tony&rodney

The difference between winning and losing can come down to fundamentals on a surprisingly large number of occasions. The Twins value base hits and especially home runs which leaves strategies such as bunting, stealing bases, taking an extra base, moving a runner along by giving yourself up, and stuff like a hit and run by the wayside. The Twins want to have solid defensive players but it is just not extremely important to them. The pitchers do not hold the runners as one example. So it is what we expect from the Twins when players we really like do things such as miss the out at first base such as Miranda did, Watch the ball all the way to the wall like Gordon, and try to bust a long one like Arraez. I think the Twins are on the verge of having a really good team but fundamentals are lacking and that piece needs to be in place to compete at the highest level. Hopefully, they sweep Chicago this weekend.

Varland, like many before him, will get his shot because he has shown the stuff needed to pitch at the highest level. He can only control the opportunities in front of him. Age is just not going to matter when he takes the mound (Ryan/others) and if he gets a spot in the rotation next season, Varland will have a chance at carving his own path. The future is wide open.

Nick Gordon is athletic and has a knack for learning. We saw him improve each time he repeated a level in the minor leagues and now that he gets to repeat at the highest level we see he can manage MLB as well. The intriguing aspect regarding Gordon is that he has the athleticism to fit any number of spots and may use his experiences and improving strength to morph into the type of player envisioned back when he was chosen in Round 1. Despite being in his mid 20s, Gordon could be that guy who blossoms as a regular player who has the skills and athleticism to produce both in the field and at the plate. I would say that the Nick Gordon Story is still developing.

Miranda has been a joy to watch hit this season and he has been quite productive. He seems to get bitten by two unfortunate items, one he can correct and one we hope disappears. Jose gets smitten by the high fastball and occasionally amps up where he could shoot right-field gaps. To be fair he does go the other way a decent amount of the time. The other item is that Miranda seems to let bad calls affect his plate appearances. He has had a number of egregious strikes called on pitches 4-6 inches off the plate. He needs to just see those calls early in the count as a foul ball. Defensively, we need to remember that the emergence of Miranda was a little bit of a surprise and he has had to wedge between time for Urshela and Arraez. If Miranda gets a ton of infield work this offseason he can certainly improve to be an average third baseman. The movement between positions will slow his improvement to an extent. Still, this is a thing that may continue as Lewis and Lee approach playing time in the near future. Hard to believe the Twins would be anywhere near .500 without Miranda this year. He has been a real find.

I had suggested acquiring talent last winter and included all three of Balazovic, Martin, and Canterino in trades because their value/status was high. However, after the poor results of this summer I see success as a distinct possibility for all three as Twins. Balazovic has good stuff but lacks command, control, and maturity. He has potential that can be achieved with patience from the team, fans, and especially the player. Martin needs to adopt the Luis Arraez style of hitting and forget all attempts to become a power hitter. The physical talent is apparent and athletic players that field and hit can carve out a place as regulars in MLB. Canterino will finally be free from the constant routine of trying to regain health from his frayed arm. Surgery could be a total rebirth for him and we could see a strong return in as soon as 2024 from Canterino. Despite wanting to trade all three last offseason, I see a bright future for all of these guys with the Twins.

All about the money. Sanchez and Urshela are in similar situations with current salaries higher than they will get next year. The return of each would be a good idea if they can sign both for around 9-12 million dollars combined. That would necessitate a cut for each as they are at about 15-16 combined now. The players would need to evaluate their next options and make their priorities known though because I do not see the Twins going to arbitration with either player.

Wallner has big power, big arm, and knows the strike zone. He is young enough to become a passable outfielder with a couple of thousand repetitions, but struggles with the glove right now. If he adjusts to AAA there is a solid chance he would also make an adjustment in MLB. Wallner is a decent prospect but we should not worry about his age. Sometimes bigger players take a few years to get in sync.

