tony&rodney

It seemed like there was some conversation in the dugout and Ryan may have been suggesting he wanted another inning. I couldn't tell (sound off on Twins games for obvious reasons). It is a long season and wear and tear is cumulative to an extent. Nevertheless, the idea that pitchers cannot throw 110+ pitches will get looked at closer eventually. The guys who are max effort flamethrowers are more susceptible to injury in most cases, but teams are protective of their starters. Money (paid in salary or invested in bonuses and time developed) is certainly more important than it was decades ago. Still it seems like communication and observation should overrule magical pitch counts.

Consistency has not been a given with Alcala. He has terrific movement .... often, but then he throws a few flat pitches and boom or else he is snake bit by bad plays including his own. Pitching across baseball is so good, majors and minors, that every team seems to have options and so too the Twins. Alcala could be wearing a different uniform in MLB by July. Sooner?

Yes, Jorge Alcala is out of options. Does he follow Ronny Henriquez, Brent Headrick, and Scott Blewett out the door? How desperate are the Twins for the return of Michael Tonkin?

I actually watched several innings of three Rockies games thus far this year. They play much better defense and try to run the bases. They were more watchable in those games than the Twins in my opinion. Sad statement of my age and baseball addiction that I'm still watching the Twins. Looking forward to watching Zebby Matthews pitch tomorrow night against a pretty strong Iowa Cubs team. I hope he isn't rusty from sitting for a week.

I want to let the Twins slide on hustling due to the weather or maybe just empathy, which actually sounds a little pathetic. I was watching a few other games on the computer though and wasn't seeing much of this jogging to refrain from hurting oneself. Also, we did watch the Mets hustling on balls hit for easy outs, or errors in the case of grounders to the pitchers. Some things should be easier to address than others and hustling at all times is a start.

It was France and it takes him a while to get from base to base. Mostly, I meant that 3 hits is not good odds for a win and then catalogued a few sloppy plays for examples of what has been too often a pattern, which I'm hoping the Twins will stop. I would have tagged up but France, who is currently our best player, doesn't like to run. France, Miranda, Lee, and Vazquez have serious gravity when running.

It looked empty. Some sloppy public relationship gaffes, crappy weather, losses, poor fundamental play, boring style of play, negative press, etc. It all adds up. Things could get ugly. I'm hoping for some wins and sunny days ahead. Today is over and tomorrow should be better.

Three hits is not going to cut it. The miscues didn't really factor into the game tonight but they add up. Among the plays/non-plays that were obvious are Larnach lumbering late on a foul ball, Larnach waiting for a base hit to get to him instead of charging the ball (it wouldn't have made a difference), a slow and poor relay and subsequent throw to a base without a defender there, a very poor throw on a steal, and the pitchers doing their thing. It was a real ****** night to play baseball but the number of little things add up. I am still not seeing Twins running out simple groundouts where I see the other teams hustling down the line. Buck and Carlos? Oh my. Tomorrow the Twins should see the sun at game time. Maybe that will help. Ryan was good if not exactly efficient tonight. Maybe Ober can go 7 innings tomorrow. The bats need to show though.

I think it is different for every player actually. I could never get loose playing baseball in weather below 60 degrees but never suffered playing 9 innings in Florida in July. The players work hard to prepare but it probably does get in a few players' minds.

Wind blowing out? From the NE I think.

So you think this will happen? JK The Twins make some odd moves. Blewett was a pretty serviceable #8 guy for the bullpen and he proved it. The Twins were not in dire need of an arm but Blewett is gone now. I guess one can say this is unimportant and business as usual .... a parade of #8 arms will follow. Blewett was a good name to have on the team. Back to the young bucks - check back at the end of April at the soonest.

Heh, you might be right but if so then everyone else but France and Wallner needs to go too. France and Wallner are best at DH too, but this leaves the Twins with 2 players alternating at DH and 8 open spots in the lineup. Currently teams are required to bat 9 players. Using the current rules, Julien is in the lineup as of now.

