stringer bell

I'm about ready to support a change. I'm disappointed no real changes were made on the off day, but perhaps waiting until the team gets home on Monday might be a better time to make changes.

Starting lineup is posted and both Kepler and Gallo are in there, as well as both Correa (leadoff!) and Buxton (3rd), so it appears no player transactions will happen. I guess we'll see if there is a better effort. I don't want to say that the effort hasn't been there all year. It is hard to appear engaged when walking back to the dugout after a strikeout. I think there is a real need to adjust their approach. Tonight's starter for Baltimore averages less than a strikeout per inning--maybe the team should also strike out less than once per inning.

Maybe this is nit-picking, but I would dispute the word "destructive". The Twins subtracted an All-Star level hitter and added an above average starting pitcher. Both players have injury histories. The two positions that Arraez would have played have been filled by Polanco/Kirilloff/Julien, who have been among the better hitters on the team (certainly not on the level of Arraez). I don't think the trade "destroyed" anything and still could wind up to be a positive. The results thus far have certainly benefited the Marlins, but the season is only half over.

I agree with a couple of criticisms of Carlos Correa. He doesn't bust it down the line on ground balls which is a bad example to the non-established players on the club. Most players don't run as hard as they can on routine grounders, maybe they are conserving energy or trying to avoid injury, but it's not a good look. Correa is also really slow home to first, with a big swing where his momentum is pointing away from first base, which contributes to his high GDP rate. Correa's attempts to be a team leader are fine, but he has to back it up on the field and aside from a couple of big late-inning homers, he has hurt the team in those opportunities. He's only 28 years old and like both Buxton and Polanco, seems to play like he's much older. Less than a week ago, I saw he was still wearing a back belt in the dugout--perhaps that injury and his plantar fasciitis have hindered him so that he's been this bad.

I very much fear that day will never come. If he had knee surgery in October and eight months later, he can't play center field, I think it is more likely he'll never play center field again than he'll be back out there five or more days per week.

I wouldn't think that Kirilloff's injury woes are over. If he can get through the season with a minimum of discomfort, then he might be able to consider the injury as in the past. I do wonder if the strength in the wrist is such that he can't drive the ball as he did previously. So far any discomfort he has experienced is not keeping him out of the lineup and that is huge progress. As pointed out above, AK's hitting for the month of June is subpar. Walks are down, strikeouts are up and hits have been scarce with extra base hits pretty rare. I think the lack of hard-hit balls and extra base hits might be what Alex is at this stage in his delayed major league career. He has just not done much to balls on the inside of the plate that many lefty hitters punish, but it might be an adjustment he can make in the second half of this season. I don't think Kirilloff has been underused so far since he was recalled. He has been spotted against lefties and frankly hasn't looked much better than any of the other suspect left handed hitters. I still expect him to flourish both in general and against southpaw pitching as the season continues as long as his wrist cooperates. AK will turn 26 in the off season and his development has clearly been delayed by injury. If he is past the wrist miseries, I still believe he will be a far above average hitter, if not elite. His approach is superior to almost the entire team. As with the entire team, it is exhausting to be patient, but I think Alex Kirilloff will be worth the wait.

Technically, they have moved back into first by less than a percentage point with the Guard’s loss in extra innings to the Royals this afternoon.

Great analysis Nick. The meager contributions of Correa and Buxton are a huge factor in the team’s poor record. The performance of the pitching staff has been outstanding. Willi Castro has helped the team and is a big surprise. I suggest that at least one on-field personnel move and one in the coaching staff needs to be made. I can’t fault Rocco for failing to have a regular lineup. It is a function of how the team is built and who has contributed thus far.

I tend to support the manager and coaching staff when the team underperforms. These guys know basebal land they know what helps being a winning baseball team. The manager puts out lineups to reward players that deserve at-bats. Coaches, as a group, work to make their players better and most of it is on the players. The cost of hitting for relative plus power has been so many strikeouts. The continued inability to get big hits is a virus for the entire team, but especially for the few "proven" players--Buxton, Correa and Vázquez, who also are the three players with contracts through this year and two more years--all have dreadful clutch stats. Kepler shouldn't be a starting outfielder with his hitting stats and Gallo an accentuation of what is wrong with the slugging-heavy hitting approach. The team has played much better when Polanco is in the lineup. Perkins said on the broadcast today that they should improve by regression to the mean, which makes sense, but there have been too many just plain awful plate appearances. If any of the management staff is in trouble, I would imagine it would be the hitting coach(es). With Kepler and Gallo being in the final year of their contracts, I could see one of them being shown the door. I do have confidence that Buxton can be an asset even as a full-time DH, but the long periods of empty at-bats shouldn't be happening with a guy with his skills.

I couldn’t agree more Ted. The deeper one looks into López’ stats, the more the record and ERA look like outliers. The key is health. If López stays healthy, the Arraez trade will look better and better.

So, the Braves have scored all their runs today via home runs, they’ve struck out eight times (Twins—5) and also committed four errors. They’ve issued five walks (Twins—2) and still they won handily.

Okay, which pitcher has Maki come up to him and say, “nice job tonight, you’re optioned to St. Paul”.

Dreaded "pitching elbow soreness",

Unfortunately, Byron Buxton has not been able to regain his health really at least the ill-fated slide in Boston in April 2022. We are move than fourteen month since that injury. As a veteran of three joint replacements, including both knees, since November of 2022, I suspect that Byron has degenerative arthritis in his knee, if not both his knee and hip. My joint replacements were the result of arthritis and it isn't unprecedented for people of Buxton's age to be afflicted with arthritis. The name that comes to mind is Sandy Koufax and he retired from baseball after his age 30 season. I apologize in advance for making assumptions without evidence and perhaps jumping to conclusions, but if the knee wasn't really heped by the off-season surgery, it just sounds too familiar (and sad) to me.

ESPN has Stewart listed on the 15 day IL. Ugh. Edit to add: Ortega appears to have been recalled to replace Stewart.

Add in three pitchers currently on the major league active roster--Balazovic (drafted 2016), Headrick and Winder. Sands is yet another drafted and developed by the Twins (currently on IL). I think Headrick still has a chance to become a rotation piece, while the others look like bullpen guys, but if they are contributing, then fewer spaces need to be filled by free agents and waiver claims.

Lewis is coming off two ACL surgeries. He is going to get some days off.

Well Sonny, you were given the 7th.....

Gallo walked. Called it.

Alex has been lousy for a while. I'm totally confident that he'll "find it" if the wrist is truly healthy. The league has made adjustments in how to pitch to him and now he will have to adjust to the adjustments.

More talented hitters?

Correa has been outstanding at short.

Is that all? Leading strikeout pitcher vs. the leading team in strikeouts.

Okay, Gallo walks in his next plate appearance.

I imagine Eddie will be more eager than normal to hit when he leads off the third.