stringer bell

Who's he supposed to start? Helman, Lee, Keirsey Jr., Jeffers and Castro is the bench. None of those guys, especially with Castro's struggles against lefties, scream "play me".

Miranda tries hard but he's not a good fielder at third base. Royce doesn't have to be great to be a better fielder at third.

I fear for Zebby in the coming inning. He might get pulled.

Too many middle-middle 94 mph fastballs.

There's the difference between the Twins and the Guardians and Royals. Team speed. Farner didn't get a double because of a fast center fielder and couldn't score on a double the checked up close to the deep left field line. Both teams had good relays from the corner. If I'm Watkins, I'm sending Farmer, but he was a dead duck.

Dick Mountain didn't have much of a runway--3.2 innings. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/09/red-sox-designate-rich-hill-for-assignment.html My enduring memory of Blankenhorn was the error he made at second base in perhaps the worst loss the Twins have experienced in this century. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/09/nationals-claim-michael-rucker-waivers-phillies-dfa-travis-blankenhorn.html

Usual suspects not in the lineup--Lee and Castro--as well as Margot's presumed replacement (Helman). I am wondering about injury issues with Lee, just off the IL and he was on the bench on Thursday and perhaps for Castro who corralled a sinking liner by blocking it with his uhh midsection the other day. Besides that, Willi has really struggled as a right handed hitter. Rocco would rather have Wallner and Larnach in the lineup than Helman versus a lefty?

I was thinking about the Polanco experiment at third base while reading this thread. He was brutal at the hot corner, but he was one of the Twins' best hitters. I agree with Brian that Lewis can be okay at third or second, like Devers is okay at third for the Red Sox. I think Lewis' throwing mechanics need work and his spring trainings and off seasons so far have been occupied by being injured or recovering from being injured. It's also clear that Lewis is a far bigger man than he was seven years ago when he was drafted and even two and a half years ago when he filled in for a Correa injury. Players do change positions all the time. Harmon Killebrew, Jim Thome and Miguel Cabrera were all regular third basemen who moved. Pete Rose went from second to outfield to third to first. Even Carlos Santana was briefly a third baseman.

One play is just too little to make judgments about someone's defensive capabilities. FWIW, BBRef is showing Keirsey Jr. as being one run below average after one inning.

Big picture—I am trying to be impartial about Keirsey Jr. I hope he is a late bloomer who can be a big contributor for the next few seasons, but my skeptical side sees another Andrew Stevenson—speedy, decent glove, but not a big league hitter despite gaudy AAA numbers. The play in question looked like a tough one—he wasn’t going to be charged with an error if he got leather on the ball—but I don’t know if he got a great jump and I don’t know if he showed elite sprint speed. He made a better play for the ball than Siri did on Jeffers double in the ninth, that’s for sure. Further, making one good/great catch doesn’t make him a defensive wizard and not making the catch doesn’t preclude him from playing center field. Perhaps the best catch all year by a Twin was Austin Martin robbing a homer and so far he’s shown to be overmatched as a center fielder.

Buxton has had hip and knee injuries for years. It’s pretty apparent that he’s tried to play through the lingering effects of these injuries—he missed about three weeks with the knee injury and has now missed almost a month with the hip. We’ve seen him try to power through at less than 100% and it didn’t go well. Each recurrence provides more proof that he can’t get through a season. The 90 games he’s played may be all he’s capable of. The Twins have tried frequent rest days, using him exclusively as a DH and shutting him down to settle down the chronic problems. So far, they can’t get him to post 100 games. They need an outfielder to man a corner who can move into center when the inevitable injury occurs. MAT worked for ‘23, perhaps someone in the system can fill that role in ‘25. Kepler hasn’t looked good for most of the season after a hot return from the IL this April. It seems he can’t perform at a high level with nagging injuries.

