tony&rodney

Agree 100% with this statement. Falvey & Sons are on the clock.

Thank you for all of the draft coverage. Those of us who watched (via TV/internet) a few college games have seen a number of these players in the past few months. Crews, Skenes, and Langford have stood out. Picking at #5 should force the Twins to choose an athletic talent with superstar potential and a high floor. Yes, we all know that even the best choices can fail. Players like Wilson or Gonzalez are legitimate picks at the end of the first round. I can imagine Teel or Lowder, but the consensus for months has been for the Twins to gobble up whomever is left of the top five. Just do it.

Wallner will always look awkward in some ways. I have watched a bunch of his at bats (via milb.com) with the Saints and he has a good eye to go along with that prodigious power. His last time up tonight he flipped a line drive single to left field but acted like he had fouled the ball off before realizing he had to run to first base. Yesterday, he crushed a ball to the fence in centerfield that the centerfielder made a nice play to grab, while Wallner acted as if he had popped up. He just seems like a quirky guy. When someone takes a load of walks, hits .300 with a load of extra base power and good speed, it might be time to see what he can do over three months in bigger stadiums with better pitching. Wallner somehow seems to adjust. It is time to see what he can do playing right field for the Twins.

Nash, you have written so many good posts. The Lopez-Arraez trade and the 2023 season are wobbly right now and the rehashing of missing Arraez makes its way into the comments of virtually every post now for weeks. Are you calling for the removal of Falvey & Sons? There has to be a way to move on from past trades. If the decisions are indeed ruinous, which may be argued, then it is a call for the Pohlads to step in and correct course asap. I can see that discussion. I have a ton of respect for those who write the articles and make the videos for Twins baseball and for Twins Daily. It just seems like Luis Arraez is omnipresent in so many ways with the Twins, yet he no longer plays for the Twins. The Twins chose to draft Kyle Gibson and did not pick Mike Trout in 2009. The Luis Arraez of 2023 does not play for the Twins. I miss him too. So I can watch him play for the Marlins via mlb.com. As a call for a new management for the Twins, the article makes sense. There are some beautiful, well constructed sentences in the post and I always click on a Nash Walker article right away. Respectfully, I'm just thinking that Twins Daily needs a recess from discussing the trade of Luis Arraez. I'm more concerned that the Twins are currently linked by some (Keith Law) to choosing a player with the #5 pick in the upcoming player draft who is generally ranked closer to #20 as a baseball talent.

I would send out Gallo before Kepler. At least Kepler can hit into a double play with bases loaded and nobody out, which scores a run. Max is a better defender and base runner as well. Gallo is working hard. You can literally see him straining to do well. I feel bad for him, but he is toast. The hitting coach? That is reaching to put the poor at bats on him. Not defending the guy but MLB batters should be better prepared and aware than what we often see from out Twins offense.

The post is totally valid. As a former pitcher, I'm biased. Put Pablo Lopez on the Braves and he has an 11-5 record or better. Lopez has had a few rough outings and a number of innings where he lost control but overall he is really good at his job. I also believe he will have a better second half as well. The command and control of his pitches is fine and the pendulum will swing in his favor. Pablo is a damn fine starting pitcher and I enjoy watching him pitch. It is really remarkable that our pitching staff has done as well as it has given the mediocre defense and the woeful lack of support from the offense. A little surprised that folks are casting any negatives towards the staff that has given the team a chance in nearly every game this year.

I think the starting pitchers are for real. We are halfway though the year and the starts have been well above expectations on the whole. which is truly amazing when one considers the poor offense and largely mediocre defense. Pablo Lopez has been decent and might be better in the second half. I think Ryan and Ober should be close to their first half performances. Maeda and others will fill in with respectable fifth starter stints. Gray was so good the first half that one would expect some decline, but Sonny is fired up for his chance to be a free agent and his focus will be at a high level. Good things can happen.

