everyone' tells us that the Yankees will prevail....because they always do. There will always be an unexpected error, a HR, a bunch of walks, a wild pitch, some 2 out magic, a blown call by the umpires....something will happen to the team that always loses to continue the horror...many will say. Its our turn. Its WAY past our turn. But if anyone thinks that if Twins fall behind 2-0 that the players aren't being weighed down with the 'here we go again' anvil, think again. Its inescapable, because at the end of the day, they are all human. WHY can't we beat these guys for a change? For me, I believe that on paper the gap between these two teams is as narrow as it has ever been. So how they perform and deal with the pressure of post season is out there. They say the team that wins game one of a 5 game series wins the series just about 3/4 of the time. Thats huge. So Berrios must bring his 'A+' game tonite to give us a chance. Go Twins!!!

The Turtle is an asset. You can take all the metrics you want and chuck them in the dumpster IMO. He brings intangibles that few players have in the game today. They have to find a spot for him....not as a starter probably, but as a very valuable sub, who can play anywhere. The other thing is we have a team of free swingers. Turtle puts bat on ball and whenever that happens, things can happen, that don't happen when you strike out. He is a fan favorite (he was enormously popular in Rochester...emphasis on enormous) and also his teammates like him. I would like to see the Twins carry 12 pitchers and 13 position players. They also will soon have to decide on Arraez and Adrianza. Giving the Turtle that 13th spot gives the team a great deal of flexibility, especially late in games. If he is left off the roster, it would be a major mistake.

Which of our 'aces' is more likely to lose it quickly? We know when Berrios starts to go bad, it goes downhill quickly. Yet, the team I think feels he is THE ace still and will get game one. Dobnak is the wild card here. We don't know how he will perform under the great pressure of post season against the Yankee monster. I see Berrios, Dobnak and Odorizzi in that order. But I also agree fully that they are all on short leashes. I don't have strong feelings on any of this actually. And I'm betting the Yankees are struggling with their rotation in the same way. Lots of question marks.

Everyone spouts the cliche that hitters will be stopped in post season because the pitching is so much better. Don't count on that in this series. I can envision a lot of very high scoring football scores because both staffs are very shaky. Using pitching regular season stats now don't paint accurate pictures because many of the pitchers that formed those stats either aren't playing or have had their problems second half. So they are pretty meaningless. If a player stunk for most the season but then caught fire in the final weeks...he becomes a real threat in post season. Dobnak could be the ace of our staff in post season. Or, he could get lost in the moment and flame out early. Who knows? What I want from these guys, collectively, is for them to throw strikes. Once they start going deep into counts, by nibbling or trying to be too fine, bad things will happen.

I don't think this series will be decided by the starters. I'll be surprised if any of them go beyond 5 innings...6 tops. While I like our pen, Chapman scares me the most. He is a k-pitcher when he's on. His 'weakness' that I've seen is his control. Rogers also has had some real ugly closes, so who knows? The 'hero' in that ugly 14-12 loss was Hicks and he was most unlikely. That HR and that catch were truly outliers...and Hicks isn't playing now. Also Gregorius couldn't be retired, and he has since been very ordinary. Amazing how new heros will crop up in post season. Who will that be? As an aside, I wouldn't put Graterol on the roster for this series. Yankee hitters can time fastballs and right now Graterol doesn't have the location to go with his 100 mph pitches. I don't think he's ready for prime time. Twins have an awesome lineup when all are healthy. Right now about half are really at near 100%. Lets hope that if Kepler and Gonzo are back, they can contribute. Lets hope Cron has finally re-found his stroke despite the thumb. And maybe Arreaz or Adrianza will be good to go...but neither of them will be in top shape. I don't think the Twins have any advantage honestly. But I also don't think the field is tilted badly towards the Yankees either. What will bother me is what many here don't think is important....history. The fact that everyone outside of Minnesota wants the Yanks in the world series. Networks are praying the Twins don't win. All close calls will go to the Yankees...you can take that to the bank..whether anyone will admit it or not., Its like Tom Brady and the Pats...anyone think he doesn't get special treatment? Twins have to overcome this. It will hang over them like a dark cloud until they finally send the Yankees home....which I hope and pray happens this year.

