Doctor Gast

You can't blame Archer's poor showing in PIT any more you can blame Glasnow, Cole, Musgrove etc. with their less than spectacular showing while in PIT. Most pitchers that leave there complain how terrible the pitching coaching is. Archer will never complain. Archer's time in PIT, injury & surgery has set Archer way back and he's just coming back. Archer had a bad game in HOU but so did Ryan and Winder, he also had a bad game in Detroit but so did Winder and Ober. Yet nobody has claimed that they are a liability. Yet the other 7 games Archer has given the Twins opportunities to win. I'd love to see Archer go 5 but he's not there yet. To value Archer only on the basis of not being able to go 5 IMO is ridiculous because he has the 3rd most innings pitched of all the Twins. Before he was hurt he was a work horse regularly pitching 200 innings/ yr., IDK when or if he can ever acheive that level again but he could. I would love if Archer could pitch in long relief, then he could qualify for some wins that he deserves. But it's a bad idea #1 he's been a SP his entire career he's accustom to take a long time to get ready for the game. #2 Baldelli totally ignores long relief. If they both can overcome their mindset, I'd be OK w/ it. Many when they look at Archer they only see the negative hype from PIT and the mindset that if a pitcher can't pitch 5 innings he's a terrible pitcher. Both are wrong. Archer only pitching 4 innings is not a problem, Baldelli solely relying on short relief is where the problem lies. Archer adding 1+ more innings to his outings isn't going to solve that problem. Since the coaching staff has been working closer with Archer his control has gotten worse (which drive me crazy) but that'll come around a long with the length of his outings. He's not a 2 pitch pitcher he has 5 (FB, curve, slider, change up and sinker). But Archer's greatest asset to the team is his chemistry and mentorship that he adds, that's invaluable for a young pitching core. If we hadn't signed Archer we'd be a worse team with a much worse record. He'll be well worth our patience

I am really impressed with Celestino in how he has bounced back from a very difficult situation. And I'm really, really,really happy that he's filling that black hole that have been so evident for so long (legit CF sub). He's one of the main reasons why we're doing so well. He's much better than a big bat no glove. Although Gordon is doing OK in CF, I'm wishing Celestino a speedy return.

I thought it strange when Palacios left the Twins as a pretty good hitting defensive SS. But with TB across the street same league his avg. dipped and never advanced in TB and after he returned to the Twins his #s started to rise. To me it shows we have a more advanced hitting system. I value Palacios as our #3 SS. I value depth, deeper the better at key positions. I also value Gordon as our #3 CF. More they are exposed to MLB better they will become. I value flexibility so I'd keep them both.

Thanks Matthew, I'm interested in all of them, it's nice to see them doing well. Perez & Gibson both did very well when they were with us in 2019 until our BP blew up and they had to over-extend a sick Gibson and a glorified BP arm, wanna be SP Perez. The only player of all of these we really need is Rogers. A trade that never should have happened. Now we are in desperate need of a veteran closer.

This game was the mirror opposite of last game, good defense, good pitching and good clutch hitting. Smeltzer had another good game, we would've been sitting better if he had been called up from the beginning. He's not flashy but he gets the job done. Another long outing sure helped the BP.

Trading Rogers and over relying on short relief is a ticking time bomb. We were desperate for closing before the season started and they trade away our only proven closer! We have been lucky so far but once they are stretched too far they'll explode. To compensate they'll start over-extending the rotation and then we'll have injuries and arms'll go dead. Then it's down the toilet.We've had this problem for a long time even with Molitor. I've advocated for years the need for long relief. If long relef was established from the beginning of the year and used, we be in a lot better shape. But right now we'll be going through a long haul of games and not having barely enough SPs to cover the games much less having pitchers to cover long relief. We desperately need Ryan and Winder to return and hope Gray is OK to cover his turn. So we have both Winder and Smeltzer in long relief or Archer and Bundy if that works out, I don't care as long as we have a long relief corp in steady use.

