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Melissa

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Everything posted by Melissa

  1. Melissa
    Chiming in late, but it’s been a busy week. I think the loss of Farmer to that wild and wicked pitch by Giolito has hurt the team more than could have been expected. We were at the game on Wednesday, and my explanation to my guest of why there were a few regulars taking the game off (Buxton, Polanco, and Taylor) and the replacements mostly our third or worse options at the position (Solano at second, Castro at third, Gordon in Center) was that it resulted from the loss of Farmer. As far as giving players days off, it’s not that Rocco chose to lose - what an odd idea! Instead it was a noon start after a cold couple of night games. The Twins organization followed its chosen pattern - not some bonehead loser manager. Buxton got his weekly day off. Polanco is being treated carefully on his return. And Taylor reported feeling weak. Maeda gave up a lot of balls in play, but as others have mentioned, the defense was shoddy. The absence of Taylor put Gordon in center. That meant that second base needed someone else to fill in - and with Farmer out and Castro at third so Miranda could DH for the day (and he hit his first HR) - the very shaky Solano was apparently the only choice. Was going to be tough to win this one, that’s true. Still, it was so fun to see Gallo hit that monster HR. The speed and authority and sound and no-doubt quality of Joey’s home runs remind me of Jim Thome.
  2. Melissa
    Steven, thanks for another fine post. You’re one of my favorite TD writers!
  3. Melissa
    I’m a Luis fan, but want to point out that this specific stat can be quite misleading, for two reasons. First, labeling a play an error relies on the subjective judgment of one observer. Second, and more significant, errors are only called when a fielder makes contact with the ball and doesn’t complete the play (and the observer decides that it should have been made). Fielding percentage accounts for official errors on balls a fielder handles. So with Arraez’s limited range he doesn’t reach quite a few balls. We’ve all seen balls scoot by fielders or drop in when the fielder doesn’t react quickly enough. Those are mistakes but not the sort of mistake called an “error.” No touch, no foul.
  4. Melissa
    I’m here!
  5. Melissa
    Definitely cool to think about! Sonny seemed in complete control of that pitch, despite the cold. He’s not even grumpy these days in postgame interviews!! 🤣
  6. Melissa
    I’ll be back in a couple of weeks for Godfather II. I’m one of those who admire the sequel even more than the original.
  7. Melissa
    With the steady stream of prospects and rookies flowing toward Target Field, we have to imagine that some will not pan out, perhaps due to injury, and others may make up part of a tempting package for an established bat or arm. still - very exciting to look forward to!
  8. Melissa
    The OP mentions a low strikeout total for Gray. But 8 Ks in 7 innings seems fine to me. Went to see The Godfather movie tonight, at the Heights Theatre here in the Twin Cities, so I’ll have to watch the game on “tape,” as we used to say. We have two SRO tickets for Wednesday afternoon. Hope the weather’s warmer, but it’ll be fun no matter what!
  9. Melissa
    Fair analysis, Greggory. The team has already lost too many games when the starting pitching held their opponents to very few runs.
  10. Melissa
    I notice that the game time was 2:11 - -which aligns with the feeling I had while watching on TV. The announcers commented on how some of the pitchers, like our own Varland, typically work fast, so that plus the clock kept things brisk. The quick pace made my viewing experience more enjoyable and especially more gripping, even in those middle innings with less tension. I had grown accustomed to playing around on my phone while watching baseball on TV — something I have never done while attending in person — but, as others have mentioned on this site, there’s neither time nor reason to fill in the empty stretches.
  11. Melissa
    OK Miranda!
  12. Melissa
    First K May staunch the flood …
  13. Melissa
    Yikes!
  14. Melissa
    We’ve got SRO tickets for the Y*nkees game at Target Field starting at noon April 26th. Let’s hope the house is rocking!
  15. Melissa
    Wowza! Otherwise occupied last night, so this morning I watched the first inning explosion on “tape” (showing my age) or recorded somewhere on the cloud via Xfinity. Reminded me of the classic Butch & the Sundance Kid question - “Who are these guys?” Answer - They are ours!
  16. Melissa
    It was very encouraging to see the quotes from Ryan after his start against the Astros as to how he followed Vázquez’s lead with regard to pitch mix.
  17. Melissa
    As far as I know, Miranda came up in the minor leagues as a 3rd baseman. Urshela held down that spot last year, so Miranda was either DH or moved to 1B much of the time. I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that his move back to 3B this season will be for the best.
  18. Melissa
    Yeah, Mahle was bit by some of those lucky Astro hits. For example, in the third, Dubon reaches on an “infield single” after two outs, and then McCormick lofts one of those short home runs into the right field planter overhang. Do I remember correctly that Alvarez’s slam against Ryan on Saturday also was a right field flower pot overhang special? Not sure what plays this comment is referring to. A few instances where a truly exceptional or terrific or lucky play might have made a difference, but “sloppy” seems harsh.
  19. Melissa
    Good to have these weekly summaries again! The starting pitching has been great, and the bullpen pretty sturdy. I don’t know that I would explain or discount the poor hitting due to the cold weather. This Friday, sure, but not the rest of the week. Polanco’s relativity swift return seems important, especially with Gordon so lost at the plate. All too often, Nick seems to swing and make an out on the first pitch he sees. And Jorge would serve well as the lead off hitter. Keeping Larnach healthy also key!
  20. Melissa
    Thanks for this detailed info, jorgenswest. Confirms my less informed memory!
  21. Melissa
    Vázquez looks so confident and competent behind the plate. Haven’t seen this level of catching defense on the team for a while now.
  22. Melissa
    I’m not sure, but I think Gray went past five innings last year when he was doing well. Sonny I think was stirring the pot in the quote from March 26 embedded here - it was his fellow starters (esp Archer, of course) who were pulled early. Sonny’s saying, “c’mon guys let’s do better!”
  23. Melissa
    Cody’s comments about pitch selection reminded me that I don’t know nearly as much as I’d like to about how these decisions are made - especially in the heat of the moment. For example, the criticism here focuses on Jax throwing two consecutive changeups to Segura on Wednesday. Cody admits the second was a good pitch but doesn’t like the outcome (single and its aftermath). Was this pitch selection due to direction from the team, as the article suggests about López last summer? Or did the catcher Jeffers notice a weakness in Segura’s reaction to the first change up? Is it possible that pitcher and/or catcher tried to surprise the batter by throwing the pitch twice in a row? I appreciate how the article points out the trend, though apparently Pablo López’s change up is elite - and - the team has encouraged him to improve and deploy his slider/sweeper more often and strategically, and to good effect his first two starts for the Twins. I wish we could know more about how this works in practice - but as Cody says - an especially small sample size in Jax’s case.
  24. Melissa
    Interesting take, Cody, but as you say small sample size regarding Jax. A bit early to say he “looked well-positioned” to have another good or even better season after this one unfortunate appearance. By the way, I wondered about the small differences in the percentages you offered in the story for J. López’s use of the change up last season compared to the tweet you made last September and quoted here.
  25. Melissa
    I don’t get the dislike of Solano in some of these comments. He’s kept the line moving at some key points and provided good defense at first. Gotta have competent backups to win these close games.
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