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darwin22

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Everything posted by darwin22

  1. darwin22
    A few thoughts after a frustrating loss today: 1. Thinking back to consecutive road losses at MIL (8-22/23) with the prospect of 7 games against TX, I was HOPING for a home split and 1 road W. Now that we've completed those 7 games, I would say like most fans, I'm extremely happy winning 5 of those 7 games. 2. What is the MLB record for most GIDP in 1 season? Correa has to be getting close to that dubious achievement. 3. How long of a rope does Kuechel have moving forward as a member of rotation? I think he's earned another start despite getting lit up in his last start. Keuchel has alternated very good starts (Game 1 vs. AZ and game 3 vs. PIT) with 2 horrible outings (starts at PHI and the other night vs. TX). In between those starts, he entered in relief of a very ineffective Ober and tossed 5 shutout innings in a game the Twins came back to win. His upcoming start against the White Sox is make or break, imo, with Ober sitting ready at SP. From what I've seen, Ober has NOT pitched at all for SP. Hopefully the rest will get him the reset he needed. Finally... 4. Are there others that are sick and tired of seeing Vazquez continue to fail on a daily basis when he's in lineup? I know he hit a key solo HR last night, but his performance today was BRUTAL. It was really "Gallo-esque" in terms of futility. 0-5 this afternoon with 2 Ks--both in key spots--runners on 1st and 2nd in 4th and with bases loaded in 5th. At the time of his signing, I was "ok" with it, especially after watching Sanchez's mercurial performance last season. I was surprised with the $$ amount (3yrs/ $30m), but understood it as management expected a rebound from him. Furthermore, Jeffers had done nothing BEFORE this season to establish himself as the bona fide #1 catcher. Now that Jeffers has done that, my question is---Does the front office have the guts to ADMIT THEIR MISTAKE and release him in the off season? Considering our FO has failed to admit their OBVIOUS ERROR in signing Gallo, I doubt seeing ownership eating the remaining $20m owed to Vazquez. Saying that---should Vazquez get released, I believe 2 catchers in our system warrant the opportunity to serve as Jeffers backup next season: Prospect #1: Jair Camargo/ Age 24. Acquired with Maeda in 2020 trade from Dodgers. RH bat that, I believe has spent the entire season at SP with the following numbers: AVG: .247, HR- 18, RBI-56, OBP- .315. No idea of his defensive abilities--strengths or weaknesses. Prospect #2: Alex Isola/ Age 25. Rd. 29 pick in 2019 amateur draft. RH bat. Played all season at AA Wichita with the following offensive stats: .271 avg, 18 HR, 54 RBI with a .361 OBP. I know my last point isn't a concern to many at this point in the year, but I'm beyond ready to jettison Vazquez off this team for 2024.
  2. darwin22
    A BIG win, which could've been made even better if the Rays hadn't BLOWN 2 leads---9th and 11th inning. Huge props to Solano! Hopefully a guy our FO puts an emphasis on to re-sign in the offseason. Great to see Correa come through in a clutch situation in the 10th. Same for Kepler. He sure appears to be producing his way into the Twins picking up his $10m option next year. Never thought 2 months ago I'd be typing that previous sentence. Hate to spoil a significant W, but is there really ANY REASON why Gallo is still on this team? 0 for his last 17, 13 of those AB's ending with a whiff. His last RBI came on Aug. 12th. What is the downside of DFA'ing him and bringing up Austin Martin? With Taylor hurting, Martin could spell Stevenson as a short term replacement in CF. Is it too much to ask that TB step up and win a game tomorrow?