About as accurate of a wrap as possible. Almost every game there is an at bat where a key hit would turn the game. Almost every game ... failure with risp. There are a couple of players who can be jettisoned right now. The pitchers keep us in every game. In other news, St. Paul was fun to watch hit today. It just felt like the team was going to win from the beginning and then to walk off on a comeback grand slam was fun. A couple of these guys can help now.

This is part of what I used as a baseball coach. When a batter swings the bat there is always a result. The optimal end in my view was a ball totally squared up, hit into fair territory. A foul ball or a swing and a miss are just strikes. A wind blown home run or a ball lost in the sun or misplayed for extra bases is nice but my data recorded the relative manner in which the batter was able to successfully hit the ball. It is a goal of all hitters - hitting the ball. The exit velocity stat is nonsense as is the framing stat among others. Of course individuals have their opinions on a range of plays. I favored defenders getting outs, throwing to the right base, and range. If someone looked awkward but was effective, that worked for me. A guy who steals bases and goes first to third or knows where the fielders are when a ball is hit beats a burner who doesn't know where to go or when. And so forth. Data has always been kept in various forms but data fans now collect information on just about everything so it is true that there is more data than ever. As the specialiststeve argues, the way in which the data is collected and used can be very misleading which creates numbers that make a player seem decent when they are actually not very useful. The job of the front office and field staff is to discern which players put together will produce the best results. The Twins have one of the best records in baseball if you use the expected wins totals. This stat really demonstrates some of the futility of chasing all of the numbers. None of those expected wins count. The games are played and there is a result in the end, either a win or a loss. I sometimes think the Twins actually look at their expected wins to mollify or soften the blow of their mediocre record. You know, process being the point. There is another game tomorrow and the guys who dig through the data can find a stat for every Twin to show us that our guys are in the top ten of something to flash on the screen. But even they get frustrated and put up the RISP stat.

Keirsey just needs to keep putting up good numbers on a consistent basis and hopefully get a boost to St. Paul in July. I'm certainly not holding his age (26) against him and have enjoyed watching him play (via milb.com) this season. I agree he is underrated.

Perhaps the most appropriate response is, who is Derek Falvey?

Grip and rip only works if the pitcher throws the ball in your swing path. A batting practice pitcher or the machines deliver predictable locations ideal for high quality contact. Unfortunately for the Twins, MLB pitchers are not providing enough "grooved" pitches to accommodate the team philosophy on hitting. The Twins will begin to win series when they put the ball in play more often. Until that time, the pitching staff is all that keeps the team from plummeting in the standings. Baseball provides multiple avenues to win games and limiting the options just reduces the odds of gaining wins. The apparent narrow focus on analytics only results in positive expected win totals as opposed to actual victories. In the meantime perhaps the Twins organization might be concerned about attendance in August and September, but then again maybe not. It looks like the team is chasing a .500 record.

The Twins need to score runs to win. The pitching and defense may let the team dow from time to time but expecting to hold teams scoreless or close is a plan that won't work. I see the defensive blunders, the fails by the pitchers, and mistakes. The Twins will not rise above a .500 record if they just continue to leave runners on base, score few runs in so many games, and strike out at a record pace. So yes, the bullpen has blown a few games, Julien and others are less than stellar in the field, and Pablo Lopez is not throwing shutouts. However, offense is the main culprit. It was the problem last night and has been all season to date.

Kepler has been very frustrating to watch the last few years. This year he has dropped down even further. The Falvey philosophy is totally baffling. Kepler struggles in 2022, Gallo is toast in 2022 - the Twins roster both of them on the same team. Max has been a guy who I have enjoyed watching, but it is time to turn the page.