This ... particularly the part of taking poor at bats into the field. A big problem for the Twins is that they have targeted/signed/rostered players who are not particularly athletic and have ceilings of average at best on defense. If a player doesn't hit, they are nearly unplayable. The Twins have two catchers and nothing below them at the moment so these two escape much in the way of criticism. Look around the remainder of the team though. Correa and Buxton have big contracts = untouchable = they play until injured. Bader has been a good CF and is improving as a corner OF (nice catch yesterday). Will Bader hit? Lee makes the plays but has limited range at 2B and SS and the bat is a question. France, Miranda, Julien, Castro, Lewis, Larnach, and Wallner need to hit. Lewis has had a few shining moments and his absence is making him a superstar because of the expected glory of his return. Can he ever sustain any performances beyond a month? Is he a DH? The article focuses on Miranda and Julien. Miranda only path back is if France totally fails at 1B, Lewis cannot play 3B, and Lee and/or Castro are unable to provide the offense needed at the hot corner. Jose is between a rock and a hard place. There really isn't any place for him on the Saints team either. Julien will need to maintain his current batting lines to maintain his position. Despite the hate mail concerning Julien's defense, we do see him making the plays when he is hitting. Julien has an awkward hitch in his transfers and throwing which makes it seem like every play may result in an error. He is also awkward on ground balls. I'm not a fan of Julien but he does make most of the plays. An area where people get it wrong on Julien versus the others who have played second base is range. Castro is about the same but the others are not close. Unlike a number of folks I don't see Julien as being capable as a first baseman. His awkward twitches and the necessity to make quicker decisions while managing footwork doesn't portend a future at 1B. If Julien hits (OPS 750-800), controls the Ks and has good at bats, he is the guy for 2B on this team. Can he maintain over the course of the season? I'm not sure and my doubts were one reason I suggested trading Julien (and Lewis) after the 2023 post season when the value was high. Now? I'm hopeful Julien (and Lewis) can be consistent offense while playing close to average defense. It is a fair expectation.

This is the correct answer. The Twins will not plug any of the names from the article in the lineup for 2-4 months of regular (i.e. - every day) plate appearances and live with the results because they believe in the player. That has not been a practice of this front office. Thus they need to figure things out with the current roster for the next couple of months.

Having watched most of the Saints games this year the only fair conclusion one can make as of today is that it is too early in the season to tear apart data and make pronouncements. Both Rodriguez and Keaschall have had good plate appearances and bad. You can add Carson McCusker in here too. They all swing and miss. If a person looks just at the numbers it can be easy to suggest weaknesses or strengths. All three guys look comfortable in the box but are also clearly in need of making adjustments due to their relative lack of experience at AAA. By June or July there may be some patterns emerging, but my opinion is that it is way too early for judgments on these players. Check back in two months.

The Twins have not been scoring much but maybe they just were waiting for warmer weather. There are some odd decisions being made within the organization but the boss always knows best as we know from this past week globally. A couple of examples from the Twins top teams. Why is Mickey Gasper still a thing? Matthews? If the Twins were not going to use Zebby Matthews on Monday, why didn't they let him take his turn with the Saints instead of pushing him back and off schedule? Matthews is being lightly used already but needs to pitch and while side sessions are always useful pitching in competitive games is better. Messing with a top prospect is probably not a good idea. Kansas City and Detroit are good teams. Perhaps the Twins take a look at the coming week and play better. Ryan, Ober, and Festa versus the Mets could be positive. Other than Chris Sale next Saturday, the Twins should be relieved to escape the KC and DET staff. Seattle needs infielders. Falvey should see what types of deals can be made with them. The Twins sent Jose Miranda down but where are they going to play him? 1B, 3B, and DH are already full. Miranda for Harry Ford?

Funderburk is a decent relief pitcher. It didn't seem like he slotted ahead of Brent Headrick in January but the Twins dumped Brent. Was he out of options? We won't expect many appearances from big Mark this season but hopefully he does ok when given his opportunities.

Good game all around. Julien leads off, hits home runs, makes all of the plays, and what will this mean going forward.

I'm not seeing that yet. More importantly, there should be communication that makes these decisions. The constant reliance on four innings from the bullpen will never work long term. Relievers are all failed starters. I do agree that a starter should be pulled if they have lost their stuff, but this 3rd time/ 4th time nonsense doesn't cut it. All comments above irrelevant because Varland is in now. I wish the Twins, who make so many comments post game, will not their reasons for pulling Ober, Ryan, Festa, and SWR.

0-12 now, but the comment was posted as Kerry Carpenter was walking to the plate. The catcher, pitching coach, players, and managers along with the starting pitcher should have an idea when their stuff is going downhill. Ober, SWR, Ryan, and Lopez should all be good for 100-110 pitches if they are throwing well. It is mid April and these guys are built up at this time.

If the Twins starters have to throw shutouts or keep it to 3 runs or less in every start, it is going to be a long season.

this is where Baldelli has lifted SWR and Festa.

Julien will lead the Twins.

The Masters? UFC?

Simeon to the rescue.