  3. darwin22
    As thoroughly disgusted as I am with the result of today's game I know I know I need to keep it in perspective as the Twins still have a 5-game lead over CLE. Saying that, can we cease and desist with the belief that its inevitable that this team is winning the AL Central? Don't get me wrong, as much as today's loss is still stinging, I believe this team CAN win the division. Will it? Who knows. What can't continue to happen includes: 1. Scoring 3 runs or less and expecting to win. 4 runs combined the last two games. Thats even worse as CLE RP's had to cover 8 IP last night and another 4 today, but gave up only 2 runs. The warts of this team offensively, namely failing to produce with RISP was proven by the fact of going 1-18 over the last two games and FAILING to make productive outs (14 more whiffs today) is a big concern. 2. Continuing to see late inning RPs fail in key spots. My confidence in Jax is diminishing. Same with Thielbar. Duran is also showing a regression. If he cleanly fields the groundball back to him in the 9th--its a DP and the Twins head off to TX with a 7-game lead. His 2-out/2 strike wild pitch was a scissor kick to the groin. I'm sure I'm in then minority here, but I wasn't upset that Pagan was hooked for Funderburk. Easy to second guess Baldelli now, but how many people would be posting ripping him if he'd left Pagan in and Calhoun had gotten the go ahead hit? I'm sure more than a few. When the count got to 3-0, I honestly thought walking Calhoun was the best move. Rough result for Funderburk, which I hope he'll learn from. Not intending to continue on a pessimistic note, but with our next 6 games on the road against TX (winners of last two) and CLE, how many games do realistic fans seeing the Twins winning? I'm hoping for two. Need some help from Tampa Bay this weekend against the Guardians. If the Twins can keep their division lead over CLE at +3 games at the conclusion of their series next week, then the remaining 22 games for each team turns the Twins way. Over the final 22 games the Twins face only two teams with a winning record (TB- 3 at home and CIN- 3 away). The other 16 games are against sub .500 teams---Mets, Angels and A's ( 9 at home)/ White Sox & Rockies 7 on road). Over that same 22 game stretch (after September 4) the Guardians have 12 games against FOUR teams with a +.500 record-- TX, BAL, CIN and SF. Their other 10 games are all on the road against the Angels, Royals and Tigers.
  4. darwin22
    Please cease and desist with this nonsense! There is beyond zero chance the Twins are even in the next room to the conversation of Ohtani signing in Minnesota.
  5. darwin22
    Not to be off topic, but in somewhat of a surprising move the Angels released the following players today: SP Giolito RP Lopez RP Moore OF Grichuk OF Renfrow Wondering if ANY of these players would be of interest to the front office? Despite the likely return of Castro, Buxton and Kirilloff over the next 10 days--------do either of the RH hitters offer an upgrade? Would either Lopez or Moore help? No certainty Stewart returns anytime soon. Is Funderburk a better option than what Matt Moore would offer? Is Giolito a short term upgrade over what Keuchel offers, especially with Ober seemingly getting an extended reset in SP? Not strongly advocating for ANY of these to be added as I understand the importance of team chemistry. Saying that---would be interested in hearing the thoughts of others.
  6. darwin22
    With Twins in 1981 and 1985---------95 career ABs with 77 coming in 85 season. Had 2 HRs and 13 RBI while hitting .314. Big dude/ 6'4/226-------OFer and DH. Now 66 living in Charlotte, NC per Baseball Reference profile.
  7. darwin22
    Considering that I was busy with my fantasy football draft earlier today, I can't say I was shocked when a buddy of mine, who has Ober, mentioned Twins were trailing 5-0 midway through the game. Honestly, before the series I would've settled for a split. Absolutely gave game away yesterday, which was quite disappointing considering the team battled to tie it while getting Scherzer out of the game. Although I did peek at the score ....seeing Twins facing only a 1-run deficit in the 8th....I decided to enter our draft results instead of being disappointed seeing our hitters fail to tie the game up. Only after I finished, did I notice that the game had moved to extra innings, although at that point, the Twins trailed 6-5. Thought Polanco had an excellent AB fouling off several two strike pitches before MAKING CONTACT to score Taylor. What I couldn't fathom was how Solano ran into the first out! My only guess was he "thought" the ball was a single to LF. Thankfully, I wasn't watching in the latest episode of the "Gallo follies"---has to be a "top 5" in Twins history of WORST baserunning blunders. Echo comments of a few others as the pitching hero of the game was Keuchel. What a fabulous performance! Not ready at this point to support an "Ober reset" at AAA, but his propensity to serve up HRs ( 6 in his last 5 starts) is becoming troublesome Overstating the obvious, but next three games are crucial. CLE is getting key (and unexpected) contributions from Laureano & Calhoun. Time to have a laser focus from our manager all the way though the clubhouse. Would be great to see some BIG crowds come out and give this maddening team a home field advantage.