Home runs are a good way to score runs. Signing Gallo was doubling down on that strategy. Unfortunately, hitting two solo shots every game still means the scores will mostly favor the opposition. The Twins have become a parody with their inability to advance runners or plate teammates. The swing from the heals approach is fine until a batter reaches two strikes. At that point a player needs to cut their swing down and just flip the ball somewhere. Gallo is the poster child of three massive swings. If he cannot adjust, rostering him is pointless. Like many I was very surprised that Gallo was signed by the Twins. The fit was unclear to me but I'm just a twins fan who follows the games and tries not to look back because Falvey will do whatever he wants anyways. Gallo is who he is and 2022 was not bad luck for Joey. Nobody can say that he wasn't given a full opportunity if he was released today.

Clark at #5 and either Carigg or Sykora at #34. But for sure, let's not get cute with the first choice.

The Guardians released Zunino and the Reds would release Myers. Sometimes a team just needs to understand that players do reach a point where they are no longer capable of filling a roster spot. The Twins are struggling with what to do with Kepler and Gallo right now. Myers is done. He has nothing left to offer. So, no.

All of the articles and comments re Arraez remind me that I should have bought Microsoft in the summer of 1986. I'm not aware of anyone who hated Arraez, but he is a Marlin now. It's in the past (Jim Kaat, Rod Carew, etc.).

The baseball season is very long, which I like. Last year the Twins were looking pretty decent in late July and were swallowed alive by August and September. This year the team is playing poor baseball and treading water at a .500 mark. The negatives are glaringly apparent as Nick Nelson so adroitly pointed out, and the Twins are frustrating right now to their fans and to themselves. The positives are strong starting pitching and the hope that the talent on the team can get it together and make a sustained run. A decent winning streak could be the tonic needed for the players to shelve their doubts and move forward with confidence. The Twins are trying to hold the middle ground of keeping all of their experienced players and thinking that a return to some past successes is possible. It may be possible. More likely, the front office may need to swallow a contract or two and let the fortunes of 2023 play out with a few younger guys.

Sadly. Joey Gallo is a 2022 Dodger/Yankee player. He seems to really be working but it ain't happening for him. Buxton? A few oddities by any stretch were pinch hitting for Kirilloff, although he is also struggling, and the inexplicable pinch hit appearance by Buxton for the weak hitting Vasquez, a player who would likely at least flip the ball to right field. So many odd occurrences though, such as Solan not going to second base (made no difference) and then not scoring on a ground ball to centerfield (again, just makes it 5-6 so no difference?) when he had to run when the ball hit the ground right off the bat. Baseball is a long season but the players often seem disconnected and unfocused. How many outs are there? Where do I go on every play? Poor routes, transfers, and sailing the ball home from short left field. Lately there have been too many misplays to count and it may be fair to say that 85 wins is too ambitious for the Twins in 2023. Luckily (maybe), there is another game tomorrow.

Mauer was severely diminished due to the concussions yet still played a good first base and could hit. Mauer no longer was the catcher or extra base threat yet he never fell to automatic out DH only status. I feel real bad for whatever Buck is going through right now. I haven't lost all hope that his career is over but I also have no idea what is going on with him. It seems like an IL to regain some strength is needed, but without any first hand knowledge it is only a guess that Byron is even injured or unhealthy in any way, shape, or form.

Polanco has been fine, although he has been pretty crippled the last few years. Kepler and Buxton have each had one good year and a host of glimpses of their talent. Sano? Too bad.

I'm not concerned at all about Ober's physical condition or injury. While it is true that he has had an assortment of injuries in the past, Bailey is a very big strong man. His pitch counts have been very conservative and he has not been stretched in any game thus far this year. Ober should get another 15 plus starts this year and if he maintains a solid routine between starts he would end the season with around 150 innings. Throwing strikes and avoiding stressful long innings is the key and he has done that quite well this season to date. Ober is not a guy just growing into his body like Marco Raya, David Festa, or even Louie Varland. Right now, Ober's routines and outings are going smoothly. Let's hope the ride continues.

Solano has returned to hunting base hits recently after hitting some long fly ball outs earlier in the season. He is a consistently good bat who belongs at DH most of the time.

It was an ugly game.