stringer bell

One of the few areas of improvement has been infield defense. With Donaldson, Simmons and Polanco (third to second) they should be improved.

Cease looked very good in the top half. Nice DP on the line drive.

The next two starters for the Pale Hose are lefthanders. If Rortvedt is to start one game in the series, it should be tonight.

I noticed Butera was catching for the Angels last night. Talk about a survivor and a baseball lifer!

I think Larnach and Kirilloff will both be outstanding hitters and soon. The only thing that really stinks is I'd like to see them flank Buxton instead of Cave or Kepler. The Kirilloff injury is worrisome. I hope he's able to come back at full strength soon, but wrist injuries are treacherous.

Cave started very slowly in 2019, but was one of the Twins' best hitters in the second half of the season. In his first 87 PAs in 2019, Cave hit .176 with a .542 OPS comparable to this year. He hit over .300 the rest of the way with a .964 OPS. Two points to make--yes, he's been dreadful so far this year, the -.5 WAR is the worst of all the position players and secondly this is why I don't think Cave is not an ideal fourth outfielder because he is streaky and can't be relied on for long intervals.

The three position players I most enjoy watching are Arraez, Buxton and Kirilloff. To have all three on the IL just shows what a trainwreck has occurred so far. I don't quite go so far in criticizing particularly Donaldson for lack of hustle. He goes down the line, but doesn't "bust it" like a majority of players. He probably has more justification for not sprinting hard because of the leg injuries he has suffered. It's not a good look especially if a ball is bobbled. Cave is probably the only guy I see sprint all-out to first on every ground ball. As far as beating the shift, I would like to see more lefty hitters put down bunts in appropriate situations. It doesn't have to be a precise bunt oftentimes, just past the pitcher and if it forces the third baseman in an closer to the line, then there is a real gap to shoot for in the infield. Trying to hit a grounder to the non-pull side would probably mess with most swings. A lot of hitters are shifted in the infield, but played close to straight away in the outfield, Buxton and Kepler being two examples. Finally, walking hitters. No one tries to walk hitters, but sometimes pitchers try to be too fine (I think of Kyle Gibson in this regard). To me, it is one thing to walk a guy after a long battle--every pitcher misses his spot once in a while--rather than a four-pitch walk with not one pitch being competitive. The difference between success and failure is so small and sometimes arbitrary. Right now it seems that everything close is going against the Twins. One would expect things to turn around, but waiting for a turnaround is brutal.

I'll echo what was posted earlier--with a bit of plate discipline, Astudillo could be a really good hitter. However, he swings at everything and the incredible contact skills are barely a footnote. No, he doesn't strike out but he hits bushels of weak popups and grounders, mostly on pitches outside the zone. I will give La Tortuga credit for being an acceptable fielder on the corners and wherever he plays, he is fundamentally sound and prepared. As others have said, he is versatile and doesn't need to play every day. That he has played as much as he has shows a problem. He is not the problem himself.

He’ll be with the Tigers, everyone else is.

Blankenhorn? I would guess he’ll get claimed. 40-man roster decisions get tough sometimes.

It’s interesting that the three regular players mentioned for demotion or a role change with less than full-time play are all players signed to extensions to buy out arbitration. At the end of 2019, most observers thought all three extensions were shrewd investments. Things change and I understand why each of Kepler, Polanco and Sanó have been criticized and it may be that none of them are future All-Stars or core players. Specifically, I think Polanco might be a better super-utility guy than Arraez, especially since he is capable at shortstop and is a switch-hitter. Arraez’ skills are more vital to the club and I really don’t see him as capable in left field. Kepler is a good fielder but hasn’t hit like a corner outfielder since mid season in 2019.

Signing Shoemaker makes sense in an era where nobody can count on five pitchers for the rotation. Given the injury history of the five starters, having both Thorpe and Dobnak as options #6 and #7 is prudent. Starting pitching has been the one of the least disappointing of a so-far massively underachieving season. Dobnak went four innings the other day and when he’s stretched to six he could join the rotation at any time. I presume Thorpe will also be in the Saints rotation and be ready to move into the starting five as well.

Cabrera and Baddoo both with hitless skids in the mid-twenties and surprise! they both get hits. The Twins are baseball’s slump-busters.

All of the facets combined seem to make every close game slide to the favor of the opponent. Leaky bullpen, can't expand leads and can't score late means (to paraphrase Prime Time Sanders) if it's even we're losing. If it''s even close late, the Twins likely will lose.