  8. darwin22
    Not intending to get into a p*ssing match, but in case you missed it----Keuchel more than proved his status to stay on pitching staff today with his 5 shutout innings in relief of Ober. As for Varland, he had 3 consecutive good starts for SP in August, but his most recent start (8-22) was a stinker vs. Omaha ( 4IP, 7 runs, 4 ER with 6 hits allowed and 3 walks). Funderburk as a starter? He's not started a game this year. Soley used as a RP--and a very good one for the Saints this season.
  9. darwin22
    Not posting as a member of the Dallas Keuchel "fan club," but have to mention that he absolutely EARNED his promotion from AAA as his command was pretty darn good as evidenced by these numbers over 6 starts: IP: 32 ER allowed: 4 ERA: 1.13 K to BB: 28/12 WHIP: 1.25 Opp BA: .233 IMO Keuchel has earned a spot with the Twins at this point either as a member of a 6-man rotation or in a role to bolster Ober who's pitched the most innings in his career this season. Keuchel is a professional PITCHER still in 2023. His start in PHI was brutal, but his other 2 starts were good to above average. Just asking---------who at SP right now would be a better option than Keuchel?
  10. darwin22
    As much as many want to place the blame on the bullpen for ANOTHER blown game, I place 90+ % of blame on 1 person: Derrick Falvey ( feel free to insert/add Thad Levine) to this When you're (supposedly) a contending playoff team how do you explain fielding a bullpen at this point in the season when 50% of your RPs are NOT USABLE/TRUSTED in a close game? The quartet of Ortega, Winder, Floro and Sands are NOT MLB quality RPs. They are AAAA players at best. Although I find NUMEROUS faults with Baldelli's pitching decisions (ie hooking Ober last night at 78 pitches), I can't blame him today. Simply put, Pagan, Thielbar and Duran failed to protect leads. Which brings me back to Falvey (front office) for failing to make upgrading the bullpen a priority in the offseason. What was done? I can't think of ANY effort to bring trade for or sign an established RP. I can only surmise Falvey believed that 3 pitchers would rebound to strengthen the bullpen: Jorge Lopez, Jorge Alcala and Jovani Moran How did that work out Derrick? Answer: Complete failure Lopez became so bad (5.09 ERA) that he was traded for Floro at the trade deadline. Alcala: Only pitched 15.33 innings (6.46 ERA) before going on the IL in mid May. Moran: 5.31 ERA in just over 42 IP. with 27 BB. I will give the front office credit for the signing of Brock Stewart. Saying that, Stewart last pitched on June 25th. Which brings me back to Falvey's failure to upgrade the pen at the trade deadline. You did nothing! What was the plan? Trust that Stewart would have a miraculous recovery? Trust that Moran would somehow be able to find the strike zone? I really don't enjoy being such a pessimist, but with a 4-man bullpen for the last 35 games, who honestly believes this team will win the division? Out top 4 arms can't pitch every night. The way Baldelli has managed recently, get ready for a bunch of games that the pen will need to record 12 outs. Its not happening. The next 13 games----7 vs. Texas and 6 vs. CLE--------will be the season. I hope I'm wrong, but when you combine a VERY inconsistent offense with a bullpen that has only 4 reliable arms, I don't see much in the way of any positive result for this team by the end of September. Thanks for nothing Derrick.
  11. darwin22
    Which brings our MLB leading total to 1273 for the season. Still on pace...1663 K's...to shatter the 2021 record of 1596 by the Cubs. Absolutely brutal watching this collection of misfit hitters.
  12. darwin22
    To further quote Chip Diller (Bacon) regarding the upcoming 5-game homestand. "Thank you Sir, may I have another"-------4 would be great. 3 at least.
