Doctor Gast

I'd prefer he stays at 3B. Unless it's OF. I guess I'm fine with him playing 2B

At the beginning of the season, Baldelli advised the BP to be ready to go extra innings (to keep the pressure off the rotation). He extended that to Alcala who after spent a year on the IL & ramping up that should have been & still be limited to single & nonconsecutive innings, As imagined that didn't last long, only on occasion did they go 2innings & rarely went 3. The need is still there yet more than ever to take the pressure off the rotation after losing Paddack & now Ryan. But now short relief is thin. We need to cull out those that aren't contributing. They have released Okert & should also release Richards & I'm not crazy about bringing Funderburg up either. Next they should prioritize the long relief/ spot-starter role, that means bring up Varland as soon as strategically possible to spot-start (to give the rotation another breather)& keep him up for long relief. With rookie SWR surpassing his last year total & rookies Festa & Matthews kept at 5 innings & you never know when Lopez or Ober might have an off day, we need someone to step in give us several innings to spare the BP. IMO if we take care of our SPs we shouldn't have a need for a 6th SP but still have Varland step up if need be. Besides Varland we have Sands & Winder that can go multiple innings, if Festa is much better the 1st time through the order we can be very creative with BP games, piggy-backing, openers or whatever. In those games that long is used a short RP may not be needed. The focus should be on keeping our rotation & BP healthy & throwing high-quality innings, Short relief we still have Jax, Duran, Alcala with anyone else in long relief to spot short relief more than likely Sands.

Thank you Cody for this refreshing insightful article. Martin has a spunky personality. He has gone through a lot of adjustments & difficulties. Adjusting to a different team, TOR & MN trying to make him into a power SS (?) throughout his pro career, setting him back offensively & defensively. Twins & fans were giving up on him because he wasn't that power SS they dearly wanted. It wasn't until the end of '22 when he said enough, I'm going to be myself & at AFL he became that OB machine, base-path terror that showed remarkable talent in a new position in CF. The Twins showed a lack of faith in Martin & Keirsey by signing Margot (which saddened me very much). The Twins should have handled their new RHH rookie with kid gloves by starting him only against easy LHPs. But no that was reserved for FO's new pet Margot & Martin was stuck with the more difficult RHPs (RHPs that (LHH) Keirsey would be more suited for) that even veterans have problems with. Even with this obstacle Martin is slowly overcoming this with good ABs & constantly getting better due to his spunkiness. Margot signed as Buxton's sub in CF, Martin has usurped him there even though he's a rookie at a new prime position. Due to the obstacles he has faced, Martin is far from his ceiling at the MLB level. Once becoming acclimated to the MLB, he'll become that OB machine that terrorizes pitchers on the base paths, a natural 2Bman that can dominate CF & LF & eventually develop that power that many desire. That spunkiness that keeps him overcoming those obstacles will also spark many rallies & score a ton of runs.

With runners on 1B & 3B with 1 out, I thought they'd try a delayed steal, a squeeze, just send Julien to 2B, a hit & run or something but they decided to do nothing.

Very interesting article but I don't believe in luck. The way they figure luck IMO is ridiculous.

A decent Matthews start for nought.

Keirsey is a true CFer, Cave wasn't much good in CF. Bats might be similar.

SPs have much higher pressure in the postseason push than positional players, So why is it OK to bring up younger rookies Festa & Matthews to compete & not the older Keirsey? The priority was to get RHHs to face LHPs but during the season we had RHHs sit against LHPs & we didn't have enough LHHs to face the great majority of RHPs, we had RHH Martin (CF) to face RHPs far too often. Agreed that the 40-man roster spot is very valuable so why give one to Margot? Spend more money on an inferior product? Keirsey may not be eye-popping but he happens to be very good at hitting, power, fielding at premium position & base-running what more can you ask for? What can you say about Margot? He's ok against an occasional LHP. Margot is gone next year, we gain nothing from his playing time. While Keirsey's MLB experience could be very valuable as far his value even if he doesn't stay for the long term. LHH CFers are a premium, he's well worth the investment. It would have been much better if we did not spend millions on Margot & blocked playing time for more deserving prospects. We needed another LHH in the line-up & CF sub in the OF especially when Castro was designated in the INF. I'm afraid that the most opportune time to call up Keirsey has passed, the return of Lee followed by Buxton, Correa will reduce his need & greatly reduce the needed time to get familiar with the MLB. Keirsey has very good potential, it's a shame that the Twins wouldn't trust his talents. An organization that can't trust its developmental process is sad especially when the economical situation calls for it.

A great game to watch especially since we won. Pablo pitched great, Vazquez kept him focused. Vazquez didn't get a hit but his defense was spectacular. Great pick-off! I'm sure Vazquez works with all the INFers before the games to let them know what to expect. Congratulations, Larnach on the 2HR game! Great offense also from Wallner & Martin. Miranda looked good at 1B, The line-up came through in the absence of Correa & Buxton, plus Lewis & Miranda haven't been their best. Lee & Kiriloff are on their way back. I imagine a lot of moves will finally happen around the 1st that should have happened a while ago. Like bringing up Varland & Keirsey for good. DFA more guys which they started with Okert. Bring back Correa & Buxton, ready or not.

Twins are giving Gray a warm welcome!

Here we go again! Larnach blasted another!

Pablo is fighting!

I 've seen Martin make that play

That pick-off by Vazquez has kept the base-runners honest

Dang it the ump blew it again, then Miranda got robbed of an extra base hit & RBI.

Just what the doctor ordered! Great job Larnach!

Great AB by Castro! Let's go Twins

Love that hussle! Great job Martin!

Great job, Vazquez!

I saw that coming!

Great job Miranda!

Ump stole 2 balls from Kepler bad call

Great job Pablo, let's go line-up!

I like Miranda at 1B

So far so good. Let's go Twins!