A Twins upset would look good on the resume!! Its unlikely but until the 27th out is recorded, we are still in it! 'Best' team in the hunt? Probably Houston. Dodgers are good too but haven't had to play a meaningful game since the allstar break. that might hurt them.

yes--we definitely enjoy seeing our players do well and then continue the run with the Twins. The Twins have been a very good parent...replacing a team (Orioles) that everyone loved here....until their whole farm system fell apart under very inept leadership. Its irresponsible for our local media to ignore our teams, but they do now. Not much we can do about it.

New to the boards. Brought here by my old recently shut down board buddy Brian450 and I thank him. Born in Rochester, NY and after attending college in Montreal, joined the navy during Nam, saw the world, came home after 8 years, got married and am back in Rochester. Full circle How old? Lets say I watched Bob Gibson pitch for the Rochester Red Wings. I was alive during the Truman Administration and was also around just before Babe Ruth died. Enough hints. My board name tells you what I have done for a living for over 4 decades. In my spare time I play keyboards in a Beatles Tribute Band., Great fun. I became a Twins fan when the Red Wings dumped the Orioles after over 40 years. I was also a charter member of the Expos fanclub and still mourn their unnecessary loss. To this day I can't cheer for the Nationals and I hate Bud Selig. As a kid I loved watching Luke Easter hit mammoth HR's while in his 50's. Only one of 2 Red Wings to have his number retired. The other is Joe Altobelli. While living in Montreal I never missed a Canadiens game...getting standing room only tickets...all that was ever available. It was the Original Six days and the first years of the first expansion. Goalies were mostly maskless and players helmetless. The hockey was brilliant. A real treat getting to see Bobby Orr play...live. While in the navy became good friends with another sailor from Minneapolis. When he got out he owned a flower shop there for years. Who knows, maybe some of you shopped there. I also formed a ships band while on board the USS Donald B Beary FF-1085 (for those at home keeping score) and we played gigs all over the Middle East in 1976. Our Captain loved us because we were great ambassadors. I haven;t been here long enough to critique the boards except to say they are great and I'm glad to be on board in a year when the Twins were so good. One day hopefully the Red Wings will win a championship again. I remain a season ticket holder. My wife puts up with my baseball and hockey addiction thankfully. Married 41 years this month. Two daughters..,one a veterinarian in Florida...works on all things that live in the water; and the other a middle school orchestra teacher. as well as a cellist. thanks for listening.

I think thats correct. Nobody wanted extra innings. So he was probably told to work on the slider...no matter what the outcome. but he isn't ready for a post season spot. Clearly hitters have had no problem hitting his heater. Time will help him

Pretty clear Twins are looking for anything positive to keep Gib on the post season roster. Its true he really hasn't pitched well since coming off his time on the IL...no matter how its spun. But some of the alternatives might not be a whole lot better. Graterol, for instance really shouldn't go near the Yankees this year. Not ready. Harper, not good enough anymore. Romero--forget it. Stewart...no. Thorpe...an adventure whenever he pitches. Perez...his last month was....well, terrible. So, by default Gib may have a spot. Not because he has 'earned it' but because. So lets hope we see him rise to the occasion. He knows too he may be playing for a contract next year. What better way to impress than to succeed in post season....and maybe even stifle the hated Evil Empire!