  13. darwin22
    One short week ago after Twins improbably finished a sweep against the Snakes, I tempered my rising hope for this team hoping they'd come away with at least 3 wins o n their road trip to DET & PHI. After cruising to a comfortable W on Monday---the reality of this maddening consistently inconsistent team reared its head with three straight brutal losses. Coming into to face a hot Phillies team with Keuchel pitching, I expected the worst and received it. Thankfully---Pablo Lopez stepped up BIG time yesterday (quietly becoming staff ace) and Sonny Gray came through with a great performance. Never would've predicted even a 3-run output from our offense today when I saw Luplow hitting in the 3-hole. Glad he proved me wrong with a 1st inning BOMB off Suarez. Like others, I was a tad baffled by Gray exiting after only 80 pitches. Although Thielbar saved our bacon with a whiff of Bohm (thanks hp ump!), I was beyond frustrated with Jax's inability to put hitters away after Farmer's excellent play for the first out. 1-2 pitch to Cave: single to RF 0-2 pitch to Stubbs (Catcher) hitting .208------serves up another line drive single, which was followed by Jax plunking 9-hole hitter Rojas on ANOTHER 0-2 pitch. Thankfully, Thielbar (and not Moran) was able to come in and extinguish the rally. Absolutely need Thielbar to be a key part of pen over the last 42 games. Not be forgotten, I will give props to Pagan for blowing away Castellanos and Stott for the last 2 outs in the 8th. That brings us to Duran. He got the SV, but for the 10 straight appearance he failed to pitch a clean inning. Duran hasn't pitched a clean inning since July 15th. Is that a reason for concern? His WHIP has soared to 1.61 over his last 10 games. I know we've been spoiled with him, but it does seem that he's throwing fewer and fewer fastballs over the last month? His K's are still there---14---over those 9.33 IP Looking forward this week-----2 HOME vs. DET and 3 more vs. PIT. Is it too much to expect 4 wins in those 5 games? Probably so as one thing this team continues to do is play down to their competition. Any word/report if Lewis has progressed to the point that he's activated this week?
  14. darwin22
    Since his awful start in OAK after the ASB (7 ER in 5.2 IP), Lopez over his last 5 starts has been flat out outstanding as evidenced by the following numbers: W-L 3-1*---should've got another W from 7-25 start when bullpen (Moran) gagged away a 6-2 lead IP: 31 ER allowed: 5 ERA: 1.45 WHIP: 0.935 K: 35 BB: 4 If Twins have any hope to be playing into October, Lopez MUST be the staff ACE over his last 8-9 starts. Will be hard to continue to put up these numbers the remainder of the year, but he can do A LOT to quell the ongoing critics that continue to lament the loss of Arraez.
  15. darwin22
    Because Rocco's spreadsheet instructed him to play for games this weekend.
  16. darwin22
    This---the last 2 nights---is EXACTLY why I refuse to re-invest any time or energy into this team. Staring head on at another L tomorrow with Skubal pitching and the same Friday night in Philly with Sanchez getting the start. Yeah, I know CLE lost tonight, but I refuse to believe that this season will end with a happy ending.
  17. darwin22
    Jeremy: Thanks for the detailed week in review. Great report. Keep them coming.
  18. darwin22
    Great to see Jeffers "heater" continue! His massive 3-run bomb was huge giving Lopez some breathing room to go out and be aggressive. Correa's night was also not only needed, but hopefully the beginning of a hot streak. Haven't researched this, but I would bet that Correa's 6 RBI over the last 2 games was the 1st time he'd done that this season. Victory was also crucial in that it gave our main bullpen arms---Duran, Jax, Thielbar and Pagan---a needed day off. Rodriguez will offer a tougher challenge tomorrow night, but he has proved to be susceptible to giving up runs since the beginning of July. 1 game at a time boys....get a good nights sleep and bring the bats out ready to thump tomorrow.
