tony&rodney

I have not seen Erod play in person, only via milb.com. Something that seems to happen with his swings relates to discipline. Emmanuel does swing at strikes but quite often takes a wild hack where it seems he is hoping for a 500 foot homer. He also still gets fooled by breaking pitches. Rodriguez plays the game with a little jazz in his movements. Perhaps he can improve the contact within the strike zone next year. However, I have had a few thoughts similar to Jeremy's concerns about the swings and misses too. Next year will be a huge barometer for Erod and we shall see how he develops with swing discipline.

Caleb has come a long way since playing for Randolph High School. He is a great story.

Farmer was not stealing a base. He was going on the belief that Julien would make contact on a strike or take a ball. Thus it is a run and hit. I like it when Baldelli loosens up and put players in motion but many do not. Julien freezing up makes the call to send Farmer look questionable but the fault lies with Julien here. He has to swing to protect the plodding Farmer. FWIW, I was not happy about Julien taking that pitch but even athletes at the highest level f-up. I wasn not in favor of Baldelli sending Vazquez to pinch hit either, mostly because I believed that the Ray's lefty was less effective than their righty who came in and put Christian away on three pitches. It just doesn't make any sense to spend any time second guessing. I might not like a decision at the time it was made but I move on. More than any other sport baseball is all about failure, dealing with it and adapting and having the confidence to forget misplays to an extent yet still learn and adjust.

I'm not at all sure or even really care why Baldelli pinch hit for Julien. You may have resources and knowledge that allow you to know why decisions are made in some game situations, which may explain your certainty. I was merely attempting to soften the vitriol that casts Baldelli as incompetent by suggesting there are reasons for his actions and we don't know his thoughts. Baseball is entertainment for me these days. I'm no longer active in the game (too old) and find simple joy in the pitcher-catcher-batter chess match. I don't see second guessing and anger as a healthy part of entertainment. I do understand that people question actions and get very frustrated.

It was completely understandable why so many people were upset when Luis Arraez was traded. A fan favorite and entertaining player plus the AL Batting Champion seems like a guy to keep. The Twins sorely needed pitching however, and despite the high risk inherent in all pitchers something needed to occur or the Twins were doomed to repeats of using guys like Archer and Bundy. Actually Bundy and Archer were better than one could have expected as shown by their current standing. Pitching is critical to team success and starters are the most valuable of all baseball players. I was all in with the Lopez-Arrez trade immediately. While I loved Arraez, it was obvious the Twins needed a quality starter to be a .500 team or better. It is looking like this trade was excellent for both teams which is a good thing. I'm actually hoping the Twins can pull off a similar trade during this coming offseason. Pitching is the main factor in a winning team.

Maeda has a contract that is focused on innings pitched and games started for income. Neither applies to the postseason. Maeda is a good pitcher and should be very useful in the bullpen in October.

Edouard Julien is real firebrand for controversy on Twins Daily. The conversations, disagreements, and occasional volatile reactions have been interesting this summer. My own take is that Julien is an exciting talent who is exceedingly inexperienced for a MLB player. He has also been a critical part of this 2023 Twins team. This has been chronicled. What seems to be creating controversy regarding Julien is: 1. his fielding 2. his batting approach 3. being pinch hit for. Julien is unfinished as a defensive player. He is much improved since the start of the year with fair lateral skills. Edouard looks awkward at times and is a hesitant fielder whose transfers are less than smooth. The facts are that he makes most of the plays. Still, viewers are somewhat queasy whenever Julien is involved in a defensive play. This seems understandable but doesn't mean that one cannot acknowledge that Eddie is getting better with his glove. Julien is the anti-Guerrero Sr. Edouard is not ever going to successfully hit pitches out of the strike zone. Thus he is super selective, perhaps to a fault. I would like to see Julien swing more on 3-0 and 3-1 counts as well. I feel he guesses at times in those counts. As far as the called strike three pitches, I'm willing to bet that two thirds of those pitches were balls. Finally, Julien will grow into being more successful in certain counts as he becomes more comfortable and learns the pitchers; he is still an inexperienced rookie. Finally, there are the annoying times when Julien has been lifted for a pinch hitter. He does struggle against left-handed arms and he is inexperienced. It makes sense to sit Julien at times. I believe that Julien will get more opportunities next season. The specific use of Vazquez for Julien yesterday seemed confounding. There may have been other items involved that we are not privy to as fans. Julien messed up when he took that 3-2 pitch down the middle with Farmer on the move. Edouard does not just take a fastball in the middle of the zone in any count unless he is totally fooled and a run and hit play requires the hitter to swing at anything close. Missed signs are a just cause to be lifted in a subsequent at bat. Either way , we don't know and it is best to not rush to judgment. Julien has created plenty of controversy this season in any event. Hopefully his leg heals and he goes on a tear in October.

Julien is an inexperienced baseball player, having played professionally only in 2021 and 2022 before this season. There is plenty of reason to believe that he can improve as a baseball player. The splits are rough for Julien this year and I agree with others that he begins to receive more opportunities next year versus lefties. It should be noted that platoon baseball is often a good decision. While we will likely never know exactly why Baldelli used Vazquez yesterday instead of just letting Julien hit, it is at least plausible that it may have been a consequence of his previous at bat. Julien took a pitch fully in the strike zone on a run and hit leaving Farmer as an easy out at second base. It is possible Baldelli wanted to send a message when he pulled Julien; we just don't know.

Good content. Loved the conversation. David Festa has looked tremendous in various starts. His stuff seems top shelf, although he still looks like he is working on command and control as well as endurance. Festa also looks like he needs to eat a few pizzas. Does he have a 29 inch waist? Where do you see Festa in the realm of pitching prospects? What is his timeline?

This makes me recall Gaetti's comment about how difficult it is to play baseball when one is clutching their throat with both hands. Gaetti was the ultimate gamer and understood what it was like to be a young player in a pennant race.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Julien is really good about not swinging out of the zone and taking close pitches, some of which are strikes. However, the 3-2 pitch was fully in the zone and Farmer was not stealing but going on a run and hit play. In that case Julien must swing. The failure is cause for him to be pinch hit for in the ninth inning, even by Vazquez. Julien needs to take the sequence of events to heart and reply appropriately.

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.

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.

Emmanuel Rodriguez is ice cold right now. The Kernels need him to reset before Thursday night.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Noted. Interesting to an extent.

Did Gladden or Provus comment on it? Dick is pretty clueless and the camera did not show us anything to show a mistake. Perhaps someone else saw something to indicate what happened but it was a big out and tough for Kirilloff to lose a base hit too.

Pablo is so much fun to watch pitch and he is also such a well spoken person in interviews. Wallner seems to have forgotten about left field and has resorted to more uppercuts as well. He doesn't look like a tough out right now. Julien is in a slump but still is giving pitchers a headache by fouling off pitches and taking walks. He sure is missing some pitches that look like he should mash though, which means he is in a slump.

That may have been a part of writing the article ... the Twins certainly could use a left-handed pitcher in the bullpen capable of getting outs. Even with such a limited usage, Funderburk appears to be the only option right now. No question, the Twins need to put Funderburk on the mound as often as possible to determine if he is going to be a viable relief pitcher for the team in October. A series of good outings from Funderburk will make his name worth more discussion though. FWIW, Funderburk was excellent in AAA this year and it is somewhat confounding why he was not considered for MLB duty earlier this season.

Totally agree. Ober deserves an MLB uniform. I do believe he needed a little time off. He is ready to pitch now though.