The season still has legs and if the Twins are limping they still have life. Giving up is just not an option. Injuries have hurt. Other teams have brought players up from AA. Perhaps we can see what one or two of Julien, Martin, Isola, Williams, Helman, or others can accomplish. At this point these guys can only do better than what we have seen from Beckham and Cave. And, yes I have hoped that both would be successful. It hasn't worked this time.

Cave and Beckham have reached a point of no return. They performed at AAA and received the call, but while capable in the field they not able to fill in at all at the plate. They are who they are at this point and it is not really a good decision to have them hit in the major leagues. I want both of them to get a broken bat hit or at least make some contact but is is sad to watch them flail away on three pitches. Give someone else an opportunity. The next guy might fail badly too but repeating this same behavior with Cave and Beckham .... you know the saying. Three catchers is defensible if one can mash as a pinch hitter. Why did Sanchez bat in the eighth inning? Injuries have decimated the team but there are still bodies to try from the farm. You can't just give up.

Bah. Put it in the books. It is on to Houston.

One change in baseball from the 2019 and 2020 seasons is the increased competitiveness of teams with losing records. The Twins feasted on Kansas City and Detroit and everyone rolled over Baltimore. The Twins are definitely in a funk right now with the bats and we should expect more from Correa, Buxton, and Polanco among others. September is right around the corner and the Twins are above .500 and hanging in the division, meaning that we can still hope for good baseball to be played down the stretch. While it is always nice to sweep teams that are lower in the standings, especially at Target Field, the Twins need to show some talent versus those teams similar to them and also against those markedly better. The Twins have 10 games before September 1 and despite some dispirited play recently, the team could wake up in first place before their weekend series in Chicago against the White Sox.

Pretty simple really - the Twins need to hit, especially with runners in scoring position.

This is a good addition. I thought Rooker and Sabato were very questionable choices and Cavaco was quite the gamble. I didn't object to the gamble as much as choosing slow mashers who will not have a position to call home on defense. At least Wallner has a big arm and looks like he could get better with a couple of thousand repetitions in the outfield.

The drop in rankings is only concerning if one forgets that the Twins have a fair nucleus of young players as the post notes. While we can hope that Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, and even Emmanuel Rodriguez are stars soon, the Twins are reasonably set with Jeffers, Kirilloff, Arraez, Miranda, Celestino, and Larnach, while we also have veterans still with some talent like Polanco, Kepler, and Buxton. The Twins could use a stronger catcher and a superstar corner outfielder but they are ok for now. I do think Palacios can play shortstop in MLB and that Wallner could be a fair DH/OF in a few years. I'm not real concerned about the hitting. The biggest problem with some of the Twins pitching prospects has been their struggles with command. If you watch Balazovic, for example, you see a guy with all the pitches or stuff but he is missing the ability to repeat mechanics (command and control) as well as seeming to get frustrated with his pitches. However, pitching is really difficult and he could still develop into a fine starter. This could be quick or take a few years. Maturity in life comes differently for all of us, in our personal lives as well as in our work and pleasures. So it goes with athletes too and I do think Balazovic can be a very good starting pitcher. One of the things that Cleveland does is get their pitching prospects some time in The Show to see where they must adapt when they invariably return to the minors to work on their sequences. They also use some of these young pitchers in relief before they move to the rotation.We saw this with Civale, Plesac, McKenzie, and Quantrilll, and Sam Hentges may be transitioning next. The Twins have some guys but health is important. Ober, Winder, Balazovic, Varland, and Woods Richardson need to step forward. If they can we can forget where the Twins rank with their prospects.

Pretty cool story.

I watch his starts and see the exact same thing. Town ball and even Senior ball players can hit pitches middle of the zone. Balazovic needs repetitions and will not advance until he can command his stuff. He can be really good when he gains total control of those pitches. I'm just guessing but his short outings are possibly aimed at two purposes: care for his arm and specific to use all of his pitches. When he shows health and ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes he can advance to working on stamina and controlling those pitches within the strike zone. McKenzie for Cleveland advanced in a similar fashion.

