stringer bell

I'd add to the evaluation that Lee had a similar run of competence eleven months ago and he really hasn't been very good except for the month of June in 2025 and his five week run this spring. He hasn't hit much the last week or so. Martin has regressed the last 20 at-bats. Batters ebb and flow every year. It is hard to stay patient until they are fully established and maybe after they are established (See Buxton, Byron). The Twins have precious few players who can absolutely be counted on. That is IMHO why it is hard to count on them being a good team until they actually show it on the field.

It's a mixed bag for sure and that the Twins are within a couple games of the Wild Card after 50 games is a surprise. The team has had more than their share of disappointments--Wallner, Lewis, Keaschall, Bell and Caratini from the Opening Day lineup--and a fair number of key injuries in Lopez, Abel and Bradley among the starting pitchers. The bullpen is substandard, although some incremental progress has been made. IMHO, the team that played the first 50 games isn't good enough, even in the weak American League. The question to me is whether there is talent enough to break through and improve this team enough to be a real contender. A return of Wallner or Lewis playing at a high level could give the club a real push. Having someone emerge as a legit high-leverage BP arm would help greatly. The Twins are third in the AL and ninth in MLB in scoring runs. Over the course of a season, that is probably good enough. They are quite a ways below average in Defensive Runs Saved and they have statistically once of the poorer bullpens. I think there is hope for a more middle of the road 'pen going forward. That's a lot of ifs to spend prospect capital on.

Correct, I was asking who the temporary replacement might be. With the versatility of Kreidler, either an infielder or outfielder could be promoted. Per Bobby Nightengale, the answer is Gonzalez. Congratulations to him, even if the promotion is for just a day or two.

I don’t think so since he’s already on optional assignment and on a minor league Injured List. If it is possuble to place him on the major league 60-day that he would accrue major league service time FWIW. In past years the Twins had Matt Canterino on their 40-man roster, but never placed him on the major league 60-day IL despite having to make difficult roster decisions.

Today, I am optimistic about the pitching staff. Cole Sands, Kody Funderburk and Laweryson aren't elite, but they have the look of big-league pitchers. Add Morris, Orze and Gomez along with SWR and maybe sprinkle in a veteran like Rogers and while it isn't a top bullpen, it seems more competitive with much more upside than Topa, Banda and Garcia. There is the possibility of someone who throws hard transitioning to the bullpen as well. Results haven't been even close to good enough to compete, but maybe they'll be better in the future. I keep reminding people that the Twins offense isn't bad at all. They are well above average in runs scoreds despite the struggles of several players. Scoring runs consistently is tough, especially with high-velocity pitching staffs. There is also hope for improvement of the defense. Lee has stabilized at shortstop and Buxton is still a good centerfielder. I still have a hard time seeing this group succeed long term and I think the offense will regress a bit as the season moves along and without anyone proven to finish games the bullpen is likely to leak quite a bit.

Provus reported that Gray will be leaving the team for the birth of his second child, probably this weekend. The Twins are allowed to replace Gray and it is my understanding that the player must be on the 40-man roster and the Twins can't exceed 13 pitchers. Due to injuries, there are only four position players in the minors and active who could be recalled. They are Gonzalez, Mendez, Wallner and Lewis. It doesn't make sense to bring up either Wallner or Lewis for a weekend and the other two guys also seem like a stretch. Who will the Twins bring up to temporarily replace Gray?

MLB Trade Rumors is reporting E-Rod will undergo thumb surgery again. Ugh.

Maybe sending guys to single A gives them a message, maybe not. Are the problems for Lewis and Wallner attitude or is it something else. I don't believe it is best to rub noses in it although maybe it makes fans feel better about themselves. I don't see any reason why both players can't reset in St. Paul facing the closest thing to major league pitching.

I've made a bunch of comments in this thread but I do want to say one more thing: Welcome to Alex Jackson and Orlando Arcia, when they make their Twins' debuts, it will give me a couple more guys to plug into Immaculate Grid where I try to use as many Twins and ex-Twins as possible.

No Keaschall again today. Is he nursing an injury?

