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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. Woe, woe - slow down. It's just a single game and our entertainment. Relax, it's happy hour.
  2. Jax has a good slider but doesn't trust his fastball enough.
  3. Thielbar cannot be a fun at bat. Nice inning.
  4. Julien fouled off the pitch he was looking for and was then totally fooled by the strike three pitch - it happens; good pitch.
  5. Max Kepler is a different player in the second half. He looked so unhappy the last several years and in the first half. Something changed and it is impossible (for me) to know. What is pretty clear is that the current version of Max Kepler is a terrific player.
  6. Julien swung at a pitch on the edge ... and missed and then took a couple of close pitches before taking ball four. I wish he could hit line drives on the first pitch but man it is fun to watch him work the pitcher.
  7. Sort of a funny game thus far. Some mistakes, some good hitting, and some missed chances. Wonder if the Twins can pick up the intensity a bit through the remainder of the game.
  8. The Twins will not even think for one minute about picking up Polanco's contract; it is a sure thing. Teams around baseball have a high opinion on Jorge. Polanco has tremendous value for the Twins but not enough future value to be a part of a major trade to acquire pitching. Think about the Arraez-Lopez trade to have a guess at who might be valued if the Twins attempt to find a team to replicate that transaction. I would be shocked if Polanco was not still with the Twins in 2024. I do think the Twins will try to trade Farmer for an arm, similar to how Kyle was acquired last offseason.
  9. Baseball is a difficult job which holds very little permanence to all but the stars. The promise of making a large salary creates stupendous competition. Larnach had some opportunities but none that allowed him any status to play through poor performance. Both injuries and the previously discussed holes in his batting profile made him easy to send to AAA. I hope Trevor Larnach gets a chance with another MLB team, similar to the chances afforded to Brent Rooker. He doesn't have much value right now and may only be a throw-in if the Twins can swing a trade. Larnach has made a tidy pile of earnings from his job, however, and should be able to live comfortably if baseball no longer is a viable profession for him. There is more than an even chance that Larnach is able to play baseball for another decade though, so I'm not too worried about him. He just hasn't worked out as a Twin.
  10. Emmanuel Rodriguez is ice cold right now. The Kernels need him to reset before Thursday night.
  11. I agree totally. Sure there are times a pitcher is giving up line drive after line drive and the manager should get out of the dugout faster. Tonight was a good example of how a great pitch can get golfed for a go ahead two run home run. Littell made his pitch, but Castro hit it. The players know when to tip their caps and when they made a mistake. Julien and Pinto hits pitches that both Littell and Ryan would like back. Lowe looked pretty confident versus Ryan and Baldelli made the call for Varland. Today it worked, but managing is tricky.
  12. This Twins team competes. They are moving away from the .500 mark and playing more consistent baseball. Joe Ryan was tough out on the mound and Varland, Thielbar, and Duran sure closed the game neatly. Littell looked very unpredictable and only was beat by Castro launching a down and away pitcher's pitch that followed a battle by Kepler to reach base. Maybe Julien saw the ball better tonight. It was sure nice to see him get a hit before he added another walk. Even the struggling Wallner had some fun finally. He sure looked relieved to hit the ball and showed off some speed on the hustle double. Good game for the Twins against a very good Tampa Bay team.
  13. The options for Jorge Polanco are a bargain unless he is suddenly beset by injuries that reduce his availability to much less than it has been this year. On one hand you have a 10 year average that is good and easily worth his contract. On the other hand Polanco could have a resurgence of health and production to near 2021 levels. In either case, Jorge is valuable. I'm not too sure how much trade value Polanco has in terms of bringing back a player that makes a difference. The Twins do not need to trade a player of Polanco's talents for a lower tier prospect because the team is focused on winning. If the team were to totally tank, as it did last season, a trade would make sense. The larger recurring question relates to how other teams view various players within the Twins system and how willing a team would be to part ways with a talented player in order to ostensibly improve their own team. This was the crux of the Marlins-Twins trade last offseason; a trade that benefitted both teams. I'm not sure Polanco works in that scenario, but others may.
  14. Unless Polanco suffers an unfortunate injury at some point from now until the end of the Twins season, there is no way that the team passes on the option. There are many variables, but Jorge as the most valuable Twin for 2024 and 2025 is still real. Health is the ticket. Will Polanco (or any player really) be fully healthy the remainder of this year and then through next season?
  15. Julien is a rookie. If you take all the rookies off of the Twins roster, what then?
  16. Did you miss the 9 walks or the long at bats. Those make a huge difference towards the quality of pitches that the batters see who follow Julien. He needs to hit better, he is inexperienced, but he is still providing opportunities for the team to score runs.
  17. I'm not disagreeing with anyone that we want Julien to be more aggressive. I saw those two pitches as well .... and audibly said, "hit that pitch." I'm saying that Julien has an approach that works for him and he does swing when he recognizes a pitch. He does not swing when he is fooled. He does not expand the zone. Another thing to consider is that Julien likely has less experience playing baseball than any Twins player on the 40 person roster. It really shows at times. Has his weaknesses been exploited now? I guess we will need to see, but this year Julien has been a pretty important part of the Twins offense and a real annoying batter for opposing pitchers. Where does Julien rank in importance thus far for the Twins offense in 2023?
  18. I did not understand why the Twins kept Floro. Now in a game that is worth competing for I do not understand why the Twins chose to use Floro versus Tampa Bay. There is a reason that Miami no longer wanted Floro on their team. The Marlins are trying to make it into the playoffs and Floro is not a guy who is helpful in an MLB competitive game.
  19. This has been discussed a hundred times. We all want Julien to hit some of those pitches. However, Julien does not hit pitches out of the strike zone or on the border of the zone very well. He will be out of the league in no time if he starts swinging at borderline pitches, so he takes those pitches.
  20. A right-handed pitcher not covering first base in time on a ground ball to the first baseman?
  21. Rays are not offering at many pitches out of the zone, the Twins did in the first inning. Swing at strikes and let the balls go. A very difficult task to be sure.
  22. The playoffs are for the best players. Unless Ober has not been helped by the recent respite from pitching there is a clear starting pitcher order: Lopez, Gray, Ryan, Ober. Nobody needs to go on short rest. Our starters have been good all year. The bats need to show strong.
  23. FWIW, Paddack finished his start last week with two outs and two on base. The relief pitcher gave up a three run home run, thus the two runs given up by Paddack. We cannot know what Paddack offers until he has appeared in several games for the Twins. which seems unlikely.
  24. The Twins will be challenged by Tampa Bay because the Rays are among the top five teams in baseball and attempting to catch Baltimore in the standings. The offense needs to keep scoring a bunch of runs and the White Sox series should allow them an opportunity.
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