stringer bell

You can certainly question the manager for pulling SWR, but the closer was going to pitch the ninth whether Woods Richardson went six, seven or eight innings. The closer failed and Stewart and Varland got the ball to him with a lead.

C’mon. Every club has the silly HR celebration and in the years since setting the strikeout record, they’ve acquired more contact oriented players and let the most strikeout prone (examples—Gallo, Taylor) go, at the expense of home runs. Repeat the generalizations and blame the manager, but base it on facts. The Twins don’t have the club to outhomer most teams, look at the numbers. They’re trying to do a dance where they score runs with average at best power and one of the slowest teams in MLB.

Okay, I am the Terry Felton of going to Twins games in opponent’s parks—now 0-7. I couldn’t get wi-fi at Daikin so didn’t post during the game. Plenty of blame to go around. Hitting was poor, defensive execution lacking. Castro certainly could have made the catch on the final play, but that’s not easy with the odd wall. I was more upset at his throw in the ninth inning, allowing Altuve to advance. Lee and Castro did the lion’s share of hitting, but Willi negated his hitting by being caught off second base on a comebacker and then his misadventures in the ninth and tenth. Walking the lead off guy in a tie or one-run game is the recipe for disaster and it happened in both close games. I had a pretty good view of pitches and it didn’t appear like Laz was the problem. I thought Rocco would allow Sim the sixth since his pitch count was so low, but he had the horses to hold the lead and win the game. Didn’t work out. As for bunting in extra innings, I don’t think road teams do it much because the road team really needs multiple runs to be in good shape in extras. Hard to execute with a power pitcher on the mound. IMHO get ‘em over, get ‘em in is really much harder to do than every team’s fan base believes, especially when you have slow base runners. Jonah Bride is a waste of a roster spot. I’d give McCusker or Gasper another chance in Lewis’ absence. Maybe he can’t handle increased workload, but Coulombe should be used more in high leverage spots like yesterday and Saturday. Jeffers has been disappointing lately and Vázquez is back below the Mendoza line. Team is struggling right now, the veterans need to step up. Correa is solid in the field, but a couple of key hits would fit the leader profile and paycheck. Both Cleveland and KC have hit the skids at the same time as the Twins, but wild card chances have dropped. Lee has looked solid or more than that. I guess right now he should be hitting in the top/middle of the order.

Dan Ford and Willie Norwood.

Sim needs a decent/good outing or he might be finding himself on the east side of the metro. I think it is in him, but he has to get ahead and have improved command.

I guess if I were him, I’d just say as little as possible, much as Buxton has about his frequent injuries. Lewis has rightfully been classed as injury prone, and I doubt he has any answers left. I think he’s a good kid who wants to be a great baseball player and his body continues to betray him.

I was going to say the same thing, but not so cynical to suggest he’ll be scratched.

Unknown to the fan base, Michael Tonkin has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to the St. Paul Saints. Now, he isn’t subject to being replaced on the 40-man roster and he is available to be recalled if the Twins need him on the major league pitching staff. I’m not the biggest Tonkin fan (surprised he was offered a contract), but he’s had some success the last couple years and the last couple guys in the BP haven’t been very good. There is a spot available on the 40-man and at least one player can pretty easily be taken off.

I wish Lee was a little better against left handed pitching, but I think the lineup is about good as they can do. Castro has been good hitting right handed and everyone else should be in against a lefty.

I would say the slump has moved Clemens from automatic starts vs. right handed pitching. Lee, Castro and Bader probably rate equal to or ahead of Clemens in the pecking order so there now isn’t guaranteed playing time for Kody, but he is an alternate and will get plate appearances. My best guess is that his hot spell has played out and he’ll get less reps and be replaced when Keaschall is ready. Maybe Clemens will surprise, but the odds are against him.

TK always talked about putting players in a position to succeed. Unfortunately for Bride, the best way for him to (possibly) succeed is to play &nbspevery day for a period of time like he did late last year for the Fish. That won’t and probably shouldn’t happen in June or July on a team with a winning record. A better alternative for 13th man would be Keirsey Jr. as a defensive and pinch-running specialist. Another possibility would be a heathy Austin Martin, especially if a mentioned defensive improvement is real. Who knows when he’ll be available though. Martin could start against lefties, pinch run and even be available in the infield and he’s a far better hitter than Keirsey has been.