He will get enough playing, after not playing for 2yrs. you can't expect him to even come close to every day playing time. But it'll be nice to have him strong at post season

If you read carefully, I said nothing about bumping anyone from their positions. I can't help if you can't see the depth we have in the OF. Yes, Lewis could very likely out play most of our OFers but is it a good idea to put Lewis to risk completely bang up his knee. Don't you think a completely shot knee could ruin his career? What are you thinking? While playing INF IMO is less risk (that's partial why they remove Arraez from the OF, that plus he wasn't that good). I'm not saying Lewis to replace anyone in the INF eventhough he'd make a better 1B than Arraez. Every one needs a rest from time to time and Lewis would be our best replacement at any INF position for that and fill in if there's any injury. Arraez is learning 1B on the fly, Lewis can do it faster & better as well as 2B

Thank you Lucas for giving us such an specific explanation of what happened. This was a very scary accident, one that shouldn't have happened. We are loaded in the OF why risk Lewis's knees out there. Wasn't it because of Arraez's knees that they removed him from the OF? and CF is much more demanding.

I have no idea why they wanted to put Lewis in the OF. With Buxton, Kepler, Larnach, Gordon, Garlic with Celestino and Kiriloff soon returning. We haven't been this strong in the OF for an awfully long time. We are at the point where we are wondering what to do with all of them. I'm sure part of the reasons for removing Araez from the OF was his knees so why do they want to put Lewis out there to risk his knees? Lewis was all excited to play CF, he more or less said he enjoyed living dangerously. Lewis is young but management should have known better to expose Lewis to this unneccessary risk. I was against sending down Lewis down to AAA. Lewis was hot and was a spark plug to the club. He would learn more along side Correa than at AAA. He was familar to 3B and could learn 2B & 1B on the fly (Lewis is a quick learner and determined young man) where he could platoon Arraez at 1B and have plenty of ABs subbing Correa (who just came off of the IL), Polanco (who's dealing w/ sore ankles) and Urshella. While at AAA he didn't play any 2B or 1B where they should have focused on. But on SS & 3B where he's very familar with and OF where he's somewhat familar with and had no business being there. The Twins were facing a RHP so why did they start RH hitting Lewis and not LH hitting Gordon. Plus Gordon needs the playing time and he's more experienced there. All this makes no sense to me why management was so irresponsible in this case. Hope they wake up before they destroy this young man's MLB career!

Gray pitched a great 6+ inning game, but left with a sore pectoral. Hope he didn't over do it, and able to bounce back. Urshella open the scoring with a well welcomed 3 run HR, Gordon & Larnach had great games each homering back to back. Well played game all around, Eventhough we won the game, it left us wondering about 3 of our stars Lewis, Buxton & Gray with their injuries. My prayers go out for them.

I'd bring them both up, and send Miranda down. I've advocated Lewis some time 1B & 2B, he'd adjust quickly and he'd give Polanco rest to recover from his ankles and platoon Arraez at 1B. If I had to choose between Lewis or Kiriloff, I'd choose Lewis just because I'm not 100% sure on his wrist.

Back when Gordon's trade value was up there I was all in for trading him. But now after he made it to MLB, his trade value has bottomed out. I've underestimated his value to the team earlier but now I really appreciate him and IMO he's worth much more to us than what we can get on the trade market. I admire him for stepping up for the cause & took on learning such a foreign & demanding position as CF on the fly. Right now I consider him as a CF and a respectable LH hitting platoon behind Buxton & Celestino. MLB BA has been down I think around .235 so Gordon's hitting isn't that bad and sometimes comes up with a big hit. With Buxton we need at least 3 deep CFer and not need Kepler there. Plus his value at infield & even need be pitching, we may need his talent there at sometime this year. No, I'm not for cutting Gordon. I'm not for having Arraez at utility I'd like to keep him at 1st although I wasn't happy w/ him not scooping up that low throw from Polanco.

