stringer bell

Perkins for the eighth? Ducks flying objects thrown!

Hicks is very good coming in, throws well, but going back? Not so much.

Kluber out after 6. He lost his last start to the Twins and is down two with three innings to go. What are the odds that he doesn't win a game or perhaps loses both, when facing Hughes coming off a wobbly three inning start and Milone as an emergency starter coming off a shoulder injury.

Should be a short leash for the soft-tossing left hander.

Just not when Sano is at the plate. I remember Rodney stealing home when Harmon was hitting, not a good idea for many reasons. It was Escobar who hit the popup. Why do people keep confusing our slugging middle infielders?

Not to be a killjoy, but I'll think seriously about this if the Twins are still in range after the Cleveland series.

For sure! I think it will take a 6-1 or 7-0 week to make the playoffs. Most likely 6-1 might mean a Game 163. 5-2 might get them to a play-in game to the play-in game, but that is probably it.

I wonder if the Tribe were 75-79 if Kluber would be pitching.

Of the Twins' current nine regulars, the only one with an OBP this year above 34% is Sano, who has essentially played half a season. To make the offense really go, they need more guys to get on base. Adding Kepler, a comeback from Mauer in OBP and one of Hicks or Dozier increasing their OBP would really, really (apologies to Roy Smalley!) make the offense go. That young center fielder, what's his name, also could help the offense. Tall, fast, I think he wears #25.

Why would Milone have a high price tag but no trade value? If he has produced, he has value. If he hasn't he doesn't. The fact that he is cost-controlled should add to his trade value.

The bullpen managed to survive the first half well because Perkins was elite, Boyer was a huge surprise for about six weeks and starters carried the game late with more frequency. Fien and Boyer will take the ball, but they can't be overused. May and Jepsen look solid in the back, so if Perkins is some type of OK, that is the start to a pretty good pen. A team needs lots of depth and good options. I don't know if anyone can predict who will be good from year to year,

I find it interesting that Gibson's overall downturn in performance in the second half has been coupled with an increase in strikeouts. It seemed that every comment about Gibson before the All-Star game was that he couldn't sustain his performance without increasing his K's. He'd done precisely that, but he's struggled a lot more while so doing.

Francis hasn't moved the glacier on doctrine, but he has put emphasis back where it belongs. I found it almost comical listening to EWTN's analysis of his homily to the family conference--the commentators were almost begging him to come down hard on gay marriage, abortion, etc. I would say his pronouncements there were oblique, but as I said, doctrine hasn't changed.

Depending on the metrics, Hunter or Suzuki have been the Twins' worst regular player. Hunter's OPS+ is 91 and his WAR is -.5. Zuke has an OPS+ of 70, but a positive WAR. I think Arcia gets a last chance next year, but Kepler will be waiting in the wings

I believe May missed time last year with a calf issue. As far as I can remember, he hasn't had arm issues.

The Twins have one week remaining in a regular season which has seen them stay relevant throughout the entire season. One thing that has transpired in the course of the season is that a regular lineup has developed. The nine players with the most plate appearances on the year fill the nine positions on the field and in the batting order and these nine players are the ones getting the bulk of playing time during the stretch drive in September. I looked at yesterday's box score and made a couple of mental notes. The first was "no .300 hitters" and the thought was no one is close. Three players that won't qualify for the batting championship (Sano, Escobar, Rosario) could have the best batting average of the nine regulars. The likely high qualifier is Joe Mauer and he's hitting only .266. The next note to myself was "no truly bad hitter". The lowest average (.240) belongs to Dozier, who slugs and draws walks, so his OPS should be decent. Kurt Suzuki is toward the bottom (.244), but he's a catcher and not many catcher compile good hitting stats. Here's a look at the Twins' nine regulars for 2015 and where they rank in selected offensive stats: Name PAs BA OPS OPS+ OPS rank Sano 300 .277 .940 153 1 Escobar 420 .268 .767 106 4 Mauer 636 .266 .716 95 12 Rosario 450 .265 .744 98 10 Hicks 365 .259 .727 97 9 Plouffe 608 .245 .744 100 8 Suzuki 464 .244 .622 70 11 Hunter 540 .242 .712 91 11 Dozier 673 .240 .771 107 8 For those devotees of WAR, here are the numbers courtesy of BBRef: Dozier (3.0), Plouffe (2.3), Rosario (2.3), Sano (2.1), Hicks (1.6), Escobar (1.5), Mauer (1.5), Suzuki (0.5) and Hunter (-0.5). Here are my conclusions: Recalling Sano, Rosario, and Hicks and making Escobar the regular shortstop earlier might have won another ballgame or two. Outside of Sano, there are no standouts here--Dozier had an All-Star first half, but despite the 28 homers, his numbers are off from last year. The Twins' offensive numbers have taken a step back, but for the position players, the biggest improvement has been defense.

Just caught up with the thread. Nice job, gentlemen (Twins). Also a nice job by NoCryinginBaseball. Lets get that record to 2-0 tomorrow. Eight games remaining. Every single one is crucial.

Mod note: It looks to me like the conversation is devolving. A good conversation on minimum wage, but you're talking past each other and the sniping has started. Take a step back and review the comment policy. Thanks.

Confidence is a big part of it for Perk. I said on another thread that he's got two above-average pitches, but neither of them are dominating. He has to have great command and trust his stuff. Even with that, sometimes he will get hit. It seemed that most of the hard-hit balls in the first half were at someone, not now. To the question in the title, I trust Perkins to be a reliable bullpen arm, but he's not elite.

As with almost every player, I think the timetable is fluid, depending on how he does, how the major league corner outfielders and first basemen do and injuries. If Kepler were to have a season resembling his AA year, I think he could force the issue. An injury to Mauer, Rosario, or another corner OF would probably give him a short-term recall. If the season in Chattanooga is any predictor, Kepler is exactly what the Twins need--a high OBP guy who hits lefty. The bonus is that he is pretty fast and could be moved to the top of the order and not clog up the bases.

Duensing, Vargas, and Robinson. Maybe O'Rourke as a pure LOOGy.

He's built up a reservoir of good will, not only with his performance but because of how he's been portrayed off the field. Comparing Perkins with other closers, he needs to command his pitches because he has two good ones, but they aren't overwhelming. 94-95 is good, but nothing special in this high-velo era. The injuries late in the season have to be a concern. I don't expect Perkins to be among the elite closers going forward, but he is still a quality relief pitcher.

Houston plays three against West leaders Texas at home. I say they win two out of three. They then go on the road for six games, where they have been pretty bad--a 2-4 record would leave them with 84 victories total. The Angels get Oakland and Seattle at home. I expect them to win four of six. They then go to Texas to finish the season. Let's be charitable and give them a split. That is 6-4 to finish the season for a total of 84 wins. With this scenario, the Twins need to win 7 of their remaining 11 games to get to 85 and the second wild card.

Count me in, as well. If all three are healthy, May, Jepsen, and Perkins can be a pretty good end of the bullpen.

I was going to use you as a witness of my despair. Yes, you were right.