Should he? Neither Larnach nor Wallner have great numbers against LH pitchers. Replacement options aren’t great, but ……

Current stretch is a real test. There is the potential to fall out of contention right now unless the ship is righted soon. I think the Astros are diminished, but still a good club. Winning this series is a lot more important for the Twins. I’ll be at the games on Saturday and Sunday. I hope I can cheer my favorite team to a win. I have seen the Twins in person on the road six times IIRC and my record is 0-6. I hope the trend reverses.

Platooning really doesn’t bother me. Pinch hitting in the middle innings does get my hackles up. With the Twins current roster, they have two pure LH hitters. Resting one against a LH starter is fine with me (bench players need to play), but tying your hands by pinch hitting for one or both of those guys in the fifth or sixth inning makes little sense to me. Giving either Larnach or Wallner PAs against LH middle relievers should help their development without hurting the team Having a Kyle Farmer-type as a backup/platoon player is a pretty good situation. He is good against left handed pitching, versatile and a reliable defender. He isn’t an embarrassment if he has to play regularly for a week or more, but can stay fairly sharp with limited reps.

I agree in principle with you @Riverbrian, but I think there are occasions where having a specialist works and I happen to think the Twins are in that window. With Lee, Clemens and Castro providing a lot of versatility and two of those guys being switch hitters, the Twins really have things covered with 12 position players. Having a guy who can realistically get them an extra base or an extra out in a close game can translate to wins. It’s lousy for player development, so you don’t want a guy who projects to be much more. Keirsey is probably a good example IMHO.

I agree that minor league games look really different. In watching perhaps 10 such games, I’ve seen multiple odd or fluky plays that affect players stats. For example McCusker in a game I watched hit a catchable fly ball and an infield pop that went for hits. Pitchers are frequently victimized by plays not made and pickoffs seem commonplace for some reason. Maybe it’s the lights, maybe it’s the skill of the players, but it is not the same as MLB.

Wentz for Alcalá and the moves are already done. The Twins saw Wentz plenty when he pitched for the Tigers. They must think there's something to unlock there.

FWIW Buxton made an All-Star statement tonight. There aren't many center fielders who put up the numbers he has offensively so far this year. If the selections were made today, he would be a lock. However, we also know there might be a 3-30 stretch with 20 strikeouts coming, so an All-Star berth is not guaranteed. As for Ryan and Durán, Ryan hasn't put up a lot of wins or a really low ERA and Durán only has 10 saves. It wouldn't surprise me if neither made the All-Star team this year.

Nobody has to. There is no point in filling the 40-man spot until that player is needed on the major league team. Michael Tonkin is close to activation from the 60-day IL and he well might be the one who is added back onto the 40-man roster.

Regression to the mean usually happens. Kody had a hot streak, but his track record isn't that of a major league star. He's getting most starts at second vs. right handed pitching and that is fine until and unless two of Lee, Lewis and Bader show they are markedly better.

France's season has been analyzed into the ground IMHO. He's not going to put up Big Hurt numbers, but he's been reliable and came through in a lot of key situations. His defense has been a pleasant surprise, as well. Good for him.

I doubt the number of missed calls is as big a discrepancy as when those missed calls are made. The called third to Jeffers in the Toronto series is a great example of a single missed call having a big impact on expected runs scored.

Six innings and 86 pitches tonight from Festa. It helped that the Twins scored three in the bottom of the fifth and David validated the trust in him by getting the 2-4 hitters in Texas' lineup in his last inning.

Best of luck to Alcalá. He's the ultimate tease to me, but maybe he can put it together in Boston. There would then be a 40-man spot to add a player if needed.

When will Wentz be activated? I'm pretty sure it will be no later than after tomorrow's game, maybe he'll be available tomorrow. If the team is set on keeping Alcalá, optioning Topa or SWR would be their only legitimate moves. Somebody will have to pitch on Sunday, so I doubt they send SWR back down unless someone else is called up from St. Paul to make a spot start.