I think it is the "under the hood" numbers and possible replacements. Who could the Twins call up to replace Lewis? There are a lot more relief pitching options close--Funderburk, Sands, Laweryson--than there are infield replacements for Lewis. As I said upthread, I think the FO believes that more time at AAA is warranted for Culpepper and if not Culpepper there's really only Arcia. From what I remember of Bowman, he doesn't wow with velocity , great breaking pitches or exquisite command. At his best, he keeps repeating okay pitches to get outs and maybe he's been extraordinarily lucky at St. Paul. I was more excited about several of the minor league signings the Twins made than I was about signing Bowman, but he's been very successful at St. Paul. Someone likely will give him a major league chance when he becomes a free agent.

The Twins are 9th in baseball and 3rd in the AL in runs per game. Some of that may be luck, but offense is a lesser problem than relief pitching and defense.

The Twins have faced a succession of "who's he" pitchers lately and really haven't taken advantage.

Who is Ortiz?

I would say that Arcia was an All-Star three years ago, the same time Eddie Julien and James Outman were emerging talents and Royce was a future superstar. He fell off in the last half of '23 and was pretty bad the next two years.

I don't see much upside in either Brebbia or Bowman. I know Bowman has put up great numbers in Triple A, but his stuff and major league performance in recent years shows a guy who might be okay in middle relief, nothing more.

Caratini has been pretty good with challenges. Jackson will be a wild card, but he has a good reputation as a receiver including a strong arm, which I welcome given the Twins' lack of success stopping other teams' running games

Both Gray and Kreidler have option years to use. Arcia will have to be DFA'd if they want to send him down. I think the verdict is that Culpepper isn't really ready and will benefit from more time at AAA (I agree)

I think the biggest part is randomness, but I also think calling a game and working with a pitcher are skills that can't be easily measured. The "working with the pitcher" piece might vary widely between pitchers. For example. maybe Jeffers really connects with Ober while Caratini brings out the best of Bradley or vice versa. Pitchers working with catchers they trust might have just enough more confidence to slip a strike on the inside corner with a 90 mph fastball.

Getting to this thread after 4:30, so I don't have time to read all of the comments. There is a lot to chew on--first Lewis did have to be sent down. I have wanted to believe in him for a while when the numbers were saying I shouldn't, but there was too much failure and seemingly no way to climb out of the pit. A few weeks in St. Paul might be the ticket for him. One of my favorite maxims is "the true test of a human being is what they do when they get knocked down" I want to say I invented it, but I'm sure similar things have been said forever. Royce now gets that test of his ability and his mindset. A guy who burst on the scene whose only worthy opponent was his inability to stay heathy is now facing a real test. The Jeffers-Caratini-Jackson shuffle will be interesting as well. It appears that Jeffers will be back in time to show he is healthy before the trade deadline, but it isn't completely certain. Caratini has not thrived as a hitter, but has shown some receiving chops and actually has played a good first base. He needs to hit well over the Mendoza Line and he'll get his chance. Jackson intrigued me with his defensive skill and decent power. I hope he'll be a good backup for Caratini until Jeffers returns. If the Twins had any real hope of contending it would be with a healthy Ryan Jeffers. Losing him for 5-7 weeks might seal the deal that the Twins aren't contenders and it would make it easier to trade Jeffers and Joe Ryan at the deadline. Finally, the bullpen. The veteran guys must be on the edge. While there aren't a bunch of high-leverage arms waiting to take over the BP, Woods Richardson has been added, Sands and Laweryson are on the verge of returning from the IL and Funderburk can and should be recalled pretty soon. Morris looks to have found a home in the bullpen so there aren't unlimited spots to be filled. The Twins apparently haven't purchased either Bowman or Brebbia's contracts so likely they will lose one or both of those guys to a free agent declaration.

I remember one of the years that Jeffers and Vazquez alternated religiously that Jeffers had a slightly better cERA. Over a long season the randomness should be squeezed out. I think Jeffers is a pretty good handler of pitchers, he doesn't throw particularly well and at best average blocking and framing, but calling a good game makes up for most of his deficiencies. I don't know how long he'll be out, but for his and the Twins' sake it is before the trading deadline.

Martin and Larnach have essentially the same arm strength according to statcast. Buxton also has similar arm strength (all within 1 mph). When Martin came up in 2024, his arm wasn't yet at full strength (like Keaschall) but he now is listed as having 59th percentile arm strength.

The Twins aren’t the only team to not score with the bases loaded and no outs.

Graterol is younger, but he seems to be healthy about as much as Brock Stewart.

I just read that the Astros have the worst worst bullpen ERA. I would have thought either the Twins or Rockies would have that “honor”. It looks like it will be “the battle of the bad bullpens”.