People are creatures of habits and training. When pitchers are trained to throw 60-90 pitches they begin to lose their edge after that limit is reached. The physical aspect of pitching is quite strenuous and requires a recovery period for the body to rebound. Some pitchers are able to throw 10-20 nearly every day and from these guys we get the term "rubber arm". Other guys need several days once they are fully warmed up and actually appear in a game. Still other pitchers are effective for 10-30 pithes every other day. Griffin Jax seems to fit this mold. If the prospects are only throwing 40-80 pitches per start for several years as they push their way through the minor leagues, it is unlikely that they will be effective throwing more pitches once they reach the major leagues. Another aspect that comes into play for a starting pitcher is how they use their pitches in the first couple of innings. Most pitchers today use their entire arsenal of pitches in the first and second innings. This means that the batters have seen the whole repertoire of offerings and can plan off of that information. Pitchers also fire their bullets in the first inning, meaning a guy who throws 95 will unleash several 95 mph fastballs right away. Contrast this with Verlander who often saves his best speed for the late innings or crucial situations and often goes through a lineup once with just one or two pitches and you can see that the hitters have more of a challenge on their hands. Naturally talent (stuff) plays a big role but pitching has multiple layers to it and I don't see that the training is using length as an option. We saw Mahle throw nearly three innings of junk pretty effectively by scattering his offerings around the zone. Hopefully he is not injured and just has a tired arm, which is often helped with a few extra days off. Throwing 120 pitches will not break a pitcher if they are not abusing their arms with total max effort, but it does take time to build up and when a pitcher reaches their limit it usually is noticeable first by the pitcher themselves and also by those most familiar with the pitcher's norms. This is why Baldelli was concerned with Mahle almost immediately in the first inning. Mahle also was aware but stated that he felt fine and had no indications of anything untoward concerning his physical health. It took until two were out in the third inning before Baldelli decided he needed to remove Mahle and we will soon learn what was wrong. I would suggest that careful training of pitchers to build their stamina is possible. I'm not sure that is a goal of current baseball organizations as we see quite a bit of maximum effort deliveries.

The dugout was loose and feeling good tonight. The Twins needed a game like this.

Take a chance on one FA, like the signing of Correa this year. Correa? Hopefully, but likely not returning. Judge - 5 years at $50M per year? Sure, why not. Verlander for 2 years and $80M total. It would be fun to have Judge or Verlander.

Pagan has been unfortunate, nearly a curse, a guy who impresses with his stuff, manages a few scintillating appearances but leaves the ball dead middle again and again with predictable results. The challenge of pitching is to command the zone with all of your pitches and control where the ball goes when it leaves the hand making it difficult for the batter to square up successfully. Pagan simply cannot do this difficult task.

I wouldn't get down on Joe Ryan. He is a decent pitcher. When the Twins acquired him from Tampa Bay he did not arrive with high credentials and the Twins hoped he could step right in and be an effective starting pitcher toward the back of the rotation. Joe has done that and more. The expectations that he could fill one of the top three spots in a good rotation were nor reasonable or fair. Hopefully next year Ryan sits as the #4 starter and he can fling without any pressure or outlandish thoughts of being a top of the rotation guy.

I don't know this to be true and actually doubt it.

Julien needs to get some starts for the Saints. There is room for him at 2B and I would hope he might be available to learn the outfield (LF) as well.

Normally, I would agree that using a revolving door of players doesn't necessarily bring better outcomes. Duffey and Smith were no longer effective pitchers for a team trying to win games. Pagan has better velocity but putting the ball on a tee repeatedly has proven through several years and many opportunities that Pagan is not a good choice if a team wants to win some games. The chances that A Sanchez does as poorly as Pagan are low and besides they would be used differently. Frankly it puzzles me why we have not seen Archer transitioned into the bullpen as a two inning option. I wonder if his contract contains specific usage details, which would be odd. Jovani Moran is an obvious improvement despite the walks.

The players seem really down and not very focused.