  19. darwin22
    This ^$%$% team. One short week ago tonight, I like many other fans (I'm guessing) just wanted this season to be over. After getting swept by the hapless Royals in KC, my mood was beyond angered. No energy and little sense of urgency by the players, coaching staff and the front office at the trade deadline had me ready to turn all of my Minnesota sports allegiance to the state of affairs of Vikings training camp. So one short week later, what series of events have me (GULP) actually willing to re-invest my heart into this team? 1. Winning 2 of 3 in STL after the KC fiasco. 2. Seeing CLE, despite only being a few games back, seemingly throw the white towel by trading away their best healthy SP (Civale) and jettisoning another quality bat (Josh Bell) at the trade deadline. 3. Witnessing one of the funniest (and stupidest) baseball fights----the welterweight action of Jose Ramirez vs. Tim Anderson last night. This imbecilic brawl will (hopefully) cost Ramirez a 5-game+ suspension. 4. This team finishing off a sweep today against the Snakes. Improbable to say the least with Gallen dealing early and seeing Pagan and Thielbar both give up late runs in their outings. Maybe just maybe what happened in the bottom of the 9th can be a springboard for the last 49 games. Saying that, I'm a realist. Bullpen is thin. Very thin. Buxton is out for an extended period. Who knows when either Kirilloff and Lewis will be back? Correa, despite a key hit today shows little evidence of breaking out of his season long funk. On the flip side----as others have noted---as bad as things have been offensively, who would've predicted the improvements from these 3 hitters 6 weeks ago? 1. Ryan Jeffers: Since July 1st, Jeffers is hitting .385 (20-52) with 5 HRs, 12 RBI and an OPS over 1000 2. Eduardo Julien: Same time frame---since July 1st is hitting .353 (30-85) with a .450+ OBP 3. Max Kepler: Since 7-1: .295 avg (31-105), 7 HRs, 17 RBI with an OPS over 900 This game of baseball is crazy. Twins have 49 games left. This week's 7 game road trip through DET and PHI is crucial. Need to come away with a minimum of 3 wins. The key to this season will be the 13 game stretch (Aug 24-Sept 6) when the Twins face TX and CLE for 13 games....7 vs. TX ( 4 home/ road) and 6 vs. CLE (3 home/3 road) One thing has proven true about this team through 113 games: They are consistently inconsistent. Time to buckle up to see what happens and maybe have some fun over the next 8 weeks. Its just a game...right?
  20. darwin22
    Living here in the KC area for the last 20 years as a lifelong Twins fans, I'm often asked why I don't travel 20 minutes down I-70 to watch a game/series. This weekend explains why. Just a horrible performance from everyone involved.
  21. darwin22
    Rising whiff number is up to 1088 after last night. Average of 10.36 whiff per game puts Twins on pace to shatter the Cubs record (1596/set in 2021) with a total of 1679. Brutal.
  22. darwin22
    smh, but you're absolutely right. Lopez is a mess. Moran seldom has any command. Hopefully, Thielbar (soon) and Stewart (within 2 weeks) can return to solidify our pen, which could move Pagan back into a 6th-7th inning role.
  23. darwin22
    With 13 more whiffs today---Twins have crested the "1000 mark"----now at (1002) after 98 games, for an average of 10.22 Ks per game. Team on pace----with Buxton and Gallo leading the way-------with 64 games remaining to set the MLB record for most team whiffs on the season. At current rate, Twins will finish with 1656 K's which would shatter the 2021 record of the Cubs who whiffed 1596 times.
  24. darwin22
    Pretty predictable outcome facing SEA SP Kirby. Pablo Lopez sure isn't doing much to limit the constant criticism of trading Arraez away. He was lucky to escape with only 2 runs allowed. At what point does management come to Buxton to move him to IL? 0 for last 26. Just brutal. Jorge Lopez has become Pagan. Ugly. Any timetable on return of Thielbar? Brock Stewart? They are both desperately needed back healthy and effective. Time to erase this game and get a series win vs. White Sox.
  25. darwin22
    Travel day back from Chicago after and 11-day/ 8 game baseball experience courtesy of Jay Buckley Tours (based out of LaCrosse, WI). Considering the last 2 days, I had zero interest in checking a Twins score, but was hopeful (stupid me) Ryan would have a solid start & bats would wake up. Wrong on both accounts. Glad to miss Rocco's postgame presser. Can't believe he found ANYTHING positive after ANOTHER lackluster day at the plate in addition to Twins pitchers doing their best impersonation of some of the horrendous games by Twins pitchers in the 90s. Not much to add to another depressing day, but a a few numbers that (warning alert) that don't inspire confidence heading into the 2nd half: 1. When you score 2 runs or less nearly 40% of the the time (39.5 %)----36 of 91 games-----you aren't going to win anything, let alone a playoff game. 2. When you have a winning % of .431 since May 1st---(28-34)----you're not heading in the right direction. 3. Even if the schedule makers helped out the Twins by giving them 6 more against KC (9-1 on year) that wont help. Twins are a dismal 36-45 against everyone except the Royals. Stupid me--part 2-------I AM hopeful that our #5 pick will become an impact player for years to come.
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