Until one of the injured outfielders returns, I hope Garlick can get a chance to see what he can do on a near daily basis. Against right handed pitching, the outfield options aren't great right now

I predict those numbers improve before the Twins leave Detroit.

Happy days. My three favorite position players are all on the IL. Oh well, 2-0 in the third.

My first choice would be Trevor Larnach.

The Twins play their 30th game this afternoon and are currently 11-18. They've been beset by bad luck, bad play and have taken a beating with two rule changes (extra-inning runner on second, 7-inning games for doubleheaders). How do they get out of this funk? I'm sure many in the organization will preach patience and they may be right, but that isn't any fun. Here are some possibilities for change that might help the team: Role change. We've already seen one role change. At least temporarily Alexander Columé is not going to see high-leverage innings. Columé has been a huge disappointment and even when he has worked scoreless innings, he's been shaky. The problem is that taking Columé out of high leverage situations leaves the Twins with few good options, particularly when going 6 or more innings for a starter is a rarity. I think one pitching role change that should be made is to use Taylor Rogers in non-save high leverage situations as happened early in 2019 and sometimes use him for multiple innings. Rogers shouldn't be used in back-to-back days. Moving Alcala to high leverage situations seems to be gradually happening. If things continue to go bad, it makes sense to have him give a shot as a closer. Position players--it seems to me that both Polanco and Kepler should have their roles diminished from full-time regular to something different. Kepler can play a corner and center and Polanco has played short and second, maybe Max should be slotted as the fourth OF or at least platooned with Garlick. I think giving Polanco the role of three-position infielder wouldn't be a stretch. He could get some at-bats as a platoon partner for my choice of regular second baseman (Arraez) and left-handed at-bats in place of Simmons and when Donaldson takes a day off (or is injured). Promotions/demotions. Assuming that Alex Kirilloff is in the big leagues to stay, when healthy the Twins have one extra position player and someone will have to be sent to the minor leagues or released. Discussion has centered on Jake Cave. Several others could be sent down and that doesn't begin to discuss the pitching staff. Many pitchers'performances could merit their demotion. Trades. It is unlikely that anyone will make a significant trade this early in the year. However, the Twins would be a good candidate for a major trade nearer the trade deadline. They have some redundancy (left handed hitting corner outfielders) and holes that need patching (bullpen, perhaps catching) and many candidates to trade. They also have a lot of players who would be free agents after this season. I do wonder if someone who was considered a cornerstone (Polanco, Kepler, Sanó) could be traded. None of these guys have performed remotely well so far but an uptick could make them more marketable. I have to believe that the Twins will bring in new pitchers either in the bullpen or the rotation. What they have at this time in the bullpen just hasn't worked. Personally, I think the Twins will need to do a little bit of everything to turn the corner. I am a proponent of changing roles. I think Kepler and Polanco could be candidates to have limited roles. The Twins need to add at least one strong arm in the bullpen, most likely by trade and Trevor Larnach is reputed to be nearly as much a sure thing as a hitter as Alex Kirilloff, plus he is a better outfielder. There is too much talent for the club to continue to play sub.400 baseball, but I think they need to make changes immediately.

The story of yesterday's game was advancing baserunners. The Twins failed to cash in on a bases-loaded none-out scenario in the fourth and failed to plate runners with leadoff hits, including a leadoff double. Texas scored their three runs on a fielder's choice grounder, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. Tiny ray of hope is that Sanó got a hit and a walk, brighter ray of hope is that Garver went deep and had better at-bats. I'm mystified by the regression of young veterans Kepler and Polanco. I do think that Polanco could be a good fit as a three-position infielder (tenth starter) and while Arraez has done OK moving around the field, he might be better served playing regularly at second base, with days off against left handed pitching.

Note that Texas has scored three runs, none of them on a base hit. While I understand much of the analytics, sometimes it would be nice to score by other means than hitting the ball over the fence.

Granted Stashak shouldn't be totally faulted for allowing inherited runners to score (first and third-no outs), but as an aggregate, the Twins bullpen has been really bad with inherited baserunners.

Remember when the consensus was how shrewd the Twins were for signing Kepler, Sanó and Polanco to extensions?

Regarding contending this year, yes the Twins were picked to win or finish second by almost everyone. They haven't looked like any type of a playoff team, but remember the Washington Nationals a couple years ago. They didn't get above .500 until July (IIRC) but went on a run and won the WS. Moves may need to be made, maybe trades. Every facet of the team has not met expectations. If that continues, it will be time to go to rebuild mode.