stringer bell

No. Floyd completes the Megill trade. He's a minor leaguer, not on the 40-man roster. A pitcher couldn't replace a position player anyway. The corresponding move will see Buxton activated from the IL.

Gets the go-ahead and is sent down. Don’t disagree, but it is a tough call.

Only five hits, but seven walks and only seven strikeouts. How many games have the Twins won this year when they hit zero homers and their opponents hit two or more?

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.

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. 😅🤪

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.

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.

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.

To tag on to Brian's post, I believe Garlick had had success against Kikuchi, something like three for five with two homers. The Twins really need a corner outfield upgrade.

Congratulations to Royce Lewis for the four-hit game in which he didn't hit a single ball hard. He put the ball in play and good results happened. His slow roller in the tenth keyed the inning.

Not a major leaguer, but prospect Austin Martin is on rehab assignment at For Myers. He had one at-bat Thursday and then injured while making a diving catch. No further word as to the seriousness of the injury, but he wasn't in the lineup last night.

For various reasons, the only real place for position player juggling is the corner outfield. Gallo will be back soon, as will Buxton. The obvious candidates for demotion are Garlick and, regrettably, Larnach. That doesn't allow Wallner another chance and keeps Kepler in the lineup. If the club wants more than rearranging the deck chairs, they need to cut ties with Max Kepler and try someone/something else.

I agree that the hitters need to do a better job of making contact. Having a two-strike approach isn't giving up on the at-bat. Not chasing with two strikes is an easy area of improvement. Teams look terrible when they aren't hitting. There's time for a recovery, but they have squandered a chance to open up a big lead and it's about 90% on the hitters.

They were going to face three lefties and face the Rays with three lefties in their bullpen. I guess the feeling was that having a right handed bat to hit for or be the alternate for Kepler and Larnach was needed. Garlick is 31 years old and hasn't lit up AAA. He's always been thought of as a lefty mashing specialist who is not particularly adept in the field. Trading him is a remote possibility at the deadline and certainly not right now. He could be a DFA at some point, although he can be optioned this year.

What about Ortega?

Good points fellas. There is a lot to agree with from both of you. RB, I agree that someone hitting as well as Wallner has at AAA/MLB should have gotten the call when another LH batter went on the IL. Two games of having Wallner or Kirilloff face LH pitching isn't worth letting a guy who is raking sit in AAA. Chief, I also agree with you. The Twins continue to seem to be trying to win games with one hand behind their back, short benches, poor performers continually in the lineup. We keep waiting for the full lineup to be there and for a good and consistent offense.I, too, believe in platoon advantages, but not so much that giving Kyle bleeping Garlick a week of roster run and a half dozen at-bats is worth it. From perhaps a third perspective, this is what I see on the position player side of the Twins' roster: Starters--based on past performance--Buxton, Correa and Polanco. Starters based on pedigree and potential--Lewis and Krilloff. Starter--based on position--Vázquez/Jeffers. That is six--the catchers are a job sharing operation, the other five guys should be in the lineup 90% or more of the time if healthy. That leaves three positions to fill. Center has been manned by Michael A Taylor, a perfectly fine 8-9 hitter with an 88 OPS+, not optimum but not a black hole, particularly with good defense at a premium position and 8-8 stolen bases. The remaining two positions are the corner outfield spots and the three that have played (more than 25 plate appearances) have these batting averages: .188, .189 and .211. These are guys playing two of the three lowest positions on the defensive spectrum and in 463 plate appearance the trio has 22 homers and 65 RBI, not exactly boxcar numbers for those positions. Gallo goes out and the team brings in an all-but-acknowledged specialist (I mash lefties). Nah, it doesn't make sense. They need someone to mash pitching. Kyle Farmer, Donnie Barrels and Willi Castro have been called on to play much more than expected and also much more in non-favorable platoon matchups. Buxton and particularly Correa have performed far below past performance and expectations, which puts more on the other players. Lewis has less than 100 plate appearances and Kirlloff has just over 100 this year, so neither of those guys is proven. The only thing that is proven is the missed time. Buxton has missed about half of the time in the last six years, Kirilloff and Lewis have missed most of the last two seasons, Gallo, Kepler and Polanco have both already been on the IL twice this year. Larnach missed a lot of time in the past two seasons and was on the IL this year. The subs, the catchers and the center fielder (Taylor) have stayed healthy. Dump the unproductive Kepler, bring up Wallner, get the key players healthy and stop wasting so much outstanding pitching. If it doesn't work, blow it up. Note: I may have let my keyboard anger let me say things I'll regret later.

Yes, I get it. As far as I’m concerned, why play Kepler four days out of five until Gallo returns. Further, I don’t think it makes sense to stack so many left handed hitters, but the alternative needs to be a better player than Kyle Garlick.

I thought about posting a “Larnach vs. Wallner” thread. Apparently Trevor is still first in line. He can play both left and right and is a decent fielder—much better than Wallner. This doesn’t get Kepler out of the lineup. Also it doesn’t provide space for more than one of Gallo/Kepler/Wallner.

Absolutely.