ashbury

We're on the same page. I was about to add, "Twins fans go to the ballpark to be entertained. Red Sox fans go to the ballpark to have fun. It's subtle, but there's a difference." A semi-quantitative metric for me: how often does the Jumbotron need to exhort the crowd to "clap-clap-clap"? I don't know specific numbers for most places but I can tell you the answer at Fenway; zero. And, as you note, the steps needed to correct this in MSP amount to marketing, not baseball acumen, and will take a long time even if done seriously. You don't turn an ocean liner around on a dime. (I know where I'd start: pay a few shills to yell "Let's Go Twi-ins" and similar cheers at appropriate moments during the game. There was some of that, organically, at the Toronto series in October '23. The name "Pablo" featured prominently that one game - what a muffed opportunity in the months afterward.)

I'd start the analysis at the team level: RHP vs RHB: .721 OPS, 2298 PA RHP vs LHB: .694, 2064 LHP vs RHB: .738, 1262 LHP vs LHB: .611, 435 So at a macro level, our lefty batters were putrid against lefty pitchers, but they faced them so infrequently that it didn't drag down the overall numbers by much. Rocco might call this vindication for the platooning strategy. (In truth most MLB teams had a relative handful of L-L matchups last season, the Twins only a little bit off the norm.) The problem is that those lefty mashers didn't mash when facing right-handed pitching either. The hitters standing on that side of the plate didn't hit anybody, left or right. Which hitters from the left side got the least benefit against RHP? Brooks Lee is way up there, as you note, and the problem wasn't solely his .643 OPS but that the 349 plate appearances he consumed doing it was second on the team in these "favorable" matchups, meaning that the weighted effect on the team was magnified. But it was a team effort: Outman, Gasper, Julien, Keirsey, Roden, every one of those that the team rolled out there trying to do damage against righthanders did WORSE than Lee's anemic showing, and they combined for 400 PA. Ahead of Lee, Willi Castro was marginally better at .703 while he was here, but that's still below the majors average of .743 for the prized matchup. Our bat-first outfielders Larnach and Wallner were a rather "meh" .759 and .771 respectively. Only Cody Klemens with .797 acquitted himself since he allegedly brings some defense to his game as well. (And second-prize winner in the James Outman Lookalike Contest, Ryan Fitzgerald, logged .828 in very short duty.) There were problems elsewhere in the lineup, but the single biggest place to try for improvement is the "simple" art of finding guys from the left side who can clobber right handed pitchers - we were 28th of 30.

I think baseball as a whole, and the individual franchises within, need to take an "all of the above" approach to the health of the game, with regard to the dimensions you allude to. It's not some sleight of hand trick to try to boost attendance in ways that are separate from the efforts that go toward rings, things, and shiny wins. A truly healthy industry would allow for owners to receive profits even in a down year, while having incentive to gain larger profits when the season goes well. I don't begrudge even the Pohlads that. What I do begrudge is skimming off a profit even while the hometown fan base is feeling surly. Places like Boston* and St Louis and Milwaukee have traditionally punched above their weight class (in terms of market size) relative to powerhouses elsewhere in the majors, as "good baseball towns". Colorado looks like is working its way into that camp too. I can tell you that attending a game at Fenway is a lot of fun even in a season where the Sawx aren't legitimate contenders. I'm super curious now to attend a random game at Coors and see what it's like. Surely the Twins FO has contacts and connections to tell them the answers that I have to make a long road trip to learn. * Yes, Boston. They are the 7th ranked TV market in the US, but it's hard to place the fan experience that low - they're right up there with the truly huge markets - and I don't mean just at the ballpark but talking baseball with acquaintances there.

It was Babe Ruth. He had 20 career plate appearances batting eighth. Hit only .067 there. Truth. I get him mixed up with Royce all the time. 😁

This belongs in the "No Fun With Numbers" thread. 😁 Their mark against lefties was exactly average across the majors (.704), and most teams hit better against righties (.725), but not our Twins! Better results, better players, I don't really care - we just need BETTER. League average or worse gets us nowhere.

/ edit - Oh, gosh darn it, I misread who I was looking up. Never mind.

If Tristan Gray can take any part of Brooks Lee's job, it says more about Lee than it does about anything else. We are transitioning from "let's see what we've got" to "you're 25 and need to start showing us something more."

You were responding to someone saying 3-4 years, and Total System Failure in 2016 took until 2019 to bear fruit - 3 years in line with that poster, not the one-year turnaround you suggested.

Every signing at this time of year is an extreme long shot to contribute meaningfully to the major league club. Best case is they will fill some innings during the long AAA season and maybe earn a short call-up. Likely case is a quiet parting of ways in six weeks. Signings like these are routine every year for most franchises.

That 2018 squad closed their season on an 11-3 run. The dispirited 2025 edition finished 6-12. In a new season anything's possible, but I'm not seeing a lot of parallels if that's the picture you want to draw.

Is that what the Hope-O-Meter is supposed to be measuring? I don't think the question posed to respondents is how their team ranks to (other) bottom-dwellers. Colorado has had decent attendance, above 2.4M last year, in support of a ballclub that hasn't sniffed .500 for seven years. Minnesota's fan base is in a foul mood, and it needn't be that way. Twins ownership and their FO delegates should be studying the Rockies franchise to understand where the "fun factor" is that accounts for people coming to the ballpark for a good time even "if they don't win it's a shame."

In response to Chief's gauge: (Also, I found a givea****meter, another in a similar vein, and an even more vulgar givea****meter, and I'm providing links instead of the direct images to those so you can decide for yourself how affronted you wish to be. You're welcome. The Rick-Astley-O-Meter is zero for each of these links.)

In the spirit of the season: h/t to ... well, they'll know.

75% of which is receiving throws from players trying their best (and not always succeeding) to make it easy for him to catch, as opposed to batters trying their best (and not always succeeding) to hit fly balls that are difficult to catch.

Reverse splits that persist are rare, and for his career he had been very weak against lefties, so I'm happy to see him be playable against them and let the splits start to normalize. If he can manage a .700 OPS against the lefties and then start to totally mash righties, he'll have a nice career.

I've been a broken record about Matt Wallner's lack of timely hitting in 2025, so I am very happy to give him his due for staking his team to an early lead. Facing a lefty, even sweeter. The article referred to a quality start for SWR, but 5 innings isn't a Quality Start by the usual definition. It kinda sort meets a reasonable expectation for an early season start.

Can we afford to play him on the base paths? He cost us an out yesterday.

They sell apparel at the souvenir shop. Did you resort to that?

So what's the prescription?

I haven't ponied up for mlb.tv as yet, but on Gray's double did we nearly end up with two baserunners at third base? Gray was barreling in there and on the replay it looked like Larnach had barely broken for home plate. Could have had an embarrassing double play there - indeed, was there a case to be made that Gray committed interference when the third baseman tried to throw home? Meanwhile what was the third base coach signaling all during that?

Um, who is paying whose salary?

Brian Dozier made a good living feasting on mistake pitches high and inside. The open question is whether Royce Lewis can be similar about staying alive long enough on the assortment of other pitches he sees. But I can enjoy this one today.

Do you have a recommendation for one that isn't? I'm still looking. Though, they're gradually getting better. A couple of years ago I tested one by asking a) which team won the American League pennant in 1899 (it always insisted the Boston Pilgrims did, despite there being no AL until 1901) and b) how many US senators had a birthday that year (it demurred by saying it didn't have access to all their bio data). Can't trick it the same way anymore. But last week I got tipped off to try telling it, "I need to go to the carwash. It is 500 meters from my house. Should I walk or drive?" Guess what it answered.

Here ya go. Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up