tony&rodney

The Twins made a decision on him, which was clear.

Well, it is as easy for me to avoid the ball on my couch as it is for you in your chair but perhaps the umpires have a little different position. Stuff happens.

Varland throwing in 80 games may not be a problem but when he is warmed up and does not come in can wear a guy out. Gardenhire was really good about not getting a relief pitcher all warm and then having them sit back down. In fairness getting multiple arms ready and overuse warming up seems to be a thing across baseball.

Straws. Grasping at straws. One will work.

I have zero idea how they feel but I know what I would say/think. The Miami batters looked surprised. The Twins escaped though.

Miami is drawing crowds about the same size as an SEC D1 baseball team. Incredible actually when one considers the size of their metro area and the history of baseball in that region.

Apparently, that play was in the computer.

Hope this works. The look on Sim's and Ryan's faces in the dugout was telling.

75 pitches and in control, throwing real easy through 5 innings. Does Sim get pulled after 6 innings if it is 3 up/ 3 down and the inning ends at 88 pitches? I wondered about this last night with Ryan and a few people took it as complaining, which was totally wrong. I wonder how this is done. As I type Stewart is warming up and it seems the Twins might pull Sim now. I'm not seeing the odds. Having pitched hundreds of times and managed a similar number I'm not seeing the protection angle but will concede there may be analytics involved. How are they working?

Except we know from past practice that he isn't .... at all. Bride was kept almost exclusively to pitch, which is weird. Lewis was brought up once when he was clearly not healed and it is a question whether he is ok now. The Twins will definitely call up Gasper and even Miranda before Julien.

This is clearly correct from the Twins perspective since it is the reality. Clemons didn't play last night versus a RH pitcher. One has to wonder what his role will be. I'm wondering why keep Julien at all if he has zero role in the organization. Let some other team take a chance on him. It clearly would not hurt the Twins in any fashion to release Julien.

I'm not 100% sure this is on Rocco totally but he does make the final call. I'm more wondering about the thinking process involved in having a firm number. This also seems like it is a league wide practice. Last night the Marlins pulled Cabrera after 7 innings and 93 pitches. The difference is that Cabrera was clearly beginning to lose an edge on his pitches, he has had numerous injuries, and he has not thrown 100 pitches in an outing this year.

The thumb down vote tells one nothing so I'm going to respond. It's always the players who perform or don't perform, so correct. Management can, however, dictate who plays and the style of play. If the Twins are not hitting they should probably attempt a few other ways of producing runs, but they don't. Maybe they cannot do anything else but never attempting just guarantees the same results. Complaining about innings ...? I wondered, above in a comment, whether baseball was trending even further downward in pitch counts for starting pitchers. We all know that 4 man rotations and pitch counts from 110-120+ per outing are not coming back for at least a few years. More and more often we are seeing a pitcher getting a handshake if their inning ends with a pitch count at or above 80 pitches. It is not the innings that matter, it is the game situations factored with high pitch counts in individual innings. These decisions I leave to the pitching coach and manager but it is fair to wonder what the thinking is when a pitcher who is cruising along with zero problems is done after 80 some pitches, whether that is after 5, 6, 7, or 8 innings.

This is a legitimate statement in my opinion. The Twins, however, do not seem to have qualms about playing guys who cannot field at all or others who are below average. The philosophy is hit, hit, hit ..... and they are struggling with that process. My question is whether the Twins see any reason whatsoever to ever play Julien again. If not, just release him. If they think he has some value, bring him up and play him. Julien is bad in the field which means he fits in. I'm fine with releasing him because there are other bodies, but making decisions is a weak point of this front office. To directly answer your question, if Julien were called up I would use him against RH pitchers and have him DH as well as play first and second base.

Were there any questions or answers of why Joe Ryan was lifted after the 7th inning. I really like Varland and don't have an issue with it really, but Ryan has thrown 90+ to 100+ pitches before. He was at 88 pitches and another 12-15 pitches seemed reasonable. Again, not a big deal, just a fan of pitchers going 100 plus pitches when they are cruising. Although Ryan, Ober, Lopez, and Paddack to some extent have thrown 90 or more pitches numerous times, there seems to be a trend to back away from extending a guy if they are in the upper 80s pitch count at the close of an inning. When someone is throwing loose and easy 110 pitches is not more strenuous once the arm is already working. Perhaps injury concerns which seems reasonable.

