stringer bell

That was "I liked the post, didn't like Vázquez performance."

Tellez and Singleton are two rather large first basemen.

Agree that injuries are really the key for Polanco. To me, he seems like an "old" almost 30 year old. He definitely seems like he is more pull-happy from both halves of the plate. The increased homers pretty much evens out less contact. He's still a really good guy to have in the box with the game on the line. If the Twins can get good value, I think they need to make a move to trade him. They have options with high ceilings to replace him, but there are no guarantees.

Looks like everyone gets a start within 24 hours.

Royce doesn’t play day games after night games? Ober needs a sharp outing. Sweep the Brewers!!

The problem is that aside from Kirilloff, the outfield is where the left handed hitters play, particularly if Buxton is considered a DH. In the infield, we have Correa, Lewis, Farmer and Solano covering all four spots and with Famer and Solano able to play multiple positions. Miranda currently isn't outhitting Donnie Barrels, so there is no real place to play him except DH.

Well, if there's no place to tailgate........

Twins commentators say they will have the bullpen edge tomorrow. That’s right because Jorge López and Emilio Pagán are tested and ready. 😅🤪

Was the Brewers’ reliever Deven Pagán?

With the new rules, I was fearful that the Twins would be abused by teams running on them. In comparison, with little change in personnel, I presumed the Twins wouldn’t take advantage of the new rules and there would be a huge disparity between stolen bases allowed compared to the number of bases the Twins would steal. Sixty-six games in, the Twins are among the leaders in throwing out base stealers and actually have experienced success in stealing bases. They’ve allowed 32 stolen bases in 46 attempts while the team has successfully stolen 34 bases in 40 attempts. They still rank toward the bottom in total steals, but having a positive differential and a higher percentage than their opponents is a pleasant surprise. The acquisitions of Michael A Taylor and Willi Castro and their amount of playing time are big reasons for the improved numbers. Taylor and Castro have combined for 23 of the 34 swiped bags and between them have only been caught twice (both Castro). Who would have thought that the team would try to steal the tying run into scoring position in the ninth inning? The Twins did just that yesterday. The stolen base portion of the running game has worked out far better than expected.

Here’s the thing from my point of view. With an eight-man bullpen, including one “long man” who has avoided all high leverage, every one will occasionally be in higher leverage situations—tie games or small leads in the late innings. Even with the starting rotation consistently going deep in games, situations occur, for all seven of the remaining BP arms. Pagán has gone four years when he’s performed among the worst relievers in baseball in those situations. His value is near zero if he can’t occasionally get through high-leverage innings. There are lots of warts on the remaining arms in the upper minors, but several must be a better option than Emilio Pagán.

Julien fits for me and he is enough of a running threat to at least keep opponents aware.

The prototypical lead of hitter sees a lot of pitches and draws a fair number of walks. Lewis so far has been the most impatient hitter this side of Williams Astudillo.

No rebuilding team is going to be interested in a 32-year-old non-closer.

From his short stay so far this year, Wallner is the one who deserves a longer look. Julien will get PAs for probably the next two weeks and if he hits, he deserves to stay. As it is, it's a judgment call. He obviously isn't a strong defender, but he fills needs as a lefty infielder who gets on base. Counting Kirilloff as a first baseman and Gallo as a corner outfielder, we have Kepler, Gallo and Larnach, none of whom are hitting for high average. Kepler plays good defense at a position low on the spectrum, as does Gallo, and Larnach is decent. Gallo has enough slug and walks to have a respectable OPS, Larnach is below average and Kepler is well below average. More production is needed and I don't see it coming from that trio. It would appear that Garlick leaves for Gallo tomorrow and probably Larnach for Buxton, again maybe as soon as tomorrow. It doesn't solve the corner outfielder problem at all. Giving Kepler a DFA and finding a respectable RH bat to mix in with Wallner and Gallo would be my prescription--on another thread I suggested Jo Adell from the Angel system for Larnach--to get more production out of the corner outfield spots.

Gausman continues to struggle against the mighty Twins. If the Twins face the Jays in the playoffs(hypothetical), do they start Gausman in Game 1?

If there isn't another injury, I would think the odd man out will be Larnach. I have assumed that both Buxton and Gallo will be playing as soon as they return from their road trip. Gallo might end up playing first, with Kirilloff in left again, but they should have most everyone except Polanco on board for the home stand.

I noticed the Angels have optioned Jo Adell. I don't know if the Angels of Anaheim or whatever they're called these days think this guy has a future, but he has absolutely raked in Triple A this year and he's 24 years old. I have no idea is the values match up, but trading for Adell to replace Garlick as a RH option and perhaps offering a Larnach in return would beak the LH corner outfielder logjam a bit. My analysis of the Twins roster is they need a right handed corner outfield option who is better than Garlick (that shouldn't be so tough) and they have too many right handed infielders.

Just about the lineup I expected. I thought they might go with Castro at second and Julien at DH, but this is fine. Solano is swinging it better than Castro right now. Gausman is a tough customer, but except for his last outing at Target Field, the Twins have done well against him. Toronto has used a lot of bullpen arms in the first two games, so I'd like to see the Twins hitters get another look at them.

I could make the comments I'm going to make in a lot of other threads, but I'll put them here. The Twins, much like last year have been ahead of a mediocre field in the AL Central. The Royals are already out of it, IMHO, and Detroit is on a long losing streak and probably won't contend either. That leaves three teams with a chance to win the Central. The focus of this thread is the White Sox. Let's cover them: Chicago has quite a bit of front-line talent. Moncada, Anderson, Vaughn, Robert, Jiménez and Binentendi make a better foundation for a lineup than either the Twins or the Guards. Their starting staff has been inconsistent this year, but Cease, Giolito and Kopech are a nice trio who could throw a shutout at any time. Their bullpen has been poor, but Hendriks is back and that will help a lot. The Sox have weathered early injuries and a tough schedule. I expect that they will be pretty formidable (by AL Central standards) going forward. BTW, the Pale Hose defense isn't bad overall, but they have tended to break down when it matters. Cleveland is in second place. They have the best position player in the Central in Ramirez and Josh Naylor has been a great clutch hitter for them in the last year and a half. Their pitching is off from what is was last year, both the rotation and the bullpen. The Guardians have made more late inning rallies than their competitors and Francona is a definite plus as a manager. If they can get their second tier of players to improve as they did last year, they'll be right there. The Twins have the best rotation 1-5 in the division and it isn't close. Their closer is also the class of the division, but that is close. They have a roster dotted with guys who get injured and if they could find good health, there is a lot of talent there. The high strikeouts are unsustainable, but they have the talent to beat anybody. Improved health and the establishment of some young players (Kirilloff, Lewis) would keep them on top. My thought going forward is whoever does the best in the division will win it. The Twins have six games left with Cleveland and seven with Chicago. If they win a majority of those games, I think they win the Central. They will need to win low-scoring games and continue to out-homer their opponents. Finding key bullpen arms and keeping the starters and Duran healthy are essential.

Credit to the home run hitters, but also credit to the table setters. Taylor started the big inning with a bunt hit and Julien and Solano both reached to set up the huge inning.

Buxton and Gallo are both eligible to come off the IL on Tuesday. I have presumed they both will come back as soon as that day.

Who has been struggling more than Kepler, Correa and Larnach? Today, all three hit long balls to give the team a big victory.

😂

Immaculate inning? Not quite. Kepler fouled an 0-2 pitch.