I do think not counting Correa's earlier IL stint matters greatly in comparing his usage to Witt Jr. and Judge. Nobody will play all 162 for Baldelli IMHO, but if Correa and Lewis were healthy and showing no symptoms of fatigue, they would play in over 90% of the games. Correa was in the top of the order most of the time and when Lewis was hitting like a superstar, he was too. At times, Miranda and Wallner have looked like they should be permanent middle of the order bats, but so far they haven't demonstrated the consistency to write their names in ink in the lineup every day and maybe in a specific place in the order. It seems to me that Rocco really shields his younger left handed batters from left handed pitchers. The four at the beginning of the season were Wallner, Kirilloff, Julien and Larnach. None have performed well against lefties, but is it because they haven't seen enough of them or because they aren't that good? By mid-season, Julien and Wallner had been demoted (then returned) and Kirilloff slumped miserably against all pitching. So maybe they just aren't good enough hitters to play every day. It's a chicken and egg thing IYAM. Baldelli seems much more willing for the Martins and Margots of the world to face right handed pitching. My biggest gripe against the Twins' manager is the quick hook for lefty swingers in games. I've heard the stats over and over, but having a Margot or Martin face a right handed pitcher (instead of say Wallner or Larnach) in the seventh and ninth innings seems like a horrible miscalculation. It's very apparent that Baldelli isn't going to trust rookie starters to face a lineup for the third time unless they are absolutely rolling. August/September Pablo has his trust and Ober and Ryan (prior to injury) were on their way. He won't overuse his bullpen guys in the first half of the season. This late in the year, he's leaning heavier on his few reliable bullpen arms. So far Jax, Durán and Sands are holding up, but Alcala is questionable. If Rocco doesn't overuse his key guys, others are going to have to pitch in high leverage and no one else has stepped forward. All I've ever heard about the club outside the lines is that Rocco is well respected and that the players get along well. I think discipline is handled privately. Baldelli isn't one to publicly berate his players. Does this supposed "loose ship" make for poor fundamentals? I don't know. Maybe there shouldn't be three converted infielders in the outfield. Sometimes you play with the cards you're dealt. On balance, I don't think Baldelli is the problem. I think he can do a better job, but the same is true with about 29 other major league managers. It's mostly the players that win games.

Yes and no. I would expect that they'll wait another day to see if Kepler will be able to go and then probably put him on the IL. They can backdate three days IIRC. That would mean that they would play with a 27-man roster on Thursday if Kepler were placed on the IL and they actually would be playing short the next two days (as they have on Monday and Tuesday).

I agree that Wallner is underrated as a fielder. While most everyone acknowledges his elite throwing arm, Wallner has above average speed and is much improved in his routes to the ball. As a hitter, it is all about making contact. If he strikes out less than a third of the time, the exit velocities and hard hit rates will bear a lot of fruit.

Helman might be saved by Kepler going to the IL.

Who draws the short straw for the Varland recall? It also is likely that Buxton will be activated on Friday, which will mean that a position player will have to go.

Winkel had three hits. It seems his AAA hitting is on a par with Camargo (albeit with less power). Which is the better receiver and thrower? I honestly don’t think Camargo will ever be more than an AAAA guy. Is there hope for Winkel?

Ryan, Ober, Durán and Jax will all be arbitration eligible in 2025. Among the position players, Castro, Larnach, Lewis and Jeffers will be up for arbitration. That is eight big raises for sure.

Thanks for the look at 2025 and beyond. I don't see major changes, just some movement around the edges. This front office regards depth and utility highly. I think that puts Willi Castro in a Twins uni in 2025 with a much higher arb number, Willi wasn't mentioned in this post and he will cost some real money. Also not mentioned was Louie Varland. He could be a big addition to the 'pen if the team is satisfied with López, Ober, Ryan, Paddack, Woods Richardson, Festa, Matthews and Morris as the starters for the season. I don't expect the Twins to part ways with Kirilloff this off season because his value is at an all-time low. The rebounds of Larnach and Miranda should be a lesson in patience with guys with upside. I think Rodriguez is in line for a mid-season promotion adding another lefty outfield bat (with the ability to play center field). Alcalá, Jax and Durán will be the back end of the BP. Sands will be back to see if this year was an outlier (same could be said for Alcalá). I suppose they will hope for some innings from Topa and try to piece together the rest. Maybe Caleb Thielbar comes back on a make-good free agent contract. There is a dearth of left handed pitchers for the Twins, both rotation and bullpen. I don't see the Twins being players for any eight figure free agents. I am hoping they don't trade or non-tender players solely to cut payroll.

4-18 after last night’s line out.

Manny looked much slimmer when he played for the Rays.

If Buxton is ready soon, someone will have to be released/demoted. I would guess that would be Helman.

Helman is a RH hitter replacing Margot in that role. He’s played plenty of OF.

Lee’s injury was to his shoulder. So, if he wasn’t moving well, that’s a new one to me. I know he went hitless his last couple of games.

Well, they’re starting three rookies in their rotation. One reliever has been DFA’d by three different teams this year (including the Twins), another was a minor league signing. Three guys not on the major league roster on Opening Day are getting regular at-bats as well as two guys who were sent down for bad performance in the first half of the year. It’s approaching a month since either of the two highest paid position players have played. Yeah, the cupboard is pretty bare. I’m not at all confident this team will make the playoffs.