"Miami scores first, Royce looks good" Did anyone think Lewis looked good?. He still looks injured to me. Ground ball off the third baseman's glove was a legit hit because Norby was well off the bag. Royce whiffed on ball hit to him at 78 MPH and looks very nervous about his throws. Miami didn't challenge the routine grounder he took a while to throw. Lastly, I was really concerned with how he ran. I want Lewis to do well but my eyes tell me his legs are out of whack. The swing has his feet moving and he can't run. I guess the Twins hope that Lewis works his way back to 2023 as a savior but they might have luck trying that with Julien as long as they are into magic. I'm not down on Lewis but maybe I'm looking for the wrong player if others feel he looks good.

Meant to ask this question last year and again earlier this year - Did Royce Lewis always step back with his right foot after his left foot came down on his stride?

Follow the money.

Martin Maldonado has caught over 1,000 games and been an important part of some really good teams. I respect the hell out of his work behind the plate just as I had enormous respect for Molina. No way is Molina above Joe Mauer as a catcher unless the criteria is the number of games caught. Buster Posey was really good, but he was no Joe Mauer. I'm not sure how a player like Mauer became so under-appreciated.

Think Cal Ripken. ARod too. There are different circumstances in every case but SS to 3B has been a thing. I don't see Correa moving off of shortstop until sometime in 2027. He still is easily the best guy available. Lee is not an option at this time. As far as the bat goes. Correa is as good as what the Twins have used at third base unless someone is missing Bride already. Lewis? TBD. In any event moving Correa off shortstop is a valid thought, but the time is in the distance. The same can be said for moving Buxton to a corner outfield position or is that article out next week.

Winokur is really strong, built and still loose. I actually doubt he puts on much weight at all. He is a wee bit like Max Kepler in being blessed with a classic natural frame that he could hold a similar weight for the next 50 years. He might gain 5-10 pounds but I really totally doubt he becomes the muscled up guy. One thing worth noting is that Winokur can hit a baseball out of any park in any direction right now with an easy swing. There is zero reason for him to add muscle. He already has it. It will be all about his bat to ball improvement. The only real barrier for Winokur is a very large hurdle and that is his bat playing on a consistent basis. He will need a minimum of a year at AA and another year at AAA after next year. Culpepper is moving fast. He had quite a positive experience in college and seems to have his head together with the everyday challenges already. Often college players struggle for a while after moving to full time baseball. I agree with chpettit19 that Culpepper will be up next year. Kaelen is 22 now and pretty mature. I'm pleased with how aggressively he has taken to the shortstop position and to his plate appearances. The Twins have to be pretty happy with their 2024 pick at this time. A side note is that Winokur is 2 years younger than Kaelen Culpepper but also faces longer odds due to his bat to ball skills. If there is a better athlete than Winokur anywhere in the Twins organization, I haven't seen him. Pause here to exclude Byron Buxton. Sorry for the run-ons.

Actually if you watched Winokur on a consistent basis you would be both pleased and surprised. The talent is through the roof: range, arm, quickness, and speed. He can play above average defense at both centerfield and shortstop. The problem is whether he will ever gain control of those long arms and hit on a consistent basis. Contact can be an issue. He is my favorite minor league player to watch despite the woeful contact. If I had to choose a shortstop only from the Twins organization and the bat doesn't count, I would choose Winokur.

I can agree that the offense has struggled but it usually is middle or middle lower half. The areas that are a real concern are base running and defense where the Twins are about as poor as possible. The solution is to roster a team of athletic players who can run, hit, and catch the ball. Then everything will be fixed.

The roster construction has been confusing.

Buster Posey was a really good catcher and hitter for an extended period of time (45.0 WAR). Molina was a fantastic defensive catcher whose longevity behind the plate justifiably earned him massive praise (41.7 WAR). Joe Mauer? 55.6 WAR. Fans or pundits who favor Posey or Molina could argue all day about this topic. Consider the pitching staffs of the 3 teams, the relative support financially from the clubs, and the injuries. For me Joe Mauer is hands down the best catcher there was in all of baseball during his career.