Not only a gifted player, he also has a great attitude. That has helped him to face all challenges he's faced. Toughest position & most foreign is OF, I believe we have the OF covered so we don't have to waste his time out there . He is very comfortable at SS & 3B so I'd preferred he had more playing time at 2B & 1B. It wouldn't be hard for him to adjust there and he'd be our best RH hitting platoon player at those positions along with subbing both SS & 3B. He's a very special player we need him in the MLB line up as much as possible and not in AAA.

I was frustrated with this game, the team had only one error but there were a lot of plays that should have happened that didn't, that cost us quite a few runs. Sanchez is better than advertized but still doesn't make the plays and I don't like how he calls the games. IMO Archer wasn't sharp and still can't make it to 5 innings. Although we matched KC as far as hits. Yet they couldn't do it when it counted on the most part which is equally frustrating. Totally different game than yesterday. I'd rather have Jeffers starting the games and bring Sanchez in to PH in key spots instead of vise versa but I have to hand it to Jeffers when he got that key single. I was hoping that the line up could put it together after Singer was taken out but it was too little and not able string hits together.

I'm an advocate for long relief, long relief is an excellent opportunity for getting our prospects feet wet, Winder has thrived at long relief before starting and injuring himself. Could Canterino come up later in the season in long relief? Maybe. I myself don't see Canterino as an future starter due to his herky jerky motion, destined more for long relief. So he could be more valuable to the Twins as trade bait as a future starter instead for frontline pitching.

Glad to see Polanco back in the line up, hope his ankle is fine. Glad to see the line up come alive from Polanco to Gordon. Regretably Ober & Smith was knocked of their pedestal but still expect great things from them

I've criticized from the beginning the Taylor/ broken Paddack trade. We need more proven closer type not trade the only one we had. Many fans said that it hasn't hurt us much just the one Duffy outing, I then said maybe so but it will eventually come around and bite us. It has and will continue to do so. I've advocated for years that we need a strong long RPing corp, at least one that is used on a frequent basis. But every year (minus the shorten season) they have ignored long relief and focused on a few short RPs which get burned out and to save them they in turn burn out the rotation. Even if we limp across the finish line our pitching is totally exhausted which contributed to our long post season losing streak. Duran has been very effective but I'm afraid they'll burn him out in short order. They'll need to get a proven closer to fill the gap that Rogers left for sure. My hope is also on Alcala's return he can help us out as a setup man until he's 100%. And again we need some one like Winder & Smeltzer in long relief to help aleviate the pressure on short relief.

I think he's rated right but has the potential to continue to rise up the ranks.

Smeltzer should have had the win, sorry that he didn't. Good news though, Polanco will be back. Twins got to get their bats going. Somebody needs to start get hot and help carry the team. We have a lot of talent. We need to stop ignoring the absence of our long relief.

Falvey has had a lot of experience there, Levine has had a lot of credit but just curious how has Levine contributed to this success? I think too much credit has been given to him.

I like Collier but we have a lot of 3Bs . Prefer a CF, SS or C. Twins love the Collier type so I wouldn't doubt it if they sign him.

Although KC & DET are on the bottom, they always play us tough. That's how it goes, even very good teams lose to them once in awhile. Just because we didn't sweep the Tigers doesn't mean it time to roll over and start trading away our players. Tigers have one the best if not the best BP in MLB.

didn't know, what happened to him?

Another tough game by Detroit, I wouldn't doubt that they've got the best BP in MLB. They are so deep in very good BP arms. As a lazyboy manager, I would have manage this game differently. I won't bore you with every detail but the main point I'd like to point out is only that in the 9th inning I'd pinch hit Celestino w/ the bases loaded for Polanco. #1 Polanco is a better clutch hitter and #2 produces righty / lefty match up. If that wouldn't win the game, defensively I'd place Polanco at 2B, Gordon in LF and Buxton in CF. Celestino made valiant effort at that HR but believe Buxton would've made that catch,