Its easy to sit back and (when you don;t like a player) only focus, malignantly, on their faults and totally forget their strengths and positive contributions. I know, when Sano whiffs on 3 straight unhittable pitches with runners on, I sometimes forgot all the game changing HR's he hit, just as an example. Astudillo and Schoop are hardly perfect and people can drag out all the brand new metrics that make them look like they both belong in little league. What they forget is their impact on both the fans and their teammates in ways those metrics can't begin to match. Both those guys have contributed, and will continue to do so. Turtle in particular has a fire in his belly that he brings to the entire bench. Not every AB was a soft grounder. Schoop made I think14 errors...which may seem like a lot, but how about some of those game saving stabs, and bullet throws to first? He k's a lot (like SAno) but he did contribute several big hits. these guys shouldn't be villified and made to sound like they have no business on this team. 101 wins was a total team effort. I'm glad we have them both and I hope they prove in this series that they are valuable cogs in the wheel. And for as much as I ragged on Castro's limp bat...isn't it something that he hit the HR to put us over the top against the Yankees. Yep...they all contribute. I like 'em all.

If any city shouldn;t have a bias towards the Yankees, its Rochester...home of the Twins AAA farm team for over 15 years now. But I doubt any person in our media could name 5 players on the Twins (let alone the Red Wings...who never get any coverage here) In today's paper all the articles were about the Yankees., I think the Twins got mentioned by name once, as their opponent. The national media of course, especially TV want the Yankees to win, for the best ratings. Twins have little footprint outside of Minnesota. In fact everyone is screaming for a Yankee-Dodger WS. If you look at all the stats, you will find, surprisingly, I think, how similar both teams are. I think what may scare me the most is Chapman to close and Britton to set up. Chapman is a shutdown guy when he's on. Rogers can be too, but Chapman scares me. I think Judge=Sano. Both can hit the ball a mile and both also k a lot. Their starters are as tenuous as ours. Its hard NOT to look at past history. I get that everyone in TwinsLand is downplaying it as irrelevant. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Fact is historically there have been plenty of sports team matchups in all sports that always seemed to be tilted in one direction...for years sometimes.Make of it what you will. Twins CAN win this series. If their 'A' team is ready to go they will have a great chance to win. I guarantee you the Yankees are NOT taking these guys for granted.

I'm pretty new to this site...but I have thoroughly enjoyed the articles and the contributions from everyone.Even though the Twins are the parent of our Rochester Red Wings, they get zero press here. Its all Yankees (and Mets). Our media is totally screwed up. I SO want to beat the Yankees and get them out of our hair. Whether we could also beat Houston is another matter. But for now, I am looking forward to this series.

Based on what we saw from the pitching staff this final week: I think Gib has earned a spot; Perez by default will earn a spot; I don't think Graterol should be on the roster. He needs to be a k-man with that blinding speed, but he's not and the Yanks hitters will eat him up. He's young, he'll learn, but he's not ready. Stewart and Romero...no. Thorpe...barely. Stashak, Smeltzer and Dobnak...yes because all 3 can go more than 1 inning...in fact those 3 could combine easily for an entire game. Rogers, LIttell and Romo for sure. I'd like to see the Twins carry 12 pitchers and 13 position players...mainly because of the tenuous condition of several of our position players. Certainly 12 pitchers should be enough. I think we can play with the Yankees. We just don't want to get into a shooting match with them as far as scoring runs. The 14-12 and 10-7 type games won't go well for us IMO. But I think we can beat them. Heavens knows, we are way overdue!!! Looking over the roster again, if they take 12, I can see both Thorpe and Stewart out. Harper also. Thorpe and Stewart have pretty identical numbers except in the k category where Thorpe has a lot more. Does that give him an advantage? And will Twins elect to keep Perez, despite his awful numbers lately? If they go with 13 (please no), then one of these guys makes the cut.

Thorpe and Graterol are suppoed to be strikeout pitchers but both of them were hit pretty easy today. I'm not sure how motivated Graterol or anyone was to go beyond 9 innings. Graterol was simply out there throwing flat fastballs, the way it looked. Not a fun day in Western NY. Bills blew several great opportunities to beat the not at their best Patriots and still lost 16-10. Brady not a factor. Bills turnovers were. And then this loss. While less meaningful, still no fun losing. Got the HR title...thats good! NOW--lets figure out how to win game 1 on Friday.