stringer bell

Yes, there are a lot of hard throwers in most bullpens these days. 95 is the new 90, and so a guy like Jax has an average fastball (peaking at 95-96). The Twins do have Duran's premium heat and one of Megrew's pitches hit 100 in his first outing in KC, but they don't get to 97-98 as often as many bullpens. Joe Smith, Coulombe and Thielbar don't light up the gun, but by and large have been effective.

Sánchez has a nice run for a couple weeks, less so in the last week.

Pagán has two problems, walks and homers. So far, it’s been one or the other, but if both happen in the same outing, look out.

Reminiscent of the Oakland series at TF. It is not wise to let teams hang around, but the Twins have been very good so far at winning late.

Listening to Archer—he’s cool, mellow and thoughtful. Not what you picture when he’s on the mound.

If you hit it well, it still goes out.

Nice double C4.

They still make Boone's Farm? I remember that as the cheap drunk of my youth.

It's pretty hard to say definitivly that sending Lewis down was a mistake when the team hasn't lost a game since he was sent down. If Lewis returns in early June and is ready to assume 10th regular duties, I don't think the move is a mistake at all.

I do want to add that I agreed with Chief's comments then and now. Arraez does have shortcomings, but when getting on base now has a higher priority, it is obvious how important he is to the current team.

I figured that Smeltzer would be back to at least start one of the doubleheader games in Detroit on the 31st. He may be up until then anyway with Ryan being sidelined.

This is a continuation of a hit series of threads about the Twins. I kid, I believe only two or three people replied to the last one, but I digress. I would put these thoughts in a blog, but there seems to be even less attention paid to takes made in that area. 1) Buxton is in the throes of a horrible slump. He did show that his wheels are okay when he ranged far into the gap last night and made a diving catch. Slowing down seems to be the bigger problem just watching when he tries to leg out a grounder. We all know that he isn't 100% and we know that the Twins have opted to give him frequent days off to keep him performing (hopefully) throughout the entire season. I never was fully on board with this idea, but I'm not quite willing to say the slump is because he isn't 100%. All I can say is 100-110 games of April Buck is worth it. 100-110 games of May Buck isn't. 2) I realize that the weather has mostly been lousy and that school isn't out yet, but I am embarrassed to see so many empty seats for a first-place ballclub that has been exciting and dramatic. 3) Max Kepler enters today with an .802 OPS, second best among regular AL right fielders. He's been good in the field, good running the bases, good in clutch RBI situations, even good against left handed pitching. He has passed Buxton for the highest WAR on the team (per BBRef). I have suggested that perhaps Max could make the All-Star team this year. He's definitely been the most consistent player over the course of the season. 4) I belong to a "cousins group", no not to discuss the exploits of the Vikings quarterback, it consists of my cousins and my cousins' cousins. We are all baseball fans and we agree that the Twins bullpen has gotten too much work. For a variety of reasons, all of the pitchers in the rotation are poor bets to get much more than 150 innings and some (Chris Archer) seem destined for a lot less. While the rotation has been a pleasant surprise, they still need someone to give them innings and I don't expect it to be a callup from the minors. 5) Alex Kirilloff is hitting well over .300 at St. Paul. He only has two extra base hits so far, a double and a homer. I haven't seen many of his at-bats, but he needs to be driving the ball. I hope he's made some loud outs and is hitting the ball hard. He could be a key piece to the puzzle for the second half. 6) With homers down dramatically, the skills of Luis Arraez seem much more vital. He is producing now so much that his OPS is in the top 20 despite negligible power. I remember last year, the TV guys had Joe Nathan on for an inning and he commented that if Arraez got the at-bats and stayed healthy, he could get 3000 hits. That has stuck with me. 7) While the Twins seem to have adjusted to "humidor baseball", they lack one facet that should be of higher importance when small ball is emphasized--they have poor team speed. This translates to few stolen bases, more rally-killing GDPs. If stolen bases take on a higher priority, it would also help if the combination of Twins pitchers and catchers weren't almost helpless in limiting the running game. Adding Urshela, Correa and Sanchez certainly hasn't helped in the team speed department.

I apparently merged the Joe Ryan COVID thread and Twins Roster Moves backward. I am hoping to repair my error. Sorry!

Surprised that Jorge is out for two days in a row. The Twins do have 2B depth--Miranda said once the second is his preferred position, although he hasn't played there much in the last year and a half.

Chief, does that make you an Arraez fan? I seem to recall some rather critical comments about Arraez’ skillls and abilities.

We are about halfway to the All-Star break from the start of the season and the Twins currently have a 5.5 game lead in the AL Central. It occurred to me last week that despite a really good start, that there aren’t any sure-fire All-Stars on the team. Buxton started red hot, but he has missed a bunch of games and his batting average and OPS have slipped. Correa had a miserable start and missed almost two weeks on the IL with injured fingers. Polanco has slumped recently and his hitting is barely above average. Ryan has been very good, but a bad outing or two might make his numbers look pedestrian. Sonny Gray has been great his last three starts, but he missed almost a month with injury. Two below-the-radar candidates might be Luis Arraez and Max Kepler. In a year when power has been neutralized, Arraez’ on-base skills might get some attention. He has a gaudy BA and OBP and should also get some credit for defensive flexibility and low strikeout percentage. Finally, as of today, Kepler has one of the top OPS numbers of AL right fielders. He has been solid in just about every category. I thought Kep deserved an All-Star berth in 2019. Perhaps he could get a nod this year. Thoughts? Opinions? Dismissals? All welcome here.

I've done all of those things. Seen the Twins lose twice, in the new and old Yankee Stadiums. MOMA is worth it or maybe just go to Central Park.

Obviously rotisserie chicken.

I really can't see how or why the Twins (and the Saints) will play tomorrow.

While they are ahead 2-0, the Twins could be comfortably ahead. This is the kind of game that you really feel lousy about if you let it get away.

Let's wrap this game up, Duran.

Not Duffey, not Pagan, not Thielbar (according to at least some), so one trusted relief arm is Joe Smith and the other is Duran? If so, they need more late-inning bullpen arms.

Nice intro! Yes, very interesting lineup. I was wondering when Polanco would get a day and today looks like as good a day as any.

Is Steer this year's version of Miranda? Actually, that is kind of a double-edged sword given Miranda's production so far this year. Glad to see him (Steer) promoted. It seems that all of the exciting arms are at AA and below, with the exception of Balazovic, who hasn't quite found his groove yet this year. Lots of retreads at St. Paul, which I guess is the way they do things. A couple more guys currently on the Twins might be on their way to St. Paul soon.